Landrieu plays hardball.
By on Apr 5th, 2006 at 5:59 am
Landrieu plays hardball.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has threatened to hold all of President Bush’s executive-branch nominees hostage until the administration agrees to fully fund levee construction, flood control, and coastal restoration efforts. After Katrina, Bush pledged to build the levees “higher and better,” but officials said last week “there may not be enough money to fully protect the entire region.”
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And that is why you don’t vote Republican. They spend the same amounts of money, but give you absolutely nothing but lies for it.
April 5th, 2006 at 6:28 amWell, as I see the problem, it’s her job to obligate the USA GOP to do so. Many republicans will disagree, and isn’t part or the “capitalist” way of thinking or “personal responsability”, but I think that, if a natural disaster destroys the capital (bigger city generally) of a state, all the USA has to contribute to rebuild it in the shortest time. It’s common sense.
And if you want a more “party oriented” explanation to each one’s favourite side, if you’re republican, the sooner the city is rebuild, the sooner will it resume bussiness, and maybe the locals will see republicans with better eyes. If you’re Democrat, it’s about helping people, what else do?
April 5th, 2006 at 6:36 amApparently all of her voting with the Republicans has earned her nothing! Maybe she will learn that you can’t trust them and their word is worthless. Too bad her state is suffering because of her stupidity.
April 5th, 2006 at 7:21 amEvil, I agree–What about our “personal responsibility” to help our fellow citizens? What about the poverty that means even taking “personal responsibility,” people simply don’t have the resources to rebuild? What ever happened to shared sacrifice, and the common good?
April 5th, 2006 at 7:30 am#3 sometimes it takes a lot of knocking Democrats heads that you don’t side with corruption. bush always hold out the Carrot for the media then when the media is gone withdraws what he has said he would do… This is a abusive power grabing s.o.b. when is America going to learn and turn on this jerk! He can’t be trusted his word is no word!Oh I forgot he can be trusted to invade other Countries for their Natural Resources and screw Americans!
April 5th, 2006 at 7:34 amWait til we hear the GOP squeal like a stuck pig about this tactic. I’m sure they will say they have never seen this abuse of senatorial power before. Wasn’t John Ashcroft’s nickname, when he was a Senator, Senator Hold?
April 5th, 2006 at 7:40 amLet’s just hope she stands her ground, that she’ll be saying this six months from now if the progrss in NO still isn’t going well.
April 5th, 2006 at 7:41 amYou go girl.
Bono is Brian Peppers!
April 5th, 2006 at 7:51 amCant play Quake 3
To paraphrase Tolkien:
“In the language of the neo-cons help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain.”
April 5th, 2006 at 7:52 amI’m shocked! Shocked! That Bush would promise something and then not deliver. I’m just happy that this sort of thing hasn’t happened before, that we haven’t been conditioned to believe that this is statis quoe. Now the media will pick up this ball and…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry was I saying somthing? Must have dozed off there. What is on TV tonight?
April 5th, 2006 at 8:00 amI’m really kinda wondering what the point of rebuilding the area anyway? I know that this may seem callous, but the 2006 hurricane season is almost upon us, and next year’s is not that far off. We will be seeing many serious storms, frankly because we haven’t heeded the scientific community’s warnings on climate change and abandonment of New Orleans will eventually be a serious wake up call on the matter.
Goper’s Lament (Hard To Be A Republican)
April 5th, 2006 at 8:12 am#9 Too many parallels to draw. So true!
- Bush=Saruman
- Cheney=Sauron
- Rove=Wormtongue
- Patriot Act I & II=The One Ring (one ring to rule them all, in the shadows of Mordor…)
- Wiretapping=Pallantiri (formerly honorable, now owned and corrupted by the will of Sauron, of course)
- Rumsfeld=Sauron’s Tongue (messenger of war at the gates of Mordor).
And anyone can draw a lot more, mentally…
April 5th, 2006 at 8:13 amSorry, a bit off topic here, well maybe not….To all the readers on this site may I add a great new book out, just yesterday. Another must read…Failed States, The abuse of power and assault on Democracy..By Noam Chomsky…..
Judd..How about a seperate sideline post area for books and short reviews. Theres a great wealth of information out there and much is missed by many because they are uninformed…….Blessings
April 5th, 2006 at 8:14 am#12 Evil Spaniard, Very good, Yep! your right…..Blessings
April 5th, 2006 at 8:18 am#12 Oops. the messenger of Sauron at the gates of Mordor calls himself Sauron’s Mouth. My bad.
and #14 Thanks, Sharon.
April 5th, 2006 at 8:26 amAND Landrieu will be knocked off come 2008 anyway. She is a partisan LIAR who lies to get elected and then votes liberal in DC.
So please Bloody Mary, act like a buffoon. We already have a great clip of you threatening to punch the President of the United States. This will just help us out.
Why is ThinkProgress so out of the mainstream? Do you not understand politics?
April 5th, 2006 at 8:33 am#16 Why is ThinkProgress so out of the mainstream? Do you not understand politics?
Translation: make the Dukester Federal Reserve’s head.
April 5th, 2006 at 8:37 am…(continued) or Tom DeLay, they are real fiscally conservative republicans.
April 5th, 2006 at 8:41 am#17 – I am just stunned at the tin ear that writes for this site.
Let Mary Landrieu try to defy the Senate GOP. We will choke her with it come 2008 and she will LOSE.
April 5th, 2006 at 8:41 amEvil Spaniard:
Feingold as Gandalf and whoever is leading the Dem’s as Théoden ey?
Culture of Disruption:
If Bush is Saruman, and Cheney Sauron, you are just another Orc.
