The First 100 Days in New Orleans

Let's see...Mayor Nagin's embroiled in twin scandals, involving his Sanitation Commissioner turning over private emails from city councilpeople and his former technology czar's ties with companies doing business with the city....the Sugar Bowl...a great Carnival Season...Bobby Jindal turned down some federal stimulus money, but accepted some, while spending most of his time fund-raising for 2012...And, oh yes, there was a new President.

What has Barack Obama meant to the city almost destroyed by federal malfeasance in 2005? The best, and the worst, one can say is that he's lived up to his campaign promises. He promised health-care reform, energy reform, a doubling-down in Afghanistan -- we're getting all that (or at least a fight for all that). He made a vague assertion that he'd make real the promises President Bush uttered that eerie, floodlit night in an otherwise-darkened Jackson Square, and all the administration has offered to New Orleans so far has been a fact-finding trip by Janet Napolitano, who observed that "no levee can be built high enough to withstand a hurricane like Katrina." So, more facts need to be found, at least for the DHS Secretary.

Here's one: there was not one dollar in the stimulus package, not one out of 700-billion-plus, to help the rebuilding of the tattered levee-floodwall system (despite the Corps of Engineers' statement, a few weeks ago, that, supposedly because of money shortfall, they would choose the "technically not superior" solution to the repair of one poorly-built floodwall; not one dollar out of 700-billion-plus to accelerate the restoration of the coastal wetlands that buffer New Orleans from stronger hurricanes, despite the fact that human activity, including Corps of Engineers-built canals and oil company pipelines, have caused most of the destruction of the wetlands. Not shovel ready? The only thing readier for a shovel is the hope that the new administration might really bring the nation's attention to the federal government's responsibility for the disaster, not just for the lackluster response, and might step up to its responsibility to do the job right this time.

All during the campaign, and then during the first 50 days, Obama partisans would say to me, "his heart's in the right place, just give him some time, he's got a full plate." Yet, the Corps is making decisions right now that chill the blood of New Orleanians concerned about their city's future, and Simon Cowell will be on welfare before this Congress will pass another stimulus bill. The money window is shut, and the administration has been content to focus the nation's attention on Latin American relations, on high-speed rail, on Bo -- on anything but the near-destruction of a great American city.

Nice 100 days' work. Happy Jazzfest.

Comments

[AlwaysConservative]

We all make choices in life and some of them hit us pretty hard. If i see a storm comming and i know that the goverment is very slow in everything it does. I will do what it takes to get my family out of that situation. I know that many people want the goverment to hold there hand and make all of their decisions. I am sorry i think i know whats best for my family. Goverment stay out of my life!!! I don't need your help, i don't need your opions!!! My grandparrents came from another country. They didn't depend on the goverment for anything. They worked hard and took on day off to go to church. The goverment has made many people lazy and dependant on big brother. I am sad to see what my country has turned into. I used to be proud to live here. Now i am looking to move to another country. :(

[crablover]

Don't let the door hit you in the @ss on the way out!

[hotwire]

You really had me, you made some great points, that I totally agree with, but you had to end your comment by bashing the good ole USA. That's when ya lost me.

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

Did your grandparents not go to public schools? Use public roads? The government wasn't "slow" to build the levees and floodwalls, it was arguably incompetent. The only reason government incompetence can flourish is if we establish an environment of zero accountability.

[FPElitist]

Boot strap mentality is idiotic. First of all, in a disaster that strikes, you may not be able to get out of the situation by yourself. A hurricane is one thing, but try an earthquake. You don't have any warning!

Are you saying we shouldn't fund for pandemics? You have a medical degree and can make your own drugs to keep you safe against a pandemic? In fact you have your own research facility to protect yourself from a pandemic? (which moves very quickly, even in days) That's what one of your silly, IRRELEVANT Senators is apparently proud of. That helped... Ya... Alot.

[Stuart]

Napolitano's assessment is as absurd as Governor Jindal laughing off volcano monitoring as an "erupting" expense.

Ha ha. We got the joke, Governor. Now resign and run for President, won't you?

I wonder how Arizona residents would feel if a Louisiana appointee to the Obama Administration stated that "no amount of fresh water could ever slake the thirst of our great Western cities during a drought."

Levee failure is *not* inevitable. River levees all across the nation routinely withstand flood stages that are higher and of much longer duration than the occasional storm surge. If Obama is open to investigating and prosecuting torture, he should be open to looking back to the root causes behind the levee failures of 2005.

[Bienville]

The Mississippi River levees in New Orleans are a great example.

