"And that is the problem all this keeps returning to - you are asking us to send tens of billions of dollars to the same hacks who helped create this mess in the first place."
The "mess" you refer to was created by and large by the Corp of Engineers who built shoddy levy protection and turned around and told the good citizens "it's okay to build here, you are protected." The entire Metro area was high and dry shortly after Katrina had passed......then the water burst through.
Last I recall, a corrupt Levee Commission was in charge of the levees, and was more interested in building casinos than improving levees.
And had NOLA suffered a direct hit from Katrina instead of a glancing blow from the weaker side of the storm, it would be moot anyway.
That is ust not true. Ever since 1967 the corp of engineers has yearly predicted that a direct hit by a category 3 or higher hurricane would destroy New Orleans and much of the surrounding territory.
In 1967 the Corp of Engineers proposed, congress passed and the Lyndon Johnson signed a bill to build a Levy system that would handle up to and including a level 5 hurricane.
Some Democrats were very angry about the so called destruction of natural habitat of assorted fishes and water bugs this new levy system would cause. Environmentalists brought a suit in federal court that was decided by judges appointed by Democratic presidents. The judges decided that the upgrade of the levies would harm the environment, wetlands, and assorted species. The Levy construction autorized by the bill was forbiden by the court.
Typically, the Corp goes through a bidding process and are required to take the lowest responsible bidder and award the work to a contractor. While the Corp usually provides some project managment oversight, shoddy construction is usually blessed off by the local inspectors. How do contractors typically skimp on costs? They pay off the local inspectors to look the other way when a 30' underground foundation only goes down 15 feet. So before blaming the Corp., maybe you should find out who built the levees and find the polical connections of that company to the local political machine.