September 2, 2005
Our Leader
Posted by pete at September 2, 2005 9:52 AM
President Bush on a "personal visit" to New Orleans.
Maybe we're being too hard on the President and his people for their clusterfuckian handling of the crisis in New Orleans. Maybe blame should be apportioned out equally to past Administrations, all of whom share some of the culpability for why things have gotten so bad and why the richest country in the world seems incapable of getting food and water to people four days after the storm has moved off.
Bush administration funding cuts forced federal engineers to delay improvements on the levees, floodgates and pumping stations that failed to protect New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, agency documents showed on Thursday. The former head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the agency that handles the infrastructure of the nation's waterways, said the damage in New Orleans probably would have been much less extensive had flood-control efforts been fully funded over the years.
"Levees would have been higher, levees would have been bigger, there would have been other pumps put in," said Mike Parker, a former Mississippi congressman who headed the engineering agency from 2001 to 2002.
"I'm not saying it would have been totally alleviated but it would have been less than the damage that we have got now."
[...]
Since 2001, the Army Corps has requested $496 million for that project but the Bush administration only budgeted $166 million, according to figures provided by the office of Louisiana Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu.Congress ultimately approved $250 million for the project during that time period.
Another project designed to shore up defenses along Lake Pontchartrain was similarly underfunded, as the administration budgeted $22 million of the $99 million requested by the Corps between 2001 and 2005. Congress boosted spending on that project to $42.5 million, according to Landrieu's office.
If only, I dunno, we had some sort of federal agency to manage emergencies in times like this. The one we have doesn't seem to be up to the task:
Col. Terry Ebbert, director of homeland security for New Orleans, concurred and he was particularly pungent in his criticism. Asserting that the whole recovery operation had been "carried on the backs of the little guys for four goddamn days," he said "the rest of the goddamn nation can't get us any resources for security."
"We are like little birds with our mouths open and you don't have to be very smart to know where to drop the worm," Colonel Ebbert said. "It's criminal within the confines of the United States that within one hour of the hurricane they weren't force-feeding us. It's like FEMA has never been to a hurricane."
Maybe they shouldn't have put the guy forced to resign from the Arabian Horse Association for mismanagement in charge.
This situation HAS NO LEADERSHIP. I am appalled at all levels of the govt regarding how things have been handled. To single out just the latest round of budget cuts that Bush oversaw doesn't even come close to the amount of irresponsibility that has transpired. This is a systemic failure of leadership over the course of DECADES. From the fed govt. cutting funds to the area, to the state and local officials letting them, this has been a botched job for years and years and years.
'Mudge: the following is an email I got from a well-respected tax/estate planning guru addressing the issue of estate tax repeal in the aftermath of New Orleans' destruction.
Steve Leimberg's Estate Planning Email Newsletter - Archive Message #864
Date: 31-Aug-05
From: Steve Leimberg's Estate Planning Newsletter
Subject: LET THEM EAT CAKE
"The leader is committed at this point
to a vote on full repeal
regardless of what anyone does,"
a spokeswoman for Bill Frist told Tax Analysts.
I don't often do editorials. LISI is first and foremost an information, analysis, and database service.
But I can't help it this time. As the broadcaster in the movie, Network said,
I'm mad as hell and I'm just not going to take it anymore!
I took a break from watching the horrendous fall of city after city and town after town and house after house and dream after dream – to learn that – today – August 31st - Bill Frist has once again promised that either the first or second bill of the September session will be a cloture vote on H.R. 8 – which you'll remember would repeal the estate tax beginning in 2005.
And he'd like to completely repeal a tax that impacts only AFTER DEATH and only on the HEIRS - of some of the wealthiest people on earth – and by doing so reduce the flow of revenue to the federal government – make that OUR government - by billions of dollars.
This despite:
Continued calls for compromise from respected members of his OWN party – including Senate Finance Committee Chair, Chuck Grassely,
Despite:
The massive amounts of money needed to pay for and continue the war in Iraq (we STILL have not fully armored our warriors' vehicles!) And yes, we are STILL paying for a war in Afghanistan
Despite:
An AMT that already unfairly and deeply taxes hundreds of thousands of middle class workers – and will only get worse and tax more and more
Despite:
The largest deficit in the history of the world,
Despite:
An national inability to properly fund Homeland Security, Social Security, Medicaid, education, and yes – even our brave and long-suffering veterans' health benefits
Despite:
Gas prices well in excess of – gulp - $3 a gallon! Perhaps not a big deal if you earn over $1,000,000 a year – or the government pays for both your car, your gas, and your chauffer – but amazingly – and I'm sure surprising to Bill Frist – most Americans – and American businesses – (Are you still there G.M.? Airlines still flying?) have already been hurt very badly – and the worst is yet to come!