They have not failed to protect New Orleans since 1849.

A visit to the Mississippi River levees around New Orleans would show you a magnificent system of concrete-armored earth levees with locks, gates and spillways.

The River level is always above the City and is annually above the roofs of most one-story structures. Every single year, the spring crest raises the River higher than the Katrina storm surge and you never hear about the River flooding the City. Iowa flooded, Missouri flooded. New Orleans didn't flood.

It is abolutely not "inevitable" for earth levees to fail. New Orleans' river levees have a 160-year record of protecting the City.

[notanicegirl]

Thanks to Harry for pointing out that the Emperor sometimes has no clothes.

[Tony Andreoli]

I just got back from JazzFest and I was reminded how unique and wonderful New Orleans is. It's a city of artists, musicians - and despite its hardships - pure joy. I'm not going to devote considerable space extolling the wonder of this magnificent city. If you live there or have traveled there you know what I mean, and if you haven't gone there I highly recommend the trip.

The distinct heritage and cultural significance of New Orleans deems it a city worthy of greater protection and respect. Like a rare piece of art, this city needs to be preserved for future generations. Our culture, particularly our music, is deeply rooted within the hauntingly beautiful passages of the French Quarter. To neglect New Orleans further is to neglect our national character, our past and our future. Let's hope all of our leaders (as well as our citizens) can join together to protect what is actually a part of ourselves.

[crablover]

Well said. I attended the festival in 2007 and had a great time. NOLA is great city. It deserves better than the way it's being treated.

[Brevimus]

Once again we go down this silly road. The failure of the levees in New Orleans belongs to the feds. Period. Everything else said is just obfuscatory blathering. And the bad construction of inadequate design belongs to more than just the Repubs or Demos. It is the natural result of the lack of science training in the ranks of decision makers combined with the federal government method of contracting such tasks. That there is 20% of the city dry afterward is just luck.
While there are many problems facing all of us, if you don't know what it means...

[Bienville]

...to miss New Orleans...

Very well said.

[doctorj2u]

Harry,
I voted for Obama and I hoped he would help the city but in reality I knew he would not. He only visited the city once (to give the speech at Tulane) and otherwise the city was only on his radar for a good speech line. It is very hard knowing he has seen the devastation (He walked through my old neighborhood in Gentilly by Ponchatrain Park) and still does not want to help us. I think he has decided to let the water take us next time.

[2warvet]

I see a lot of crying for NOLA, however I don't see the same concern for MS and AL coastal communities. They were just as hard hit. I guess the main exception is, where Harry is blaming "federal malfeasance " for the problems in NOLA, I think the real problem is state and local malfeasance. Blanco and Nagin were a tag team of disaster! Did the feds bungle their response? Yes. Did the state and local level bungle their response? Lets just say that the response of Blanco and Nagin was criminal.

MS and AL had a much more effective response to the hurricane and it showed then and shows now. They had a recovery plan that was put in to action by people who obviously cared and that too shows. Sorry, but NOLA you re-elected that clown Nagin now you have to deal with him.

As far as BHO is concerned......His response should be, "the coastal communities in MS an AL have gotten their communities on the right track, what is wrong with you NOLA?"

[doctorj2u]

2warvet said:


"MS and AL had a much more effective response to the hurricane and it showed then and shows now."

I can see you have not been to MS or LA. My 82 year old mother lives a block from the beach in Pass Christian, MS and that statement is laughable.

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

It's interesting to know what "you think" about whose malfeasance caused what, but three separate independent forensic engineering surveys blamed design and construction flaws in the levee-floodwall system--the sole responsibility of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Mayor and Governor can, and should, be faulted if problems with their response can be isolated, although the National Response Plan in effect as of December 2005 clearly mandated that the feds assume a "proactive" stance in the face of an event of national significance, since local and state resources should be assumed to be overhwlemed. MS and AL were hit by a disastrous one-day event, a natural disaster, a hurricane. NOLA escaped most of Katrina, but was hit but a much bigger event, a catastrophic breaching of federally-built levees, more than fifty separate breaches, drowning the city for up to six weeks, devastating the tax base, ruining much underground infrastructure, and ruining much housing stock. Two very different kinds of events, which lead to the two very different recovery experiences.

[Realityism]

Those coastal communities don't have huge federal levee projects that were supposed to protect them. Now you might ask, why was the federal government ever interested in protecting New Orleans in the first place? Why New Orleans over all those other coastal communities?

