Yeah ... and then the President should have reduced Louisiana to a territory, brought in the military, and tossed the politicians in that ex-state into federal jails.
Louisiana isn't a state, it's a criminal enterprise.
I don't think unless people have actually seen New Orleans they can't grasp the magnitude of the problem.
I lived in NO half my life, but even so, looking at the issue from far away, trying to imagine it, it's simply not possible.
Words can't describe it, pictures don't do it justice.
I have read that Bush did not actually tour any of the flood zone. Too bad. They should have driven him through the mile after mile after mile of empty gaping wounds that used to be neighborhoods, used to be houses and are now empty hulks at best, or full of soggy muddy oozy garbage at worse, or collapsed piles of former structures at worst.
The mind reels. It's just too much to comprehend.
There may be a better solution than the Baker plan but I don't see it.
I sure as hell would not rebuild a home or a business in the flood zone until the flood protection is rebuilt, and rebuilt better than before.
See post 13.
Yeah ... and then the President should have reduced Louisiana to a territory, brought in the military, and tossed the politicians in that ex-state into federal jails.
Louisiana isn't a state, it's a criminal enterprise.
I can grasp the devastation.
I lived thru more than one major earthquake and wildfire in California.
Having said than, I HAD earthquake insurance, and also fire insurance. I knew I had those hazards and I paid accordingly.
If you chose to live BELOW sea level, and have NO FLOOD insurance, then I am completely baffled why and how you can actually stand there and tell me as a taxpayer all my adult life that I should contribute one thin dime to your problem.
You desire to rebuild WITHOUT flood insurance where you were, and when all this happens again, you will stand there and plead again. WRONG wrong, wrong.
The political members of your state squandered monies earmarked for the maintenance of the levees. Go talk to them. You got a "Shrimp Industry Museum" instead of maintenance as well as other things, not to mention the outright graft.
The citizens of Louisiana have spent multiple lifetimes allowing the graft and ineptitude to run rampant for years and years. Reap what you sow.
Now it has come home to roost. 200,000+ people "couldn't get out of NO on their own", and now there are 200,000+ cars scattered all over the city, which they won't move because of ownership and insurance questions. I want to know why the people couldn't get into the cars and DRIVE out of danger.
IF they stayed because they thought they could "RIDE IT OUT", then I say: You got what you deserved. Get on the bucking bull and don't bitch when you get bucked off.
The land in the lowest areas should be bought up at a reasonable value and made into a large park. When it floods again, then it is only flooding the grass/dirt.
Sepulveda Dam Basin at the intersection of Hwy 101 and I-405 is exactly that.
Stay out of my tax-payer pocket. You already have a disproportionate number of welfare collectors there. Leave me and my hardworking brethern alone, please.
What should the aftermath of a flood look like? In 1900 Galveston, Texas, was damaged much worse than N.O. and no federal aid was forthcoming, nor expected. It was rebuilt by the people who wanted to rebuild it and it has been a thriving city for over a century since then.
Surely you are not saying Texans are tougher than Cajuns! :-)
Got a better idea - don't build your home in a coastal area below sea level.
New Orleans should not be rebuilt. The Port of New Orleans is a strategic necessity, but we can do without the rest of it.
But I'm going to miss Mother's and Brunig's.
Maybe that's because it was UNDER FREAKIN' WATER at the time, genius.
You may be confusing Bush with Castro, who can snap his fingers and spend millions on anything he wants. What difference does it make whether Bush saw the devastation or not. It's either right to bail them out, or it isn't. I want to know how it is that so many people were uninsured in an area below sea level. Did they just assume the government would bail them out? How different is a single homeowner in New Orleans without insurance than a dumb jerk in Des Moine who doesn't have fire insurance and his house burns down?