DeLay declares 'victory' in war on budget fat

DeLay declares 'victory' in war on budget fat: "House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an 'ongoing victory,' and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.

Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn't seem possible.

'My answer to those that want to offset the spending is sure, bring me the offsets, I'll be glad to do it. But nobody has been able to come up with any yet,' the Texas Republican told reporters at his weekly briefing.

Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, 'Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good.'"

Outrage grows at sight of black, poor victims

Outrage grows at sight of black, poor victims: "The victims, they note, were largely black and poor, those who toiled in the background of the tourist havens, living in tumbledown neighborhoods that were long known to be vulnerable to disaster if the levees failed. Without so much as a car or bus fare to escape before Hurricane Katrina hit, they found themselves once again left behind by a failure to plan for their rescue should the dreaded day ever arrive."

That disparity has been criticized as a ``disgrace'' by Charles Rangel, the senior Democratic congressman from New York City, who said it was made all the worse by the failure of government officials to plan ahead. ``I assume the president's going to say he got bad intelligence,'' he said, adding that the danger to the levees was clear.

``I think that wherever you see poverty, whether it's in the white rural community or the black urban community, you see that the resources have been sucked up into the war and tax cuts for the rich,'' he said."