Obama to New Orleans: Drop Dead?
CLEVELAND -- Regular readers know I've been critical of the Obama administration for its do-nothing approach to redeeming the president's promise to redeem the promises Bush made in Jackson Square two weeks after the city was flooded by the failure of the federal levees. Now, it's not just me and my little opinion.
Politifact, run by the St. Petersburg Times (a reputable and non-profit newspaper), has made a handy checklist of the president's statements on the city's needs and his promises to help meet those needs, measured against what he's actually proposed and/or done. It's not surprising, at least to me, that the scoreboard contains almost all goose-eggs. Yes, we all know he's got a lot on his plate, yet he managed to find time to sign an executive order last week reorganizing the cleanup of Chesapeake Bay, so not all local needs are going unmet. And the Washington Post reports the stimulus bill, while containing nothing for New Orleans, did make a nice stash available for the contractors who've been taking their time, and making some mistakes, trying to clean up our nuclear weapons sites.
The farther we get into this administration, the clearer it becomes that New Orleans is now enjoying its second consecutive federal administration which, far from offering to fix what it broke, far from offering a hand of support, is merely offering one finger. (Hat tip: LSD)
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Yes as a New Orleanian I feel Obama has forgotten about us like a cheap hotel in new orleans
http://hubpages.com/hub/Cheap-Hotel-New-Orleans
and the "bush was so bad" comparison is getting stretched a bit thin too, especially when you consider that he was the worst president in United States history.
Let's stop putting him in a favorable light relative to the horrible incompetence of the last president. In the man's own words, "let's not look back, but look ahead."
This is a high profile issue. One of the biggest oopses on the Bush oops list. I think greater attention to New Orleans would serve as a clear message that this administration is trying to pick up the pieces left by the previous. Symbolically, it would be a major statement.
Obama isn't doing this with NO as he's reversed his positions on other big issues important to progressives.
Aside from being one of Mr. Shearer's biggest admirers, I appreciate the tenor of this piece.
And for all the people saying it's been only four months, and to give him a chance, and to see what happens down along the line... Sure, he could 'come around,' then again, he can move further to the right. The latter course is what I see developing.
Why was my comment rejected? It said...
President Obama has been in office exactly four months today!! Dumb arse George Bush was given 8 years to royally screw up the country and Pres. O has to do every damn thing right now? I feel for him, he can't win with the very people who claim to support him and his agenda; never mind the "wrong" wing party are sabotoging him at every turn, on every issue. Give him a chance to do his job, it's only been four months. Geesh.
Nice post Stuart. Don't forget - saving our wetlands is one of the few things that environmentalists and big oil agree upon. As a bonus we get additional protection from surge. Why is it so hard?
I am so sick of people crying me a river about New Orleans. I mean for Gods sake FEMA just recently quit paying for their housing four years after the hurricane. I have been to New Orleans often since the hurricane. I recently book my hotel at Iberville Suites for one of the upcoming Fest and got the beautiful deal of $269 a night! Whose fault is it that after receiving free housing coupled with many other benefits you still can't find your footing in a town already flooded with government money? Since Katrina Houston has been hit by two hurricanes. The last one virtually destroyed Galveston. It did massive damage in Houston. http://www.click2houston.com/news/17451197/detail.htmll) You don't hear us or the other people coast to coast who have not received one tenth the funds New Orleans has received to repair our non-insured property crying and moaning. We all roll up our sleeves and get to work fixing our own! We do this as we still manage to take care of many New Orleanians who still reside here. It is not the governments role to save every human being who refuses to try to save themselves. Give it a rest. The most sympathetic of us are getting pure tired of it.
See Harry Shearer's Profile
Once again, for the slow learners: New Orleans did not experience a natural disaster, as Houston and Galveston did. New Orleans was spared major hurricane damage by Katrina, then was savaged by more than fifty breaches in a poorly designed and constructed set of levees and floodwalls designed and built with your federal tax money. Youjr federal government failed the City of New Orleans. That's the only reason we're still bothering you poor folks--you broke it, you fix it.
So that is how it works. You don't release the comment until YOU have an opportunity to respond? So what are we to believe. The federal government is responsible to repair the ENTIRE city of New Orleans. They are responsible to repair EVERY un-insured home? Never mind the fact the New Orleans levee board wasted half the funds dedicated to maintenance of those levees. http://www.orleanslevee.com//) Also, what fool actually believes that a thin concrete wall is going to protect New Orleans forever. This "slow learner" knows that this is not the first time the entire city of New Orleans has flooded. This is the third! This "slow learner" also knows that as the Mississippi river continues to shift New Orleans is going to be PERMANENTLY flooded in the due course of history.
Harry, Here is the referenced information mentioned last night in the comment. Not the CNN report that I saw but this is the same information about reallocated/redirected funds meant for Katrina victims.
New York Times, 12/19/2008 "Mississippi: Keeping Katrina Aid Away from Katrina Victims", by the Editorial Board.
http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/mississippi-keeping-katrina-aid-away-from-katrina-victims/
See Harry Shearer's Profile
It's about Mississippi, which experienced hurricane damage from Katrina. A totally different event from what happened to New Orleans, which was flooded when federal levees breached under storm surge conditions they were advertised to withstand.
