What (Mr.) Clinton Brought to New Orleans

I've finally located a complete enough report on what Hillary Clinton's designated surrogate, the former president, said in his sole pre-primary New Orleans appearance on Friday to offer a thought or two about it.

First, he appeared at Dillard, a historically black college which was severely damaged by flooding from one of the many breached levees.

Yet, according to the Times-Picayune's report, his recitation of his wife's policy prescriptions for the area were limited to (a) organizing a catastrophic insurance market and (b) financial incentives to spur reconstruction. In other words, he focused entirely on issues of recovery. What was missing? Exactly what's been missing from Sens. Edwards' and Obama's statements about New Orleans, an understanding of why the disaster occurred, and a pledge to take the necessary steps to prevent a repetition -- i.e., mandating a truly independent peer review and oversight for the Army Corps of Engineers, and full funding for a program of barrier island and coastal wetland restoration.

Second, the remarkable disparity between the Obama and Clinton crowds is attributed in the article to a disparity in the warning time people had before the appearances occurred. That seems to speak to a disparity in campaign organization.

Previously: What Obama Brought to New Orleans

Comments

[ndolomar]

as a fellow journalist longing for parity in media, i find it somewhat refreshing that you followed through and also addressed hillary clinton's new orleans' impact -- well, sort of. above any advocacy of either candidate, fair coverage is fair coverage is fair coverage. i politely request that you indulge with a mccain profile, followed by a huckabee, if doable.

[showme54]

IMHO the reason that we do not and will not hear any detailed specifics about the 2005 disasters from Katrina, the Federal Levee failures in NOLA and Hurricane Rita (all lumped together under the heading 'Katrina' by feds) from either of the candidates any more than those that have retired is explained by what happened to Edwards when he attempted to make a 'federal case' of the situation. He spent enough time in the Gulf Coast to realize the complexities of the situation and in trying to bring them to the public's attention was his downfall. Basically written off as the rich guy w/the styled hair pretending to care about the poor of an unpopular state and made to look foolish by picking up a hammer. Edwards reminded me of the story of a beach littered with thousands of starfish from a storm where a young boy was throwing them one by one back into the ocean. An old man came up and said why waste your time, there is too many to make a difference...the child threw another one into the ocean and quietly said 'it might make a difference for that one'.

The issues of the disasters of 2005 have many layers of 1)a 'major' hurricane Katrina hitting the coastal 'regions' of La, Ms, Al & Fl. (90,000 sq miles) nearly simultaneously 2) the failure of 50 sections in the federal levee systems surrounding a major metropolitan city and surrounding communities shut down and sitting in the toxic floodwaters. 3) the federal emergency response 4) Another major hurricane in Rita striking & devastating sw La/Tx coastal communites less than 1 month after Katrina.

All the issues of the events of 2005 have been forever combined in a hornet's nest called 'Katrina' and that is before any discussions on the culpability of the ACOE for the levees, emergency responsibility, rebuild procedures or the politics of the situations. The candidates know that discussing 'Katrina' or NOLA has become a full contact sport and a 'no win' cause to champion anywhere other than in the affected areas.

[GulfAaron]

The USACE, as hoppinhill points out, is directed by Congress. To get a 'perfect' Corps, overseeing the design, engineering, building, maintenance and operation of water projects which work well and are in the best interests of the nation, is going to take a 'perfect' congress and President. failing that, we should proceed with an August 29th Investigation, pass into law the big ticket reforms that have been advocated for quite some time by folks like the Corps Reform Network and Mike Grunwald.

To secure NOLA we need the above action, and full-scale coastal restoration utilizing the Mississippi River's land-building power, sediment pipeline delivery, cypress forest conservation (don't buy cypress mulch folks), and smart levee alignments and construction.

