How Bush Admin Policies Help New Orleans, LA (and all of us) -

[cyberpj]

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jun 6, 2005 by Deon Roberts

In fiscal year 2006, the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is bracing for a record $71.2 million reduction in federal funding.

It would be the largest single-year funding loss ever for the New Orleans district, Corps officials said.

I've been here over 30 years and I've never seen this level of reduction, said Al Naomi, project manager for the New Orleans district. I think part of the problem is it's not so much the reduction, it's the drastic reduction in one fiscal year. It's the immediacy of the reduction that I think is the hardest thing to adapt to.

There is an economic ripple effect, too. The cuts mean major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20050606/ai_n14657367

===============================================================

Bush has slashed Clinton's Disaster Mitigation Program.
"...Among emergency specialists, 'mitigation' -- the measures taken in advance to minimize the damage caused by natural disasters -- is a crucial part of the strategy to save lives and cut recovery costs. But since 2001, key federal disaster mitigation programs, developed over many years, have been slashed and tossed aside. FEMA's Project Impact, a model mitigation program created by the Clinton administration, has been canceled outright. Federal funding of post-disaster mitigation efforts designed to protect people and property from the next disaster has been cut in half. Communities across the country must now compete for pre-disaster mitigation dollars.

As a result, some state and local emergency managers say, it's become more difficult to get the equipment and funds they need to most effectively deal with disasters. In Louisiana, requests for flood mitigation funds were rejected by FEMA this summer. (See sidebar.) In North Carolina, a state also regularly threatened by hurricanes and floods, FEMA recently refused the state's request to buy backup generators for emergency support facilities. And the budget cuts have halved the funding for a mitigation program that saved an estimated $8.8 million in recovery costs in three eastern North Carolina communities alone after 1999's Hurricane Floyd.

Consequently, the residents of these and other disaster-prone states will find the government less able to help them when help is needed most, and both states and the federal government will be forced to shoulder more recovery costs after disasters strike.

In addition, the White House has pushed for privatization of essential government services, including disaster management, and merged FEMA into the Department of Homeland Security -- where, critics say, natural disaster programs are often sidelined by counter-terrorism programs. Along the way, morale at FEMA has plummeted, and many of the agency's most experienced personnel have left for work in other government agencies or private corporations..."
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2004-09-28/cover_story.html

=====================================================
From a followup article:

"Before FEMA was condensed into Homeland Security Š it responded much more quickly," says Walter Maestri, director of Jefferson Parish's Office of Emergency Management. Maestri has worked with FEMA for eight years. "Truthfully, you had access to the individuals who were the decision-makers. The FEMA administrator had Cabinet status. Now, you have another layer of bureaucracy. FEMA is headed by an assistant secretary who now has to compete with other assistant secretaries of Homeland Security for available funds. And elevating houses is not as sexy as providing gas masks."

Maestri is still awaiting word from FEMA officials as to why Louisiana, despite being called the "floodplain of the nation" in a 2002 FEMA report, received no disaster mitigation grant money from FEMA in 2003 ("Homeland Insecurity," Sept. 28). Maestri says the rejection left emergency officials around the state "flabbergasted."
...
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2004-10-05/commentary.html

[BrklynLiberal]

1. One would think Bush WANTED N.O. to go down the drain......

One can only hope that this will impress other cities, and they will realize that thanks to Bush they could also be in the position of New Orleans...and be left without means to survive if a natural disaster hits them.


NOMINATED

[newswolf56]

2. New Orleans is despised by the Christofascists as...

"Sodom on the Mississippi," which probably has a lot to do with the malice expressed by Bush's cuts in New Orleans disaster funding.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. and it does not matter one iota that there are innocent children and other

people there who will suffer and die due to their judgemental vindictiveness. I cannot come up with words to describe the disgust I feel for BushCo

[SouthernladieGA]

3. One would hope

that some of the billions slated for Foreign aid will be diverted to take care of our own.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. One would hope that some of the billions slated for the war in Iraq will

be diverted to take care of our own.

[cyberpj]

38. Those billions were for bribery and corp.profits.

can you believe they took state's national guard equipment to Iraq?!?


LA National Guard Wants It's Equipment Back From Iraq (too late now)

Note: With the billions spent in Iraq you mean they had to take the State's emergency equipment!?!?

LA National Guard Wants Equipment to Come Back From Iraq
Yunji de Nies
August 1, 2005

JACKSON BARRACKS -- When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.

snip...

Col. Schneider says the state has enough equipment to get by, and if Louisiana were to get hit by a major hurricane, the neighboring states of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have all agreed to help.

snip...

Members of the Houma-based 256th Infantry will be returning in October, but it could be much longer before the rest of their equipment comes home.

