Unfortunately for the people of the affected areas, this rhetoric rings hollow. It is no secret that the African American and working-class people who comprise the majority of the victims of the disaster were not considered a high enough priority by the Bush administration to warrant protection from disaster or for focused efforts at rescue when it did occur. Now they have been all but abandoned.
The recovery and rebuilding the Bush administration and Republican-controlled Congress promised has been an unmitigated failure. It has been mired in fraud and waste. Private companies have lined their pockets while proving incapable of delivering the goods. The Republican ideology of letting the private sector and free markets handle the reconstruction has delayed allowing people to put their lives back together.
Profit motivated individuals and companies simply cannot be trusted to care for people's needs. When it comes to protecting people from disaster or provision in the rebuilding process, corporations will always fail. They look only at their bottom line, at how many corners they can cut, and how much of the pie they can take home with them.
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