But don't worry, we don't just have our collective hand out - we know a source for revenue - 40-60% of the coastal land loss was caused by the oil and gas companies. If we get Barack or Hilary to back a federal oil industry tax - bada bing, bada boom. To see a film that lays out the scientific and legal rationale - head here: http://www.healthygulf.org/hot-issues/natural-defense.html

[MissFortunate]

Appoint a Special Gulf Coast Inspector General: Congress has appropriated more than $94 billion to help the Gulf Coast recover and rebuild. In addition, federal agencies have used general funding to respond to the disasters. However, a recent investigation by the Congressional Budget Office reported that because of a lack of transparency, "CBO has been unable to track those funds." Similarly, the GAO reported last year that, "the federal government is not adequately tracking and reporting, on a governmentwide basis, on the use of [then] $88 billion in hurricane relief and recovery funds." The House Committee on Government Reform identified 19 contracts last year, valued at $8.75 billion, plagued by significant waste, fraud and abuse. And, one study finds that almost two years after the storms, less than half the money set aside for rebuilding (not short-term response) has actually been spent. Edwards will appoint a Special Inspector General with subpoena power to offer the public a full accounting of recovery spending at every level of government and investigate irresponsible contractors, referring fraud for aggressive prosecution by the Justice Department. All penalties and recovered funds will go to projects that put money on the ground with Gulf Coast residents, such as the Road Home and federal support for rental housing. [CBO, 2007, GAO, 2006, Waxman, 2006; Buchanan and Komm, 2007]

http://www.johnedwards.com/news/headlines/20070827
-new-orlea­ns-proposa­ls/
HARRY INQUIRES: And what was his policy on letting the old, unimproved, un-peer-reviewed Corps of Engineers proceed with the rebuilding of the levees they designed and built poorly the last time?

[liz]

More than an Inspector General we need-- for New Orleans and for Iraq-- an army of Special Prosecutors! I cannot see the follow-up stories about Katrina without ourage. Billions in government money and billions more in charitable giving, and people have so little in the way of housing, schools, medical and psychological treatment services, and safe infrastructure. Why is this not the subject for at least as much investigative reporting by news media as missing, addicted, or baby-adopting blonds? If a reasonable person spends a great deal of money and got such a shabby product or service in return, he or she would at least demand their money back, or sue the thief, or try to have them indicted for criminal activity. As a citizen of this country, I think we should all take this course of action: We want the job done right; we want the money back; and we want criminals put in jail for long enough to deter other criminals from thinking bilking us is a good idea.
HARRY NOTES: Way back almost two years ago now, the Times-Picayune published a story about the "contracting pyramid" in New Orleans. Disaster debris removal, which was under the supervision of, surprise, the Army Corps of Engineers, paid the prime contractor something like $172 a ton. Five levels down, the sub-sub-sub-sub who drove the truck and finally picked up the stuff was being paid around $5 a ton. Coincidentally, around the same time, the Washington Post reported on why so few of the promised medical clinics were being built in Iraq. The answer was a similar contracting pyramid, administered by---the Army Corps of Engineers. Connect the dots.

[Bienville]

Also reported was the Corps' contracts for placing blue tarps over existing damaged roofs. Anyone on the Gulf Coast has seen more than their fill of these ubiquitous reminders of hurricanes-past. While the Corps paid prime contractors something like $175-$225 per square (100 square feet), five or more levels down, the installers were paid about $2 per square for vinyl-coated canvas tarps. For comparison, consider that I had my house re-roofed in early 2005, for which I paid about $200 per square for a 30-year asphalt shingle roof.

[Bluedanube]

The "Establishment" will not speak truth to power, namely that the Army Corps of Engineers is guilty of negligent homicide. Neither Republican or Democratic politician is willing to hold the Corps responsible. The same thing will happen with a new administration. The negligence and crimes of the current administration will go unchallanged because the first rule of the "Establishment" is to protect their own i.e. the ruling elite. No accountability will occur because they and the media will say that in the interest of domestic tranquillity and because we are threatened by cave dwelling terrorists it's time to move on. The ruling elite preserves their position of power while the public is sacrificed on the altar of the status quo. This is but another example of why the U.S. is in a the beginning phase of it's own demise.

[LARiverWater]

President Bush came out tonight in support of the Clintons. saying “I don’t think Bill is a racist”, and that “Obama has no experience”. WAKE UP PEOPLE! The Rebubs want the Clintons to get the nomination. It is so CRYSTAL CLEAR! It’s obvious and SHAME ON US if we can’t see the “Karl Rove hand behind the dummy routine”. Just because we’re paranoid of them, doesn’t mean they’re not manipulating us. The radio news reports of the election is playing only Hillary sound bites, listen carefully. They control most of the Radio networks. It’s starting to not go their way, and their only hope of winning is to run against the Clintons.

