Bush Tells New Orleans...

Off Topic Politics and World Issues
21

[quote]BIGRAGOO wrote:
Another question is why so many people didn’t evacuate. I know not everyone could, but the whole southeastern part of the state was told to evacuate Thursday before it came in. We had plenty of time get the hell out of the way. Many just did not want to leave, now they are stuck.[/quote]

I’m not sure what would keep a person from leaving based upon the predictions that were being made about the oncoming disaster. Could be they didn’t believe it. Maybe instead of blaming the Mayor, Governor or the President it might be time to blame the folks who decided to sit tight when all the best opinions were to leave the area.

22

[quote]ron33 wrote:
No matter what excuse these phoney politicians give ,there is no reason for any citizen’s of our compassionate conservative country to have to go through what the people of N.O. have delt with and are still dealing with.There have been plenty of studies ,that this could happen ,they even new there were over 100,000 people that didnt own a vehicle or were in wheel chairs etc. that couldnt get out.

The funding to fix these problems arent available to our cities yet they can waste all the money their wasting in Iraq,a situation that wont be fixed in our lifetime.In the last 30yrs. the only prosperous time for the working people of this country is when slick willie was pres.Since the new regime has been in power, gas has doubled in price food and utilities have goneup.This just shows home land security sucks,and the people better vote these clowns we have in office out and get someone who wont just say what is popular to get the most votes.

And all you have to do is read some of DUH-BYA,s history and you can see all his jobs have been obtained by either friends,or dadies connections.Anyone that thinks that dunce is doing a good job has the mentality of the fecies thats floatin in N.O.[/quote]

If anything bush has been a black cloud for this country.

23

[quote]mindeffer01 wrote:
That is disturbing. How are the local churches and comunity groups responding? I’m sure their capabilities are stretched thin, but are they active in providing places for the displaced?

[/quote]

The churches and community centers are doing everything they can. They are stretched thin, but there are many volunteers and they are working very hard.

24

Thats good to know. I hate hearing people complain that nothing is being done. I feel that this greatly minimizes the efforts of the people that are there doing everything humanly possable.

25

[quote]doogie wrote:
Professor X wrote:
You are basically making excuses for the actions taken when the truth is, it should be plain as day why some people are noticing faults.

Honestly, do you not think it was the mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of LA, and the LA legislature that should have had a plan for this worst case senario? Why is this first and foremost a federal problem instead of a local problem?[/quote]

Doogie: 1
ProfX: 0

26

[quote]doogie wrote:
Professor X wrote:
You are basically making excuses for the actions taken when the truth is, it should be plain as day why some people are noticing faults.

Honestly, do you not think it was the mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of LA, and the LA legislature that should have had a plan for this worst case senario? Why is this first and foremost a federal problem instead of a local problem?[/quote]

I think they absolutely should have had a plan. I also know that once it was clear they didn’t have this under control, action should have been taken much faster than it was. I doubt anyone here is claiming that the local politicians did a wonderful job in this. The point is, what does that matter when people are still trapped and dying? If higher government has the means to help in what is being called a “NATIONAL tragedy” then that is who we count on these situations. Are you saying this should not be the case? Are you claiming that response time appears to you to have been faultless?

27

[quote]vaughn5000 wrote:
doogie wrote:
Professor X wrote:
You are basically making excuses for the actions taken when the truth is, it should be plain as day why some people are noticing faults.

Honestly, do you not think it was the mayor of New Orleans, the Governor of LA, and the LA legislature that should have had a plan for this worst case senario? Why is this first and foremost a federal problem instead of a local problem?

Doogie: 1
ProfX: 0[/quote]

I think you got the score wrong.

It’s a federal problem first and foremost because of the scale of the disaster and the relief required, and also because of the scale of the public works that would have been needed in the first place to prevent or mitigate the disaster, which will now belatedly be put into place. With federal assistance. And also because of the federal regulations that impinge on these last efforts. And also because of federal complicity in failing to fund the necessary public works.

Yes these are state and local problems also, but they cannot be state and local problems instead. I think there was planning all up and down the line, at every level, but plans buy you just so much, especially when they aren’t adequately resourced.