Despite:
The fact that hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens throughout the south are not just out of work, not just unable to go to school, not just temporarily inconvenienced – their whole lives have changed irrevocably - for the worse – and many will be years – if ever – digging out, cleaning up, and putting what's left of their lives back together.
Someone please get Bill Frist a T.V. or radio so he can begin to understand what's going on in our country! And ask him to start to think about the symbolism of a "complete death tax repeal" while whole cities are still awash and underwater!
Marie Antoinette had nothing on those who already have more than they can ever spend and will settle for nothing less than still more – at a time when so many have nothing!
Now I'd like someone out there to have the nerve to tell me that a total repeal of the federal estate tax is a luxury we can PRESENTLY afford or is the "right thing to do" AT THIS TIME. (Come back to me when we've paid the bills and solved the problems I've listed above and you'll have my vote for estate tax repeal).
Folks, at this moment in American History, such a move – BEFORE we've allocated the money to solve the problems I've listed above – is worse than mere fiscal irresponsibility – it's a most arrogant and feelingless slap in the face of so many in our country who are down and out.
I HOPE – NO MATTER WHAT SIDE OF THE ISSUE YOU'RE ON – YOU ARE WILLING TO REALISTICALLY LOOK AT WHAT'S FACING OUR COUNTRY AND WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE – BEFORE WE LOWER ANYONE'S TAXES!
I will bet dollars to donuts that Col. Terry Ebbert will be fired.
If you're interested in a transcript of what Mayor Nagin said, it can be found here: http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/nagin.transcript/
Bravo Denny--very eloquent and convincing arguments; some might even say obvious, at least to some of us....however, for every citizen in this country like you and me, there are at least 2 or 3 (4 or 5 in texas--right, pete?) yokels who swallow the flag- and family-encrusted spin/swill coming from bush, rove, frist, cheney and the boys (and they sure ain't listening). Is it possible that the current atrocity of inactivity, inaneness and incompetence that will result in the suffering and death of thousands will finally open the eyes of the American voting public? That an indignant wave of populist reaction will sweep the morons, boobs and criminals out of office and restore sanity and justice to government? That we as a society will care more about starving, undereducated and hopeless people in poverty than the tax breaks and corporate perks of the well-heeled????..NAAH
Bush took a record surplus and made a record deficit. He took a record high approval rating and made a record low (not even Gallup has him over %40). There is nothing so good that Bush cannot turn it to shit, so when he takes a disaster and makes it into an unprecedented crisis, I am not surprised.
I still can't get over the fact that are PEOPLE DYING IN THE STREETS! What the HELL??? It's fucking insanity.
This is what happens when you have a megalomaniacal retard as president. He won't admit he failed miserably and lied his wrinkly ass off in Irag. Hell no! He MUST prove he's right. He MUST win at all costs. That's where the manpower and money continue to flow. He doesn't give a rat's ass about all of us poor, beleaguered schmucks, least of all the invisible, impoverished New orleans poor, black and white.
We're nothing but bank accounts to him and his fetid cronies and he will squeeze us dry to prove his pathetic point. Bush has sold us down the river to the enemies of our country and to his bloated buddies. This is the SECOND catastrophe to occur on HIS watch. When will he be tried for treason or at least impeached for dereliction of duty?
P.S. Sorry for the rant but I hate that evil fucker with every fiber of my being!
Wow, pardon me for inturrupting all of the foaming at the mouth Bush-bashing (I mean I think he's doing a shitty job, too, but c'mon!), but he is only one out of many who should be blamed for the mishandling of this situation. Frankly, I'm waaaay more pissed at the local and state govt. The mayor should have had at least some of those superdome refugees bussed out of there during the initial evacuation (Have you seen the picture of the parking lot filled with busses that got caught in the flood? why weren't those put to use?). The governer should have requested martial law two days ago and stop blaming the victims for staying in the city. Yes, the directors of FEMA and Homeland Security should be spit-roasted, yes Bush should have stepped in sooner when it was apparent that the local and state govts weren't handling the situation effectively. I'm just saying putting the blame of this squarely on Bush is short-sighted and immature. don't let your blind hatred cloud your judgement.
I'm just saying putting the blame of this squarely on Bush is short-sighted and immature. don't let your blind hatred cloud your judgement.
Food was on the way to SE Asia two days after the tsunami. Why does the President of what is arguably the most powerful nation in the world get any slack for not taking charge and kicking some asses to get rescue efforts moving?
Sure, there could've been a better plan in place than "move everybody to the Superbowl," and maybe they could've bused people out - if they'd had any place to send them. How is the mayor of New Orleans supposed to coordinate interstate refugee placement?
Budgets were slashed for levee reinforcement and pumping station improvement under Bush's watch. FEMA was rendered ineffectual by being rolled up into the DHS and placed under the control of a political crony rather than someone with any crisis management experience whatsoever under Bush's watch.
