Give It Back

Two years ago, Louisiana was hit by Katrina, the most expensive and devastating hurricane in our nation's history. Both the levees and our emergency responders were woefully unprepared, and New Orleans continues to suffer. At the time, while President Bush and Congress were at a loss as to where to find the monies necessary to start the repairs, I wrote an open letter to my representatives in Congress - Messrs Shays, Dodd, and Lieberman - suggesting that Congress give back its earmarks as a down payment on repairing New Orleans.

Earlier in that summer of 2005, Congress had passed an omnibus transportation bill which included over 6,000 earmarks - including the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska - but no money to fix levees in New Orleans or bridges in Minnesota.

Last year, during my campaign for US Senate, I argued that earmarks - those specially requested favors which sail through the budget with little public scrutiny - were fueling the culture of corruption in Congress. Jack Abramoff once called Congress an "earmarks favor factory." Back in 1994, Speaker Newt Gingrich saw earmarks as a handy way for vulnerable incumbents to hand out favors to party favorites. The number of earmarks soared from the hundreds, to 4,126 during Gingrich's first year as Speaker, to 15,877 during the Republicans' last year in control of the House and Senate.

Soon after the Democrats took over the House and Senate last November, Republican Senator Ted "Bridge to Nowhere" Stevens confronted fellow Republican Senator Tom "anti-earmark" Coburn: "Well, Tom, I hope you're satisfied for helping us lose the election."

Coburn responded (per his website), "No, Ted, you lost us the election," as Senator Bridge to Nowhere had become the poster boy for the corrosive old-boy network which was so quick to dole out political patronage yet so slow to reinforce the levees in water-soaked New Orleans.

DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel helped lead the Democrats to victory last November as the party of reform. Last week he wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times entitled, "Don't Get Rid of Earmarks." In his defense, Congress did recently pass some half-measures which make the earmark process somewhat more transparent. But all these half-measures do is hand the issue right back to Republicans, who gleefully point to earmarks like the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center - bringing the weather-predicting hedgehog to Washington to highlight Congressional mischief.

Democrats were elected to challenge business as usual and propose bold reforms in health care and energy. But if we can't get the little things right, no one will trust us to take on the big issues confronting our country.

On this, the two year anniversary of the devastation of Katrina, I say it again: give it back, give back those corrupting earmarks and finally start rebuilding the levees, rebuilding the communities of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and rebuilding America.

(Originally posted at NedLamont.com.)

Comments

[realitytrumpsbull]

Katrina/New Orleans was a tragedy that started a LONG time before the hurricane turned it into New Venice. Katrina's a story about infrastructure neglect, and ignorance and apathy on the part of both city administrators as well as citizens. That's basic civics, and there's no government donut large enough or sugary enough to remedy the problem. If people don't really give a shit about their own future, 'the government' isn't going to be able to fix the problem. But, the two travel hand-in-hand, and you can't fix a problem that you don't know you have, or really understand. That's where it falls to the people that administrate a city like New Orleans to keep the citizenry apprised of goings-on and known problems. Let's see THAT kind of stuff on the evening news, BEFORE they become emergencies/catastrophes. Of course, admitting that there's a problem then puts the onus on those same city leaders to stand up and start seeking remedial actions...have to actually EARN the donut...and god only knows what kind of chaos that might instigate...

[dianeremarx]

This isn't about Dems and Republicans, this is about spending tax payer money to rebuild levies that shouldn't be rebuilt. New Orleans is below sea level and the ground will continue to sink. Why should the city be rebuilt in places that just aren't safe?! As the government shouldn't pay for homes destroyed year after year by flood, hurricanes, etc. When did the government get into the real estate business -- without even owning the real estate?! And to you all (postings and Lamont) who are making this about Democrat or Republic bashing, SHUT UP! I don't want to pay to have New Orleans rebuilt. Most people who left will not return so this becomes the perfect opportunity to bring the wet lands back.

