Fact Check: Is Bush to Blame for New Orleans Flooding?

FactCheck. Org ^ | 9/02/2005 | Fact Check Staff

[guitarnick40]

New democratic/liberal time history designations being proposed for future evolution books in their godless schools:

BB=before bush (doesnt matter what happened then)
&
AB after Bush, when history began and the utopia was destroyed

[Kay]

Superb. Printed and saved the articles for reference when I talk to staff & friends. Again, thanks.

In talking to an acquaintance today, I mentioned that I was distressed that President Bush was coming under such fire. She immediately said "Well, I heard that he did cut funding to the levees." When I responded with some details, she couldn't believe that President Bush had called the Mayor to urge the evacuation or that it should have been the Mayor's & Governor's jobs to take charge. She asked me how and where I had heard those things. I asked her to recall who were the people who responded to the 9/11 disaster -- pointing out that it was Mayor Guiliani & the NYPD + NYFD -- not the national guard. She looked at me as though her vision was beginning to focus, then she quit talking when I mentiioned that both the Governor & Mayor were Democrats. We had not discussed politics before so I take it she is a Democrat. Looks like I'll be avoiding that subject with her.

[Howlin]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476158/posts

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/27/AR2005082700843.html

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1473847/posts



(A good Freeper NEVER loses a bookmark that may be needed in a later discussion. :-)

[Mike Darancette]

the Corps of Engineers says that even the levee project they were working to complete was not designed to withstand a storm of Katrina's force.

The requested $$ would have been money thrown down a RAT hole.

[Howlin]

This was pretty interesting too:

FEMA is getting an earful from the man heading New Orleans' emergency operations.

Terry Ebbert says the federal agency's response to Katrina is "a national disgrace."

Ebbert says FEMA has been in the city for three days, but he says that has yet to result in any command and control. He says Mayor Ray Nagin has been "pushing and asking, but we're not getting any supplies."

The emergency chief says the evacuation of thousands from New Orleans to Texas has been "almost entirely" a Louisiana operation -- saying he hasn't seen "a single FEMA guy."


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1475330/posts?page=125

But what do we know about Ebbert?


Ebbert, 60, has been directing the city's new Office of Homeland Security and Public Safety since his appointment by Mayor Ray Nagin on Feb. 11. A highly decorated war hero and the former executive director of the nonprofit New Orleans Police Foundation, Ebbert has been given major powers and responsibilities as an executive assistant to the mayor. His duties are commensurate with his $114,676 annual salary.
Ebbert is charged with coordinating the city's terrorism response capabilities and obtaining federal and state funds for homeland security. He also will oversee the police and fire departments, the Office of Emergency Preparedness and city Emergency Medical Services, and the 911 Center or Orleans Parish Communications District.

His duties extend beyond a crisis or special events such as Mardi Gras. Ebbert has responsibility for the daily operations and planning of all those departments as well as the management of their budgets, Nagin told Gambit Weekly last week, after presenting his plan to re-organize city government to the City Council. "Mr. Ebbert is responsible for all matters related to public safety," the mayor said.


**So Ebbert, appointed by this mayor, IS the guy who should have had all this worked out!


I heard one of the governors from up north tonight saying that he had his NG troops ready to roll out Monday night, but they never got the call. The governor of LA has to ASK for them before they can be sent.

Be sure and remind your friend that before Bush called Blanco to tell her to order the evacuation, her sum total contribution up to that point had been to urged the good citizens of New Orleans to "pray tonight that the winds of this storm diminsh," and "if we try, we can make this a good expeience."

And don't forget to remind your friend that the mayor helicoptered HIS family out on Friday.

[nopardons]

bttt

[Howlin]

Oh, here is a post I just got with some GREAT stuff from none other than the New York Times......what a bunch of hypocrites!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1475574/posts?page=328#328

[Kay]

Great resources. How do you organize your extensive list of bookmarks?

I'll use this info on others but I don't think I'll bring up politics again with the woman from today or I'll alienate her. She would rather stay in her comfort zone.

Now it's off to bed for early AM work. Thanks again.

[Liberty Valance]

Karl Rove's Hurricane Machine is just trying to blow smoke over the Supreme Court Nominee hearings.../sarcasm squared/

[Howlin]

I just have a folder for every topic; and I move them around a lot, trying to keep some semblance of order -- and so I can remember where they are when I want to find them.

In truth, when I open Favorites, they fold out into the next room........LOL.

If Hillary runs, I'm ready for her!

[beyond the sea]

We don't know whether the levees would have done better had the work been completed. But the Corps says that even a completed levee project wasn't designed for the storm that actually occurred. ----

This seems to be a key sentence.

But, it's clear that the Dems. will be able to spin this to the ears of the large numbers of relatively ignorant voters. This issue, unfortunately, may be a big problem for Republicans in '06.

