Hey, we won! Bush admin. going all FDR on us.

[elaineb]

Elaine Chao was on Fox News declaring a massive public works project cleaning up the city, employing EVERYONE without jobs in New Orleans who wants to work. She said it. It MUST be true.

What the wages will be or what delightful things the new governmental employees will be required to clean up she neglected to say.

[iamjoy]

1. Believe It When It Happens

Dubya has a history of being all mouth no trousers if you ask me.

[rodeodance]

4. i can see this happening. the last image Bushco wants is unemploy-

ment levels going up. no welfare-these people need work.

[Mass]

He is already trying to suspend all environmental laws

concerning his oil buddies, so this would not surprise me.

[liberaliraqvet26]

2. yeah they will probably suspend the minimum wage...

by executive order to hire people for backbreaking labor as sub contracters of Halliburton

That is exactly what they did in Iraq

[wli]

15. yep, reinstituting slavery n/t

[displacedtexan]

3. But she couldn't answer CNN's question...

How will those people get to work?

[rodeodance]

5. the Fed helping them 'pull themselves by the bootstraps" IMAGE. yes

it will work just fine.

[rodeodance]

9. fits in with "BUSH to the RESCUE" image they are getting out now.

[elaineb]

10. They'll probably be provided with temporary cardboard housing

next to the location of the temporary jobs they'll be generously provided with.

[OregonBlue]

6. What? Instead of Halliburton? How much will Halliburton make,

how much will citizens of Louisiana make? Who's gonna control the budget? Who's gonna audit the budget? Watch out, these guys will spend money like there's no tomorrow but the bulk will go to their cronies!

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Let's not get too excited.

First let's make sure Bush can't pass hasty legislation so that the workers gets less than minimum wage nor that he can award the contracts to his cronies who will only continue to steal from us.

[Captain Hilts]

8. Laura's no Eleanor. One hundred times zero is still zero. (nt)

[distantearlywarning]

11. This sounds way too sensible and fair to be the work of * administration

I'll believe it when I see the unemployed in the streets of New Orleans working.

[FloridaPat]

12. Halliburton or citizens. Who will give the most campaign donations to

the repubs?

[npincus]

13. I heard it.. more happy talk?

[zann725]

14. They'll probably make the starving work for food ONLY.

THAT I could see happening.

[elaineb]

16. Just for clarification...

She didn't actually call it a "public works project", of course. That would sound like got-damned communism or something, and the Bushies can't have that. And, on the one hand, I don't actually believe this will come to pass, at least in terms of employees being paid fair wages. On the other hand, they ARE going to need tens of thousands of workers after things get settled, to rebuild the city. What the terms of employment are going to be should be extreeeee-mely interesting.

I think one of the above posters is on to something, though. They probably won't be provided either nearby housing or transportation to get to work, so they already know only a very small number of people who really need the jobs are going to be able to take them. And THEY'LL get paid at a below-living wage...err...excuse me, minimum wage. Halliburton will probably get the rest of the work, and their employees will be paid quite decently...as well as getting the work that doesn't involve cleaning up cadavers and human waste.

[Gyre]

17. You're insane, or extremely delusional.

But I'd like to try some of your meds. Care to share?

Gyre

[elaineb]

19. Somebody musta' done slipped me something when I wasn't looking

Or maybe I didn't really hear what I heard.

It was Fox News, after all. I often go into an altered state of reality when I stop for a few seconds to listen to their interviews with our courageous and highly moral leaders.

But wait...just found this link through Google News:

http://press.arrivenet.com/pol/article.php/688747.html

I notice the press release indicates nothing about employing EVERYBODY who needs it, but that's what Ms. Chao said in response to the interviewer's question regarding the scope of this. Ah swar.

[The_Casual_Observer]

18. They know that they can't keep the Iraq war thing going and ignore

this. There would be a revolution.