I didn't say what I really feel about her.
Posted on 01/24/2006 6:43:19 PM PST by Ellesu
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana's hurricane reconstruction efforts are hampered by waits for new federal elevation standards for home building and could face further hindrances by the White House's refusal to back a key home buyout bill in Congress, Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Tuesday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is developing a new set of recommended standards for rebuilding in hurricane- and flood-prone areas that likely will suggest damaged homes be rebuilt at higher elevations and with further protections against future flooding.
The ability to keep or afford homeowners insurance may be linked to compliance with those elevation standards, which also could drive up the costs of rebuilding, but Blanco officials said the first new preliminary set of standards won't be out until March or April in New Orleans and several other areas, with the final guidelines not expected until August.
Blanco said the delay is stymieing people who want to rebuild in accordance with the new standards to be eligible for certain types of rebuilding assistance and to be able to get insurance.
"It's holding up a lot. People are afraid to do the wrong thing, to put money into a home that may or may not be insurable in the long-run, and this is causing a tremendous amount of paralysis," Blanco said in a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press that reviewed her response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita and her plans for recovery and rebuilding.
In addition, the chances of passage in Congress of a home buyout plan by U.S. Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge, seen as crucial to post-hurricane rebuilding may have been dealt a crippling blow when the White House decided it won't back the proposal.
Blanco said Donald Powell, President Bush's chief federal hurricane recovery adviser, told her the Bush administration would not support Baker's proposal to create a federal corporation that would borrow money to buy tracts of homes damaged by the hurricanes, repair them and resell them. The plan would give mortgage relief to homeowners and lenders.
"They didn't want to set a new precedent, a new kind of program, is my understanding," Blanco said.
Baker, who confirmed his plan didn't have support from the Bush administration, said he would continue pressing for the legislation, and Blanco said Powell suggested the White House wouldn't actively fight Baker's bill.
"He said, 'I can't predict what Congress will do.' OK, so, my interpretation of that is if Congress takes a strong interest in it, I don't think the White House will oppose it," Blanco said.
Both the governor's Louisiana Recovery Authority and New Orleans' hurricane recovery commission were crafting housing assistance plans that would tie into Baker's legislation, so the bill's failure would have a ripple effect on housing and reconstruction plans.
"We looked at it as a part of our housing plan," Blanco said.
The governor said the Bush administration would like the state to use most of its possible $6.2 billion in flexible federal hurricane recovery block grant dollars for housing. She said the "lion's share" would likely be used for housing, but the Baker bill was needed as a bigger fix for the state's housing problems.
In other areas during the interview:
_The governor said she plans to run for a second term in 2007, despite heavy criticism of her leadership during and after the hurricanes. "I trust the Louisiana people. They're going to judge the results of my work come election time," she said.
She said no one in her administration or in the Democratic Party has "had the courage" to ask her to step aside rather than run for re-election.
_Blanco said she intends to keep the bulk of the state and parish evacuation plan in place for next hurricane season, working with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to retool efforts to move those without transportation out of New Orleans rather than to a shelter in the city.
_She estimated 800,000 to 900,000 of the 1.3 million people who evacuated before Hurricane Katrina have returned to their home parishes.
_Blanco said Nagin's calls for New Orleans to return as a "chocolate city" _ a speech for which Nagin has apologized _ wouldn't harm the state's efforts to attract more federal assistance in the recovery efforts.
"In the end, it's turned into probably the most lampooned expression that we've had since the beginning of Katrina. Now, it's good for a belly laugh," Blanco said. "And he was very contrite in trying to explain away his emotional rantings."
She said no one in her administration or in the Democratic Party has "had the courage" to ask her to step aside rather than run for re-election.
_Blanco said she intends to keep the bulk of the state and parish evacuation plan in place for next hurricane season, working with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to retool efforts to move those without transportation out of New Orleans rather than to a shelter in the city.
_Blanco said Nagin's calls for New Orleans to return as a "chocolate city" _ a speech for which Nagin has apologized _ wouldn't harm the state's efforts to attract more federal assistance in the recovery efforts.
"In the end, it's turned into probably the most lampooned expression that we've had since the beginning of Katrina. Now, it's good for a belly laugh," Blanco said. "And he was very contrite in trying to explain away his emotional rantings."
Shut up.
Can you imagine the nerve of a federal agency spending taxpayer dollars - requiring that any rebuilding aid not just set up the bowling pins all over again?
That just runs counter to the need for corruption and graft by the Dem machine in Louisiana. Blanco and her entourage might just have to make another junket back to the Netherlands to console themselves.
Yeah, that's what happens when you surround yourselves with advisors who are like remoras on your ample backside.
I didn't say what I really feel about her.
Lame excuses.
Flood plain maps are not new and not any secret... and they're not drawn in the White House.
Blaming the White House for not "getting behind" some bill in Congress...? Congress either moves on legislation or they do not. This responsibility is in ... Congress, not the White House.
But blaming ~anybody~ at the Federal level is just plain lame at this point. Roll up sleeves, and do... or do not. Time to quit whining.
The article doesn't say anything about flood plain maps being new or secret. It also doesn't mention anything about them being drawn by the White House. It is true that the longer it takes for the elevation maps to come out the longer people have to wait to make decisions. If you don't know how high your house has to be in order to get insurance how can you begin to rebuild? It causes a delay. That's a fact and that's all the article says.
Also, as far as the White House getting behind legislation in Congress. The White House pushes legislation in Congress all the time. Did the White House initiate the tax cuts in Congress and did the White House get behind that legislation and did Bush campaign all over America for that legislation to pass? Did Bush encourage Congress to pass the tax cuts? Of course he did. It's absurd to think that the White House doesn't get involved in legislation in Congress.
And "roll up your sleeves and do"? That's why they need the flood plain maps. They can't rebuild until they know the elevation their house needs to be. Do you suggest they rebuild their houses only to find out in a few months that they have to raise it because it is below the flood level standards?
I think Ramius' point is that getting those flood-plain maps shouldn't require Federal assistance.
Here in Florida, if I want a copy of that stuff (flood-zone info, lot and plat info, property tax info), I can get it at the county level. I can even look it up online.
It is hard to imagine that New Orleans (I don't know what parrish, sorry) is less technology-friendly than Clay County, FL.
Take down the levees and put everything on pontoons. Of course after a heavy rain there would be lots of Change of Address cards at the post office.
Are they changing the maps? Katrina flooded areas that had never before been hit by storm surge. A fair number of people were caught without flood insurance, not because they just blew off the threat, but because their areas had not been deemed to be at risk. If the maps are being revised, that's a major long-term planning issue.
How can federal flood maps, being drawn up by FEMA, a federal agency not require "federal" assistance? These are new maps that aren't ready yet. They are being drawn by the feds. There are enough legitimate things to criticize New Orleand and Louisiana for without reaching for something like this.
Again, here in Florida, flood maps (and determining flood zones) are done by elevation. We get hurricanes like crazy and it never seems to change the elevation. If they need the info in a hurry, maybe they could use the resources that they already have.
Blanco's and Nagin's waiting has already cost Louisiana enough.
Let me try one more time. The new flood maps will have new elevations that will determine how high a persons house has to be in order to be able to buy federal flood insurance. They will be NEW elevation requirements. People cannot use the old numbers. Areas that never flooded before flooded this time and thus the need for new elevation requirements. There is absolutely nothing Nagin and Blanco can do about this one other than wait for FEMA to produce the maps. I'm not about to defend either one of them because they are both in way over their heads but this one isn't their fault.
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