Democrats Strike Different Tone On Katrina

[Purveyor]

(02-19) 08:38 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The economic stimulus signed by President Barack Obama will spread billions of dollars across the country to spruce up aging roads and bridges. But there's not a dime specifically dedicated to fixing leftover damage from Hurricane Katrina.

And there's no outrage about it.

Democrats who routinely criticized President George W. Bush for not sending more money to the Gulf Coast appear to be giving Obama the benefit of the doubt in his first major spending initiative. Even the Gulf's fiercest advocates say they're happy with the stimulus package, and their states have enough money for now to address their needs.

"I'm not saying there won't be a need in the future, but right now the focus is not on more money, it's on using what we have," said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who has criticized Democrats and Republicans alike over Katrina funding.

It's a significant change in tone from the Bush years, when any perceived slight of Katrina victims was met with charges that the Republican president who bungled the initial response to the disaster continued to callously ignore the Gulf's needs years later.

MORE...

AP: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/02/19/national/w000231S36.DTL

[liberal N proud]

1. Asking a dumb question here... Was there money for NOLA in the bill

but the GOP deemed it PORK so it was removed?

Just asking because I don't know.

[Purveyor]

2. Good question that I don't have the answer to. Anyone? eom

[WinkyDink]

3. If you don't want readers to think the title words are yours, quotation marks are handy.

[karynnj]

4. It may be because there wer NO earmarks in the bill

The money is allocated for specific projects. It is highly likely that the gulf coast will apply for money in each of the categories. (This is a typical attempt to equate Obama signing this bill that doesn't specifically give money to NO to Bush doing way too little in September 2005.