The Tragedy of New Orleans (ingrained culture of political corruption in New Orleans)

WSJ/Opinion Journal ^ | Tuesday, August 29, 2006

[IrishMike]

"New Orleans has suffered from the trauma of three crises," says Louisiana Congressman Bobby Jindal. "First was the hurricane, second was the levees breaking and third has been the widespread incompetence of the federal, state and local government response. This has been a one-year case study in bureaucracy and red tape at its very worst."

Congressman Jindal's aptly stated charge of incompetence across all levels of government is the gentle assessment. Here, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, are the views of prominent Democrats:

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, touring New Orleans: "What is needed in New Orleans is public works projects." Senator Hillary Clinton, from a church in Harlem: "Our leadership has turned its back on those people who still need us."

Turned its back? As the chart nearby indicates, Congress has approved $122.5 billion for the Gulf Region, a figure incomprehensible in size to anyone but, well, a politician. The real wonder is that anyone is surprised, much less feigning surprise, that things are going poorly.

New Orleans' plight is not the result of federal underspending. Uncle Sam has spent some five times more on Katrina relief than any other natural disaster in the past 50 years. Both parties in Congress and the White House opted for the status quo by relying on federal bureaucracies to oversee the rebuilding effort. If Uncle Sam were deliberately trying to waste these funds, it is hard to imagine a better way than to funnel the money through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Small Business Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Both HUD and the SBA have been on the chopping block back to the early Reagan years. ..........................

[Ima Lurker]

Not everyone down here is blaming the federal government. That is just what the msm wants you to think. The majority of the people down here are working hard and are taking responsibility for their lives. You just never hear about them because they are to busy to hang around where the reporters are and the reporters don't want to hear about successful stories anyway.

Bears repeating!

What's funny about this is freepers are constantly bashing MSM, and for good reason. There is even a thread about what the media got wrong. We all know the media will pick out only the whiners to show on TV while ignoring the majority who are working hard to get their lives back in order. Even Fox does this. But because this fits into the hate New Orleans agenda, freepers decide to believe it. Seems just a wee bit disingenous to me.

[Ima Lurker]

...... I made the same comment to Dutch friends.....

D'OH....If only one of you had thought to put your finger in the dike!!

[CajunConservative]

Actually you start by having adequate designs first. The ACOE has stated that the design was flawed. The flood walls were doomed from the beginning.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/26/investigators_posit_levee_design_flaws?mode=PF

[macmedic892]

You dare to judge the entire region based on a few idiots on television?

Obviously, you have no clue how YOU look!

[ClaireSolt]

We want our money back. Obviously even catastrophe has taught you nothing.

[Twinkie]

Was it true that money which had been allocated specifically for levee repair for years at the local level in New Orleans was used for other things of a less important nature than levee repair? It seems like corrupt politicians have corruption down to a fine science in New Orleans, because they seem to have mastered the art of shafting the people and even making them like it. Now, that's even better than the Clintons could do, and that's saying a lot.