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August 31, 2005 at 11:16:16
by Rob Kall Page 1 of 1 page(s) |
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The hurricane was an act of God.
Then the levee broke-a failure of a man-made construction. .
This was not unforseen. Numerous articles had been written about the risks. A New Orleans Hurricane was ranked as the third most high-risk American disaster, after a NY terrorist attack and a California earthquake. Yet Bush and his Republican rubber stampers in congress (and the DLC republican look-alike democrats) cut the funding for hurricane readiness, for buttressing the levees, for strengthening the ecological buffer zones between the gulf and the city.
Now, Bush is making much about releasing oil from our strategic petroleum reserves. The experts say this is a worthless act, since we have plenty of oil. The problem, the reason our prices at the gasoline pump will be skyrocketing past $3.00 is the damage to the refineries in the region struck by Hurricane Katrina. The Financial times reports that part of the problem is that "there has been no large investment (in oil refineries) for more than a quarter of a century..."
The cutting back on funds for protecting New Orleans from a well anticipated hurricane disaster is a clear example of what happens when people support one of the most popular Republican philosophies of getting rid of government. It wil be government that rescues people, government that supervises the cleanout of th gulf coast. But it was government downsizing that doomed New Orleans It was not the hurricane that killed New Orleans. It was the levee break. Perhaps if Bush and the Republicans had not cut the funds for maintaining the levee and building up the ecological protections, not directly attributable to a cut in funds.
This excerpt from an article in editor and Publisher tells the tale: New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been working with state and local officials in the region since the late 1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars
Grover Norquist 's famous line, that he wants to starve government so it is small enough to "drown it in a bathtub" takes on ironic meaning in New Orleans, where Lake Ponchitrain is still leaking through the two block long hole in the levee.
But do the mainstream media report on the culpability of the Bush administration and the Republican anti-governemment policies that led to this horrible disaster? And I haven't even brought up their failure to deal with global warming, which Ross Gelbspan covered in his Op-Ed
Suffice it to say that the policies, incompetence and moral bankruptcy of Bush and company can now add at least a hundred more dead Americans to the balance sheet, not to mention the tens of billions of dollars this will cost. Maybe Cindy Sheehan and her motorcade on the way to the Washington DC peace march in mid September can stop in Houston at the Astrodome, where the 23,000 New Orleans refugees now staying at the Superdome will be transferred.
Bottom line-this was a horrible storm that became a mega disaster because of failure to fund well thought out projects. Part of the excuse was the drain that the war on Iraq had on our resources. Look beyond the immediate images of the death and destruction and it is clear that what you see is the work of Bush and his Republican cronies. I'm sure his evangelical supporters are praying for the hundreds of thousands who are suffering. But they probably are not facing the reality that their hands are dirty too, that probably, because of their votes for these anti-government corporatist pawns (bush and co.) people died.
Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, more...)
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
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| 6 comments |
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Hurricane Katrina Bush
Having just finished the research myself, I can say without reserve your article, sadly and disgustingly, stands on it's truth and merit. Let's hope instead of just praying, the 'Southern Base' bible belt of the Republican Party who voted these immoral rogues into office know who to hold responsible come the midterm elections and the next presidential contest. That is if we still have a nation left... by John Juan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 31, 2005 at 1:25:09 PM  (0+)
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The 1-2-3 Punch that REPUBLICANS can take credit for
First the money to improve the flood protection of the areas of New Orleans now devastated by Katrina were cut to allow those funds to go to the Iraq War and tax cuts for the rich. For that, we can blame the Republican Administration and all those in congress who voted for that -- the Republican Majority and any "Democrats" who supported them. Then, the physical resources (the U.S. Military and our National Guards) were made "unavailable" to respond to this act of nature, because they are across the world fighting for the "noble cause" of installing an anti-woman theocracy in Iraq; helping Republicans to win re-election; and making a dry-drunk coke-addled business failure feel like he "surpassed" his father and garnered "political capital." Finally, through total incompetence in their planning for the cost and execution of their war, the national economy is in great trouble. The price of gas (prior to Katrina) was already posed to double in little more than a year, putting massive pressure on nearly every part of the national economy, and now might reach $5 per gallon because of the loss of production and refinement in the Gulf Basin. This 1-2-3 punch that will now allow a major and inevitable (and totally predictable) natural disaster to pose a dramatic challenge to the quality of life of ten of millions of Americans and possibly a major crushing blow to a fragile economy already ravaged by tax cuts for the rich and outsourcing of jobs. And there you have it. George W. Bush after stealing two elections will now go down in history as the Herbert Hoover of his generation, and millions of poor people in America's southeast will suffer for his arrogance and the global domination dreams of the PNAC. Charlie L Portland, OR CLL2001@gmail.com by Charlie L (2 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 747 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Aug 31, 2005 at 2:31:19 PM (0+)
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Pathetic
The really pathetic thing about all this is the fact that it means little in the long run. As long as the media is run by Corporate America only to report what is beneficial to it and as long as the elections are rigged time and time again to the point where your vote Does Not Count as we saw in the elections since 2000 then we will see no difference. The distruction and loss of lives mean about as much to those now in power as the death and destruction we see in Afghanistan and Iraq. 23,000 people who have undoubtably lost everything they have but for the clothes on their backs, man, woman and child will be moved to Texas. They should go to where Cindy Sheehan has spent the past month and they would get the same reception I am sure, along with those on the opposite side of the road telling them that its Gods way of getting them to see the light, believe in Bush and anything is possible. We will pay the penalty for the oil, the petroleum companies have flaunted the billions they have made over the rising oil prices but the government will once more find a way to present them with more freebies just as they just did. We will still see the prices go higher and higher, transportation, food, heating, cooling, medicine, clothing, but you will not see the incomes move at all and those of us on already fixed incomes already see the writing on the wall. Nuff said...for now... by Robert D. Daily (7 articles, 12 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 31, 2005 at 3:18:03 PM (0+)
