Bush Slashed Hurricane Funding For New Orleans
Bush Slashed Hurricane Funding For New Orleans
Yesterday, President Bush said “I want to thank all the folks at the federal level and the state level and the local level who have taken this storm seriously.” He’s not one of them. Bush has sought to slash funds that would help New Orleans prepare for a major hurricane. From the 6/6/05 New Orleans CityBusiness:
In fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is bracing for a record $71.2 million reduction in federal funding…The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now.
[snip]
Landrieu said the Bush administration is not making Corps of Engineers funding a priority. “I think it’s extremely shortsighted,” Landrieu said. “When the Corps of Engineers’ budget is cut, Louisiana bleeds. These projects are literally life-and-death projects to the people of south Louisiana.”
(HT: CactusPat)
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Amazing where the administration’s priorities are. The list is so long that we lose track and focus on the most recent outrage.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:21 pmPLEASE blame this on Bush. Your statement from Landrieu means nothing - she is on record lying twice already.
Landrieu claimed in 2002 that Bush would start exporting sugar production to Mexico to win a unusually close re-election race. That has been proben an outright LIE. Also, Landrieu claimed in a tv ad to support Miguel Estrada only to go back on her word three months later and join Democrats in a filibuster.
Conservatives can only hope that Landrieu goes on the attack against Bush and tries to politicize this tragedy. We can use that against her when Bobby Jindal runs against her in 2008 and likely knocks her off adding to the GOP majority. Please Mary, cause a scene.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:24 pmIt’s sad that over two thirds of the article is dedicated to his sell-job of the Iraqi constitution when a large scale disaster is occurring only a few hundred miles from Crawford.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:25 pmThe sheer fact that Judd would quote Landrieu shows what a bunch of amateurs you people are.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:25 pmSave bandwidth, don’t feed the trolls
August 29th, 2005 at 2:27 pmAfterthought - why not debate what I am saying?
Mary Landrieu has a habit of lying about Bush to score cheap political points. This is known to people who follow politics unlike you morons who just hate Bush on a daily basis.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:29 pmNED, here’s a novel thought: Instead of attacking people, debate the idea.
Tell us, “Bush did not cut this funding!”
August 29th, 2005 at 2:31 pmRemember boy and girls, trolls may seem reasonable
at first, but you can’t trust them:
“…unlike you morons who just hate Bush on a daily basis.”
August 29th, 2005 at 2:31 pmNED
For once comment on what is in the thread, Bush cut funding for the Army Corp. of Engineers in Louisiana. When faced with facts you cry your girlboy shrill, god you are such a pussy.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:31 pmNED, I don’t think that the point of the post was to blame Bush for a natural disaster nor the mitigation of the impact. Fiscal year 2006 funding would have done nothing to help the victime of todays storm. Realistically, any project derived from FY’06 funding would take years to materialize. Don’t be stupid.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:33 pmUh, last time I checked Mary Landrieu is a United States Senator. I think on the scale of credibility, United States Senator is probably slightly above unsourced allegations by anonymous blog poster.
Also, I’m not sure what Mary Landrieu’s character has to do with Bush slashing hurricane funding for New Orleans. Did Bush actually increase funding? Help me understand the lie.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:34 pmI think on the scale of credibility, United States Senator is probably slightly above unsourced allegations by anonymous blog poster.
But remember NED’s motto:
“I am clearly the most informed person on this blog.”
August 29th, 2005 at 2:37 pmMuch of the Louisiana National Guard equipment is in Iraq right now. So much for Homeland Security.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:39 pmNED is simply delivering the rove reaction of the minute. Their tactic is simple, confuse the issue by name calling, in-your-face smears and misdirection. NED is a classic example of a good and trusted bu$hco soldier. NED, if you want to defend freedom, Iraq is calling you name.
The problem you have NED is that regular Joe six pack is just now starting to realize the impact on their life of the antics of this president. After all the flag waving and screaming at the “liberals” has played out, this mis-administration has nothing to offer Americans who just want to have a good life and job.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:47 pmStupid is as stupid does. Louisiana was firmly in the Red column last November. Wake UP Cajuns! Look closely for the nose on your face!
August 29th, 2005 at 2:47 pm#11 — Good one, Judd. Pretty snarky attitude for a 12 year old.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:52 pmGOOD LUCK ON THIS ONE! I’m done for the day - can’t deal with Bush haters trying to pin more tragedy. It’s sick and disgusting and will backfire in conservative LA!
August 29th, 2005 at 2:53 pmMonkeyboys (ie. trolls)
Go fly to your witch Anne, she needs you!
August 29th, 2005 at 2:54 pm#17, Which post tried to pin the tragedy on Bush?
August 29th, 2005 at 2:55 pmMikey
I think it is the ultimate tragedy of dear leader being “misunderstooded” on all things great and small.
August 29th, 2005 at 2:58 pmOf course he slashed hurricane funding for New Orleans next year.
August 29th, 2005 at 3:00 pmHalliburton is expanding.
I wanna privatize flood potection projects. Big business and profit are the Merican way.
August 29th, 2005 at 3:10 pmBush is asking for prayers for NO. And what the hell is Homeland Security doing there? What is their job, exactly?
August 29th, 2005 at 3:11 pmNED makes up for his lack of education with a thorough examination of election politics. That will only get you so far, punk. It’s very Rovian. NED, did your parents hate you too?
Now the NED is finally gone….
Not only has Bush proven that he doesnt give a rats tail about the common good, and only supports major business’, but lets take a look at his overall resume:
George W. Bush (Dubya)
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Past Work Experience
* Ran for congress and lost.
* Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.
* Bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas; company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.
* Bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox.
* With father’s help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas.
Accomplishments in Previous Positions
* Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union.
* Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog-ridden city in America. Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money.
* Set record for most executions by any governor in American history.
* Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my father’s appointments to the Supreme Court.
Accomplishments As President
* Attacked and took over two countries.
* Spent the surplus and bankrupted the treasury.
* Shattered record for biggest annual deficit in history.
* Set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any 12-month period.
* Set all-time record for biggest drop in the history of the stock market.
* First president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
* First president in U.S. history to enter office with a criminal record.
* First year in office set the all-time record for most days on vacation by any president in U.S. history.
* After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, presided over the worst security failure in U.S. history.
* Set the record for most campaign fundraising trips than any other president in U.S. history.
* In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their job.
* Cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in U.S. history.
* Set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.
* Appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in U.S. history.
* Set the record for the least amount of press conferences than any president since the advent of television.
* Signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in U.S. history.
* Presided over the biggest energy crises in U.S. history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.
* Presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.
* Cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.
* Set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
* Dissolved more international treaties than any president in U.S. history.
* My presidency is the most secretive and unaccountable of any in U.S. history.
* Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in U.S. history (the ‘poorest’ multimillionaire, Condoleezza Rice, has an Exxon oil tanker named after her).
* First president in U.S. history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.
* Presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.
* First president in U.S. history to order a U.S. attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.
* Created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.
* Set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in U.S. history.
* First president in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the human rights commission.
* First president in U.S. history to have the United Nations remove the U.S. from the elections monitoring board.
* Removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of congressional oversight than any presidential administration in U.S. history.
* Rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
* Withdrew from the World Court of Law.
* Refused to allow inspectors access to U.S. prisoners of war and by default no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
* First president in U.S. history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. elections).
* All-time U.S. (and world) record holder for most corporate campaign donations.
* My biggest lifetime campaign contributor presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
* Spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in U.S. history.
* First president in U.S. history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.
* First president to run and hide when the U.S. came under attack (and then lied saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
* First U.S. president to establish a secret shadow government.
