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Well, I see President Bush is on Good Morning America telling us
"He defended the federal government's response so far to the growing crisis amid urgent pleas for help from stranded victims. He said the breach of the levees that led to the submerging of much of New Orleans had not been anticipated."
But that's not what FEMA said several years ago:
"So vulnerable, in fact, that earlier this year the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked the potential damage to New Orleans as among the three likeliest, most castastrophic disasters facing this country."
Yet the cost of the Iraqi war punched holes in the Corps of Engineers budget:
""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.
Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."
and
"The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that, the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction in hurricane and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. Because of the proposed cuts, the Corps office there imposed a hiring freeze. Officials said that money targeted for the SELA project -- $10.4 million, down from $36.5 million -- was not enough to start any new jobs. "
and
"That second study would take about four years to complete and would cost about $4 million, said Army Corps of Engineers project manager Al Naomi. About $300,000 in federal money was proposed for the 2005 fiscal-year budget, and the state had agreed to match that amount. But the cost of the Iraq war forced the Bush administration to order the New Orleans district office not to begin any new studies, and the 2005 budget no longer includes the needed money, he said."
The very first responsibility of the President of the United States is to protect the citizens of this country. Because of his mismangement and bad decisions, hundreds of people, maybe thousands, are dead, without homes or jobs. I hope the American people demand some answers to the questions that are going to be asked about this tragedy.
My emphasis and here are the links:
http://today.reuters.com/investing/FinanceArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2005-09-01T123120Z_01_N01434398_RTRIDST_0_WEATHER-BUSH-UPDATE-2.XML&pageNumber=1
A http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/houston.htm
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313
"He defended the federal government's response so far to the growing crisis amid urgent pleas for help from stranded victims. He said the breach of the levees that led to the submerging of much of New Orleans had not been anticipated."
But that's not what FEMA said several years ago:
"So vulnerable, in fact, that earlier this year the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked the potential damage to New Orleans as among the three likeliest, most castastrophic disasters facing this country."
Yet the cost of the Iraqi war punched holes in the Corps of Engineers budget:
""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.
Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."
and
"The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that, the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction in hurricane and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. Because of the proposed cuts, the Corps office there imposed a hiring freeze. Officials said that money targeted for the SELA project -- $10.4 million, down from $36.5 million -- was not enough to start any new jobs. "
and
"That second study would take about four years to complete and would cost about $4 million, said Army Corps of Engineers project manager Al Naomi. About $300,000 in federal money was proposed for the 2005 fiscal-year budget, and the state had agreed to match that amount. But the cost of the Iraq war forced the Bush administration to order the New Orleans district office not to begin any new studies, and the 2005 budget no longer includes the needed money, he said."
The very first responsibility of the President of the United States is to protect the citizens of this country. Because of his mismangement and bad decisions, hundreds of people, maybe thousands, are dead, without homes or jobs. I hope the American people demand some answers to the questions that are going to be asked about this tragedy.
My emphasis and here are the links:
http://today.reuters.com/investing/FinanceArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2005-09-01T123120Z_01_N01434398_RTRIDST_0_WEATHER-BUSH-UPDATE-2.XML&pageNumber=1
A http://www.hurricane.lsu.edu/_in_the_news/houston.htm
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313