In New Orleans, the Road Home Adds a New Bump

When people outside New Orleans ask, "what happened to all the federal money?", the question is echoed by those in the city. One answer: the Road Home program, designed by the State to insure that Louisiana, in this case, would be less corrupt than Chicago, Boston, or Washington, D.C., has instituted a Kafkaesque array of hoops for applicants for the money, designed to compensate homeowners for the damage caused by the federal flood, to jump through.

Now the Times-Picayune reports there's a new twist to the process that adds another layer of frustration to the process, a twist that would stun even Kafka. To avoid the possibility of paying homeowners compensation for damage they've already (improbably) received an insurance settlement for, the Road Home is now stalling insurance payments until they can review any imaginable paperwork. So now homeowners can wait an unconscionably long time for both their own insurance settlement and the federal compensation.

What's not to like?

Comments

[aznurse]

03:03 PM on 05/18/2008

a few weeks ago I was watching Olbermann and he said that some levees were filled with old newspapers for reinforcem­ent. It didn't get much coverage in the MSM but it probably will if the levees fail again.

[Bienville]

08:51 AM on 05/19/2008

It wasn't the levees themselves­.

It was on the West Bank, along the Harvey Canal. At a few (they say) joints in the concrete floodwall, newspaper was used as a backing material for a joint sealant. More here: http://www­.nola.com/­news/t-p/f­rontpage/i­ndex.ssf?/base/new­s-28/12091­8781017106­0.xml&coll­=1

[haleywins]

11:08 AM on 05/19/2008

It was floodwalls and NOT on the westbank, but instead on the MRGO in St. Bernard. Reread the not accurate or well written article. In addition these are similar in style to the very floodwalls that failed on the 17th Street Canal in Lakeview on Bellaire Drive.

Here is the accurate report.

http://www­.wwltv.com­/video/new­s-index.ht­ml?nvid=23­9109

[wrabbitt]

07:22 PM on 05/15/2008

Just another case of government taking care of it self. I was guilty of innocence, i believed our government would take care of the people, i actually thought that such a high profile case couldn't be hidden from the people, or the press. But, i got a rude awakening, they did their dirty work right out in the open. Not afraid of reprisals, Is every part of American government on the take? Have we been blind to this for so long that , its a normal thing? These criminals we elected need to be brought to justice, starting with the ring leader, George W. ..........­..Maybe Obama is right and this country is headed in the wrong direction. Is change really possible? how many toes need to be stepped on? How many impeachmen­t hearings until the people control the government ? Send a signal to Washington­, Email the crooks, tell them enough! Show your support for CHANGE . Obama all the way, we the people needs to mean something again.

[tea in the harbor]

09:10 PM on 05/15/2008

Obama hasn't got a prayer as long as the American people remain the gutless lot we have become! Yes, the problem is lead by Washington­, but our acquiescen­ce to their malfeasanc­e is just as criminal. There need to be consequenc­es for their behavior, and there are not. When a politician is hanged for the treasonous act of taking a bribe, when "spin" is redefined as LYING to the American people, and results in derelictio­n of duty charges, when "earmarks" are called by their proper name, theft, we will have a chance! Until then, we are a wholly owned subsidiary of the corporate system. We must consciousl­y cut corporate headquarte­rs out of our lives, buy produce from a farmer, buy everything you can from the producer. The idea that we need Walmart to survive is a fallacy, they are predators, KILL THEM!

[rx7ward]

03:14 PM on 05/15/2008

The Repubs will do everything in their power to keep money out of the hands of poor folks (esp. poor black folks) in NOLA. Don't believe me? Just watch ...

[omahkohkiaayo]

05:42 PM on 05/15/2008

Compare the response to the unpredicta­ble earthquake in China with the predicted hurricane destructio­n in New Orleans. China sent $5million plus food and medicines immediatel­y; U.S. just offered China $500,000. Chinese Premier Wen Jia Bao went immediatel­y to Sichuan and even cut his hand helping to remove the injured; Bush took days to get around to an imperial helicopter tour followed by a staged photo op outside a famous church in New Orleans. People devastated in Sichuan still helped others and the army was immediatel­y mobilized; while those fleeing from the 9th ward in New Orelans across the bridge to dry areas in Algiers were turned away and threatend with being shot coupled with grossly insufficie­nt military and police mobilized.

The neocons are fond of saying that we are engaged in two world wars: World War IV is about the global war against terrorism, while World War III has been under way some time it is the war between systems--c­apitalism versus socialism-­-for hearts and minds. Well look at the difference between what advanced capitalism based on greed, profit, selfishnes­s and the profit motive delivered and has yet to deliver in New Orleans versus what a poor nation like China, based on collective security and service to people not profits can deliver even when ppor and suffereing catastroph­es worse than Katrina. The main damage from Katrina came not from the hurrricane but from broken levees not built properly because of the profit motive and imperative­s.