[beyond the sea]

"It was scheduled to be completed in 2015." ------ It's 2005.

Yep.

[beyond the sea]

I tried the flood plain areas, those were not wet enough so I just built in in the swimming pool

LOL. Was it a lap pool?

;-)

[Peach]

Look for backhoe's links under the inforum comments; the link to this is in the hurricane archive - at the top.

[Smartaleck]

From another Freeper

Here's some similar info I came across earlier today:

February 17, 1995
An Army Corps of Engineers "hit list" of recommended budget cuts would eliminate new flood-control programs in some of the nation's most flood-prone spots - where recent disasters have left thousands homeless and cost the federal government millions in emergency aid.

Clinton administration officials argue that the flood-control efforts are local projects, not national, and should be paid for by local taxes.

Nationwide, the administration proposes cutting 98 new projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico, for an estimated savings of $29 million in 1996.

Corps officials freely conceded the cuts, which represent only a small portion of savings the corps ultimately must make, may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. But they said they were forced to eliminate some services the corps has historically provided to taxpayers to meet the administration's budget-cutting goals.

June 23, 1995

A hurricane project, approved and financed since 1965, to protect more than 140,000 West Bank residents east of the Harvey Canal is in jeopardy.

The Clinton administration is holding back a Corps of Engineers report recommending that the $120 million project proceed. Unless that report is forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress cannot authorize money for the project, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's office said Thursday.

On June 9, John Zirschky, the acting assistant secretary of the Army and the official who refused to forward the report, sent a memo to the corps, saying the recommendation for the project "is not consistent with the policies and budget priorities reflected in the President's Fiscal Year 1996 budget. Accordingly, I will not forward the report to the Office of Management and Budget for clearance."

[Kay]

Thanks. Will do after work.

[Peach]

Actually, I kept reading and another freeper sent you the pertinent links so there's no need to look at backhoe's posts.

[Milligan]

From another Freeper

Here is a link to the study on the 2005 ACE budget:

http://www.asce.org/pressroom/news/grwk/event_release.cfm?uid=2286

Cutting 30M from a budget this size (of 4 BILLION) from "coastal flood control" is NOTHING. A drop in the proverbial bucket. Read the areas in their budget which were cut. Major "pork watcher" agencies (non-partisan) targeted the same areas for cut as did Republicans in Congress.

Most important quote:

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - President Bush has proposed to cut approximately $500 million from the Army Corps of Engineers civil works budget in FY 2005 while boosting funds for some environmental programs, including an increase in spending for a plan to reverse the major erosion of the Louisiana Coastal Area.

Blame Bush for the 30MM cut in ACE budget for coastline flood (levee) control, or blame the environmentalists? Also note the increase in the budget for the ACE Mississippi River navigation control district, which encompasses New Orleans as well.

Also if you go back into the 1970's (maybe before), you might see that the levee system (never deemd capable of withstanding a Cat4/5 hurricane) was accepted as a suboptimal compromise plan to meet the restrictions imposed by environmentalists.

Also if you look at NO planning over the past 3 decades, you might see numerous cases of local and state govt bypassing federal guidelines and permitting development in areas known to be a great risk.



8 posted on 09/02/2005 6:26:23 AM PDT by silverleaf

[Milligan]

Louisana Coastal Restoration

http://www.epa.gov/Arkansas/6xa/coastal_resolve.htm

"The Corps of Engineers has been digging canals and building levees for 100 years. Now you tell them, 'You have a new job, and part of that job is undoing what you did before.'

"Sixty-five percent of land loss in the state of Louisiana is occurring in the Barataria-Terrebonne region. We are poised to have one of the largest natural disasters this country has ever seen," St. Pé says grimly. "We're at the point that the land loss is threatening our ability to live here, and that includes New Orleans. If it were anywhere else in the world eroding this fast I'm sure there would be a general outcry."

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2003-03-18/news_feat.html

Introduced Bill S2554 American Wetlands Ecosystem Protection and Restoration

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c108:1:./temp/~c108itUeDS:e179467:

Misc
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SN02554:@@@J

[Milligan]

Louisana Coastal Restoration

http://www.epa.gov/Arkansas/6xa/coastal_resolve.htm

"The Corps of Engineers has been digging canals and building levees for 100 years. Now you tell them, 'You have a new job, and part of that job is undoing what you did before.'

"Sixty-five percent of land loss in the state of Louisiana is occurring in the Barataria-Terrebonne region. We are poised to have one of the largest natural disasters this country has ever seen," St. Pé says grimly. "We're at the point that the land loss is threatening our ability to live here, and that includes New Orleans. If it were anywhere else in the world eroding this fast I'm sure there would be a general outcry."

http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2003-03-18/news_feat.html

Introduced Bill S2554 American Wetlands Ecosystem Protection and Restoration

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c108:1:./temp/~c108itUeDS:e179467:

Misc
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:SN02554:@@@J