Think Progress

10 Responses to “Katrina Speech: Trailer Parks for Evacuees”

1. Ryan Neat says:

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   Do they plan on putting those in Kansas just for sport? A kind of find the evacuee sadism? After all this is the guy who would blow up small animals with firecrackers – it would be consistent with his screwed up little worm brain.

   September 15th, 2005 at 9:08 pm

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2. jen says:

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   I dunno I’m undecided on this one, section eight housing is pretty awful, small, dilapidated, crumbly, even dangerous – but a brand new trailer, well that’s at least better. Granted it’s a trailer, but millions of people live in them, some are pretty nice.

   Travel trailers are a little small though and I’m surprised they even suggested it since, well, it’s not bolted down and they have shown they obviously don’t trust these people.

   September 15th, 2005 at 10:03 pm

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3. Bobby Head says:

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   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.”

   September 15th, 2005 at 10:06 pm

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4. Jordan says:

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   Erm… I think this post may be a little overzealous on the response. Now, don’t get me wrong: Bush screwed this whole thing up, I’m a liberal, and I don’t live in a mobile home.

   Nonetheless, I think living in a “travel trailer” or a “mobile home” is about a hundred times better than living at a shelter or even section 8 housing. If Bush made this request to mobile-home manufacturers, then it’s likely that these folks will be getting NEW mobile homes to live in. Consider the following:

   1. The evacuees will be their own landlord instead of relying on someone else to meet their needs.
   2. Most mobile homes (new, at least) are of fairly decent quality.
   3. These mobile homes will afford evacuees and their families some privacy and independence from shelters or sub-par apartment homes.

   This is really not a bad deal. Yes, they need more stable long-term housing, but it can’t all be done at once. Baby steps.

   September 15th, 2005 at 10:08 pm

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5. spyder says:

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   let’s see, trailers in a trailer park in the South. Yep that makes sense. Particularly when they put the trailer parks in those nice rural regional landfills on former swampy land or other bottom country. There of course they will be completely vulnerable to… wait for it… yep you guessed it didn’t you…. tornadoes. This way they can make sure that the job is done; no more attics to hide in, nor places to go underground to avoid these ever increasing ever more destructive types of storms. Manufactured homes are fine in places like CA and the southwest where the climate is conducive to non-freezing termperatures and no tornados, but in those parts of the country east of the Rocky Mountains, not so good.

   September 15th, 2005 at 10:34 pm

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6. Quest says:

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   Trailers get evacuated even in Category 1 hurricanes. This is a very dim idea. What will they do when the next storm threatens?

   September 16th, 2005 at 8:51 am

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7. mighty aphrodite says:

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   And that Section 8 housing is where??? Leave it to a progressive to want to dump the poor in projects all over again – and then have the nerve to pat themselves on the back!!

   September 17th, 2005 at 1:56 pm

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8. Lao Tsu says:

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   You folks don’t seem to know what section 8 housing is. It is NOT ‘projects’. Section 8 vouchers can be used to pay for rent in any housing that meets specific standards. See: http://www.nccp.org/policy_index_19.html

   These trailer parks won’t work. They are a total waste of money – a barrel of pork if I ever saw one. If FEMA gave the trailers to the people whose homes were destroyed that would be another thing. But, they aren’t. Instead, they are putting them in places that make absolutely no sense at all.

   There may be a few people who will permantly leave New Orleans. But, almost everyon wants to go back. If they were given a trailer to park next to their house while they were repairing it, that would be great. But, a trailer parked somewhere in Kansas or Utah is worthless.

   October 5th, 2005 at 5:13 am

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9. Crossbow says:

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   Any body got any information on how much $$$ the mobile home and travel trailer industry has donated to the Repugnicans?

   October 10th, 2005 at 12:44 pm

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10. Turk Fowler says:

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    HALIBURTON! It’s all their fault! OK, I’ve satisfied the lefty readers…..MIGHTY has it right. Unless you’ve ever lived in section 8 housing as I have, you’d think they’re just picking out nice houses in safe neighborhoods. Besides, what’s wrong with putting up decoy trailer parks to fool the tornadoes….It’ll work!!

    October 21st, 2005 at 1:46 pm

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