Posted on 03/21/2006 10:45:53 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
LA went for Bush in 00 and 04. Yes, a majority of New Orleans is (was) trapped by the Liberal's welfare policies. Most everyone I know down here are very much against the Feds "throwing" money this way. We despise the utterly corrupt Blanco regime. We are fearful her crooked husband lawyer will get his buddies "set for life." Nagin has shown himself not to be up to the task. He is a disappointment. The only thing going for Nagin is that he came from a business background and tried his best to root out corruption from the Morial and previous rabidly corrupt democratic thieves. Most of those running against Nagin are political hacks of the worst kind. They are running for one reason - to steal money. This Ron Foreman guy was Morial's campaign manager. They vile demo leftists are vying for a way to steal the taxpayer's money. It may sound crazy to outsiders but I believe less corruption would be realized if Nagin was reelected. Something snapped and he says bizarre things, but I don't think he is out to steal they way the demos in this state normally do. I just wish the Feds would help rebuild the infrastructure and that's it. Let market forces (high insurance for high risk, etc) do the rest. The canal walls failed mainly because they were solely in the province of a government entity. Inept engineers in the US Army Corps of Engineers made decisions that compounded and resulted in what you see. I DO NOT want the US Taxpayers to get ripped off by Louisiana pols.
You've mentioned something that needs repeating.
MUCH of the rental property- especially large complexes- are owned by out-of-state investors. The renters can't fix the property, the owners are nowhere to be found( probably waiting for insurance $$), and so thousands of places people could live sit just as they were the day after 'The Thing'.
Absentee landlords aren't dealing with their destroyed properties in many cases. They live far away, the old family home left to them by a relative was a nice source of income but now it's a giant liability in ruins. They don't HAVE to deal with it right away-so they don't. But the tenants are helpless either way- and so thousands of destroyed properties remain just as Katrina left them.
Legalities take time, and time is New Orleans' enemy.
Yea, it's sometimes disconcerting to see things written about your hometown. But, people need to vent and you have to not take the criticisms too seriously. I can understand people's frustrations with what is shown on TV. We were embarrassed by the vast democratic whiny voters shown on TV. Reality is far different from what is usually shown. Most people are busting their butts, trying to regain something of a normal life. It will take a very long time, if ever.
New Orleans and surrounding area have the highest density of lawyers per capita than anywhere else.
Much of this nonsense is due to legal concerns and the fear of legal concerns.
It is a way of life there. Settlements of the legal variety are a major industry, like nowhere else on the planet.
And very few citizens here believe they will EVER see any of that money. It will be eaten up by 'administration costs' and contracts handed out to cronys.
And utility companies are talking about doubling and tripling rates. Who can afford to start over from scratch and live here and pay tripled utility rates? Not many natives, I can promise you.
I agree, $130B is an incredible amount of money. For Blanco to say she needs more only shows her utter corruption. We are so disgusted with her stupidity and greed. I pray that there is serious oversight of the money being spent. It saddens me to see the politicians jockey to steal money. If one of Morial's hacks gets into office (Foreman or Mitch Landrieu) then it will be terrible ripoff of the taxpayers. As much as we are insulted by many things Nagin has said, he is really the best choice (except for some real unknowns with no chance) to keep the democratic thieves at bay. Being a local, we have seen Nagin to go great lengths to root out corruption. Getting Foreman or Landrieu back in would be a big setback.
I know.
I agree with everything you said over here in Marrero.
April 22 will reveal the future of New Orleans.
Hopefully a lot of 'counters got set back to zero'
"Hopefully a lot of 'counters got set back to zero,'"
That's my feeling, as well. I really, really hope that some of these uber-liberal UW Madison "kids" get a taste of how things really work, and how it's much more important to "do for yourself" than to sit around and wait for the government to do it for you.
My heart really, really goes out to people in NOLA (as did my blood through the Red Cross, but no dollars; sorry, I'm broke) but it's been a disaster waiting to happen for a long time now...and one that's been at a level we've not experienced on our particular chunk of land on this planet.
Their next election will show what's really going on for their city/state. If all of the same "players" are still in place (Nagin, Blanco, et al) then it is hopeless.
Having lived there in the 80's...stationed at Ft. Polk, LA with the Army; I have no desire to go back. But, my Cow Town was nearly wiped out by a Cat 3 Tornado this summer...it decided to land the next town over, but it could've been me, so after picking 2x4's and animal body parts out of the farmers' fields during the clean up, I do have a teeny-tiny idea of what it must be like for the industrious living down in NOLA to try to rebuild. I'd probably want to rebuild, too, were NOLA my home.
But you get to a point where you have to see that Nature is going to kick your @ss every few years, and Below Sea Level is probably not the best place to set up Base Camp if you want to be warm and dry. ;)
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