So where was the resourcing? Well, because of the scale issues mentioned above, that was largely determined by policies and plans at the federal level. Policies and plans made by the current President and his administration over the last five years. And the last five days.

28

When the compassionate conseratives need an issue in the next presidential elections i wouldnt be suprised if they put their little spin on all of this.We will probably here something like,vote for our canidate so we can fix all problems in the country like the disaster in N.O.after all they will point out that all the major politicians in Louisiana at the time are Democrats.And if they dont have a suitible canidate ,surely our rules will be changed so they can run ARNOLD Schwarzenwhatever for President.

I am not a republican or Dem…I weigh the issues ,and vote for the best man for the job.I live in an area that is controlled by Republicans and usually they are also the same religion.They control the police dept. the hiring at the county courthouse etc.If you are not their religion or political affiliation you have a hard time in the job market etc.Hell one of our big business men in town doesnt see eye to eye with our college baskatball coach and the coach was let go and bing bang boom the business man donated 30 mill. to the college.

29

[quote]mindeffer01 wrote:
Thats good to know. I hate hearing people complain that nothing is being done. I feel that this greatly minimizes the efforts of the people that are there doing everything humanly possable.
[/quote]

That is an excellent point!

32

Anybody see any similarities between The Perpetual Critic (see Shugart’s blog of the same name) and the We’ve Got to Blame Somebody For Katrina’s Destruction bunch?

I do.

33

Pushharder,What are you hiding from up there in Montana.Are ready to head into canada when your man, lets The Whole ShitHouse go up in Flames? Us Politico’s that are left here ,are the ones who’ll have to deal with it.

34

Two Points.

  1. Unless I am running an upper level Div. 1 program I would fire any basketball coach in exchange for a 30,000,000 donation to my school.

  2. You should look for jobs outside the police dept./county courthouse or just find another place to live…

[quote]ron33 wrote:
When the compassionate conseratives need an issue in the next presidential elections i wouldnt be suprised if they put their little spin on all of this.We will probably here something like,vote for our canidate so we can fix all problems in the country like the disaster in N.O.after all they will point out that all the major politicians in Louisiana at the time are Democrats.And if they dont have a suitible canidate ,surely our rules will be changed so they can run ARNOLD Schwarzenwhatever for President.

I am not a republican or Dem…I weigh the issues ,and vote for the best man for the job.I live in an area that is controlled by Republicans and usually they are also the same religion.They control the police dept. the hiring at the county courthouse etc.If you are not their religion or political affiliation you have a hard time in the job market etc.Hell one of our big business men in town doesnt see eye to eye with our college baskatball coach and the coach was let go and bing bang boom the business man donated 30 mill. to the college.[/quote]

35

Wow. I cannot believe how many people are trying to blame the mayor of NOLA for things only the federal govt has the resources to do.
Lets take the idea of forced evacuation. Just getting all the people out of NOLA who didn?t have transportation with all the buses in NOLA would have been physically impossible.

The number of buses I have seen quoted in NOLA was 2-3000. At most that will carry 30,000 people. Approximately 150,000 were left in NOLA. Second where would they have been sent? The governor of Texas has just stated that Texas can take no more refugees. Baton Rouge is well beyond full and there are still more than 75,000 still in NOLA and this is after we know this is a national emergency.

Tell me what city would have been willing to take 100,000 poor people into there city on the 1 in 50 chance that NOLA might be flooded by a hurricane. Any one who thinks that Ray Nagin or Gov Blanco should have evacuated NOLA completely before Katrina has no understanding of logistics. It was not physically or logistically possible to do so.

The only possible way it could have been done would be if Bush had ordered all relevant government agencies and the military to pull out all stops to achieve it. Something not likely given the short notice and uncertainty of the effect of this particular hurricane. Remember, they would have to do this for almost every hurricane that entered the Gulf.

As for Bush he is largely responsible for the poor after storm response. Bush is the President of the United States. Unless you believe he is the US equivalent of the Queen of England, you have to accept the fact that on a national emergency of this scale the President bears a great deal of responsibility on how our national resources are brought to bear.

