George W. Bush was in Brazil on Friday trying to present himself and his administration as compassionate conservatives to a whole new group of countries, since we in America have laughed that one off long ago. Meanwhile, Hugo Chavez and CITGO have donated $635,000 to help residents who are out of electricity, propane and wood heat their homes on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
George W. Bush is in Latin America trying to win hearts and minds with his compassionate conservative dog-and-pony show while trying mightily to avoid running into either Hugo Chavez or the many angry protesters who are trying to "welcome" him.
"I don't think America gets enough credit for trying to help improve people's lives," Bush said at a joint news conference with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "My trip is to explain as clearly as I can that our nation is generous and compassionate."
See the whole story here.
Meanwhile, back at the Rez, people who live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota have been running out of electricity, wood, and propane to heat their homes.
February 15, 2007 Rapid City Journal
"We have people with electricity shut off, people who are running out of propane and people who need wood," John Spotted Tail, community liaison officer in the Rosebud tribal president's office, said Wednesday. "We just got a call from four people who need wood and live 60 miles from here. One person said they are burning clothes."
Apparently, less money for low-income energy assistance available from the feds coupled with the bitter cold winter this year (wow, cold winters in South Dakota!) have left some families in dire straits. Some families have been burning fence posts or whatever they can get their hands on. Increased rates of illness, particularly among children, have been reported.
"On Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, tribal energy coordinator Robert Running Bear said the $664,000 in federal energy assistance in federal low-income energy assistance - about half of what was available last year - is already gone. Running Bear said he is working with U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth and staffers for Sen. Tim Johnson to find other assistance funds. "We've got limited funding this year."
Running Bear is also wondering "if the increasing costs for the Iraq War have meant less money available for low-income heating assistance." I wonder why both Dems from South Dakota have been asked for help but not Republican Sen. John Thune. Maybe because we all know just how truly compassionate republicans really are?
Now as of a March 3, 2007 Rapid city Journal article comes news that CITGO, the Hugo Chavez/Venezuelan oil company, will donate $636,000 to meet the heating needs of Pine Ridge residents. CITGO has also donated funds to Cheyenne River, Crow Creek and Lower Brule Reservations in South Dakota.
[Phyllis] Wilcox said she was on her last bottle of propane in a house with six other residents, including children. In another house nearby, her daughter, several children, and an adult brother with physical disabilities were also running low on propane, Wilcox said.
So to recap, G.W. Bush is in Latin American trying to convince people that our nation is generous and compassionate, the federal low-income heating assistance allotment has been cut in half, children are getting sick and adults are burning clothes on Pine Ridge Rez, and Hugo Chavez is providing a monetary donation to keep American citizens warm.
If I had read a prediction 7 years ago that American citizens would be dependent on charity from a Venezuelan oil company/Hugo Chavez to keep from freezing, I would not have believed it, would you?
When I see that G. W. Bush has the gall to say that America doesn't get enough credit for improving people's lives when he's cutting heating assistance I get more than a little sick about what America has actually become.
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