[GH]

Well, Harry when he was president for 8 years with all of that corrupt money flowing into Washington from his illegal campaign cronies from China and Indonesia, and from the biggest rip off bubble before this current bubble - he sure didn't bring any money into NOLA and the area to build flood gates with; to build stronger adn higher levees with; to build better pumps and move them to higher ground with; to close MRGO. But then again, he didn't do much to rebuild the midwest after the historic Mississippi floods, or to help Homestead Florida - which 10 years later was still struggling (and that place is easy to get to) - Well they closed down it's lifeblood - the base there.

And yes Harry, it has been going on a very long time. But everyone only wants to smear Bush for what nobody else ever did. Many of us knew for 40 years before Bush that it was destined to happen - and it became well known during the Clinton years. And he was not spending the money to save lives from HIV/Aids in Africa either, was he. Now, we're having to do it all.

The downward trend has been a long road Harry. The Clitnon era represents when all hope was lost - nothing was done - but we had a big bang dot.com market, based on greed and fraud. It gave - and it took it all back away - including all of the surplus and more.

OK, so Clinton woke and got to work up after he left the White House and the country reeling into an economic disaster, which we still have not recovered from - fine.

[bigpat]

GH
I think you would be well served to expand your research/sources beyond that of FOX News. Why don't you keep your focus on having all things in the US named after Reagan?

[GH]

oh, that was intellegent and helpful. Let me ask you a question. Which is going to upset you more; a friend of yours going through hell because his spouse had an affair and contracted aids - or your spouse putting you through hell because he/she had an affair and contracted aids - now too sick to work running up the bills?

The Clinton years were corrupt. Period. The bubble was a bust (I've never heard Fox news do a good spot on it - but I have read the very progressive economist Dean Baker, who said that the Clinton financial leadership was the worst since Herbert Hoover.) We can't fix Bush's stuff, if we can't even acknowledge that the 1990's were a joke - and not peaceful - more people were dying in the world, in Africa, and in Iraq then - then now.

[MikeMidCity]

Did Bill mention that if we had the money that is being wasted in the Iraq war we could put the whole darn city on an elevator and just push the up button when the water rises.

The vote for a war overshadows everything else since it is sucking the life out of our country.

Does anyone really think that Obama would let the poor of N.O. be patrolled by Blackwater or not evacuate the city? You really aren't saying that you think Barack wouldn't be a huge change over Bush I'm sure.

New Orleans is a state of mind that happens to be in a very bad spot. If we are to keep it as it was it needs huge fixing. If they let the 9th ward be subject to periodic flooding then not so much.

The whole thing of people living in flood zones needs to be rethought. Environmental considerations and wetland needs should be balanced against the economics of a more natural realignment of where we live and what tragic results we are willing to pay for not changing our patterns of where we live.

After all it's not like we don't know that the climate is changing and storms appear to be getting bigger and wetter. It could be even building to a level six storm protection will be an exercise in futility.

[JAUG]

What (Mr.) Clinton Brought to New Orleans?

Bupkis

[Lockwood]

It is a national embarrassment that the levees are status quo, insurance claims remain unpaid, and much of the media continue to blame the victims of the flooding in New Orleans. Obama is the ONLY honest, industrious visionary in this presidential race. McCain will divert all of our resources to his "100 year war" in the Middle East and Clinton is as directionless as a tumbleweed in the desert. Her goal is winning, not leading. Barack n Roll, Senator Obama!

[ricnelson]

The comments on this article are quite telling. George Ksplan tries time and again to bring the conversation back to the issue at hand, and yet people still want to engage in a high school debate about who the best presidential candidate is - who we like today, and who we didn't like in the past.

The bottom line here is that unless real people stand up and demand that those who are given the responsibility of public trust are held accounbtable for same. In this case, it's the corps, and congress. If you all think a presidential candidate of either party is going to make that happen with the corp, you're naive. When just 10-15% of the country votes for a president, what mandate are we the people sending to Washington? How about - "Do as you like, 'cause not very many of us are watching, or maybe we're watching but we're never going to actually do anything about things we don't like".