April 5th, 2006 at 8:42 am#20 Maybe Feingold looks too young to look as a Gandalf, but if he has good ideas, plenty of world’s knowledge, leadership and a resolutive mind… Maybe putting a fake beard will complete the character?
April 5th, 2006 at 8:53 am#11 – Abandon New Orleans because hurricane season is approaching? Might as well abandon Florida, Texas and Carribean Islands as well. Also abandon the midwest because it is tornado season, or abandon Washington state because of a volcano, or abandon San Francisco because of earthquakes, or abandon lower Manhattan because it’s terrorist season.
The Hurricane did not do in the city. If it were not for the Army Corps of Engineers ill prepared levees that flooded the city, New Orleans would have been fine. The levees were supposedly built to withstand a category 3 hurricane, and that is what Katrina was when it made landfall. Excuse me, but I think the Corp of Engineers and the government need to step up, admit their mistakes and then fix it.
To use the abandonment of New Orleans to “make a point” about global warming is tantamount to cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Art
April 5th, 2006 at 9:18 amCoD. What would you know about how voters in Louisiana feel about Mary Landrieu? Do you really think they will elect one of the GOP’s drones, after they have abandoned Louisiana as he has?
April 5th, 2006 at 9:28 amThis story was in yesterday’s New Orleans Times Picayune.
http://www.nola.com/archives/t-p/index.ssf?/base/library-99/1144130613136570.xml&coll=1
April 5th, 2006 at 9:39 amI think Ms. Landrieu has already been played. She voted NO on the Alito Cloture vote, allowing Alito to be voted on by the Republican Controlled Senate. She also was one of the Gang of 14 in the Nuclear Option fiasco. She apparently hoped that the BushCo administration would keep their word. Silly Mary….have you learned yet?
April 5th, 2006 at 9:53 amIt was GWB that stood before the carefully chosen backdrop, and PROMISED the people of LA. that “we will stay here till the job is finished.” But just like every other “promise” he has made, tey turned out to be as worthless as he is. He did make sure his “friends” got paid, and then he was off to the next major screwup on his list. The Senator is using the only cattle prod she has. Republicans are stubborn little sh*ts, you know.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:19 amI don’t live in Louisiana. So my take is from afar.
Yes, the US government should rebuild the leavees, but…..
1) NO has allowed tons of building to take place in the buffer zone between the downtown & the Gulf of Mexico. It used to be that that swamp absorbed lots of the extra rain/tidal water. Drain the swamp & pave it over as they’ve done – no absorption. So NO has to address some of it’s own building as part of the plan.
2) what is now the rule along many waterways nationally, you can get “low cost” flood insurance through some government agency. However, it is such that it’ll allow you to collect once in a hundred years (or something like that). If you get flooded out more, you have to eat it yourself. So, if you are building in a flood prone area, you have to build with that in mind. ie – build houses on piling w/ garages on the bottom floor so flooding doesn’t damage the house. NO should have to abide by the same rules. Oh yea, if you are flooded out more, the government will buy your property as part of the deal. It’s good in that it opens up new tidal/wetlands & lets the owner recoup something. They don’t get as much as if there is a habitable house on the land though.
COD – you are such an asshole.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:32 amLandrieu cooperated with Bush because of his promises to Louisiana.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:44 amNow, she realizes that Bush’s words are meaningless — what took her so long?
NeD, your are just stupid. So what do you think about your party of pedophiles. Geez you guys are sick. That will be our November mantra.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:52 am#29 – if you assholes were left in charge of making laws, we wouldn’t have been able to nab that scum bag. AND it will be some sick liberal who defends him – TRUST ME.
We are ALL sick in the head, conservatives and liberals alike. The Democrats just have no plan to deal with that sickness. Me – fry HIM!
April 5th, 2006 at 10:55 amKindness.
1) I have lived in New Orleans, and have studied its environs professionally as a civil engineer. The problem is not with paving the swamps, although less of that would help. The problem is with the levees themselves. Before the levees were built (btw, the first levees protected farmland, not homes), the river would flood and expand the delta with sediment, rebuilding the damage done by coastal erosion and subsidence. There is a plan for restoration of the delta, but Washington has refused to fully fund it.
2) What you suggest was once something of a building standard, but generations have passed, and many people have grown to trust the levees. Ground floors of the old residences have been enclosed and finished, and new residences have been built at ground level. I don’t think many will any longer trust the levees as they did.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:58 amthanks for your input Bienville. It’s good to have alocal perspective.
How’s Jazzfest gonna be this year? Most of my friends who go every year, aren’t this year.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:11 amJazzFest will the best ever! Gotta tell your friends to re-change their plans. The loss of tourism really hurts. The City has taken a hard line: the Fair Grounds is a good site for trailers, but they needed to set it aside for JazzFest. They’ve risked a lot to have it this year. But, like Mardi Gras, they have to have it, they have to have you.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:37 amMore on coastal restoration and sediment here:
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/114396402651600.xml
April 5th, 2006 at 12:36 pmAnd if you can’t make it to the Jazzfest, you can donate to it – they will definitely lose money without grassroots support!
April 5th, 2006 at 9:57 pmHere’s a link:
http://www.nojhf.org/fansofthefest.htm
God knows it’s hard enough to make money in jazz without a major disaster ruining your gig!
And for all those who think we should abandon NOLA, you obviously have never been to a late night jam at Donna’s on Rampart Street, red beans, rice and BBQ with your admission for only $5 and the best musicians in town playing their hearts out for the love of it.
Wish I could go but hope to next year! Open your hearts and wallets!