Teabagger Steven Palazzo Is Counting On No More Natural Disasters In His Mississippi District

Steven Palazzo (R-MS): putting his constituents at risk

I was happy enough to see arch-reactionary Blue Dog Gene Taylor defeated in 2010. Taylor, a shill for the Military Industrial Complex, represented Missisiisppi's Gulf Coast for twenty years. Disappointed Democratic voters didn't show up for the midterms in 2010, a Taylor was swept away as part of the Great Blue Dog Apocalypse. Very right-wing state Rep. Steven Palazzo beat him 105,613 (52%) to 95,243 (47%)-- quite the turnaround from Taylor's reelection two years before when he beat the Republican candidate 216,542 (75%) to 73,977 (25%). In 2008, when Obama lost every county in the district except Jasper, to McCain, Taylor won all 15 counties. No exceptions. 2 years later he lost 9 of those counties to Palazzo and this year the Democrats ran Matthew Moore, who racked up only 29% of the vote. Palazzo is one of Congress' most radical right members and also Mississippi's only member of Michele Bachmann's crazy Tea Party Caucus. His lifetime ProgressivePunch crucial vote score is 1.00, further right than Darrell Issa, Patrick McHenry, Eric Cantor and Marsha Blackburn. Only 4 Members of Congress have worse scores than Palazzo.

Last week, Palazzo was one of only 67 Members-- all Republicans, many unreconstructed Confederates like himself-- to vote against aid for the victims of SuperStorm Sandy. He joined crackpots like John Bircher Paul Broun (GA), date rape doctor Scott DesJarlais (TN), Virginia Foxx (NC), Louie Gohmert (TX), Tom Price (GA), Joe Wilson (SC), Jeff Duncan (SC), Trey Gowdy (SC) and the rest of the bottom of the barrel crap still fighting the Civil War to preserve "The Southern Way of Life" (slavery and feudalism), in voting against the aid. 161 Republicans and 193 Democrats voted yes. New Hampshire Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter, addressing this pack of degenerates explained that she and the rest of the pro-American congressmembers from both parties "voted for this funding because we are the U.S.A. and we always unite to help citizens who are hit by disaster.”

Palazzo stands out as the most hypocritical swine of the 67 because when he was a Biloxi official. in 2005, when Hurricane Katrina devastated Gulf Coast, he squealed the loudest for federal aid for his district.

Palazzo’s future congressional district, including his hometown of Biloxi, Miss., was ravaged by the 2005 storm. Roughly a month after Katrina made landfall, Palazzo-- then Deputy Director and CFO of the Biloxi Housing Authority-- did not mince words when he addressed what was necessary in order to repair the damages.

“We will rebuild and we’ll provide homes for those displaced; but we cannot do that until it is funded,” Palazzo said in a pamphlet published by the Biloxi Housing Authority and still available online. “We’re ready to do the work-- but we simply do not have the financial resources on our own to handle a catastrophe like Katrina.”

“Tell our national leaders-- don’t send more inspectors-- we know what’s damaged and how to fix it,” Palazzo continued. “Send us money so we can put families back together and do our part to rebuild our community.”

The handout includes a breakdown of the “Total Funds Needed Right Away,” ultimately requesting more than $38.5 million in federal largess.

In April of 2006, the Sun-Herald of Biloxi, Miss. credited Palazzo with helping the Housing Authority “win a $7.2 million grant to replace housing for displaced residents.”

Southern Mississippi voters (see video below) need to pray that they never have a natural disaster there again that calls for congressional aid. I suspect a lot of northern congressmembers will be just looking for a little payback.