* Took the biggest world sympathy for the U.S. after 9/11, and in less than a year made the U.S. the most resented country in the world (possibly the biggest diplomatic failure in U.S. and world history).
* With a policy of ‘disengagement’ created the most hostile Israeli-Palestine relations in at least 30 years.
* Fist U.S. president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.
* First U.S. president in history to have the people of South Korea more threatened by the U.S. than their immediate neighbor, North Korea.
* Changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.
* Set all-time record for number of administration appointees who violated U.S. law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.
* Failed to fulfill my pledge to get Osama Bin Laden ‘dead or alive.’
* Failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capital building. After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.
* In the 18 months following the 9/11 attacks I have successfully prevented any public investigation into the biggest security failure in the history of the United States.
* Removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in U.S. history.
* In a little over two years created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the U.S. has ever been since the Civil War.
* Entered office with the strongest economy in U.S. history and in less than two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.
Records and References
* At least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available)
* AWOL from National Guard and deserted the military during a time of war.
* Refuse to take drug test or even answer any questions about drug use.
* All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away to my father’s library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
* All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
* All minutes of meetings for any public corporation I served on the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
* Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.
* For personal references please speak to my daddy or uncle James Baker (they can be reached at their offices of the Carlyle Group for war-profiteering.)
Source: http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushresume.htm
August 29th, 2005 at 3:43 pmThe Holloway story is out of control. I couldn’t even watch Hannity for weeks because of it. It’s plain nonsense if you ask me.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma
August 29th, 2005 at 3:49 pmcome on NED, whos your daddy?????
Its looks like no issue is too small to lie about: Landrieu and Sugar? Landrieu, as is typical of most politicians stuck up for an industry important to both business and labor in her state.At the time of the CAFTA vote, Louisiana was home to 27,000 sugar industry jobs, 15 sugar mills, two sugar refineries and more than 580,000 acres of sugar cane in 24 parishes. The state produced 20 percent of the nation’s sugar in a $2 billion-a-year industry. Landrieu most probably saw studies that said the first year of CAFTA was expected to result in 109,000 tons of sugar being imported to the United States, depressing prices by about 3 percent. Other industry groups anxious for cheap sugar said that it would be good for consumers and drive down the price of consumer goods. That sure did not happen. Everything that has sugar in it cost the same or more then it did two years ago.David Vitter, R-La also voted against CAFTA. Sugar and free trade are complex issues and a certain right-of-center poster seems to want to shake off those complexities in favor of over simplification.
August 29th, 2005 at 4:04 pmAs to the completely unqualified Miguel Estrada. Many of the kool-aid drinkers have accused her of flip-flopping. Yet nothing of the kind happened. She said she supported his right to be nominated, at no time did she say she would vote to confirm him if elected. She hadn’t , at the time even had time to question him and if she had Mr. Estrada would have evaded direct questions as is his habit. Landrieu “I have supported all but one of President Bush’s judicial nominees, however, Mr. Estrada has refused to answer even the most basic legal questions put before him by the Judiciary Committee and I cannot at this time vote for him and set a precedent that it is OK to refuse to answer questions.” Hurray for Mary!………Pierre LaRamee, then acting president of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, said of Estrada, “This could be an attorney getting this stealth appointment to the Second Circuit and ending on the Supreme Court without ever having been a judge,” says LaRamee. “The most prominent legal civil rights advocacy organizations for Latinos in the country oppose him because we understand the legal implications and the importance of this appointment and we’re really looking at it from that point of view — it is not about the ethnic political dimension. There are lots of Latinos out there who are far more qualified who would be terrific judges.”
You even have to make up something to whine about…. Get a life.
August 29th, 2005 at 4:06 pm#26 - nice try, on Estrada. You bascially helped disprove your entire post by that little lie. Don’t worry - once we beat Landrieu in 2008, you won’t have to lie to defend her.
Brian - did your parents want to abort you?
August 29th, 2005 at 4:46 pmNice going, George!
August 29th, 2005 at 4:58 pmPeople in those gulf states don’t need federal help — we will just be sure that the energy companies continue their windfall profits. As for the population, well the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, can help them — people will donate — leaving GW off the hook.
Why doesn’t everyone see his plan — decrease gradually toward eliminating all federal spending no matter what the cause — and privatize everything. The haves will control and the have nots will suck it up, or die. That’s the way it should be. Just ask George.
NED, if you can’t contribute without blasting the rest of us, just shut up. Poor baby! Do you suffer from ADD — you can’t seem to stay on message?
August 29th, 2005 at 5:00 pmNice post, Elvis. Worth printing out, and saving for reference when a loud-mouth, scornful Right wingnut takes the floor at a party.
August 29th, 2005 at 5:04 pmGreat post Elvis, it’s getting harder to find our left blogs that keep to the cause and message, instead we get the right wing paid by the word from bush bunch. Trouble is these guys on here bashing us and each other sound just like G.W. Must be spikie brain waves from all the booz. Why are all of them so hateful. Fear of the truth maybe.? Demening others to prove their man hood doesn’t do much. How about a little respect to show your age and improve your case guy’s. Thank’s again Elvis…..Blessings
August 29th, 2005 at 6:27 pmOf Course. New Orleans is not in Florida - home of good brother Jeb. No surprise.
August 29th, 2005 at 6:54 pmThis is 2005. The Corps is going to see reduced funding in 2006? How is 2006 funding going to help a 2005 event? Where’s the logic? Oh, of course. This is thinkparanoid.org.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:06 pmSharon,
If I had to take a guess as to “why are all of them so hateful,” this would be it (based on my knowledge today, ask me tomorrow, you might get a different answer):
Its ignorance and it’s mainly “their†pride that gets in “their†way. Self-delusion breed’s pride, pride breed’s the inability to learn. “They†are products of the mind games and brainwashing that this society revolves around. The herofication that children learn at an early age of common people through history makes them feel like they are better people then all others simply by being born in this country.
If more people were to open their minds and read authors like Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Bertrand Russell, or other authors you can find at sites like http://www.commoncouragepress.com/ there would be less hate amongst the people, less pride getting in the way of learning and the government would reflect the true wishes of the people. There would be a huge reduction of the gaps between the classes, there would be little to no war, and poverty and starvation would be unheard-of everywhere.
Chomsky writes: “States are not moral agents.â€
August 29th, 2005 at 7:07 pmCreamy Goodness,
What I got from the article was not that “if Bush had approved proper funding things wouldn’t be so bad with THIS hurricane.” I got that Bush doesn’t care about the common good of the people and he doesn’t properly prepare for the future. That Bush is again being hypocritical when he states; “I want to thank all the folks at the federal level and the state level and the local level who have taken this storm seriously†and behind the scenes is trying to cut the funding that would help in these situations.
Judd DID NOT say: “Bush has sought to slash funds that would help New Orleans prepare for THIS major hurricane.”
Judd DID say: “Bush has sought to slash funds that would help New Orleans prepare for A major hurricane.”
Judd is pointing out his hypocrisy.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:17 pmHowever, Sharon, if I had to say “why most of the people in the government and major corporations are so hateful” I would say that its simply greed.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:19 pm“Bush SLASHED Hurricane Funding for New Orleans”. That is the title for this thread. Is that misleading? A lie?
August 29th, 2005 at 7:29 pmAnd citizen80203 just repeats the lie.
August 29th, 2005 at 7:31 pm“For once comment on what is in the thread, Bush cut funding for the Army Corp. of Engineers in Louisiana. When faced with facts you cry your girlboy shrill, god you are such a pussy.”
shrub won’t help this time because there is no election to steal.
I expect chimpy to try to run for pres again stating that he NOW admits he was NEVER ELECTED.
good spin!
