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Officials from the state of Louisiana are complete pigs. They (Mary Landrieu, Kathleen Blanco, Ray Nagin, and the rest of the sorry lot) are so very greedy. See here and here (the $250 billion demand). And we mustn't forget to add Republican David Vitter to that group. It could only get worse if the President joined in the money grabbing (oh, wait, he is!).

These corrupt Louisiana officials seem to think the Federal government was, not only supposed to take care of all the evacuating, protecting, and emergency situations, but pay for all of the clean-up and rebuilding.

Why?

AP: La. Senators Fight Over Aid for Katrina---

WASHINGTON - Louisiana's bipartisan front in seeking federal help to recover from Hurricane Katrina crumbled Friday as the state's senators — a Democrat and a Republican — fought over whether their local governments should have to repay federal loans to keep essential services operating.

Since Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29 and left New Orleans flooded, Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican David Vitter, along with their House colleagues, have put aside political differences and united in seeking hundreds of billions in federal aid.

Don't you love it how the media gets all happy over the putting "aside [of] political differences and unit[ing] in seeking hundreds of billions in federal aid"? The picture of Landrieu and Vitter (or any D and R) joining together to squeeze as much money out of us as possible simply makes me ill.

But with their local governments unable to pay essential workers and Congress leaving Friday for a 10-day recess, Landrieu and Vitter parted ways over how best to meet those immediate needs. The result was a rare public split on the Senate floor between two senators from the same state over an issue of major importance back home.

The fight was the latest sign of how bipartisan support for responding to Katrina has begun to erode. The two parties have also battled over how deeply to cut spending to pay for Katrina aid.

Vitter proposed a bill to steer up to $1 billion in loans to local governments for essential services, using money already approved by Congress for hurricane relief. Landrieu pressed for a broader package, totaling $15 billion, and objected to a provision in Vitter's bill that would prohibit the federal government from forgiving the loans.

That provision amounted to discrimination, she said, because no other local governments in similar situations have been denied the possibility of loan forgiveness. And the victims of that unfair treatment, she argued, already have suffered from the federal government's torpid response when Katrina hit.

Taking her battle to the Senate floor, Landrieu stalled action on the defense bill for a day and kept the Senate in session until 2 a.m. Friday. At one point, Vitter confronted her on the floor and asked her point blank if she was holding up action on his bill, which he said had the backing of all Senate Republicans.

"I've not yet expressed an objection but I'm considering it," Landrieu replied.

Landrieu is disgusting. Where does she get the temerity to demand so much from the citizens of the United States? As though we owe Louisiana billions and billions and billions of dollars because Louisiana was too stupid to do the right thing in the first place.

And from where I am looking, the victims of Hurrican Katrina, particularly those in Louisiana, have been treated superbly. I'll take $2,000 with (really) no strings attached any day. Americans have been donating money, supplies, and energies in record numbers. How many benefits have there been? Landrieu sounds rather ungrateful here (no shock).

And really, what victims of "unfair treatment"? All those victims of Katrina? How about the ones in Alabama and Mississippi? They are actually the victims of unfair treatment. For every time Alabama or Mississippi were mentioned by the media in the aftermath of Katrina, I daresay Louisiana was mentioned about 500 times. How many benefits were for Louisiana exclusively? How many for Alabama and Mississippi?

And, which state asked for $250 billion in federal aid right before Hurricane Rita hit Texas? After all Texas did for Louisianans, by taking them all in, feeding them, sheltering them. Nice timing, Landrieu.

Referring to each other as "the junior senator" (Vitter) and "the senior senator" (Landrieu), the two argued for several minutes, with Vitter at one point refusing to let Landrieu speak while he controlled the floor. The argument ended only when Vitter walked out of the chamber.

Landrieu eventually relented and agreed to let the Senate approve the Vitter bill. She said it was the only way Louisiana's local governments were going to get the money to stay afloat over the next few months, even though she insisted the state was being discriminated against by the GOP's "tightfisted money policies."

The House approved the bill later Friday and sent it to President Bush. Administration officials said Bush intends to sign the bill and discussions were under way on timing.

Of course, I believe that Louisiana should have to repay any federal loans it receives. I don't mind lending my money to the devastated states, but I expect to be repaid. It isn't discriminatory to expect a careful accounting and then repayment of borrowed money. Apparently it is in corrupt Louisiana, but I don't care.

If Mary Landrieu wants the money so bad, then I suggest she apply to France for it. Actually, even better idea, why don't we just give Louisiana back to the French. Problems solved. Now, where do we get a stamp that says "Return to Sender" in big, huge letters?