Pray Like a Baptist, Rule Like a Republican

When El Presidente spoke to cameras yesterday, he declared September 16th as a national day of prayer (Virginia Foxx must be pleased!), and according to the NYTimes, began droning out "a guide to government assistance programs, including Medicaid, assistance for needy families, food stamps, housing and job training, many of which he has tried to trim in the name of leaner government. 'The real irony is that after five years of seeking cuts in just about all these programs, he's now acknowledging their necessity as a safety net,' said Representative John M. Spratt Jr. of South Carolina, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee."

And here's a small but telling detail that might escape scrutiny: "Mr. Bush's efforts to strike a compassionate tone were also complicated by his decision to waive a requirement that employers who receive federal government contracts related to the relief effort pay their workers the prevailing wages for that kind of work in the area it is being done. The White House said the change was made to save the government money. John J. Sweeney, the president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O, called it 'unbelievable and outrageous.' "

And may we note that while Virginia Foxx was voting against federal relief money for those who've lost everything to Hurricane Katrina, she wasted no time whatsoever posting to her website instructions for private business entrepreneurs on how to cash in on the flow of federal money that she voted against (scroll down to "FEMA Contracting Opportunities").

If hypocrisy were a face cream, Madame Foxx would be a radient beauty.