No state resources were sufficient to deal with situation in NO after the hurricane. That's the job of the federal government, headed by our esteemed President, and he fucked up. The buck, as someone famously said, stops with him.
I'm not saying cut him any slack. Budgets for similar projects to address the problems with the levees were cut under Clinton's watch, too (and considering he left us with a surplus when leaving office, that makes even less sense). Same thing with Bush sr.. I have read documents dating back to the early eighties predicting this catastrophe in chillingly accurate detail, and the federal government under many different presidents consistently cut the budget for fed aid to in NO. We've known this was a clear and present danger for DECADES.
I am by no means saying cut him some slack. But the blame does not lie squarely on him. This is a bigger and much more complicated situation than that.
I just heard a report that the esteemed mayor of New Orleans comandeered a group of busses to get him and his entourage out of their well-guarded and well-stocked quarters. Busses that should have been carrying refugees out of the convention center or the superdome, or where a large number are camped out on the overpass nearby. These 'leaders' have failed these people, from the very top to the very bottom. It's deplorable.
"Budgets were slashed for levee reinforcement and pumping station improvement under Bush's watch. FEMA was rendered ineffectual by being rolled up into the DHS and placed under the control of a political crony rather than someone with any crisis management experience whatsoever under Bush's watch."
You are absolutely right, Pete. Bush has systematically slashed programs that would improve the infrastructure of this country as well as social programs to benefit its citizens, especially the poor and disenfranchised. He has sacrificed the needsand rights of all US citizens to fund this boondoggle he has the temerity to call a war on terror. He has such disdain for the American people that he believes we'll fall for his ponzee schemes and euphemisms. Meanwhile, his fat cat buddies continue to sock away huge corporate revenues. Now he wants to eliminate the estate tax which will put more lucre into the hands of his cronies. He is a disgrace as a national leader and as a human being.
I am by no means saying cut him some slack. But the blame does not lie squarely on him.
The blame for what I talked about it my initial post, which is the response to this particular crisis, rests squarely with him. Yes, New Orleans has always been a sub-sea level salad bowl in danger of flooding, and yes - as I've already said - there should have been a better evac plan in place - but the fact that these people have had to wait five days now without assistance is squarely on him and his administration.
Anyone heard a peep from any of the oil companies who now to get to gouge us for upwards of $4.00 a gallon for gas (or, perhaps for whose benefit we invaded Iraq, and who've been getting rich based on connections inside the administration)? Have they contributed one freaking cent to the relief efforts?
The NFL, NBA, and MLB ponied up a million. The airlines are running shuttles to get people out. I've read about corporate contributions, about electric utilities around the country sending thousands of people to Mississippi to try and restore power. Deion Sanders (of all people!) has called out every single professional athlete to pony up. The entertainment industry did its first telethon last night and a dozen or so concerts are coming up in the next week. Private contributions from every day Americans have cleared $40 million in one week.
The only sector of society I haven't heard anything from are those g-d oil companies who are profting even further from this disaster. Since gas is already jacked up by 33% or more this week anyway, why not an announcement from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Conoco and all the rest that even 1 freaking cent of every gallon sold will go to hurricane relief? As much as America drives, do you realize just how much would be raised from even a cent per gallon?
Unfortunately, as far as I have heard, not one oil company has ponied up anything for civic relief -- their efforts are solely going toward restoring their own production. I hope the people -- and Congress -- are watching. And I hope oil company executives count themselves damned lucky that the American people haven't marched on their offices with torches and pitchforks yet.
All I know is that last year, we didn't have electricity, gas or water for 5 days, and I never smoked crack, never raped anyone nor did I feel compelled to head to the Winn Dixie to steal beer - I stocked up ahead of time. My boss is moving back into her home this week end, just shy of a year since it was detroyed by Francis, West FLA is still a sea of blue tarps and folks are doing their best. I find it interesting that when the dregs of society are exposed for what they are, it's the govt's fault. Sorry, don't I buy it.
Mac - not that I'm excusing what's happening down there, in fact I half agree with you. But I would point out that you owned a car in which to drive to Winn-Dixie, and you had the extra money in your budget with which to pay for stocking up.
The poverty rate in New Orleans is 28% -- more than double the national average. The poverty line as of 2003 (the latest year for which I could find stats) was $18,410 for a family of four. That's just a little more than $350 per week. If you're one of the 28% of people in New Orleans who live at or beneath that line, just how much do you think you could have picked up at Winn-Dixie before the storm?
Or let's say you did stock up... but if your house wasn't destroyed when Katrina first came ashore, it's now under 20 feet of filthy, feces and checmical-laden water. All those supplies ain't doin' you a whole lot of good underneath 20 feet of industrial-strength sludge.