August 29th, 2005 at 7:58 pm#34 - I guess you got a message that no one else did — there will be no hurricanes in 2006.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:00 pmRe #36, - See that Creamy, even someone who died 20 years ago can see that Bush is a hypocritical idiot. Thank you Elvis.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:06 pmMarie-bopeep,
August 29th, 2005 at 8:06 pmWhere did you get the message the Bush SLASHED funding??
Mikey,
August 29th, 2005 at 8:09 pmWhat does the title of this thread say?
Creamy Goodness,
Are seriously foolish enough to allow your literal misinterpretation of the title of the article to get in your way of reading what it has to say and learning from it?
August 29th, 2005 at 8:21 pmI sse, you’re saying that thinkparanoid didn’t make that conclusion and post it as a title to this thread? Citizen80203 did and repeated it. I read the article and nowhere does it say Bush slashed funding. I’ll remember this. You are calling a lie a “literal misinterpretation”. I can’t wait to use that one. Let’s see if you accept it when you call Bush a liar.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:29 pmWell Creamy, if I wanted to be literal to the extreme, I would have thought it said that Bush was cutting hurricane funding. I didn’t know hurricanes needed funding. What will the lowly hurricane do without money? Maybe the hurricane will have to take the bus next time.
Don’t be so literal and read the whole article, then do some of your own investigation. The funding for the Corps. was cut, thereby cutting protection projects that would help in case of a hurricane. New Orleans has many areas below sea level that are protected by levees that are old and barely hanging on.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:32 pmMainstream Media actually reported this. I was quite surprised.
How much money did we give to Tsunami relief? Obviously, too much.
The nice thing here is that Bushie once again has burned his supporters. He just guaranteed a democrat controlled Louisiana. Thanks dumbass.
August 29th, 2005 at 8:42 pmTo Elvis, I love the outline of Bushie failures. He has definately failed more than all previous presidents put together.
votetoimpeach.org
August 29th, 2005 at 8:44 pmCreamy Goodness,
Okay Creamy Goodness, I’ll play along.
The article clearly states: “In fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is bracing for a record $71.2 million reduction in federal funding”
If Bush didn’t slash the Army Corps funding, who did? And what was their reasoning for doing so?
August 29th, 2005 at 9:57 pm[…] In 2001, FEMA ranked the potential damage to New Orleans as “among the three likeliest, most castastrophic disasters facing this country.” Bush slashed hurricane funding anyway. 10:19 pm | Comment (0) […]
August 29th, 2005 at 10:20 pmNOWHERE does it say that Bush HAS SLASHED funding.
August 29th, 2005 at 10:38 pmReasons for reduced budget?
“Construction generally has been on the decline for several years and focus has been on other projects in the Corps.”
“Bob Livingston (R-Metairie) was chairman of the Appropriations Committee, we didn’t have a monetary problem. Our problem was how do we spend all the money we were getting.
It’s not a done deal. Funding has not been slashed.
“The Appropriations Committee in Congress will ultimately decide how much the New Orleans district will receive, he said.”
Creamy Goodness,
You are partly right. It’s not a done deal. However:
“The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now.”
“Money is so tight the New Orleans district, which employs 1,300 people, instituted a hiring freeze last month on all positions. The freeze is the first of its kind in about 10 years”
Bush wanted to take it from about $327 million to $290 million, then the house took it further to $272 million. (my figures may be a bit off, but you get the picture)
The point, which I got from the article, again, is: “that Bush doesn’t care about the common good of the people and he doesn’t properly prepare for the future. That Bush is again being hypocritical when he states; “I want to thank all the folks at the federal level and the state level and the local level who have taken this storm seriously†and behind the scenes is trying to cut the funding that would help in these situations.”
He probably wont get away with it now, since this current issue will raise the awareness. But how many people had to suffer to bring the point home? How much could have been prevented if the hiring freeze was not in place? $190 BILLION (so far) for a war over a lie, and they get that money, partly, by slashing things at home that we need for the common good.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:30 pmElvis,
How much you wanna bet that Haliburton gets a no bid contract to help with the relief in LA? Sad part is that I wouldn’t be shocked, only outraged again.
August 29th, 2005 at 11:54 pmHow many of you guys wanna bet that dumbya says the people of LA died for a ‘NOBLE CAUSE’and the hurricane was related to 9/11 and Iran? That would be the best way to put the monkey’s handlers in good shape to drop the bomb on Iran.
This sounds like their logic, 9/11, Osama, ….9/11 Afganistan…. 9/11 Iraq….. 9/11 LA…. 9/11 LA Iran…..Osama whooo?
August 30th, 2005 at 1:42 amAND YOU THOUGHT AN ELEPHANT NEVER FORGETS….
August 30th, 2005 at 1:42 amThank’s Elvis for the info. Zinn, Chomsky and others including Amy Goodman have written some great works.It takes me awhile to get through Zinns info compared to others though because it is so indepth .At my age it’s possible to nod off before the next chapter. But I do try. Thank you again for your insight and text. You do a very good job pointing out to the un informed the mis deeds of our administration.Is it possible some of these right wingers only read their own words.? ..Blessings.
August 30th, 2005 at 2:22 amUmmmmm……from what I’ve seen on TV, So Louisiana will serious need Hurricane protection and Flood protection dollars…..money for the work the Army Corps does. That money was cut. Now the money will come from FEMA…..its is a budgetary shell game that Bush learned to do his whole life (one set of Dad’s friends bails him out so another set can invest in his next project plus he was not known as a tax cutter as Gov of TX but as a tax switcher i.e. cut one tax and raise another). Its blithering incompetence but since its been sold thrice (1994, 1998, and 2004) and 9/11 blinded America top how badly the 2000 election was stolen, my guess is we’re headed for more of the same
August 30th, 2005 at 8:28 amThe Holloway story is out of control. I couldn’t even watch Hannity for weeks because of it. It’s plain nonsense if you ask me.
Comment by The Northeast Dilemma
August 30th, 2005 at 9:37 amcome on NED, whos your daddy??????
#58, Bait and Switch - dumbya’s stock in trade.
slash funding, fema - hike this tax, cut that tax
9/11, Iraq - 9/11, IRAN!
Exactly how long do monkeys live?
August 30th, 2005 at 11:58 amBush was wrong on Katrina, too
As the news on the calamity known as hurricane Katrina comes in, let’s see how the Bush Administration ties into it…
August 30th, 2005 at 2:25 pmI love Dick, Cheney and President Bush
August 30th, 2005 at 5:41 pmThe reason NED left the blog for today is because he realized he has lost the argument for this issue. He is most likely on some other blog or chat service apologizing for Bush & Company until his shift is over. Tomorrow he will start again his work shift and start with another issue he thinks he can win.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:52 pmBy the way, this NED guy is most likely the Jeff Gannon clone who is plaguing the blogs and chats in the net. He goes by several names changing it several times. One name he used years ago was Trent. Although that is not his real name. He simply impersonated a guy he read from the gay magazine “The Advocate”. The Trent guy can be found in all kinds of blogs and chats apologizing for Bush and his cronies.
August 30th, 2005 at 8:57 pm[…] (via thinkprogress.org) […]
August 30th, 2005 at 9:34 pmWow… read every post here, and it re-enforces my core belief:
August 30th, 2005 at 10:46 pm1. Democrats need to keep telling the truth and fight when others twist facts and quotes.
2. Republicans are mentally handicapped, and we should be kind to them. Calling them names makes them even crazier, so go out and kiss a nut-case.
Hey and the Bushies should be proud that their new “Bankruptcy Reform Act” will also make the poor victim’s of the storm even more miserable. If the Republicans had any class they would repeal the bill tomorrow.
