He's not out of touch with reality, he's out of money.
New Orleans can't and maybe shouldn't ever be what it once was without very serious engineering work on the levee system. Use the most heavily flooded areas for warehouses, not for high density housing.
I've noticed this week that the Washington Post has begun an advocacy campaign to use Katrina for another round of Bush bashing. News reports over the last week are full of criticism of the Bush administration for promises that haven't been kept and nothing getting done in the aftermath of Katrina. The Post capped it off this morning with an anti-Bush lead editorial on the same subject. I guess this is how they try build conventional wisdom and promote their point of view.
Private capital will flow where it makes sense. If it's not flowing into NO, then it doesn't make sense for the government to follow.
That is up to the property owners.
Who clears the title and assembles land for redevelopment?
Property owners can sell to developers if the price is right.
Who makes sure that the development plans conform to the community’s desires?
Desires? Dreams? The "Community" of activist who care little for private property rights? The market place will develop as warranted.
Who will make sure that natives of the devastated regions will have a financially reasonable chance of returning to their neighborhoods?
The government of Louisiana should make sure the property rights of the natives are not violated.
Why do you keep turning to me to rebuild your city? Maybe the $85 billion would be sufficient if your politicians weren't so corrupt and ineffective. Maybe the damage wouldn't have been so severe to begin with if your own local people had had the first notion of how to take care of you, or -- God forbid! -- you had the slightest idea of how to take care of yourself. And the gumption to do it.
No, the Stafford Law isn't made for disasters on the scale of Katrina, but then again, it was never INTENDED to be! FEMA is not a relief organization, and it certainly isn't a welfare group.
I can have Karl send you the addresses of Ray Nagin and Kathleen Blanco if you'd like. They're the folks you need to be talking to.
Get to work and stop whining.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
Who rebuilt Chicago and San Francisco after the disasters that destroyed them? Did the federal gov't write a huge check back then?
Stopped reading after "Bush out of touch".
Oh, now it is "Mr. President." Before it was racist.
My heart is just breaking.
There isn't unlimited amount of money to be had either.
Jeez, grow up! It doesn't hurt to take some responsibily for yourself!
This idiot needs to be realistic. Looked what has happened in NYC post 9/11. Coming up on 5 years and only a small portion of the complex has een rebuilt. And that's with tons of money and private developers involved.
New Orleans will NEVER be the same.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is absolutely destroyed, and all we ever, ever hear about is New Orleans.