I'm not defending what's happening in New Orleans, and I am not minimizing the suffering that you and your fellow Floridians went through last year. I've blogged myself about how here in New York our poor and diverse reacted to 9/11 quite differently than what we're seeing in New Orleans. I'm just saying that writing it all off as simply "the dregs of society" -- especially when not everyone left in New Orleans is committing the crimes we're all hearing about -- isn't really fair.
I would have had the "luxury" of being able to drive myself to safety, or at the very least of stocking up. So would you. Many of those left in New Orleans did not. That's all I am saying.
I agree, Curmie. We have a nasty habit in this country of blaming the poor for their own poverty. We also have a nasty habit of assuming that all poor people are slavering, indigent criminals who leap at the chance to create further mayhem and suffering in the face of disaster. There are always criminals among us but they are a small percentage of the population, black or white. I'm including in that criminal category every white collar corporate thief who is using this travesty to further line his pockets.
Besides, the federal government knew Katrina was going to strike New Orleans. Why weren't disaster recovery measures put into place sooner? According to the MSM, Louisiana knew the approximate number of poor people (100,000) who were unable to evacuate on their own. Why didn't the Feds release emergency funds to allow the state to mobilize vehicles to remove the stranded poor?
P.S. The Chevron Corporation has donated $5 million to the relief effort. Of course, they'll earn that back within 2 minutes of price gouging.
We all make choices in life. Some are better than others. I feel for the innocents and indigent (having been one once) and wish them only the best the folks in Houston can do for them. (Being a drug dealing gang member was an opportunity presented to me that I turned down. In fact, I joined the Navy, in hopes of avoiding such a life - I was hanging with a somewhat questionable crowd.)
Recognizing I have made some good choices and I am in debt up to my ass to drive a used car in an area without public transportation, I am dismayed most that the focus has been on the smallest number of people effected (affected?) by the storm - it is the media I have a hang up with, not the poor. From Biloxi and Gulfport to Metarie and Baton Rouge people are suffering - and acting like human beings. Why is the focus on a small number of unfortunates tomrmented by the same evil elements of their daily lives...c'mon shooting at rescue choppers? No excuse. I can and will write them off. I hope a Guardsman gets some good live fire practice while in the Big Easy.
I agree. The MSM loves to dwell on the criminal element or on the rescue operations that are "sexier" than others rather than focusing on the millions of ordinary philanthropists and survivors who are soldiering on.
Have [oil companines] contributed one freaking cent to the relief efforts?
Yes, but the only way to find out is to actually look. Don't be a Lileks
Actually, Michael, the last list I'd seen before I commented this morning hadn't included any of the oil companies. Of course, an hour after I commented, I saw an updated story on Yahoo news that did in fact list a lot of them - something I noted in my own post on the subject today. Don't just assume that someone who's not got all the facts hasn't been looking for them. I commented with incomplete information, but that was an honest error.
My larger point remains, though... given the money they've received since we went to war to protect their profits, and given that gas (which was $3.39 yesterday near me, $3.41 this morning, and I just saw a place at $3.63 now) is unnaturally high right now and they'll reap the benefits... isn't $5M a little scant? Sort of like a Wall Streeter tipping a bellboy with a $1 bill and telling him "go get yourself something, kid."
One cent a gallon is all it'd take.
The looting and lawlessness that ran rampant in New Orleans should be a huge wake-up call to everyone in this country. New Orleans as a city is a different animal from any other. It's a perfect social experiment on the results of a welfare state. If you haven't been there, you can't understand the sheer number of people on the dole. There are generations who have never once been required (or trained) to work a day in their lives.
People with pollyanna dreams of helping out the impoverished should take this as a lesson. When you set people up to be dependent on someone or something else for their entire lives, you can't expect them to suddenly become self-reliant, resourceful, hard-working individuals overnight just because a deadly catastrophe is imminent. Instead they turn in to animals and it becomes survival of the fittest.
I don't pretend to know a solution. All I know is that I have weapons and ammunition THEN food and water in my disaster kit. I could set up on my rooftop and kill zombies for days. It never hurts to be prepared.
Meanwhile, the RNC sent out a note to Republican supporters yesterday indicating that their top priority when the Senate returns is a repeal of the estate tax, which they cleverly have re-christened "the death tax."
People are suffering along the Gulf Coast in part because of the funding cuts suffered in the last four years due to decreased tax revenues and the diversion of funding to the boondoggle in Iraq... and these yahoos' top concern is making sure the richest Americans get to hold on to daddy's wallet when he croaks. I'm sure Biff and Muffy are clinking champagne glasses at the country club over that one.
The mayor of New Orleans reportedly shouted at Bush yesterday that flying over in Air Force One doesn't count as disaster assistance. If it's a true story, he just won my vote for the US Senate. (What... it's Louisiana, if dead people can vote, so can New Yorkers.)