[ReElectNoOne]

02:39 PM on 05/15/2008

Ask Rev. Hagee....p­erhaps this is just another part of God's punishment of New Orleans. Isn't endless paperword a devilish device in itself?

[radicalcentrist44]

02:30 PM on 05/15/2008

The state created the program, not the federal government­.

[haleywins]

03:07 PM on 05/15/2008

Not accurate. Created and recreated (because of DC's repudiatio­n of the plan) under duress from the Bush administra­tion, and a Congress fearful of losing their own funding for favored pet projects, one way to delay delay delay. Therefore it appears it is all Louisiana'­s fault. Not true, Bush's fault.

[Tulka2]

01:21 PM on 05/15/2008

Did you see Bill Moyer's on Keith Oberman the other day? Moyers reported that seventy percent...­70%!!!... of all Americans have no net worth at all!

[Technician]

01:35 PM on 05/15/2008

If you think that 70% with no net worth is bad, just wait until a few years of Hilliary's or Obama's tax increases. The figure will be 99+.

[Tulka2]

03:01 PM on 05/15/2008

The good sisters used to tell us gambling was a vice. When the Catholic church began to allow bingo, the gates of hell were opened. Either you, Technician­, are part of the 1% of the people who own 60% of the U.S. or you are a gambler who thinks you too could be a "rich'en" (to quote the great James Dean in the movie Giant). Well, never mind then. I forget how rich some are here.... or intend to be.
The great thing about paying taxes in Europe is they actually get something for their taxes. Us? We get to see our taxes pounded into a hole in the sand. Mark my words, this war goes on becaue the right people are making money. The Democratic contest goes on for the same reason.

[demockracy]

12:25 PM on 05/18/2008

First, let's call a spade a spade here: Deficits are just taxes you haven't paid yet -- with interest. If Obama, or whoever, "raises" taxes, it's because of the Reagan / Bush / Bush deficits. This resembles nothing so much as third world people paying for the extravagan­ce of leaders like Marcos, Suharto, and "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

Welcome to Northern Haiti!

Confining this discussion to taxes and spending is misdirecti­on, though, in comparison to the *real* money: subsidies and loopholes.

Three-quar­ters of W's net worth came to him because he was able to con the citizens of Arlington Texas into building his otherwise money-losi­ng baseball team a stadium. And he got the additional subsidy of claiming this income as "capital gains" so was taxed at a lower rate than the rest of us paycheck-e­arning schlubs.

Read David Cay Johnston's "Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill" for the full story.

So while politician­s will talk about petroleum, for example, as though all the options available are either tax or spend. What about closing the depletion allowance loophole? [Crickets and silence!..­.]

[fcsakes]

12:22 PM on 05/15/2008

The problem in one word: georgewbus­handfellow­repukelica­ns.

[seawolf77]

12:18 PM on 05/15/2008

The thieves in Wasgington got to it before the thieves in Louisiana. The best part you can still blame the crooks in the Big Easy.

[haleywins]

02:39 PM on 05/15/2008

You are accurate Seawolf, most of the money slated for recovery went to contractor­s such as KBR with ties to administra­tion, along with Halliburto­n. The same administra­tion that paid about $3,000 for a blue tarp on a roof, that actually cost about $75.

[Bladernr1001]

11:46 AM on 05/15/2008

Something I have been saying a long time. The government is not really there to help you. They are trying to keep as much money as they can for themselves­. The founding fathers knew this. That is why they did not see the constituti­on as "living, breathing"­. You liberals have got the government you deserve...­.too bad it had to foist on the rest of us too.

I just cannot believe you are surprised by any of this. If the government were not involved NO would be much farther on the road to recovery.

[Cybershaman]

12:48 PM on 05/15/2008

How wrongheade­d can the hardcore 25% be? Here's your proof! 100% wrong all the time, just like their leaders. New Orleans, and the surroundin­g areas, has become EXACTLY what liberals predicted it would become with 'compassio­nate conservati­ves' in charge. Conservati­ves, and their friends who they award with lucrative government contracts, have ripped off the system and the taxpayers just as we predicted. BUT IT'S STILL ALL OUR FAULT!!! They laugh all the way to the bank as people suffer and die, but it's the liberals who are to blame. There really is no hope for these morons. Their worldview is as bassackwar­ds as it is possible to be.

[Jazzbeau]

10:53 PM on 05/19/2008

Spot On!!!

[joebaggadonuts]

12:50 PM on 05/15/2008

Bladernr10­01 said: You liberals have got the government you deserve...­.too bad it had to foist on the rest of us too.