The unveiling of the Mardi Gras Fountain was celebrated this year in typical New Orleans style. The cost of $2.4 million was paid by the Orleans Levee Board, the state agency whose main job is to protect the levees surrounding New Orleans — the same levees that failed after Katrina hit.
"They misspent the money," says Billy Nungesser, a former top Republican official who was briefly president of the Levee Board. "Any dollar they wasted was a dollar that could have went in the levees."
The hypocrisy of these good democratic posts are truly telling. I should thank you for confirming what I decided 4 months after the hurricane, both polical parties are just opportunists. Neither has any true beliefs except how to kill the guy across the bench. I mourn for the country I once loved.
Representative Mary Landrieu praised the administration because they put language into the stimulus bill that will help to free up $1.4 billion in hurricane relief money that has been stalled for years because of disagreements between FEMA and local government.
In March the administration made a commitment to the Gulf Coast Rebuilding effort. They were to evaluate progress that has been made and look at what the region needs.
He also signed an executive order to keep open the Gulf Coast Recovery Office for another six months.
Senator Landrieu also said that under the Bush administration the office was blocked from accelerating the recovery efforts. Now the agency is working to carry out it's intended purpose.
So please don't tell me they are doing nothing.
A democratic politician praising another democratic politician. What a concept! Kind of reminds me after the storm when the politicians could not stop thanking each other over the wonderful job they were doing.
Hey... a comment from somebody who knows something! What a pleasure!
See Harry Shearer's Profile
Yeah, despite the fact that Mary Landrieu is, in reality, a Senator, not a Representative. But, hey, what;'s a couple of houses among friends?
Spending money to "clean up" the Chesapeake is not practical. It is turning into a "dead" zone just as the area that meets the Gulf at the end of the Mississippi. Legislation to regulate run off from over fed lawns, hospital waste, farm waste etc. is the key. They can dump all the money in the world into it but it won't solve the problem.
On the other hand, money designated to restoring the the wet lands around the New Orleans area and putting in place a well designed levee system to keep our American citizens from having to suffer through another disaster is extremely practical as the problems would indeed be solved. It's a no brainer!
So mad I forgot to spell check. :)
I AM SO SICK ALL THE CRITICISM OF THIS ADMINISTRATION...FROM PROGRESSIVES IN PARTICULAR. I DON'T GET WHAT I WANT WHEN I WANT (ONLY 4 MONTHS IN...btw) AND THE PRESIDENT HAS "BROKEN HIS PROMISES". AS A AA MAN I KNEW THAT THIS PRESIDENT WOULD BE HELD TO AN UNREALISTIC STANDARD, BUT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FROM CONSERVATIVES. KEEP IT UP AND YOU'LL GET WHAT YOU WANT (..OR WHAT ITT LOOKS LIKE YOU WANT), A REPUBLIC CONGRESS IN 10 AND PRESIDENT SARAH PALIN IN 12.
GOOD GRIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hear-hear!
You are absolutely right, friend. Barack Obama is the best president any of us have seen in our lifetimes... that's what I said... nobody alive today has ever seen a better president and it isn't likely than any of us ever will... and still, some ingrates just can't stop whining. It's like they think they would know perfect if they saw it. Sometimes, even with people who have good intentions like Harry, I'd just like to slap them.
See Harry Shearer's Profile
Before you slap me, go look at that list on Politifact that I linked to. That's not me doing that, that's an independent, fact-checking entity, that finds Obama's score on New Orleans issues is solid goose-eggs. Slap them.
Sierra,
Obama is not God. He is a politician. Politicians react to pressure, which is one of the reasons I was so heartbroken by this country's non-response to the true suffering in the Gulf South. The politicians would have been all over it if the citizens of this country gave a flying fig about the people of LA. Obviously they don't. Treat Obama like the man he is,
They have a Governor who doesn't want to help them, for they are a part of the stimulus, and he doesn't want the money. So what should the President do, tell me? Everything, they blame the President, for God sake, the President is trying to fix the Economy, give the man a break, for it's been only 4 months. Every day I do regret for this decent man in the White House, because we doesn't deserve him. We should have McCain/Palin for them to fix their mess, but unfortunately we all will suffer forever and a day.
How many billions have gone to New Orleans that have not been spent yet or wasted because of the culture of corruption in La. They don't need more federal money until they can pull their heads out and use taxpayer money in a useful manner.
How many billions got intercepted by insurance scams?
Are you referring to the Federal levee money that is spent at the sole discretion of the United States Army Corps of Engineers? ... your money that was spent on poorly-designed and cosntructed levees that failed to provide the protection for which they were mandated by Congress? That money?
No, the money tied up and delayed because local politicians are corrupt and unable to make a decision that doesn't benefit their brother bubba.(and I use bubba tto mean white and black politicians brothers)
i guess President Obama doesnt like black people either kanye
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