[changehorses08]

Mr. Lamont -- You should be the Senator from Connecticut. Please run again. You could challenge Lieberman because by then he will be a Republican and he will be easy to beat. God bless you. Stick with our party and make us better.

[Stanley]

Earmarks are a flawed system by virtue of Politicos who see them as tools in the war chest to sway votes through bribery. As we need a system that seeks to pursue common virtues versus rule bending gluttony, we need to create tighter restrictions and transparency so that any earmarks are harder to acquire, limited in number and can be quickly evaluated and associated with a politician to let voters and the press evaluate corruption more easily. Hometown voters may favor the increased political power and continue to support the more gross earmarkers, so overall restrictions are needed.

[kraimie]

I'd prefer they just gave us back to the French.

[wrightthewrong]

I guess it's lucky for the Dutch that they were able to successfully design and build the infrastructure required to protect Holland from flooding. The British, too, have been working on such infrastructure for more than a decade. When they had their recent flooding, I noticed that people were being helped much more quickly by their government than those in NO could expect from our government.

It looks to me like Bill Kristol and others of his ilk successfully managed to drown our government in the proverbial bathtub after all. I think of that every time I think of New Orleans.

In response to South House, I think it is more important to get rid of lobbyists -- the earmarks will follow when there is no one to reward. Term limits are worth considering, but many of our best statesmen (as well as some of our worst) have been there for multiple terms and do good work. The line item veto, though, should never be given to someone like GWB. It gives the legislating portion of our government to one person, which was never intended.

[steamboat]

Everybody, put partisanship aside. BOTH parties are crooked and hypocrites. So get back to the subject at hand. And start a nation-wide protest to REBUILD New Orleans. All I ask, "is every dollar be accounted for."

[Indiana]

A nationwide protest to rebuild New Orleans is an excellent idea! I second it.

[CSE]

Mr. Lamont:

Are you going to rebuild NO at the current elevations? I saw last night where a NO police officer had moved back into his house after having gutted most of the home. The home experienced 10 feet of inundation. He was one of only two on his block who intended to rebuild in the flood prone area at the same elevation.

The levee rehab will not be completed until 2011. When completed, it will only protect for conditions associated with a moderate Cat 3 hurricane. Redevelopment is rebuilding for another disaster.

The editor of the Times-Picayune was on the tube two nights ago and mentioned that the areas where the levees broke after Katrina appeared stronger than before - yet there are miles of levee and miles of opportunity for just a minor undermining during a surge to cause the catastrophic flooding we saw in 2005.

Why does no one discuss the fallacy of rebuilding areas that experienced 10-20 feet of toxic flood waters. Even the residents who are afraid to return understand that they will be returning to a dangerous situation. At least they can be commended for realizing now that touting the protection of the levees as safe is myth.

Why can't the voices desiring redevelopment of NO speak to these practicalities as well?

Maybe start by referencing this:

http://dels.nas.edu/dr/docs/burkett.pdf
.

[Yukon Jack]

Of all the names of politicians mentioned in the original blog and the follow-up comments, did we see the name of a freshman?

NO!

They are all career politicians, whose main ambition in life is suck at the public teat and get a gold-plated pension.

Interest of the people??
PERISH THE THOUGHT!!

Here are three things America needs to do in order to get back on the track of greatness and - no less - decency:

1. Term limits (2 - TWO terms) for ALL politicians, not just the President.

2. Line item veto for the President.

3. Kill the "ANCHOR-BABY" law. If your parents are not LEGAL in America, neither are you.

(As a fourth, allow foreign-born citizens to become
President. It is already OK for State Governors).

Think about it, and tell me what's wrong with this plan.

[SouthHouse]

Hi Folks!

And Hi Ned, from a college classmate! One of the highlights of the reunion last year in Cambridge was the live conversation we were able to have with you from the campaign trail in CT. And I agree-- you wuz robbed!!