"You've got combatant commanders over there who need it they say they need it, they don't want to lose what they have, and we certainly understand that it's a matter it's a matter of us educating that combatant commander, we need it back here as well," Col. Schneider said.

http://abc26.trb.com/news/natguard08012005,0,4504131.story?coll=wgno-news-1

[dpibel]

33. You wouldn't be one of those people

who think US foreign aid is some substantial part of the budget, would you?

[rodeodance]

5. lets media blast and send to all

[SouthernladieGA]

6. Ahhh...so Bush is omnipotent.

he has the power to stop natural disasters...did not know he was God.

[mikelewis]

8. No but he does have the power to ensure an adequate response and...

has an obligation both legal and moral to provide for the safety of these people to the best of our collective ability. Adding layers of red tape and essentially cutting funds for hurricane relief projects seem rather foolish right about now, don'tcha think?

And Bush is a natural disaster, he's personally responsible for the deaths of more people than this hurricane will kill, at least 20 times over. He's a fuckin monster who thinks he is God.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. The only ones who think Bush is omnipotent are Bush & his alcolytes

The rest of us think he is just your run-of-the-mill pathological sociopath.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Put it this way

1) Hurricanes have been increasing in strength and frequency in the Gulf
2) New Orleans is the first or second largest port in the US, and is of VITAL importance to the heartland

Why the HELL would bu$h so drastically cut funding to prepare such an important city for a disaster?

[AspenRose]

27. "Hurricanes increasing in strength and frequency in the Gulf"

Now how can this be, since everyone in the Bush Administration knows Global Warming doesn't exist?

:sarcasm:

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. I agree that the immediate rush to blme Bush here is silly

But you should also agree, SouthernladieGA, that Bush's massive cuts to federal programs - cuts that are the results of his unsustainable tax policy and his catastrophic, illegal war, will have a negative effect on the lives of our fellow Americans, in any number of circumstances. That one can so easily find some policy action initiated by the Bushies that worsens the situation (as the original poster did) only demonstrates the severe and widespread damage Bush's essentially stupid and uncaring policies have and will cause.

[cyberpj]

21. Well said.

But as I've said elsewhere, I also believe it's part of a massive plan to privatize almost everything possible. In this case, take away tax dollars used for state and fed programs and redirect them to paying private companies set up to do the same work gov employees used to do. Just consider our military mercenaries and contractors being paid in Iraq right now. Bush Co always chooses to pay a business (preferably one they or their friends own) as opposed to direct dispersement of funds to the real problem.

[SouthernladieGA]

34. Why do we have federal programs?

Am I against the poor...NO...but I am against the lazy and those who rely on the government to take care of them.
What is the states responsibility?
If the states would stop sending all that money to the Feds...they could be self-reliant and take care of the needs of the citizens.

When are we as a people going to take responsibility for our freedoms, rights and yes...responsibilities to our families and ourselves?

Why do we continue to allow people to build in flood plains???? Good example here in ATL. Nancy Creek has been flooding for more than 50 years...but it is a very desirable place to live. Why should my tax dollars pay for the people who insist on living on its banks?

[alcibiades_mystery]

35. A thoroughly academic argument

When thousands of people's lives are at stake.

Seek help, seriously.

[wli]

15. He did, and he got his wish. n/t

[Cha]

17. New Orleans is a special case..

because it is in a bowl and a cat 5 hurricane is headed right for them..but there could be any city that under certain circumstances could be history..so you're bloody well right.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bobbieinok]

29. yeah, let's go back ca 200 years and not found New Orleans?!?!?!?!

[Art_from_Ark]

30. New Orleans isn't some overnight housing development

It is, in fact, one of the oldest cities in the United States. The settling of the ground has been going on for a long time. The city is the most important port in the country, as it serves as the river-based distribution gateway to cities like Memphis, St. Louis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Quad Cities, Kansas City, Little Rock, and Tulsa, among other places.

[cyberpj]

19. It seems to be State and Fed programs they target so they can privatize

just about anything and everything.

Instead of using our tax dollars to pay for programs that directly aid people, they're changing things so that those tax dollars go to private companies that will perform whatever's needed. Just take a look at our military mercenaries and contractors who have turned US war into their very own US profits.

[ewagner]

7. Actually the contrast will be

the most important thing...

for instance, will Dubya go into NO and personally hand out ice to the victims like Dubya and JEB did in Florida?

Will he make a tour of the disaster area like he did in Florida?

this will be telling.....

[BrklynLiberal]

11. He is not up for re-selection. He won''t set foot near New Orleans.

[peekaloo]

13. I'm sure he'll tour the devastation via helicopter on his way to a

fundraiser.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. and make sure there is a camera nearby to catch his look of sorrow.

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Cha]

16. Were they playing politics?

Because the Gov is a Dem and the mayor of New Orleans is a DEm?

Or they arbitrarily SLASHED Natural Disaster money because of the Criminal disaster money pit/aka/War On Iraq?

