We don't want to "cut and run" in Iraq, why are we so ready to "cut and run" in NOLA? Federal government built the levees to CAT 3 levels, and a CATT 3 storm destroyed them. Now they need to fix what they broke.
Your argument supports the absurdity of living below sea level in the first place, not why we should compound the error through repetition.
Federal government built the levees to CAT 3 levels,
You mean give money to a government like this?..
FBI investigating donated cars (Louisiana)
nola.com ^ | 07/07/06 | Gordon Russell
FBI starts probe of donated autos :
When carmaker DaimlerChrysler AG donated 40 trucks and sport utility vehicles to Katrina-crushed governments in southeastern Louisiana last September, company officials never imagined some of them would wind up in the hands of private nonprofits.
In fact, the company said Thursday that it made clear to the cities and parishes that received the gifts -- collectively valued at more than $1 million -- that they were for the exclusive use of public agencies or government units, such as police and fire departments. Dave Elshoff, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman, said those instructions were delivered, both verbally and in writing, to then New Orleans City Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt, who signed for 20 of the cars when they were delivered to Baton Rouge.
Yet eight months later, Gill Pratt would arrange for the donation of four cars to two nonprofits to which she has close ties -- donations that on Thursday, four days after they were disclosed, led City Council members to call for the cars to be returned to the city and the local head of the FBI to announce a criminal probe of the matter.
In the case of Gill Pratt's donations, the city attorney's office prepared cooperative endeavor agreements with Care Unlimited and Orleans Metropolitan Housing. The president of the second group is Mose Jefferson, brother of Bill Jefferson. The agreements were all signed by Mayor Ray Nagin.
and this?..
WILSON ASKS U.S. ATTORNEY TO INVESTIGATE JUNK CAR DEAL
thedeadpelican ^ | March 22, 2006
The Times Picayune reported today that seeking a contract to remove thousands of flooded and wrecked cars from New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin's administration recommended that the city go with the highest quoted price for the job, a review of the 14 proposals submitted last year shows (see entire article here) .
The Times Picayune reported that the chosen proposal, a $1,000-per-car bid from Colorado-based CH2M Hill, was nearly triple the cost of at least three other bids, records showed.
The New Orleans paper read that the gap between CH2M Hill and the other companies cannot be precisely ascertained, because not every proposal included a price, and some of those that did listed tasks that others did not.
In a statement issued today by her press office, Mayoral candidate Peggy Wilson had some harsh words for Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco.
“It has become quite apparent that neither the Mayor nor the Governor is willing to issue an executive order to put an end to this insane idea of paying $1000 per car, $23 million to remove the abandoned vehicles from our streets," Wilson Said.
"I issued a news release on Monday calling upon these two to stop this deal," said Wilson.
"No response brought another article today," said Wilson.
"Due to this lack of response, I call upon the office of the U.S. Attorney today to thoroughly investigate this deal to determine if the issue suggests corruption and immediately move to stop the contract."
"Something is drastically wrong here in New Orleans; dumb and/or corrupt government is killing our city. The nation is watching, congress is watching, we have got to get it right and get it right now.”
Over the years, it's the local NOLA politicos that squandered levy money - which had indeed flowed to the area. Once again, the blame needs to be placed where it belongs: Locally
Now they need to fix what they broke.
Why?
The federal government contracted with local NO contractors to build the levees to the Cat III standard. The local contractors ignored the standard, failed to meet the obligations of the contract, diverted money elsewhere, and therefore were responsible for the breaking of the levees. The federal government doesn't build anything. They only hire people to build.
And they (the feds) didn't break anything, the hurricane and subsequent flooding broke the levees. You're not claiming the feds dynamited the levees deliberately are you?
I think that's being done. As I said in my post, rebuilding social overhead capital in most cases is a proper function of gov't. Rebuilding private property is not. In my mind, the federal gov't has no business being in the insurance, banking, transportation, postal, or energy business. (There are others, too.)
They shouldn't be rebuilding a city that shouldn't have been there in the first place and got wiped out. New Orleans is below sea level and sinking. Let it go back to nature.
Was it the levees that broke or the canals? Is the canal system considered a part of the levees? Does the Army Corps of Engineers build and maintain both? I have heard several viewpoints on this.