I also agree with your assertions about New Orleans, which is my home town. If we can find the money to rebuild infrastructures in the U.S. that are destroyed by earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, tornados, and the seasonal floodings of our largest rivers, then dammit, we can find the money to fix the leevees.

[radicalcentrist44]

How was he robbed? A liberal democrat who could not win in Connecticut--it was his own fault.

[stonesfan30]

Terminator 4 Voter Machines!!!

[Porter]

Earmarks in themselves are not the problem. Many if not most represent federal spending on necessary programs and projects.

The problem is that earmarks have been kept under the radar and hidden away by the Republicans where they can't be seen or understood. And their attribution has also been muddied so that you can't tell just who was responsible for placing a particular earmark in an essential pieces of (unrelated) legislation.

The real problem is that earmarks are in the wrong place. Transportation earmarks should be part of comprehensive transportation funding bills. Education earmarks should be out in the open and discussed as part of education appropriation legislation. "Defense" earmarks in particular need greater transparency and be part of defense appropriations legislation.

All discussed, negotiated, evaluated and if deemed important enough to fund, made part of the appropriate legislation, at the appropriate time, and with an assurance that we have sufficient funds available for the programs without having to borrow the money from Saudi, from China, or from future generations.

[mamacat]

Thank you for the article Mr. Lamont.

I would like to see some figures about how much earmarks are costing us. Mr. Lamont states that they went from hundreds before Republicans got control of the House, to many, many thousands recently. That fact certainly does sound like a waste of our money, and an indictment of Republican corruption.

How much is needed to rebuild the New Orleans levees and the rest of the South devastated by the hurricanes of two years ago? Whether or not the rebuilding of our country can be done by getting rid of earmarks, it still needs to be done. How many months or weeks of funding Bush's Iraq war could be traded for funding the repairs needed as a result of Bush's failure to prepare for Katrina? (By the way, Congress approved the funds to reinforce the levees years before Katrina struck, but Bush didn't feel it was right to spend money fixing America.)

I would like to see the failures of the Republican led government righted. I hope that there are enough honorable Republicans, willing to work with the Democratic majority, to get the job done.

[researcher]

Loved your anti war stance and sorry you lost and look what America got instead a war monger.

now new Orleans waste of money will not be rebuilt right and dike will fail again .

money down the drain. fly over new Orleans it is below the water line.

most corrupt city in America and we treat it like we cannot live without it.

Disagree with you on this one Ned. The elitists in America don"t care about those black folks in that city. The city that needs buried under water is wash dc. And then moved to middle Missouri and two new parties started and then send all the lobbyists to Iraq to ride around in humvees so these guys in this you tube video can take shots at them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ISQWsezxLM&mode=related&search=

Every one that signs up as a lobbyist in the new capital in middle Missouri must ride around in a humvee for 14 months. This will give them a whole new appreciation for imperialism and blood for oil. They might even get a chance to kill a few Iraq women and children. Then when they get back they can have bragging rights about what heroes they are like the Vietnam vets. Mc Cain a true American hero that bombed women and children in nam. Don"t worry they were just gooks.

They need not worry we will buy them a new set of legs and a beer if they need them.

[yellowdogSC]

re,

"fly over new Orleans it is below the water line."

Yes, folks, THAT is called a "sentence".

So...if no one flew over NO it would no longer be "below the water line"? (Often called "sea level".)

Problem solved!

[Brilliances]

Haven't you guys rebuilt New Orleans yet? What a mess. Where did the millions of dollars go?

--
http://www.brilliances.com

[Indiana]

To make a long story short--a lot of this money was used for rescues and relief during the disaster and for "Band-Aid" measures such as FEMA trailers. Much of the rest is tied up in bureaucracy--for example, Louisiana's snafu-riddled "Road Home" program which is charged with handing out rebuilding grants to homeowners who lost their homes. It's moving so slowly about a quarter of those who've applied for funds have received grants.

[sammy333]

Mr. Lamont, please, keep fighting. Do not give up.