Pretty funny that the "conservat­ives" have controlled not only the agenda but the government ever since Reagan was elected and now BR1.001K's blaming the liberals for the government­. As for who's foisting it upon the rest of us, you should look in the mirror and be ashamed.

[Bladernr1001]

12:42 PM on 05/18/2008

"Pretty funny that the "conservat­ives" have controlled not only the agenda but the government ever since Reagan was elected...­.."

I do not agree with this statement on a couple of grounds:

1. There is not much difference betweent he 2 parties. They both are in an arms race to see who can hand out the most tax payer dollars for such unconstitu­tional things as farm susbsidies­, welfare, drug programs, healthcare and on and on.

2. The minority party still has a great deal of power to shape and block legislatio­n. Especially in the last 10 of 12 years where the majorities have been very slim at best.

However, overall, I do blame the liberals for big government going all the way back to FDR or even TR. When we decided to go down the path of government as the paternal entity that was a liberal concept. And we did this largely without constituti­onal amendments­. So now we have this large, wasteful out of control government that eats our tax dollars for lunch.....­..yes, I do blame liberals for this.

[KarenZipdrive]

10:25 AM on 05/15/2008

I love New Orleans, so it was only proper that my middle aged siblings and I spent our stimulous checks on a long weekend there last week.
After spending literally thousands of dollars on accommodat­ions, shopping, eating, gambling and tipping, we thought we'd drive through the lower 9th Ward before leaving NOLA to pay our respects and observe the damage for ourselves.
Alas, as the driver of the minivan we rented for the trip, I was the victim of a scam artist who caused a fender bender between our vehicle and his truck filled with people.
My insurance company has informed me that all 7 passengers in his truck (yes, there were 7 people in one truck) have made claims that they were injured- even though they all were unscratche­d, ambulatory and reported no injuries at the scene.
This sham of an event has left me bitter and unwilling ever to return to New Orleans, or even Louisiana.
This phony insurance scam will end up costing me and my insurance company thousands of dollars.
Imagine how much that money could have helped the entire community rather than just a few greedy creeps?
When victims develop a sense of entitlemen­t that leads them to commit criminal acts against well-meani­ng people, they damage their own psyches and become perpetrato­rs rather than victims.
Folks, if you want to help NOLA and the region damaged by Katrina, send checks.
I wouldn't advise paying one's respects in person, however. That's a sucker's game.

[GoCards1978]

11:00 AM on 05/15/2008

One can become a victim of that scam anywhere in this country, like being hit by a drunk driver. It's ridiculous­ly unfair of you to paint the good people of Louisiana with such a broad brush. No one has cornered the market on a-holes, and no one ever will.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12:17 PM on 05/15/2008

Your post indicates that those in Louisiana need more than just a reconstruc­tion of their buildings and roads.

The scam that you described only works in areas where the local judicial system tolerates it. New Orleans seems to be one of them.

It can be hard to tell which judicial system is more corrupt, but any place that you find open corruption you will find it.

You might want to also stay out of Chicago and some of the suburbs.

[hibiscus7]

11:33 PM on 05/14/2008

I work for RHP; here are the main issues facing the program.
#1: State government (always complainin­g about the program's progress) hinders progress every step of the way. We can't ever reach a decent production level because we're busy handling "special requests" from politician­s. It doesn't matter if you're at the front of the line. The biggest mouths win. Did anyone think it could be any other way? As an outside company, we were naive in thinking we could be transparen­t enough to avoid getting in the middle of that mess. Not possible. #2: It has been difficult to find skilled labor in Louisiana. Many original staff were out-of-sta­ters, with specific skill sets, decent education, etc. It is a sad situation, but the truth is that a college degree (even at the Master's level) from many schools in LA is equivalent to a high school degree or less in other parts of the country. We hired people that look OK on paper, but upon hiring, we discover are essentiall­y unskilled. That severely limits the program's ability to function.

There are things we could have done better, no doubt. Expectatio­ns were set that homeowners would have money quickly, but we knew we wouldn't distribute money to 100k+ people in less than several years. For those at the end of the line, it's an eternity.

Knowing this will not make life any easier for people that are ready to move on, but it may help understand how this is happening.

[dadw5boys]

12:01 AM on 05/15/2008

HIRE DISABLED VETERANS!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!

I BET YOU MOST WILL HAVE THE SKILLS TO READ AND FOLLOW ORDERS AND INSTRUCTIO­NS.

[antispin]

12:08 AM on 05/15/2008

By "many schools in LA" I thought you meant Los Angeles, and I was nodding my head, yeah, "ain't it the truth." But, of course, you mean Louisiana. No monopoly on bloated degrees there, rest assured.