Because most of those other coastal communities are not even close to as vital to the shipping infrastructure of this country as New Orleans. Forget the displaced and disenfranchised for a moment. In terms of cold, hard pragmatism, New Orleans wins out; it's a strategic asset.

But to a lot of people, even that doesn't sell it to them. Because they just don't like New Orleans and what they perceive its population to be. We spend hand-over-fist every time some retiree's vacation beach house gets knocked over in Florida, but as soon as there is any indication that the money might be going to a "certain demographic", it's suddenly a contentious issue.

Meanwhile, Baton Rouge happily laps up our powerhouse tax base and spends substantial amounts on welfare in the north of the state. Then they all turn around and call *us* welfare junkies. I'll give you three guesses as to why that is.

[luckybear]

Oh quit whining. Obama has bigger things to worry about the corrupt crappy New Orleans and complaining about not getting billions isn't helping. Here is a list for Mr. Shearer on the things much more important than one city (not to mention the billions already spent on the city).

1.) The Economy for all Americans
2.) Afghanistan
3.) Iraq
4.) Pakistan
5.) North Korea
6.) Iran
7.) Terrorism
8.) Prosecuting torture
9.) Dealing with the big three
10.) Advising the public private partnership
11.) Solving global warming
12.) Gun Violence in America
13.) Dealing with Commercial Property defaults
14.) Fixing our horrible public schools
15.) Thanking Senator Specter
16.) Fixing our world image
17.) Buying chew toy for new dog
18.) Keeping Joe Bidden's mouth shut
19.) New Orleans

There is the list. New Orleans doesn't matter. Petition your governor to fix your states' problems.

[AnotherHuddy]

New Orleans is a growing city, and as it's role in nationwide commerce becomes more and more important, our federal government needs to be committed to its well being.

[doctorj2u]

Thank you for proving my point that America has abandoned a major America city to death. I am a New Orleanian, not an American. When New Orleans is flooded again, which it will, the world will see how little the US cares for its own citizens - AGAIN.

[cdiasmd]

If you say you're not an American then don't expect American's help.

If you live in a city that continually floods then maybe you should look into living somewhere else; like a city that doesn't flood. But since since you are not an American go live somewhere else...how about a volcanic island in the Pacific (preferably an active volcano).

[gretasmom]

Finally was able to view documentaries, "Trouble The Waters" and "When the Levees Failed". I have been surprised by Obama's seeming indifference to the need of the people in NOLA. Jindal irks me... to think that the man refuses money that would HELP his state? I hope he is not voted for in the next Gov election. NOLA is about the injustice that is prevalent in this country... clearly prejudice is at work here... not black on black but at class and poverty.

[Harry Shearer - Huffpost Blogger]

The governor doesn't build the levees and floodwalls, that's a federal responsibility. A responsibility the feds fucked up the last time. No whining. It's called accountability, just like prosecuting torture. A lot more people died in New Orleans than in Gitmo.

[facet]

How is your state allocating the money from the stimulous package?

[Jack Kennedy]

Have a good Jazz Fest too, Harry. I hope it stops raining for the weekend!

[digital]

From: http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/additional/

Katrina
President Obama will keep the broken promises to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur.

Then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims. Obama visited thousands of Hurricane survivors in the Houston Convention Center and later took three more trips to the region. He worked with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to introduce legislation to address the immediate income, employment, business, and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities.

President Barack Obama will partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.

----

I hope he will get around to doing more to help the victims of this hurricane.

Keep up the good work, Harry!

[demfriend]

Thanks Harry but when I look at the destruction Bush left in his wake and how the rest of the world sees us as a nation as a result of the multitude of horror Bush did, how can Obama be looked at in only 100 days in office? Is trying to save our country and Wall Street after Bush did everything he could in all the power he stole to destroy us the priority wrong of Obama? Is New Orleans which has so far survived damaged but still open for business needing to be in the top spot for Obama to focus on? Those other things that the media has made the "top spot" like "BO the Dog" have been made by the media to look like Obama has little to do but to get a dog wrong? Any parent who has worked very hard and had to not give the attention needed to their kid(s) and who promised the reward of something, like a dog, and then given the reward to their kid knows....the kids are the point not the dog. Our media has made us the joke of the world with allowing Bush to do whatever he wanted while they slep and now we have a new Black president who is not Bush, the media has woken up and made us the focus of what they focus on!

[nolabels]

I love my hometown of NYC but I really don't get the obsessive attachment to a PLACE. Assuming one got a fair insurance payment for one's home and can find a job elsewhere, why are some people stuck to New Orleans. There are too many great cities in this country and elsewhere to be holding on so aggressively.