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Sad to see
America is no longer democracy, its a aristocracy, (which means a government ruled by a small minority, which in this case is the ultra rich). Its truley hard to believe how cold hearted people can be. Espesically on subjects of Medical, some believe its a luxury, and laws should be changed so that hospitals can turn poor people away, even when there dying, no money, no life. America was advancing to a better society, has a nice welfare system, still does, except for bush elimination of federal funds for medical for the poor, good thing Mississippi got rid of medicade for the poor, now with this hurricane disaster they won't get medical help, and the have more's won't have to have some low life infront of him (not my view, just a view of what some might think of those who help get rid of the medical for the poor, some states are trying to still support these program, since Mississippi is the poorest state in the country, the poor are really screwed, so everyone thank Bush for this one and those that voted for it) and people should work, not leech, it would be nice if the richest country in the world (if it still is), The USA would pay people a living wage that equals what one would get on welfare, and they expect people to save for retirement when they don't even have the money to live off of. I think congress needs to add a new government body with some of the same power, a Scientific based Congress, where those people are the best and smartest in the country. One would think that since theres so much automation and less need for human workers, and also NAFTA (where most of our labor jobs went)that we would find a way of early retiement, I couldn't imagine seeing myself working in a factory at the age of 67, or even later. In Canada you can retire at the age of 55. If we retired people early that would open more jobs, and we could even have a sliding retirement age basing the retirement age off current needs for employment and set the cap back to the age of 62, and if your under 62 and retired you could be called back from retirment, unless 62 or older. Again this all means money, but we definitly need to restructure our government, and make a new bill of right to make sure those rights cannot be taken away, and add like a Living Wage, although thats what min. wage was suppose to do, but heck why not have slave labor jobs here in the USA too, I think Wal-Marts want the same working conditions all over the would to be the same, including here (that would explain a few things about there anti union position). I think a Living Wage is the human thing to do. Also Global Warming isn't what everyone thinks it is, its not the green house gas, its does have some effect, but its not the main cause, think of the earth atmospehere as a blanket with a camp fire outside, imagine turning on a heater under the blanket, its going to get dam hot, also think of green house gas as the insulator, it can help hold the heat in better, but in this case of global warming, its not the main factor, the reason is the global economy and developing countries, One Family in the Unites States puts out all kinds of heat, a person body generates 300 BTU's, now add the heat from there car engine, the heat from the stove, hot water from bathes, And AC units puting more heat into the amient air, instead of the earths ground, Hair dryers, ect you get the point, we have tons of fires under our blankets, and the more the world advances the more heat we will produce, from Clothes Driers to Dish Washers, and DVD player, PC's and the list goes on. We Need to develop more cold technologies, use solar driers, I guess thats why gas is going up in my opion, less people driving is a big help, and if we don't act soon the earth will be like it was back with the dinosores, more land and more water in the atmosphere, because as the earth heats the more water vapor enters into the atmosphere, and as you guessed it this last hurricane had alot of rain fall, winter will become hotter and colders and it will cause bigger temperature swings causing more vilolent storms, no wonder dinosaures were so big, they could handle that type of enviroment. Does it make sense, if you have any constructive critism. e-mail @ rocketscientist@buckeye-express.com by Vince H (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Wednesday, Aug 31, 2005 at 11:18:23 PM (0+)
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Old Saying.
We have a saying in our country, (Australia) goes something like this; "YOU GET THE GOVERNMENT YOU DESERVE". Clearly, the good folks in the South of the U.S.A. spoke at the ballot box and have the Government they voted for. Now, the chickens have come home to roost, why the crocodile tears ???? Millions of people round the World, saw that Government for what it was, and voiced their concerns should the citizens of the U.S. re-instal them in the Whitehouse, yet these concerns were totaly ignored. The World has expressed concerns of Global Warming and the consequences of melting ice packs and the rising sea levels, the Whitehouse Poo, Poo's these claims, and sticks it's head in the sand, hoping when they re-emerge, the problem has gone away, and continue with their disasterous policies. The lower lying states of the U.S. will be the ones most hit,(demonstrated by this hurricane) and the ones with the most to lose, yet for some strange reason, they're unable to comprehend the danger that's staring them in the face. I sincerely hope, that after this event, they wake up, and DEMAND action from the house on the hill. by Eddy Schmid (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 234 comments [17 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Sep 1, 2005 at 3:52:38 AM (0+)
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What does it mean?
Since 9/11 the words "terrorism" and "profits" have been interchangeable to me. The meaning for each term is subject to subjective interpretation and therefore can be used as a tool to promote or attack principles of government and economics. Depending on the source of the terms, the one thing that remains constant to me is that truth or fact is not present in either term to give a solid understanding of the basis for their use. I don't understand the merit of profitability in a Corporation layng off workers or using off-shore mail drops as a means of evading taxes and improving CEO compensation. To me this is not profitability, this is terrorism against the dwindeling middle class, and the feeling I get when I pull up to the gas pump and see $3/gal prices, this is TERRORISM. by David Wolter (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments) on Thursday, Sep 1, 2005 at 9:49:24 AM (0+)
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