August 30th, 2005 at 11:11 pm[…] Source […]
August 31st, 2005 at 1:43 amI just think you should thank Hitler.
August 31st, 2005 at 7:31 amThank you.
Believe me, NED is fully aware that he is a Pussy…
August 31st, 2005 at 2:32 pm“First president in U.S. history to have all 50 states of the Union simultaneously go bankrupt.”
Umm, when did this happen, exactly?
August 31st, 2005 at 4:32 pmThe last 10 years.
August 31st, 2005 at 9:18 pm[…] Where’s W during all this? Why, he’s promoting his war and doing a fly-by on his way home after a month-long vacation. And apparently worried about his dog. Obviously W can’t prevent a natural disaster, but you’d think he’d at least land the plane somewhere around there and get out and talk to some people or something. But our government has its priorities, too. After all, even though this disaster is going to cost more than $25 billion when all is said and done, we’ve already spent close to eight times that much money on this folly in Iraq, and all we’ve gotten for our money there is more disaster. How are we paying for that mess, you ask? Well, among other things, the Bush administration apparently cut funds to NOLA to prevent hurricanes. Oops. […]
August 31st, 2005 at 10:22 pmIt is sick how the extreme right is demonizing people who are merely reporting the facts on how the Bush regime cut flood control funding for New Orleans. I don’t know how I will be able to trust ANY Republican until Republicans start speaking out against this and the heinous crimes committed against America by the Bush regime.
August 31st, 2005 at 10:47 pmBush and the reps party have raped this land. They are liars, crooks and greedy bottom feeders.
They did not prepare fo 9-11 and they ignored the coastal problems, and they are just worthless. The US has declined in so many ways since they engineer a government takeover. I hope they burn in hell.
Let the women take over this country, HILLARY CLINTON 2008; (IF THE VOTING MACHINES ARE NOT FIXED?)
September 1st, 2005 at 7:49 amAnother Bush-related disaster which MAY have been averted. The first was 9/11. Which may have been thwarted given proper focus & attention. Secondly,the Iraqi invasion/occupation, which was TOTALLY unneccessary. Thirdly, a natural conflagration, which may have been softened given the proper funding. My wish is that an investigation is done and the facts will once again point to hopeless ineptness and world-class incompetence.
September 1st, 2005 at 8:03 amA Bush resignation is not enough. The WHOLE administration must go!
Okay…to all…please stop name calling and do something about it. Instead of spending all of your time coming up with ways to bash Bush, it might be more productive to come up with a plan. If your plan is better, people will vote accordingly. As I tell my 3-yr old…people can’t stand whiners (btw this is the reason that Bush is in the White House in the first place)…
September 1st, 2005 at 2:48 pmOne other thing…why weren’t the levees improved prior to this??…they had plenty of money, why hadn’t there been any action?? just curious??
September 1st, 2005 at 2:51 pmone last thing…to Bill Hughes.
woulda, shoulda, coulda…you’re the kind of person that blames the weather man for the rain.
September 1st, 2005 at 2:52 pmSo who you all agree that it would be prudent for G.W. to order the evacuation of San Francisco?
I ask this, because a major earthquake in San Fran is another one of those 3 likeliest disasters. No doubt if he doesn’t order the evacuation, you would blame the disaster on him. And if he did order the evac, and people got hurt or lost jobs or there wasn’t an earthquake…you’d blame him for that too.
As for this proported funding cut…NOTHING has been cut yet. It was simply a proposal based on the fact that they have not used the previous funding to fix the problem. Of course Laundry complained about it…it’s pork barrel spending…evidenced by the fact that her complaint is about local contractors. The job could be done better and cheaper by outside contractors…but that would stop the waste, and that waste lines the pockets of her friends.
Sorry about interupting your Bush Bash-fest with facts. Carry on.
September 1st, 2005 at 3:14 pmThe problem is this. President Bush’s cut of funding had nothing to do with this particular disaster. It seems to me that not the article, but the people commenting on it, are the ones blaming him for the catastrophe. To me, Bush isn’t a conservative, but he isn’t to blame for a natural disaster. You may bash him, that’s fine. You can’t fit him in the same catagory as Conservatives, and sadly, it seems many in the Republican party have to follow him. Very few are standing against some of his policies. Conservatives don’t cut taxes, and at the same time, set records for Government spending. Conservatives don’t disregard the problem we have with our Southern border. Conservatives don’t create the amount of governmental bloat that Bush has.
The funniest part about some of these posts is the name calling. In one breath, I see a comment about one side doing nothing but calling the other side names. In the folowing breath, they’re doing exactly what they’re admonishing the other side for. I find it hilarious.
Put the blame on a man who is really a Democrat disguised as a Republican.
September 1st, 2005 at 4:44 pmIf you post some article post the whole article, not just the part you want read. The place where you put the [snip] I’ll continue here:
Congress is setting the Corps budget.
The House of Representatives wants to cut the New Orleans district budget 21 percent to $272.4 million in 2006, down from $343.5 million in 2005. The House figure is about $20 million lower than the president’s suggested $290.7 million budget.
It’s now up to the Senate. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, is making no promises.
Last time I checked President Bush was NOT a member of congress. He is in the Executive Branch. He gets to submit a suggested budget. The Congress controls the budget. Read all the facts you people.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:02 amTo Bill Hughes..you are correct, 9/11 could have been avoided. If Clinton had taken Bin Laden when he was offered to him. If the Clinton administration had listened to Able Danger, instead of ignoring their report. That is how 9/11 may have been avoided. That terrorist act was planned long before it was carried out. It was planned on Slick Willie’s watch. It was then carried out only 9 months after Bush got sworn in, after a contested election, when he didn’t get all his cabinet in until June. You want to blame someone other than Al Queda for 9/11 then blame Clinton.
September 2nd, 2005 at 9:17 amAMEN Jacque! If people here want to operate on hindsight, how about THAT beautiful peice of information? All I’ve heard so far are a bunch of IF IF IF’s. The bottom line is, our country has suffered two of the worst disasters in history, and all people want to do is politicize it. Freakin hunker down and do something about it, instaead of crying! Geeze….you guys make me feel so proud to be American.
September 2nd, 2005 at 10:42 amDo you really need a reason to hate this president?
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:00 amHere is some information from that Bush bashing paper: the Wall Street Journal (**).
“In New Orleans, a case in point is the so-called eastern New Orleans back levee, a barrier designed to stop a tidal surge blowing off a hurricane approaching from the east, as Katrina did. Both local and Army Corps officials have long known the levee was three feet too short and incapable of stopping more than a modest storm surge. Since 2001, Louisiana’s congressional delegation, with the Corps’ support, pushed for the estimated $5 million project. But the Bush administration never earmarked enough money to start the project.”
Corps of Engineers Takes Heat on Levee, Sept 2 2004, Page B2
In 2002 the Army Corps’ chief resigned, under threat of being fired, after he criticized the administration’s proposed cuts in the corps’ budget, including flood-control spending.
This is the typical response of this administration to criticism within their own administration, dump the guy with the bad news. Pres. Bush really hates being confronted with reality and those who do criticize him pay the price.
** This is an example of Irony, for those who are irony impared.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:25 pmJack..in 2005 New Orleans district Army Corp of Engineers had a budget of $343.5 million, what did they do with that money? If it cost $5 million to fix that levee, why didn’t they fix it? And the budget was cut because they didn’t spend all of the money they had in their budget. “In 2001, the New Orleans district spent $147 million on construction projects. When fiscal year 2005 wraps up Sept. 30, the Corps expects to have spent $82 million, a 44.2 percent reduction from 2001 expenditures.”