The reason New Orleans was not in the stimulus plan was that it has received immense amount of support already. You can easily argue that they money was not spent well but you can't blame Obama for that.

[TheFalseFlag]

It is quite confounding to many that New Orleanians are so devoted to "a place."
But, New Orleans is quite different from any other city. New Orleans is an organic
being the people who live here protect like a child or a beloved pet.

You only have to take a month here during April to see what it is people love about it.
Take the time. Then build a levee system from material other than swamp mud.
The Corp of Engineers are to blame for the failures, and they know it.

"Stuck" in New Orleans. Yes. And if there were fortune 500 companies here,
and the oil did not go to Houston, there would be more attention to saving NOLA.

[miles120]

I spent four years in New Orleans, and am happy to attest that New Orleans is not a place, it is an entity to itself. It is alive with its own personality, and has much to teach all of us.

Besides, what kind of society abandons an entire city? What is the point of living in a society that won't stand beside everyone in it? That is morally corrupt.

[cdiasmd]

Pompeii was a bustling metropolis... not much going on there now.

Do you build a city by an active volcano? or in a hole beneath sea level?

[doctorj2u]

Then you must not truly love your hometown. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is more important to me than the survival of New Orleans. I am sorry Americans cannot understand the passionate connectedness we have to our community and culture. New Orleans is an entity unto itself and we are all lucky to be connected to her. I am sorry magic is missing in your world.

[j.gold]

If you don't understand it, then I feel sorry for you.

There is no place like New Orleans and there will never be another. One can not just pick up and move from a sense of place and culture that runs through their veins like NOLA does. Many have tried but it calls them back like a beckoning lover . Most of my friends that moved after Katrina feel lost and are trying to come home. Many have come here to volunteer and never left. They are added to the ranks of people who came for Mardi Gras or Jazzfest and remain here as well. Before Katrina Louisiana had more people then any other state that were born and died in the same place.

Even thought my country has abandoned me I will remain.

[radicalcentrist44]

How much money has the federal government sent to New Orleans?

[j.gold]

You should rephrase that to "how much money has New Orleans been able to use to fix things."

[Seattle34]

But you already knew this was coming. Dems controlled the purse strings starting in 2007. They could have passed law after law to pump money to NOLA but they didn't. And if they could have found 8 repubs the laws would have been veto-proof.

But they didn't.

NOLA was nothing more than a pawn in the dems game to hurt Bush. Those that believed the dems actually cared see otherwise. The dems in NOLA didn't even really care. They spent flood protection money they received prior to Katrina and spent it on things to attract tourists. Smart.

[Bienville]

Which flood protection money did they spend to attract tourists?

The flood protection system is designed, built, owned and maintained by the Corps of Engineers, a federal agency.

All the money appropriated by Congress for flood protection is controlled exclusively by the Corps, and not by State or local officials.

Google "Flood Protection Act of 1965" for details.

[j.gold]

speaking the truth!

[amadorjon]

wasn't it the hurricane that alomst destroyed the city..........I'm no fan of George Bush, but Katrina, not Bush nearly destroyed the city...any comment to the contrary is merely partisan rhetoric!

If you want to blame Bush for Katrina, then blame Naggin too, that guy's just as incompetant!!

lets not get started on how much we taxpayers have spent rebuilding a town that we will inevitibly have to rebuid again the next time a hurricane comes through...........

[Bienville]

It was an engineering failure that destroyed 80% of the homes in New Orleans. The storm wasn't nearly up to the intenstiy that the flood protection was supposedly designed to resist. Google "ILIT Berkeley" for an independent forensic analysis.

His name is "Nagin." Incompetent or not, 80% of his city - and tax base - was destroyed. It's a little hard to respond in those circumstances. Bush made plenty of promises and kept none of them.

New Orleans has stood in that place for nearly 300 years and has endured many hurricanes. She has many buildings that are among the oldest in the nation. Most of the areas flooded by Katrina were never flooded by a hurricane before.

[MNCurler]

"His name is "Nagin." Incompetent or not, 80% of his city - and tax base - was destroyed. It's a little hard to respond in those circumstances. Bush made plenty of promises and kept none of them"

Um- that was AFTER the hurricane. I believe we are talking BEFORE the hurricane when he didn't do enough to evacuate the city and use the resources he had. Is it really too much to ask to not be so partisan and place blame all around instead of just on Bush, or is your blind hatred causing you to not see the obvious?