$3 billion New Orleans levee repair plan announced

CNN ^ | 15 Dec 2005 | Unattributed

[Ben Mugged]

President Bush will request billions more to help rebuild the levee system in New Orleans, Louisiana, Donald Powell, the top federal official for reconstruction, announced Thursday.

"The levee system will be better and safer than it's ever been before," Powell said at the White House.

When asked if the levees would be built to withstand a Category 5 storm, officials used broader language instead, promising that the city's citizens would be safe and the levees would be "stronger and better."

"The federal government is committed to building the best levee system known in the world," said Powell. "It's a complicated issue." (Watch Powell announce more money for New Orleans -- 2:54)

The announcement came after Bush met in the Oval Office with Powell, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the head of the Army Corps of Engineers.

[makoman]

Wow, the Nawlins criminal politicians are gonna have to work overtime to figure out how to steal that much money.

They are chomping at the bit!

[Saints fan]

I'll bet Nagin is choppin at the bits trying to figure out how to get his hands on this money.

New Orleans does have a long history of corruption to be sure, but as hard as it is for yall to believe, I believe Nagin was not that way. He was trying to do something about it before Katrina came to town.He may not be the smoothest politician, but I don't believe he is corrupt.