[cyberpj]

20. I believe it happened in many states -

using tax dollars for private companies to do the work that government programs used to handle. Also putting more responsibility on states to pay for that by taking Fed funds to use for 'homeland security' and 'terrorist' protections.

[Had_enough_BS]

22. Bush and Dick, thoughts on N.O

They finally came up with a plan to raise oil and gas prices, they call it "Plan Katrina" The last one did not work "WMD" or maybe it did, but I know there looking at the "Futures" in the stock market tomorrow with a smile.

[alfredo]

24. Save the links, they may come in handy soon.

Be sure to copy the text too.

I wonder how the LNG feel about being stuck in Iraq while they are needed in their home state?

[BrklynLiberal]

26. or knowing that family,friends, and home maybe lost to Katrina.

[alfredo]

28. I know they are sick with worry.

[cyberpj]

37. How they feel? They wish their state equipment was at HOME - check it out

LA National Guard Wants It's Equipment Back From Iraq (too late now)

Note: With the billions spent in Iraq you mean they had to take the State's emergency equipment!?!?

LA National Guard Wants Equipment to Come Back From Iraq
Yunji de Nies
August 1, 2005

JACKSON BARRACKS -- When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.

snip...

Col. Schneider says the state has enough equipment to get by, and if Louisiana were to get hit by a major hurricane, the neighboring states of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have all agreed to help.

snip...

Members of the Houma-based 256th Infantry will be returning in October, but it could be much longer before the rest of their equipment comes home.

"You've got combatant commanders over there who need it they say they need it, they don't want to lose what they have, and we certainly understand that it's a matter it's a matter of us educating that combatant commander, we need it back here as well," Col. Schneider said.

http://abc26.trb.com/news/natguard08012005,0,4504131.story?coll=wgno-news-1

[hatrack]

25. Wow, Bush cut programs that protect Americans? No!

:eyes:

[Art_from_Ark]

31. Tell that to the folks at Ft. sQuall-id

You think they would ever get the message?

[usregimechange]

32. Good another person found this. Lets get this out there guys.

[cyberpj]

36. Found some and borrowed a bit from you - Now check THIS out:

Just posted it in GD

LA National Guard Wants It's Equipment Back From Iraq (too late now)

Note: With the billions spent in Iraq you mean they had to take the State's emergency equipment!?!?

LA National Guard Wants Equipment to Come Back From Iraq
Yunji de Nies
August 1, 2005

JACKSON BARRACKS -- When members of the Louisiana National Guard left for Iraq in October, they took a lot equipment with them. Dozens of high water vehicles, humvees, refuelers and generators are now abroad, and in the event of a major natural disaster that, could be a problem.

snip...

Col. Schneider says the state has enough equipment to get by, and if Louisiana were to get hit by a major hurricane, the neighboring states of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have all agreed to help.

snip...

Members of the Houma-based 256th Infantry will be returning in October, but it could be much longer before the rest of their equipment comes home.

"You've got combatant commanders over there who need it they say they need it, they don't want to lose what they have, and we certainly understand that it's a matter it's a matter of us educating that combatant commander, we need it back here as well," Col. Schneider said.

http://abc26.trb.com/news/natguard08012005,0,4504131.story?coll=wgno-news-1

[Inland]

39. The "best of new orleans" links don't work. nt

[cyberpj]

40. For now, I'd guess their facilities are down and out. Here's a similar

article on the raiding of FEMA funds for Homeland Security and the objections raised.
This article was funded by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and edited by Independent Weekly in Durham, N.C. It also includes reporting by Folio Weekly in Jacksonville, Fla., and Gambit Weekly in New Orleans.

snip...
In case Congress hasn’t gotten the message, former FEMA director James Lee Witt recently restated it in strong terms. “I am extremely concerned that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters has been sharply eroded,” he testified at a March 24, 2004, hearing on Capitol Hill. “I hear from emergency managers, local and state leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact, one state emergency manager told me, ‘It is like a stake has been driven into the heart of emergency management.’”

Lately, though, Witt has had nothing to say publicly about the agency’s performance. His disaster management company, James Lee Witt Associates, recently won a $250,000 contract with Orlando to help the city get its share of post-hurricane FEMA money. A company spokesman says that Witt will be making no comment while Florida’s recovery efforts continue, out of respect for his former colleagues.

Waugh, the Georgia State University expert, says that the recent hurricanes could serve as a wake-up call to highlight FEMA’s drift in priorities. “If you talk to FEMA people and emergency management people around the country, people have almost been hoping for a major natural disaster like a hurricane, just to remind DHS and the administration that there are other big things—even bigger things than al-Qaida.

“This is an exposed nerve in the emergency management community, in the sense that resources have been shifted away from hurricanes, tornados, and other kinds of disasters—the kind of disasters that are more likely to occur than terrorism.”

Much more:
http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=9166