Where's Denny?

As New Orleans begs for help, the Republican speaker of the House is in Illinois, passing out pork from the transportation bill.

T.G.

Sep 2, 2005 | We assumed, as we were writing earlier today, that Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert would be in Washington as the House took up George W. Bush's request for $10.5 billion in emergency relief funding for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

We were wrong. Hastert, who questioned earlier this week whether it would "make sense" for the federal government to spend money rebuilding New Orleans, was back in his home district today, where he announced that the federal government is going to provide $1.84 million to build a road extension in the village of Annawan, Ill. "Illinois," he said, "is finally getting their fair share."

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