Chavez Pulls Plug on Joe Kennedy

RUSH: Now it’s official. ‘Joseph Kennedy announced yesterday he’s laying off 20 employees and temporarily halting most of his winter fuel-assistance programs due to Citgo yanking $100 million in support for the nonprofit Citizens Energy,’ which Joe Kennedy runs. ‘I’m very hopeful we can turn this around,’ said Joe Kennedy, who vowed to try to meet with Citgo to pitch keeping the project. He urged people to directly write to Citgo to appeal to start the program again, which was supposed to officially begin yesterday. Now, Citgo is Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez has cut off the program. Price of oil is such that he can’t afford to give it away anymore. He doesn’t have to do the PR now that he’s got Obama in there, so he doesn’t have to make an idiot out of Bush, and so we’re learning here that the so-called compassion behind the move from Hugo Chavez last year was not compassion at all, it was a political move to embarrass George W. Bush. Now that Bush is effectively gone, no need for Hugo to give away the store.

‘At a press conference yesterday at Citizens’ South Boston headquarters, employees who will lose their jobs stood in back of the stunned Kennedy as he announced [Chavez’s] move. … Kennedy said Citgo’s support amounted to about 90 percent of the funding for Citizens’ fuel-assistance programs nationwide.’ Do you believe this? Joe Kennedy, one of the famous Kennedys, Joe Kennedy, you know, Joe Kennedy III, he said that Hugo Chavez, he’s got this big program to provide heat assistance, oil and heat assistance for the poor, Boston and then elsewhere. He said that he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart and now look at what happens here, Joe Kennedy admits here, you know, that — I mean — uh — um — you know, it’s incredible. Ninety percent of Joe Kennedy’s program was funded by Hugo Chavez! And when Hugo Chavez goes south, he already is south, and when he goes further south, you know, when he yanks the oil and the heating oil from, you know, Joe Kennedy III, Joe Kennedy II, and then there’s Joe Kennedy. This a major, major cut. Joe Kennedy is for the first time a liberal Democrat, you know, has experienced a genuine cut here, 90% which means, you know, that Joe Kennedy would not have even been in business without Hugo Chavez. Just amazing.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: And, ladies and gentlemen, the media caught up with Caroline Schlossberg, and asked her thoughts on Hugo Chavez essentially shutting down her cousin’s home heating oil aid program in Massachussetts.

SCHLOSSBERG: You know, I — and, you know, um, you know, and, you know, in my own case, I think, you know, in our family, you know, you always think about, you know, going into politics you know? … You know, after 9/11 I thought about, you know … and I think, you know, you know, everyday New Yorkers and so, you know… I think um as well as myself, you know, you know, all over, you know, again and so I thought, you know, um, you know —

RUSH: There you have it, the next — likely next — senator from State of New York, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, with her thoughts on Hugo Chavez’s Citgo canceling, essentially, the home heating oil aid program for Democrats who live in Massachusetts.