Dean: Race Played a Role in Katrina Deaths
Sep 07 7:44 PM US/Eastern


By DENISE KALETTE
Associated Press Writer

MIAMI

Race was a factor in the death toll from Hurricane Katrina, Howard Dean told members of the National Baptist Convention of America on Wednesday at the group's annual meeting.

Dean, chairman of the Democratic party, made the comments to the Baptists' Political and Social Justice Commission. The Baptist Convention, with an estimated 3.5 million members, is one of the largest black religious groups in the country.

"We must ... come to terms with the ugly truth that skin color, age and economics played a deadly role in who survived and who did not," Dean said.

Dean said Americans have a moral responsibility to not ignore the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Katrina when it struck the Gulf Coast.

The former presidential candidate said the government will be judged by how it treats the old, the young and the poor.

"People are poor in different parts of the country. They are not refugees. They are Americans," he said.

Dean said that instead of considering proposed estate tax breaks, the Senate should channel the money into disaster relief.

"Shall we give that to the wealthiest people in the country, or should we rebuild New Orleans?" Dean said.

Dean also urged the government to exempt victims of Hurricane Katrina from a stricter new bankruptcy law for one year.

Ken Mehlman, Dean's counterpart at the Republican National Committee, said he hoped Dean "will match his rhetoric with his support for reforms that replace bureaucracy and entitlement with hope and opportunity."

Stephen J. Thurston, president of the Baptist Convention, said there was a lack of response and sensitivity by the government following the Gulf Coast disaster.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

link ... http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/07/D8CFNMPG0.html




Did this clown ever hear of insurance? and why should taxpayers pay for people who refused to buy it....

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche