Posted on 04/24/2008 11:14:50 AM PDT by CarmichaelPatriot
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - John McCain toured still hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans and declared that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have immediately landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base. The Republican presidential candidate is campaigning this week in what he calls forgotten areas of the country. He offered a pledge Thursday to New Orleans residents that their situation will not be forgotten and that such a botched disaster response will never happen again.
McCain was unsparing in his criticism of the Bush administration. He said Congress must share some of the blame, too.
Drawing a sharp contrast to President Bush, McCain said he would have landed his plane "at the nearest Air Force Base and come over personally."
See #125 and #130 for very recent stories of local corruption. There are tons of other articles on this. Shall I post links to them all? Or maybe you should do your homework.
Louisiana ranks third in the nation in the number of elected officials per capita convicted of crimes (Mississippi takes top prize). In just the past generation, the Pelican State has had a governor, an attorney general, three successive insurance commissioners, a congressman, a federal judge, a state Senate president and a swarm of local officials convicted. Last year, (2004) three top officials at Louisiana's Office of Emergency Preparedness were indicted on charges they obstructed a probe into how federal money bought out flood-prone homes. Last March the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered Louisiana to repay $30 million in flood-control grants it had awarded to 23 parishes.
Bush's fault!
The fact is that additional federal money would not have corrected the inherent levee design flaws.
All you’re offering is desperate spinning to distract attention.
Next time, please cite real journalists.
More spin. This is relevant to hurricane protection...how?
“Yes, you are reading it wrong. Congress authorises specific water projects. Local governments have no power to divert funds.”
I see....well what were they under investigation for before the storm even hit?
They did according to some of the other links folks are providing to the discussion. The Levee Board (a local entity I assume) was under investigation.
From the article that I sited:
“Much of that Louisiana money was spent to try to keep low-lying New Orleans dry. But hundreds of millions of dollars have gone to unrelated water projects demanded by the state’s congressional delegation....”
At the very least,from this article, it looks like your local/State government did not do what was required by law to get matching federal funds for levee or flood projects and that under the Bush Administration, LA had received more federal dollars for flood control, and infrastructure than any previous administration or by any other state in our republic!
So the money was there(whether it was under local control or pissed away by your congresscritters)...someone ‘took it’....and you guys in LA need to be finding out the truth instead of swallowing hook, line and sinker what your local/state folks tell you or the spin you read or see about Congressional Hearings!!
You’re still not getting it. This isn’t about the adequacy of funding (then, anyway). It’s about the adequacy of design and construction. The corps has admitted its failure. Why are you in denial about this? Why are you so interested in changing the subject?
The misappropriation and failure to obtain matching Federal funds has no bearing on the final product? the levees? That’s spin? No wonder LA and NOLA are so corrupt. You just can’t take responsibility for anything down there can you? lol
Are you aware of any previous visit by McCain to New Orleans (post-Katrina)? Just wondering what/when his initial response was.
You don't like my evil right wing sources?
“You’re still not getting it. This isn’t about the adequacy of funding (then, anyway). It’s about the adequacy of design and construction. The corps has admitted its failure. Why are you in denial about this? Why are you so interested in changing the subject?”
No one of changing the subject..we are trying to get you to consider the fact that your local/state government is to blame for most, if not all, of the Katrina problems!!
What about this from your link to someone else:
“Experts from the National Science Foundation, the external review panel for the corps, said potential problems have been known for some time. They cited a 1986 corps study that warned of just such separations in the floodwalls.”
I am sure this ‘1986 study’ was used for some kind of funding to fix it (they always are)...so where did that money go?
Researchers say levees had design flaws"I'd call it a design omission," said Robert Bea, a University of California at Berkeley civil engineering professor who took part in the study for the National Science Foundation.
(snip)
Bea said the NSF team believes the Corps has suffered from a lack of funding and technical resources over the years.
(snip)
Bea also said that the flood-control system has many jurisdictions involved, and the resulting confusion leaves "no one minding the store."
While the Corps is responsible for levee construction, local levee boards take care of most maintenance. In some cases, the state highway department or railroad companies handle maintenance of floodwalls when their rights of way cross the levee system.
A flood gate near the Industrial Canal, which helped inundate parts of east New Orleans, was missing because of damage caused by a train, Bea said. The Union Pacific railroad had removed the gate for repairs, and it dispatched employees to fill the gap with sandbags as Katrina approached.
"It didn't hold," Bea said. "There isn't a door, and they've got measly sandbags they're putting in to compensate."
At another canal, the UC group found a levee built to five different elevations by five different agencies.
Here is the record of the hearing you referred to in your post about ‘design flaws’ and just as I suspected, that is not the total of the ‘story’.
Go read the whole thing. There was more than just this one broken wall that caused the flooding of New Orleans. You had topping of levees and other breaks that had nothing to do with I or T walls and ‘design flaws’.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2007_sapp_ene_4&docid=f:59104212.wais
Nor can I. I'm not staying home, though. Write-in, or a 3rd party for me. The choice is only going to be between 2 Democrats, anyways...
Reagan had the 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican."
Once again, McIdiot shows his true colors. No money from me, GOP/RNC while this guy is your presumptive nominee. Oooh, I could almost set that to music...
So what?
Bush made himself a failure in Katrina by not even bothering to point out all that you pointed out in your first paragraph. Have you EVER heard Bush bring up the issue of those unused school buses and the fact that the Dem Governor and Mayor ignored their own Evacuation Plan?
Its about time we had a President that will playing hardball with the Dems in the public relations battlefield.
The White House’s lack of response to WMD argument and to Katrina baffle me to this day.
Same here.
The total lack of offense after Katrina is what finally convinced me that George W. Bush was destined to have a failed Presidency.
“Its about time we had a President that will playing hardball with the Dems in the public relations battlefield.”
Right On!
Looks like we will have to wait until 2012, because McCain will be worse on that front than the Bush Administration ever was....LOL
Yikes, I can't believe I typed that...I've been there enough times!
And his black vote percentage will rocket from 5% to 7%. Well played Johnny! /sarc
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