I think we need to see what the Army Corps of Engineers did with all the money. I worked for a state funded agencies and watched money being wasted. They had too many employees, printed too many documents, and made sure that if there was money in the budget near the end of the fiscal year that it got spent, whether they needed something or not. The Army Corp of Engineers have been spending $300+ million
per year on what? Studies to show what they need to do for one. Come on, a $5 million project can’t be funded when they are budgeted $343.5 million? Sounds like irresponsible spending to me. Read the article about the budget cuts here: http://www.findarticles.com/ p/ articles/ mi_qn4200/ is_20050606/ ai_n14657367
There are two pages, read them both.
http://www.findarticles.com/ p/ articles/ mi_qn4200/ is_20050207/ ai_n10176537
Also two pages to this one.
Get the facts. Stop spewing Michael Moore’s retoric. Educate yourself.
September 3rd, 2005 at 10:30 amJust one more thing, in case you have missed it. Those budget cuts you all keep talking about, aren’t effective until the start of fiscal year 2006. If I’m not mistaken that is in October of 2005.
Also, to Creamy Goddess, Elvis and Mikey, the article that started this thread is here: http://www.findarticles.com/ p/ articles/ mi_qn4200/ is_20050606/ ai_n14657367
Read the whole thing, its two pages long. Creamy Goddess, you are right. Elvis and Mikey, stand corrected. Read my post #82. Then read the Constitution and learn who does what job in the government.
September 3rd, 2005 at 10:50 amHave you ever worked for The Army Corp of Engineers? Do you know how or even whether the money was budgeted/wasted? The Army Corp of Engineers serves a military function and a public one. Many of the duties they perform for the public include:
Navigation
Flood Damage Reduction
Environmental Missions:
Ecosystem Restoration
Environmental Stewardship
Radioactive site cleanup
Wetlands and Waterways Regulation & Permitting
Recreation
Emergency Response
Real Estate
Research and Development
Support to Other Agencies
Hydroelectric Power
Shore protection
Dam safety
Water supply
plus they have to pay employee salaries.
They have to build and maintain these things for the public good. So a budget of $343.5 million suddenly isn’t so big in the face of having to spend funds for all of these projects and pay employees. Likely if their funds were cut further by the federal government they did not have the money to fund the levee project or prepare for such a large natural disaster. Just because it looks like they had a large sum of money earmarked for various projects doesn’t mean it was actually enough. By the way, Jack……..
I think your comment is right on target.
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:02 pmComplaints, complaints, complaints. How about a solution, my leftist friends?
Choice 1) Billions of dollars for “hurricane defense”
Choice 2) Billions of dollars for Welfare for the 30% of people in Louisiana below the poverty line.
You can only have one! That’s how those pesky budgets work. Should the government spend our tax money on perpetuating poverty, or building levies for a city that was founded in an area 20 feet below sea level (by the French, no less)?
Either way, they’re just going to waste our money. Sink or swim, that’s the American way. You say he “slashed” the budget, but if he had signed the check, you’d be up in arms about how he “slashed” the welfare rolls.
Nothing is good enough for you people. You want to be humanitarian, send a money order and leave my taxes out of this. They belong to the boys in uniform who are busy killing Muslims. Or should we divert funds from that and spend it on “terrorist defense walls” here in America? Our Constitution says that our government is responsible for protecting our soil from foreign enemies, not low-pressure systems.
If a hundred thousand poverty-stricken looters die in New Orleans, that’s $1.77 more in my paycheck each month. That’ll buy me a half a tank of Premium for my two and a half-ton SUV. I need a truck that big so that when I drive directly through anti-war protests, I have the ground clearance necessary not to get my front axle hung up those posterboards and acoustic guitars you hippies always seem to have lying around.
By the way, Jacque, you’re a true thinker. Despite the French name :)
September 4th, 2005 at 3:00 amWell Valannin,
I do appreciate the compliment, and wish to inform you that my name is not french. I so agree and wonder how many of those that didn’t evacuate did so because they were waiting for the government to come and get them. Its the taxpayers fault for that. We give them welfare for generations and so why should we expect them to do for themselves. Just yesterday on the news they interviewed a lady that said she couldn’t afford to evacuate, yet she managed to get to Houston AFTER the hurricane. I wonder, did she find some money or steal some gas to get there? Of all the people I’ve seen interviewed, I’ve only seen 1 say that they want to thank everyone for their help. I’ve heard many complain about having to wait for so long, not getting a hot meal (we had some crackers and water, nothing hot) and having to be in such a crowded situation. If my mayor or governor said you need to evacuate immediately, I would find a way to get gone. Of course, I’ve worked my whole life and own my own vehicle because I paid it off. I wouldn’t wait on someone to come and take care of me.
Victoria, no I have never worked for the Army Corp of Engineers, have you? As for government waste, that is a well known fact proven long ago. With any government agency, if you don’t use your entire budget that was budgeted for you in one year, you will get a budget cut the next year. Therefore many government agencies will make sure that all their money gets spent.
As for all the things the Army Corp of Engineers supplies, they also, in addition to their federal budget, get extra money for specific programs. I do believe there is a need to look into how they have spent the money over the years. Since 1965, they have known about this flooding problem. They have conducted many studies about it, but have done nothing about it. I think in 30 years they should have been able to take care of such a dire problem. Maybe some of their “recreation” programs could have waited.
September 4th, 2005 at 9:53 amFunny… None of you BUSH bashers mentioned that CLINTON cut millions through the 90’s for the levees… He vetoed a $870 million bill(Bush cut $40 million) because it didn’t raise the MISSOURI RIVER TO protect 3 species of birds…
But I guess like all the rest of the BUSH BASHERS.. You guys feel CAT4 or CAT5 hurricanes only started happening once GW took office right? Since he didn’t sign Kyoto maybe?
Again like it was said before BILLIONS spent on WELFARE(I wonder what those people are going to do now that their checks won’t be coming anytime soon)or BILLIONS spent on LEVEE’s to potentially save a city that is 10 feet below SEA LEVEL already…(sorry if they rebuild this city again sometime in the future it will be taken out by a hurricane.)
But it’s BUSH’s fault, It’s GW’s fault when it rains too much and it’s GW’s fault when it’s sunny for too long… and it’s GW’s fault when it snows in the winter and it’s his fault when it doesn’t snow as much…
I belive it must also be his fault for my homemade beer to smell bad… (’I'm sure one you BUSH-HATERS can confirm that for me.)
September 5th, 2005 at 2:08 amNothing changes the fact that money that should have gone to the Army Corp of Engineers and much needed help (National Guardsmen and women)that should have been in place went instead down the drain into an unnecessary war. But I suppose it’s always better to help American interests in foreign countries than it is to attend to the country’s domestic issues. After all, it’s only poor people down there suffering, right? Poor people who are sucking up billions of dollars on welfare as Random NY so eloquently put it in his/her little strawman argument. Let them die I suppose, huh?
And by the way, it seems to escape the notice of too many people that those who stayed there had no way or means to GET OUT! Many tourists (people who had the money to leave) were also stranded there without a way to leave. When you have no way out you simply have no way out. Those that were able to leave left, those that weren’t suffered.
September 5th, 2005 at 3:11 amWhat do you guys think of this link which says Bush’s levee funding cuts were a non-issue?
http://jcb.pentex-net.com/ archives/ 2005/ 09/ hurricane_katri_7.html
“The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the levees and floodwalls in and around New Orleans. They were designed to protect against a weak category 3 hurricane. There were no plans to upgrade that protection to category 4 or 5. Originally the plan was to have category 5 protection; however, environmentalists sued the district and stopped it. It would have taken 25 years (if it worked) to get the upgrades in to make the levees and walls protect against a category 5. (Source: Riverside magazine by the Army Corps of Engineers).