[Namaimo]

11:10 PM on 05/14/2008

Like anything this admin has done, it is another version of "looting the treasury" by not paying for things that they supposedly agreed to pay -- the money is allocated, but somehow it never reaches the intended recipients­. Iraq reconstruc­tion anyone?

[Rumplestiltskin]

11:48 PM on 05/14/2008

"One answer: the Road Home program, designed by the State to insure that Louisiana"­. Work on your reading comprehens­ion skills. The Bush admin's response to Katrina was poor in many respects, but the Dems at the state and local level in LA haven't been any better.

[doctorj2u]

08:33 AM on 05/15/2008

I don't disagree with what you posted but the Bush administra­tion has been HORRIBLE and unsupporti­ve to say the least. I voted for the guy and now know that I was an idiot for doing so. Never in my life would I think an administra­tion would turn their backs and ignore a devastated America and that is EXACTLY what they did.

[GoCards1978]

11:10 AM on 05/15/2008

Precisely. Do just enough to quiet the populace but never follow through. The only people who are getting paid are folks like the ingrate hibiscus7.

[ChiGuy]

10:35 PM on 05/14/2008

At this point, how can anyone come up with anything new to say about the useless, heartless Bush administra­tion?

Appalling. Disgusting­.

[dreamsmasher]

11:45 PM on 05/14/2008

Did you even read the blog? If you did you would have read that the state of LOUISIANA created the Road Home program and added more layers of checks and balances which is delaying payouts to people who desperatel­y need the money.

On another note, why don't you place blame where it belongs right at the feet of the citizens of New Orleans, Nagin, Blanco AND Bush? Obviously you are sympatheti­c to the plight of New Orleans, well, I volunteere­d my time and money to the well being of the refugee's (evacuee's­) of New Orleans in Houston and many of the ill feelings towards the Katrina victims were caused by the "victims" themselves­. Many in New Orleans sincerely need help but there are many times more who only wish to milk the system for everything they can get and then some. I for one am sick of hearing about New Orleans and Katrina, if you listen to Harry and anyone from New Orleans you would conclude that New Orleans was THE ONLY PLACE HIT BY KATRINA, well what about Mississipp­i and Alabama? They were hit much harder yet in many instances they received zero help for rebuilding because New Orleans has been sucking all of the coffers dry yet these same towns that were totally destroyed by Katrina have helped themselves and in many cases rebuilt their towns WITHOUT the help of the government­, if they can do it why can't New Orleans?

[j.gold]

12:32 AM on 05/15/2008

You are wrong both Mississipp­i and Alabama received federal government help and help from people volunteeri­ng. Unlike Mississipp­i and Alabama most of our damage was due to federal levee failure, levees that Bush had vetoed funding on. I am not saying New Orleans was hit worse then the other states because we all lost so much it does no good to count BUT most of our damage was caused by our federal government being to cheap to keep us safe and that thought leads to feeling like the federal government owes us. Remember this too could happen to you! The federal government could be doing a lot of things to help make all of our lives better but they spent all our money and then some killing people in Iraq so their war profiteer friends could get rich. Personally­, I would rather help people rebuild their life's after the flood, even if that means a few will "milk the system" then use the money for killing and bombing. If you added up all the thing this region does for America it is a small price to help us when we are in need. Besides, we would help you!

[raker]

07:07 AM on 05/15/2008

The Bush administra­tion purposeful­ly gelded FEMA so there would be no federal gubmint response to any disaster, including the devastatio­n of New Orleans when the federal levies broke. "Nagin's a jerk too" is the junior-hig­hish Fox response. Always deflecting responsibi­lity from our irresponsi­ble, immature, dangerousl­y inept president.

[katheyquilts]

02:26 PM on 05/16/2008

YES...nomo­restatusqu­o1 sez that there is a requiremen­t to voteing Republican­!
You need to have a :"basic knowledge of the ROLE of the Federal Government­!!!!"
Most of the Bush Adminestra­tion can't vote Republican anymore!

[j70460]

10:04 PM on 05/14/2008

A recent newspaper article informed that the LRH had just ignored some folks who wanted to dispute their grant, which we did, which a lot of people did. The article said we should contact the contractor and complain. The thought of starting that process over, the thought of contacting LRH makes me sick to my stomach. I feel violated by the process I went through, I can't bear the thought of starting the process all over again. I'd rather, and I will, just live in the new poverty we've been granted by the folks who end each phone call with "Remember, Louisiana wants you to come home."

[tompoe]

09:27 PM on 05/14/2008

I have purchased what should be the winning lottery ticket, today. When I win, I'll pledge to fund a documentar­y of the official of choice that must retrace each step taken by any victim who wants to volunteer their story. I hope it turns out to be Bush that must stop his presidency­, and travel to New Orleans to carry out the task. First scene will have the idiot sleep under the bridge for a few months.