The liberal blogs have GOOGLED to find out that Hawaii has had some earthquakes! Wow, Obama was right. His detractors are crazy.
The liberal bloggers at Media Matters, however, were quick to point out that there had been a magnitude 6.7 earthquake in Hawaii in October 2006, in response to which then-President George Bush declared the state a major disaster area.
So score Obama 1, Fox News 0? Perhaps not. It seems that Fox and Gateway Pundit were wrong in completely overlooking a significant earthquake, but President Obama may also have erred in claiming that the narrowly-drawn provision inserted last fall specifically to win over Landrieu's vote could apply to any other state.
"I was actually in Honolulu at the time," blogger Morgen Richmond writes, "and fortunately there was no loss of life or even major injuries. However, there was some relatively significant damage to roads and structures."
Richmond goes on, though, to point out that the language in the current health care reform bill would apply only to a state where "during the preceding 7 fiscal years, the President has declared a major disaster" as a result of which "every county or parish in the State warrant individual and public assistance or public assistance from the Federal Government."
Hawaii, it seems, consists of five counties, one of which has only 117 residents and was not included in the 2006 disaster relief declaration, while a second was only designated as eligible for limited assistance.
"So given all available facts it sure looks to me like the President's assertion on Fox News was not true, and that Louisiana remains the only state eligible for this payoff," Richmond concludes. "Either that or the bill is about to get even more expensive in adding not only Hawaii to the mix, but Mississippi as well."
So why Hawaii. A freudian slip perhaps?