There was funding cuts to upgrades they were trying to do, but those upgrades would have been irrelevant. 15 foot walls don’t contain 22 foot surges which is what they were facing. As a matter of fact, the portions of the wall that failed were the portions that have received the greatest effort with what the Corps did do. Those were recently upgraded walls.”
September 6th, 2005 at 6:38 pmVictoria..as I said, maybe the Army Corps of Engineers wasn’t spending its money properly. Read this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2005/ 09/ 07/ AR2005090702462.html
September 9th, 2005 at 8:29 amThis is what I found out: the Republican Research Committee said it will pay for Katrina by taking money out of federal employees’ health benefits and retirement benefits! There’s a good one! Brilliant idea, boys!!!! I couldn’t have come up with something like that….instead of cutting tax breaks for the wealthy, why don’t we steal from the middle class?!?!?!?
September 24th, 2005 at 1:41 pmits all bushes fault!!!!!!!!
September 28th, 2005 at 2:36 pmKathleen Blanco: I Should Have Called the Military
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s abrupt decision Wednesday night to take responsibility for her state’s inadequate response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster followed an inadvertent confession that was caught on camera where Blanco admitted she blew it.
“I really should have called for the military,” Blanco said, while chatting with her press secretary in between TV interviews. “I really should have started that in the first call.”
Unbeknownst to Blanco, her bombshell acknowledgment was recorded on a network satellite feed, and by Tuesday the clip was getting wide exposure in Louisiana news broadcasts.
In the early days of the Katrina crisis, disaster management experts repeatedly blamed the failure to send in the National Guard for the city’s descent into chaos.
Most observers blamed the White House for the blunder - a misconception that was thoroughly dispelled by the governor’s inadvertent confession.
Some say Blanco’s blooper was responsible for the abrupt change of tone in her speech Wednesday night to the Louisiana legislature.
Where earlier she and her aides had openly blamed the Bush administration for bungling Katrina rescue efforts, Blanco announced: “The buck stops here, and as your governor, I take full responsibility.”
Just as surprising were Blanco’s words of praise for the White House: “I want the people of Louisiana to know that we have a friend and a partner in President George W. Bush. I thank you, Mr. President.”
For all of you who keep blaming Bush and trying to protect Blanco, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you. Blanco got caught on tape by CNN admitting she did not ask for Federal Troops. When she didn’t think the cameras were live, she made the startling admission to her press secretary.
AND that’s not even the worst of it….
Why didn’t she ask for federal troops? As Blanco explained to her press secretary as she wiped away tears, if troops came in, they would “put good people in jail.”
She was more worried about the “poor looters” than she was the victims. This is outrageous.
SHE WEEPS AT THE THOUGHT TO THROWING LOOTERS IN JAIL!
Then she tells her press secretary, “I really need to call for the military, I mean, I really should have started that in the first call.” BUSTED!
When Miles O’Brien asks her what day it was she asked for Federal troops, she tried desperately to stammer her way thru the answer like a 9th grade foreign language student trying to mumble their way the the oral part of a final exam. When pressed for an answer, Governor Blanco breaks down and has an Admiral Stockdale moment, replying:
“I don’t even know what day it is.”
Thank goodness The Political Teen got the damning video, which is available in the extended entry of this post.
While she was sheading tears over the poor looters going to jail, they were destroying not only the city itself but its reputation worldwide. Incompetent does not even begin to describe this woman. I truly hope this woman runs for reelection… I’ll personally buy the air time to play this video. If you ever doubt the importance of your vote, watch this video.
October 4th, 2005 at 10:30 amHot Air Problem: Too Many Pundits, Too Little Knowledge
Posted by David Horowitz @ Saturday 3 September 2005, 10:29 pm
Here’s a piece by Duane Freese from Tech Central Station that’s worth reading:
The news and opinion spin cycle is moving faster than the winds of a category 4 hurricane. Barely have we had the opportunity to feel denial about the terrible tragedy, feel sympathy for victims and begin lending our support than we’ve leapt to the stage of recrimination: Who’s to blame?
And the rush to judgment is running ahead of appropriate investigation and facts.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, raised the question “Did the New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?” He quoted Louisiana officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the New Orleans area in old Tiimes-Picayune’s stories complaining about cuts by the Bush administration in federal funding for levees and flood protection, particularly ACE’s Alfred Naomi, stating in June 2004:
“The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. Everything is sinking, and if we don’t get the money fast enough to raise them, then we can’t stay ahead of the settlement. The problem that we have isn’t that the levee is low, but that the federal funds have dried up so that we can’t raise them.”
The New York Times, in its lead editorial Thursday titled “Waiting for a Leader,” churlishly went after President Bush for his first speech which it called terrible. It went on to pretend it knew what New Orleans’ problem was — a lack of federal funding. Specifically it called for the House to restore $70 million in funds for the levees next year.
The Washington Post, in an editorial that talked about not casting blame now, nonetheless couldn’t resist casting some, saying the “president’s most recent budgets have actually proposed reducing funding for flood prevention in the New Orleans area, and the administration has long ignored Louisiana politicians’ request for more help in protecting their fragile coast.”
USA Today did a better job in a pair of edits — one on the disaster response and one on the energy supply — by recognizing that the state and local government had a roll in building Louisiana’s infrastructure. On energy, it even went so far as to say some things some anti-oil groups hate to hear — how obstructionists to development of new refineries, offshore and Alaskan energy supplies share the blame for the nation’s reliance on Gulf Coast supplies.
But it, too, got caught up in the drumbeat about the levees, arguing: “[P]eople living along the Gulf Coast have grown up hearing about what could happen if the ‘big one’ hit the region. Yet the levees weren’t raised or strengthened sufficiently to prevent flooding. Initial plans for evacuating the city and ensuring civil order were haphazard at best.”
Indeed, if editorial writers had a comment to make it was to say something about the levees.
And why not? The levees broke, didn’t they? That’s what helped mess up the rescue effort, didn’t it? And there were cuts in federal help, weren’t there?
The answers to all these questions are yes. But, the fact is, they miss an important point, which The New York Times editorialists might have discovered had they read their own news story by Andrew Revkin and Christopher Drew. The reporters quoted Shea Penland, director of the Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of New Orleans, about how surprising it was that the break in the levee was “a section that was just upgraded.”
“It did not have an earthen levee,” he told them. “It had a vertical concrete wall several feet thick.”
Worse for the editorial writers were statements by the chief engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lt. Gen Carl Strock: “I don’t see that the level of funding was really a contributing factor in this case. Had this project been fully complete, it is my opinion that based on the intensity of this storm that the flooding of the business district and the French Quarter would have still taken place.”
The reason: the funding would only have completed an upgrade of the levees to a protect against a level 3 hurricane. Katrina was a level 4 plus.
And the reasons for this goes back decades.
Since the 1930s, when levee building began in earnest, Louisiana has lost a million acres of its coastal wetlands, and faces the loss of another 640,000 additional acres — an area the size of Rhode Island — by 2050.
A new study based on satellite measurement released in May found that the wetlands area was sinking at a half-inch to two-inches a year as of 1995, or up to more than a 1.5 feet a decade.
“If subsidence continues and/or sea level rises and human action fails to take place, the entire coast will be inundated,” Roy Dokka of the Louisiana Spatial Reference Center at Louisiana State University and an author of the study noted in July.
