Posted on 09/02/2007 8:37:51 AM PDT by knighthawk
Two years ago, Robert Lynn Green of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans lost nearly everything precious to him in the world.
His granddaughter, Shanai, was swept out of his hands in the flood and drowned. His home was washed away. And the skeleton of his 73-year-old mother, Loyce, was found four months later, trapped in the ruins of his house.
Green has been camped out for months in a FEMA trailer, waiting for help that never seems to come.
One reason for the delay is that Louisiana's political corruption, unfortunately, was one thing that didn't get washed away in the 2005 flood.
Shortly after the storm and levee failures that destroyed New Orleans, I predicted with great sadness that a huge problem would erupt when the billions of dollars needed to rebuild the Gulf region passed through the sticky hands of politicians in Louisiana, a state notorious for political corruption.
"Worried about looting? You ain't seen nothing yet," I wrote.
It was not a wild guess. Shortly before the flood, I'd spent time working with local officials as part of a team of consultants trying to create an economic development strategy to help find jobs for New Orleanian ex-convicts.
Along the way, I met some of the smartest, most earnest scholars and officials anywhere in the country, men and women who oozed integrity and good faith.
They quietly warned that the political culture in Louisiana was a roadblock to economic progress.
And they weren't kidding. This is a state where a former governor, Edwin Edwards, is serving a 10-year prison sentence and a former state senate president, Michael O'Keefe, is locked up for insurance fraud.
Glenn Haydel, who ran the Regional Transit Authority, last year was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing nearly $550,000 in transportation funds.
Rep. William Jefferson, who represents New Orleans, is under federal indictment for corruption; he was videotaped taking $100,000 from an undercover FBI agent and has yet to explain how $90,000 of it ended up in his freezer.
Two of Jefferson's aides have already pleaded guilty and were sentenced to seven and eight years in prison.
Two months ago, Ellenese Brooks-Simms, the former president of the New Orleans Parish school board, pleaded guilty to taking $100,000 from a lobbyist in bribes to steer a contract for the district's math curriculum to a particular company.
The lobbyist who allegedly offered the bribe, Mose Jefferson, is the indicted congressman's brother. Twenty-eight other school employees and contractors are under indictment on bribery, theft and fraud charges.
The latest pol to fall, city councilman Oliver Thomas, pleaded guilty in mid-August to demanding $15,000 in kickbacks from a local businessman in exchange for permission to operate parking lots in the French Quarter.
Thomas, who is facing 10 years in prison, was considered a clean politician and a leading candidate to become mayor after Ray Nagin, the term-limited incumbent.
"My greatest hope is that I will not become a distraction to the thousands of people who are trying to recover their lives, their families and their homes," Thomas said at an emotional press conference following his resignation from the city council.
Oh, yeah, that. The recovery.
More than $3.8 billion in FEMA relief funds for Louisiana - over 61% of the total - has not been paid to applicants. Only 22% of applicants to the Road Home program, which helps homeowners rebuild, have received funds.
Much of the problem is inefficiency. But pols in the Crescent City - many of whom appear to be grabbing with both hands for every nickel passing through government's hands - have much to answer for as the city's stalled, agonizing recovery proceeds at a snail's pace.
Ping
At some point, these anecdotal stories stop being anecdotal and become statistical datasets that tell the true story of (democrat) political corruption.
But let’s not dwell on that. Instead, let’s put all our energies into following the salacious misdoings of a Republican Senator in a state far, far away. At least that’s the predominant media culture, one supposes.
http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20070827i
"One half of Louisiana is under water and the other half is under indictment.
The only thing he forget was the "D"
I have been to NOLA three time since Katrina.
And have been completely amazed at the lack of progress. There’s still junk everywhere that’s never been cleaned up. Still trash up in the trees. How can people live like this?
Oh sure the French Quarter has been cleaned up. But only because it’s a huge tourist trap. And it wasn’t damaged that badly in the storm.
But the rest of the area damaged by the storm is still largely a mess.
I'm willing to bet that the businesses and residents in the French Quarter cleaned the area up on their own without waiting for us to help them out.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
The Federal government is LA's enabler.
To a scam artist, disasters are opportunities.
There seem to have been MAAAAAAANY scam artists around New Orleans.
I saw Douglas Brinkley pimping his Reagan book yesterday... he basically said it was Bush's fault... that he should have appointed a 'czar' to manage NOLA's recovery.
That’s what bothers me. There are many people sitting around in the NOLA area, waiting on the government to come and help them.
Why can’t they get up and do stuff? Like clean the trash out of the trees or collect the garbage that’s everywhere and at least put it in one pile per city block.
Prolly waiting for the illegals to come over to do the jobs Americans won't do. Somebody with a little entreprenuerial skills should form an hiring agency and place a few posters down in Mexico and along the border at all the cross-over points.
That was the difference between New Orleans, (poster child for the nanny-state) and Mississippi, Alabama, and here in NW Florida. We didn't wait for nobody. Just as the winds were dying down from hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, we were out looking at our homes and helping those that had damage. We cleaned up everything long before state/local disaster crews made it out to our area. The only thing we waited for was getting the debris hauled out.
-Traveler
I guess it’s been a while since you went right? The 9th Ward isn’t the whole city.
http://www.new995fm.com/cc-common/mainheadlines2.html?feed=209149&article=2502729
There are recent pictures at the link from almost all of the areas. It would be nice if there were honest reporting being done but that isn’t the point of agenda driven media now is it?
I'm not that familiar with the layout of NO. Is there a good on-line map that shows where the recovering areas (your picture references) are, and where the 9th ward areas are?
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