A quick response by our President would have brought supplies and outside help into NOLA days earlier at a minimum saving hundreds of lives. Bush is the only person in the United States who could have guaranteed a much faster response across the board. Anyone who does not admit that Bush has at least some responsibility for the poor response cannot be considered credible on anything else they say on this subject.

36

[quote]ron33 wrote:
Pushharder,What are you hiding from up there in Montana.Are ready to head into canada when your man, lets The Whole ShitHouse go up in Flames? Us Politico’s that are left here ,are the ones who’ll have to deal with it.[/quote]

Yesssssssssssss, de eeeeeeevil despot Booooosh withheld his magic wand so de hole sheethouse wood go up in flames…heeeee heeeeeee heeeeee…You “politicos” MUST STOP HIM! De future eez in yur hands! Arise, O Army of the Left! Arise frum yur slumber!

37

[quote]freemark wrote:

As for Bush he is largely responsible for the poor after storm response. Bush is the President of the United States. Unless you believe he is the US equivalent of the Queen of England, you have to accept the fact that on a national emergency of this scale the President bears a great deal of responsibility on how our national resources are brought to bear.

A quick response by our President would have brought supplies and outside help into NOLA days earlier at a minimum saving hundreds of lives. Bush is the only person in the United States who could have guaranteed a much faster response across the board. Anyone who does not admit that Bush has at least some responsibility for the poor response cannot be considered credible on anything else they say on this subject.
[/quote]

Dammit, I want a lot more than that from the evil Booooosh! He had no right to be spendin’ money fightin’ an illegal war in Iraq when he coulda been building a huge 70,000 foot high wall in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic that woulda deflected this storm and others like it! The wall could extend from Brownsville, TX to Lubec, Maine. That stinkin’ Booooosh! No wonder nobody likes him!

38

[quote]BostonBarrister wrote:

This is key. The AP reported that the governor didn’t even declare a state of emergency and call for evacuation of NO until she got a personal call from the President urging her to do so.

There are reasons beyond the logistical ones why this disaster seems to be orders of magnitude worse than similar-sized hurricanes that have hit other areas over the last 50 years. And a few of them, at least, seem to point to the traditionally ineffective and corrupt state and local governments in Louisiana.[/quote]

And the REAL story…

Gov. declares state of emergency as Katrina heads for Gulf Coast

Gov. Kathleen Blanco has issued a state of emergency for Louisiana as the latest projections for Hurricane Katrina have shifted west to include much of the state’s coastline as possible locations for landfall.

“Hurricane Katrina poses an imminent threat, carrying severe storms, high winds, and torrential rain that may cause flooding and damage to private property and public facilities, and threaten the safety and security of the citizens of the state of Louisiana,” said a release from the governor’s office.

The state of emergency extends from Friday, Aug. 26, until Sunday, Sept. 25, unless terminated sooner.

http://2theadvocate.com/livepages4/811.shtml

Katrina State of Emergency - pdf
http://gov.louisiana.gov/2005%20%20proclamations/48pro2005-Emergency-HurricaneKatrina.pdf

Yes it will.

Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen? ‘Times-Picayune’ Had Repeatedly Raised Federal Spending Issues
After 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security – coming at the same time as federal tax cuts – was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that, the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction in hurricane and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. Because of the proposed cuts, the Corps office there imposed a hiring freeze. Officials said that money targeted for the SELA project – $10.4 million, down from $36.5 million – was not enough to start any new jobs.

There was, at the same time, a growing recognition that more research was needed to see what New Orleans must do to protect itself from a Category 4 or 5 hurricane. But once again, the money was not there. As the Times-Picayune reported last Sept. 22

One project that a contractor had been racing to finish this summer: a bridge and levee job right at the 17th Street Canal, site of the main breach on Monday.

The Newhouse News Service article published Tuesday night observed, “The Louisiana congressional delegation urged Congress earlier this year to dedicate a stream of federal money to Louisiana’s coast, only to be opposed by the White House. … In its budget, the Bush administration proposed a significant reduction in funding for southeast Louisiana’s chief hurricane protection project. Bush proposed $10.4 million, a sixth of what local officials say they need.”

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313