And he went on in a Times-Picayune piece that columnist Bunch apparently failed to examine:
“The current plans to save the coast are focused on fixing wetlands, which is incredibly important, but the problem is that subsidence is affecting the entire coast. We need to combine those plans with regional hurricane levees and sand shoals. We have to find some way to protect the people and valuable infrastructure we have on the coast.”
This echoes a point that was raised by the White House Office of Management and Budget in a review of the Corps of Engineers levee and flood work back in 2003. It noted that while the Corps managed projects that reduced flood damage to specific areas, annual flood damages to the nation were increasing. As such, it wanted the Corps — though well-managed — to broaden its approach by coordinating with federal flood mitigation efforts — to be “more pro-active in preventing flood risks rather than reacting to them.”
The regional Corps head so often quoted by the media himself said in 2003 that a project to protect the city from a category 4 or 5 storm would take 30 years to complete, with the feasibility study alone costing $8 million and taking six years to complete. At the time he opined, “Hopefully we won’t have a major storm before then.”
As for the $14 billion plan called Coastal 2050 for wetlands restoration that Louisiana politicians have been pushing for the last two years for the federal government to provide a stream of funds — up to 65% of the cost — some experts say it was only a stop-gap.
“We are not going to stop marsh loss. Subsidence is too dominant,” James Coleman, a professor of coastal studies at Louisiana State University, told the Times Picayune a few years ago. Coastal restoration “is a temporary fix in terms of geological time. You will see results of massive coastal restorations in our lifetime, but in the long run they are also going to go.”
Indeed, those interested in getting a taste of the complexity of New Orleans situation, a good place to start is to read “The Creeping Storm” by Greg Brouer in the June 2003 Civil Engineering Magazine:
“During the past 40 years, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has spent hundreds of millions of dollars constructing a barrier around the low-lying city of New Orleans to protect it from hurricanes. But is the system high enough? And can any defense ultimately protect a city that is perpetually sinking — in some areas at a rate of half an inch (editor’s note: Or up to 2 inches) per year?”
We know the answer to the first question now — obviously not. The answer to the second question will require more investigation. It would be nice if some editorial writers would perform a little more. Snap judgments in this situation are worse than no judgment at all.
October 4th, 2005 at 10:32 amFEMA is not a first responder
Don’t be so quick to pillory the federal response in New Orleans. Immediate emergency management is primarily a local and state responsibility
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
As one who has received training by FEMA in emergency management and also training by the Department of Defense in consequence management, I believe that the federal response in New Orleans needs clarification.
Craig Martelle, retired as a major in the U.S. Marine Corps, lives in North Huntingdon. He recently launched the Strategic Outlook Institute, a public-policy organization.
The key to emergency management starts at the local level and expands to the state level. Emergency planning generally does not include any federal guarantees, as there can only be limited ones from the federal level for any local plan. FEMA provides free training, education, assistance and respond in case of an emergency, but the local and state officials run their own emergency management program.
Prior development of an emergency plan, addressing all foreseeable contingencies, is the absolute requirement of the local government –and then they share that plan with the state emergency managers to ensure that the state authorities can provide necessary assets not available at the local level. Additionally, good planning will include applicable elements of the federal government (those located in the local area). These processes are well established, but are contingent upon the personal drive of both hired and elected officials at the local level.
I’ve reviewed the New Orleans emergency management plan. Here is an important section in the first paragraph.
“We coordinate all city departments and allied state and federal agencies which respond to citywide disasters and emergencies through the development and constant updating of an integrated multi-hazard plan. All requests for federal disaster assistance and federal funding subsequent to disaster declarations are also made through this office. Our authority is defined by the Louisiana Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993, Chapter 6 Section 709, Paragraph B, ‘Each parish shall maintain a Disaster Agency which, except as otherwise provided under this act, has jurisdiction over and serves the entire parish.’ ”
Phil Coale, Associated Press
Flooded school buses in a lot, New Orleans, Sept. 1.
Click photo for larger image.
Check the plan — the “we” in this case is the office of the mayor, Ray Nagin who was very quick and vocal about blaming everyone but his own office. A telling picture, at left, taken by The Associated Press on Sept. 1 and widely circulated on the Internet shows a school bus park, apparently filled to capacity with buses, under about four feet of water. If a mandatory evacuation was ordered, why weren’t all the taxpayer-purchased buses used in the effort?
Who could have predicted the anarchy resulting as a consequence? The individuals who devolved into lawless animals embarrass the entirety of America. (I worked in a U.S. Embassy overseas for a couple years and I can imagine what foreign diplomats are thinking.) What societal factors would ever lead people to believe that this behavior was even remotely acceptable?
The folks in New Orleans who are perpetrating the violence and lawlessness are not that way because of low income or of race, but because they personally do not have any honor or commitment to higher ideals. The civil-rights leaders should be ashamed at playing the blame game.
The blame is on the individuals. The blame is on the society that allowed these individuals to develop the ideal that the individual is greater than the national pride he is destroying. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was very clear in her comments that she was offended at those who suggested the suffering in New Orleans was prolonged because of race.
As a retired Marine, I hang my head in shame to see my fellow Americans degenerate so far. I spent so many years in the Corps helping the citizens of other countries rise to a higher level of personal responsibility to ensure that in case of emergency, anarchy did not necessarily follow. When people are held to a higher standard of personal responsibility and they accept that, then they will do the right thing when the time comes.
It seems that the mayor of New Orleans is leading the effort in not taking responsibility for his actions. The emergency managers for the state of Louisiana do not have much to say either. The failure in the first 48 hours to provide direction for survivors is theirs to live with. When FEMA was able to take over, it started out behind and had to develop its plan on the fly. Now the federal government has established priorities — rescue the stranded, evacuate the city, flow in resources and fix the levee. It appears that now there is a plan and it is being systematically executed.
Hurricane Katrina was a national tragedy — not just in the number of lives lost or the amount of physical damage, but also in the failure of people to do what is right when no one is looking.