Forty years of apathetic oversight of the corp (and congress) left over 1,000 New Orleans citizens dead and has cost the country (you and me) Billions of dollars in clean up and restoration - with a lot more to go. This figure dwarfs the 40 years of spending on the flood protection system the corps was put in charge of building in manner that was supposed to keep the city and her residents safe - just 700M over 40 years.

As we (taxpayers) head down the road to the New New Orleans, it's essential we get the best return on our dollar. And that starts with you and me demanding an 8/29 commission to reform the corp and the oversight they receive. Anything less is a threat to the security that any corp project is supposed to offer. And if you think passing our repsonsibility on to one person - a presidential candidate - is going to solve the problem, just when do you plan to wake up and smell the coffeee? The fox guarding the hen house has never been in the best interests of the hens.

[nellie]

For real-time information about what is going on in New Orleans and other Katrina-ravaged areas, and what you can do to help:

http://tinyurl.com/2okcf2

[AxelDC]

Clinton is saving her powder for March 4th, when she thinks Texas and Ohio will come in big for her. This is the same "swing state" theory that has cost Democrats the White House and key Congressional races in the last decade.

Obama is racking up states, delegates and money. If she continues to underperform through February, Obama will have over 25 states, a sizeable lead in delegates, and more money than she can imagine. Giuliani tried the Big State strategy only to see McCain take over the race. Will Clinton survive a dozen straight defeats and remain a viable candidate, or will voters in Ohio and Texas decide that they need to unite behind Obama instead of letting Clinton drag this thing out?

[midtown]

Whoa, David. I love your reporting, but you are really off base on this.

"i.e., mandating a truly independent peer review and oversight for the Army Corps of Engineers, and full funding for a program of barrier island and coastal wetland restoration."

Mr. Clinton is CURRENTLY in charge of fund -- and collected money -- that should have been doing this for the past 2.5 years. WHAT HAS HE BEEN DOING? $4.5 billion goes unused to fix the mess in NOLA. He has not been paying attention to it.

[laurelnyc]

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I really think that rebuilding New Orleans is a huge waste of money because it will continue to be destroyed by hurricanes and it is only going to get worse with global warming. In addition, sea level rising is inevitable and in 100 years I'll be surprised if the city isn't completely under water. I realize people are attached to their homes, but sometimes people need to be pragmatic...things change in life! We have a huge country...no need to live in a danger zone.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Laurelnyc,

Other than that the Hurricane didn't destroy the city (incompetent engineering did), I haven't commented on that line of thinking in a while. Here goes:

All Californians should move to areas that don't have earthquakes, mudslides, or grassfires.

All Washingtonites and Oreganos (sic) should move to areas that don't have volcanos. This goes double for Hawaiians.

All New Yorkers should move to areas that aren't prime terrorist targets.

All southwesterners should move out of areas prone to water shortages and outright drought.

All southerners should move out of hurricane zones.

All mid-westerners should move out of tornado zones.

See you all in Montana.

~~ New Yahker (and former Californian)

[HoppinHill]

New Orleans was NOT destroyed by a Hurricane. The city was destroyed due overwhelmingly and primarily to egregious mistakes made by the US Army Corps of Engineers who are - by federal mandate - responsible for the performance of the flood protection in that region.

[VSamuels]

Exactly. Obama spoke of the egregious problems which existed before the storm came. In fact, the former administrations, not only Bush's one, failed by ignoring the infrastructure woes common not only with levys, but bridges, roads and overpasses. The enormous amount of money being spent overseas is one issue, but the other one is systemic; today's politicians with the most clout are a huge deciding factor in where our tax dollars goes.

To whit: the bridge to no-where in Alaska, and Rangel, a Clinton supporter, wanting to build and name a building in his honor. These are the funds that move along the path of the establishment, whereas they should be moving along what is good for the country. And, if Obama is going to fight against this type of mindset, and actually place money where it is needed, and remove the money from being a tool of the politicians to make themselves look good in their districts, then more power to Obama.

Hillary won't try, Obama says he will. And, those 211 Super delegates who have joined her campaign are a clear indicator that it is something 'in it' for them, should she prevail. And, when one listens to Hillary speak one hears her acknowledge the challenges and problems, but one does not hear her verbalize the 'system' which is manifesting these same problems and prevent anything from being changed.

Lastly, she is even now starting to change her message, but it doesn't sound sincere since it is not the basis of what she represents.