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/05249/566101.stm
October 4th, 2005 at 10:32 amCelsius 41.11 - The Temperature At Which The Brain Begins To Die -
http://www.celsius4111.com/
‘Celsius 41.11’ Challenges ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’
Citizens United
September 16, 2004
CITIZENS UNITED TO PREMIERE ‘CELSIUS 41.11 – THE TEMPERATURE AT WHICH THE BRAIN BEGINS TO DIE’ Documentary Challenges Lies in ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’; Deconstructs John Kerry WASHINGTON - Citizens United announced today it has produced the feature length documentary CELSIUS 41.11 – THE TEMPERATURE AT WHICH THE BRAIN BEGINS TO DIE, to refute the lies and propaganda in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11. Celsius 41.11 - The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die, is scheduled to begin running theatrically in a number of markets later this month. Citizens United hired Hollywood heavyweights Lionel Chetwynd, Ted Steinberg and Kevin Knoblock to write, produce and direct the film. Featuring former Senator and star of Law & Order, Fred Thompson, Charles Krauthammer, Fred Barnes, Michael Medved, Michael Barone and Bill Sammon among other Washington veterans, the film counters the lies and deceptions of Fahrenheit 9/11 and provides a full deconstruction of Senator John Kerry, the Democrat presidential nominee. “After seeing the impact of Fahrenheit 9/11, we decided that there must be a response to correct the record,†said David Bossie, president of Citizens United and Executive Producer of Celsius 41.11. “When lies are repeated often enough, they become the truth. That is what we are fighting today, groups like MoveOn.org, The Media Fund, and other left wing organizations spending over one hundred million dollars spreading lies in order to discredit President Bush.†“Michael Moore, MoveOn.org., and their ilk have built up so much heat, through hatred, anger and rage, that they’re not thinking rationally, which led us to the movie’s title, Celsius 41.11: The Temperature at which the Brain Begins to Die,†added Bossie. Celsius 41.11 is not a point-by-point refutation of Fahrenheit, but corrects the record on the important misleading themes in Moore’s movie, including the 2000 Florida presidential vote, weapons of mass destruction, intelligence failures and the war on terror. In addition, the film documents Democrat presidential nominee John Kerry’s 20-year Senate record, from his flip-flopping on important issues to his intent on reducing funding for America’s military and intelligence community, even after the first terrorist attack on American soil. The film also covers the first term of President Bush, his record as a leader in the war on terror, and the stark contrasts between the President and Senator Kerry. “We’re hopeful that open-minded people will watch this movie and come away better prepared to cast their vote in November,†said Bossie. “It is a factual account of issues that voters need to consider about before accepting the lies and propaganda from zealots like Michael Moore.†Celsius 41.11 takes it roots from Bossie’s most recent books, The Many Faces of John Kerry, for which Bossie and a team of researchers and lawyers spent months researching John Kerry, and Intelligence Failure: How Clinton’s National Security Policy Set the Stage for 9/11. Bossie is the former Chief Investigator for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, where he led investigations into Chinese espionage and campaign finance scandals during President Clinton’s term. . He previously served in the United States Senate as an investigator on the Special Committee to investigate the Whitewater land deal. Celsius 41.11 - The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die is an Adams County Production of a Citizens United film, executive produced by David Bossie and Craig Haffner, written and produced by the team of Lionel Chetwynd & Ted Steinberg and directed by Kevin Knoblock. For more information about Citizens United, visit http://www.citizensunited.org
October 4th, 2005 at 10:44 am‘Fahrenhype’ Shreds Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit’
Jon E. Dougherty
Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004
“There is no terrorist threat.â€
Those are the words of uber-liberal filmmaker and author Michael Moore, whose controversial film “Fahrenheit 9/11,†which essentially blamed President Bush for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, has sparked a number of counter-films.
One of them, “Fahrenhype 9/11,†by Alan Peterson, features interviews with a number of today’s most influential decision-makers, analysts and pundits.
Narrated by actor Ron Silver — an admitted two-time Bill Clinton supporter who is highly critical of Moore — the film dissects Moore’s work point by point, even featuring a number of people who appeared in the liberal icon’s original film.
‘Fahrenhype’ opens with an interview of the Sarasota, Fla. grade school principal, Tose Rigell, who was hosting President Bush when he was told a pair of airliners had crashed into the World Trade Center, leading his advisors to inform him, “America is under attack.â€
Moore asserted Bush was to slow to react, but Peterson’s film shows that not only did the president react calmly and correctly, but did so in a timely fashion.
Says Rigell in the film, “I thought Bush reacted well.â€
At another point in Peterson’s film, Ed Koch, former Democratic mayor of New York City, is incredulous over Moore’s assertion that terrorists do not threaten the U.S.
“I said, ‘Three thousand people were killed! How can you say that?’†Koch said during his interview.
Dick Morris, a co-writer of the film, was also interviewed extensively.
Morris notes how Moore offered no criticism of Bill Clinton, though the Sept. 11 attacks had been plotted largely during the Clinton presidency.
Morris says although Clinton is a very intelligent person, he was not really aware of the severity of the terrorist threat facing the country, despite eight years’ worth of examples, beginning with the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.
He also said Clinton’s national security team pooh-poohed an opportunity in the mid-1990s to get al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. He said the country of Sudan offered him up, but the Clinton White House refused to take the offer seriously.
By the time bin Laden became a wanted man, he was “tucked away†in Afghanistan, being protected by the al Qaida-friendly Taliban regime, and was out of reach, Morris said.
Morris also said an aviation security panel chaired by then-Vice President Al Gore actually came up with some very good ideas, but they were never implemented by the White House.
“I hold Clinton very responsible for the failure of aviation security,†Morris says in “Fahrenhype.â€
Michael Moore made numerous charges against Bush, including a conspiracy led by Bush and Dick Cheney that was concocted to help their business supporters build an oil pipeline through Afghanistan, which is why, Moore charges, they wanted to invade that country.
Interviewees of Peterson refuted such charges, however, and showed how Moore was trying to make points based not on fact but on innuendo and insinuation.
“I had the distinct privilege of being interviewed for this film,†says Mike Cawley, of Roy, Utah. “My brother was killed in Iraq March 29, 2003. The level of disgust I feel toward Michael Moore and his type is beyond words…â€
Frank Gaffney, who heads up the Center for Security Policy and was President Reagan’s assistant secretary of defense, appeared in the film to help refute Moore’s assertion there is no terrorist threat to the U.S.
In particular, Gaffney was among the first analysts to note “the international situation bequeathed by Bill Clinton to George Bush was considerably more threatening than was widely perceived at the time.â€
Also featured in ‘Fahrenhype’: David Hardy and Jason Clarke, authors of “Michael Moore is a Big, Fat Stupid White Man; Bill Sammon, best-selling author and senior White House correspondent for the Washington Times who was with President Bush at the Sarasota school on 9/11; U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, D-Ga., keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention; best-selling author, syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor Ann Coulter; best-selling author of “American Jihad†and noted terrorist investigator Steven Emerson; Dave Kopel, an editor of National Review and someone who has repeatedly documented ways Moore has twisted facts; David Frum, a former speechwriter for President Bush and best-selling author of “The Right Man: The Surprise Presidency of George W. Bush;†and U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., member of the homeland security committee who lost hundreds of constituents on 9/11.
October 4th, 2005 at 10:44 amThere is no proof the government was wrong to award Iraq contracts to Halliburton without competitive bidding, or that Cheney helped his former employer.â€
In fact, if you look at most stories about Cheney and Halliburton, the facts — well, no one has actually proven that Cheney’s done something illegal or explicitly wrong — are buried at the bottom, while the shocking and scandalous allegations from Democratic officials are the lead.
After telling you what they want you to walk away with, Reuters notes:
Several documents have emerged indicating Cheney’s office was aware Halliburton would get business in Iraq before it was announced, but no “smoking guns†have been found showing any impropriety or direct meddling by the vice president.
Do you love the scare quotes around “smoking gun� “We haven’t found any “facts†to “prove†that Cheney is the “epitome of all evil,†but questions remain. Wink-wink. Nudge-nudge.
From the Dallas Morning News:
Cheney has released documents showing that most of his deferred salary was paid after he resigned to run in 2000 but before he took office in January 2001. He has also arranged for his stock options to be sold without his input and all proceeds to be donated to charity. Democrats say Cheney nonetheless retains a financial interest in Halliburton’s success.
GovExec.com notes that:
Halliburton’s work in Iraq includes a wide-ranging contract, called a LogCAP, that it won through competitive bidding in 2001 to provide food, fuel, and other logistical services to troops worldwide. That contract — most of which is for services in the Middle East — and the oil infrastructure contract are estimated to be worth a total of $11 billion. Most of that work has gone to KBR, Halliburton’s construction and engineering unit.
Recently the Defense Contract Management Agency issued an approval letter that called KBR’s policies and practices “effective and efficient.â€
A probe was launched to investigate reports that Halliburton had overcharged the government $61 million on its gasoline imports into Iraq. But as Byron York pointed out, Halliburton purchased the gas in Kuwait, where it was more expensive, instead of Turkey, because it was needed quickly in Basra, in southern Iraq, to prevent imminent civil unrest. Not only was it closer, but the supply routes from Kuwait were safer than the ones from Turkey. Once the supply routes were stabilized, gas was purchased from both sources.
And FactCheck.org