Critics Say Bush Undercut New Orleans Flood Control

Washington Post ^ | 9/2/05

[Uncle Joe Cannon]

Critics Say Bush Undercut New Orleans Flood Control

By Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker

Washington Post Staff Writers

Friday, September 2, 2005; Page A16

President Bush repeatedly requested less money for programs to guard against catastrophic storms in New Orleans than many federal and state officials requested, decisions that are triggering a partisan debate over administration priorities at a time when the budget is strained by the Iraq war.

Even with full funding in recent years, none of the flood-control projects would have been completed in time to prevent the swamping of the city, as Democrats yesterday acknowledged. But they said Bush's decision to hold down spending on fortifying levees around New Orleans reflected a broader shuffling of resources -- to pay for tax cuts and the Iraq invasion -- that has left the United States more vulnerable.

[R. Scott]

That too.

[redgolum]

There were stories on this the day after.

Frankly, the questions I keep asking are why the NGuard wasn't on alert, why FEMA seems to not be able to find their collective buts with two hands, and why there are still no orders to restore order in the city and refuge camps.

The fact that New Orleans was built in a stupid place by a stubborn Frenchman 300 years ago just means that we got lucky this didn't happen earlier.

[VRWCmember]

For those of you calling UJC a troll and calling for zots, did you bother to check his posting history to see what kind of comments he has made in this forum? If posting an article that points out that the left is blaming Bush for something were cause for a Zot, we would all be zotted. Read the article. Read the posts. Check his profile and read his posts on other threads. Unless he is much more clever than the average troll, Uncle Joe is NOT a troll.

[VRWCmember]

Look.... reread what you wrote and ask yourself, if that had been addressed to you, would you interpret it as a personal attack?

As someone with no dog in the fight, if that post had been addressed to me (and if I had posted the item it responded to), I would not have interpreted it as a personal attack. It looked pretty obvious to me that it was one of those "there you go inserting logic into a liberal's rant" kind of posts that are rather common and refreshingly humorous around here.

It is certainly not worth arguing over.

[Solson]

this is the first time I ever realized BUSH was involved in the budget decisions of New Orleans. He's only signed every friggin spending bill that crossed his desk yet he's responsible>???????

[darkwing104]

For those of you calling UJC a troll and calling for zots, did you bother to check his posting history.

I did check his previous posts and did not call for a zot. I agree, there is no reason to zot UJC.

[Arkie2]

Thanks! Some people can spot the obvious apparently.

[eyespysomething]

I saw in one story that one of the levees that broke was actually already "upgraded", concrete reinforced. Let me see if I can find that...

[VRWCmember]

I did check his previous posts and did not call for a zot. I agree, there is no reason to zot UJC.

Yes, one of the zot calls pinged you so I included you since I was responding to that post.

[darkwing104]

Yes, one of the zot calls pinged you so I included you since I was responding to that post.

You wouldn't believe the pings I get for the VKs... :-)

[coconutt2000]

It really isn't worth arguing over, but Arkie started his post off with "You don't get it." His post was directed at my not understanding the liberal mindset. If my post had been sincere, he would've been correct. Problem is my post was obviously facetious and sarcastic.

In my opinion, Arkie2 jumped the gun and responded to my original post and when I corrected him, he went on the defensive rather than admitting that he made a slight error in his initial impression of my post.

He wrote:

"You don't get it.First, in a liberals mind only intentions count. So, since Bush cut some programs that wouldn't have helped anyway he's responsible since his intentions were bad.

Secondly, it's always Bush's fault. Once you understand these two concepts you won't be asking those silly fact based rational questions anymore."

That is obviously an instructional and patronizing tone that he took with me.

[goldstategop]

Of course we have to decide what's important. A Category 4 storm is like once in a century. Even if the levee projects had been fully funded, they couldn't have prevented what happened. Despite the best efforts of man, Nature sometimes overwhelms us. Most Americans understand this and accept we can't always keep tragedy at bay. Nothing stops the Democrats from trying to milk this one for political gain and that's really low even for them.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Uncle Joe Cannon]

thank you.

[SuziQ]

The Dems have to find something to bitch about. I'm glad the story made it clear that even if it had been fully funded, the results for this storm would not have been different.

[Libertarian444]

Even with full funding in recent years, none of the flood-control projects would have been completed in time to prevent the swamping of the city, as Democrats yesterday acknowledged.

Gee, wish I'd have said that....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476132/posts?page=26#26

[Hamiltonian]

There has been plenty of pork directed into Louisiana by its politicians in recent years. It is up to their congressional delegation (and those who bankroll their campaigns) to figure out where to direct the money. Louisiana's Federal $$ appear to have been used for everything but flood control.

The problem wasn't the lack of Federal $$, it was that flood control has been a lower priority list for the State's elected officials in DC than other items such as the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway, which cost the taxpayers $hundreds of millions.

Here are some examples of Louisiana's Federal largesse not spent on flood control:

From CAGW

Best of the Pig Book Saturday, May 14, 2005 Perhaps the most frustrating of all pork projects are the re-occurring programs that receive more money every year and never fulfill their stated purpose. In 1991, Sen. J. Bennett Johnston (D-La.) grabbed $92.6 million — as he was facing a tough reelection — for two more locks for the Red River Waterway (RRW) in Shreveport, Louisiana. While the administration did request funds for RRW in its budget, the project was supposed to end well before Shreveport. But Sen. Johnston made sure the RRW didn’t stop in Louisiana; tax dollars overflowed into just about every state in which the river runs. Dams, corridors, chloride control plants, and emergency bank protections have all been added to the total of $115.5 million spent on the project. The RRW connects the Mississippi to the Red River. According the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the “economic benefits from the bank stabilization along this project are estimated at over $38 million annually.” Not surprisingly, the waterway has never justified the enormous amount of federal funding it received. In 1997, only 4 percent of the projected commercial traffic meandered through the RRW. In 2003, the Army Corps said the construction costs would not be justified until 2046. Incidentally, the RRW was renamed as the “J. Bennett Johnston Waterway” in 2001.

More

2005 Congressional Pig Book Summary

A January 9, 2000 Washington Post article stated that the waterway "still carries less than 0.1 percent of the commercial traffic on America's government-run river transport system — even though it receives a remarkable 3.4 percent of the system's federal funds." In 2003, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the $2 billion worth of construction costs won’t be justified until 2046); $2,000,000 for a sugar-based ethanol biorefinery at Louisiana State University; and $500,000 for Livingston Parish alternative fuel plant construction.

More

June 30, 2005

Celebrating Fat Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… Senate Energy and Water Appropriations subcommittee member Mary Landrieu (D-La.) grabbed $81.4 million for the Pelican State, including: $16.6 million for the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway (which received $11.5 million in fiscal 2005); $1.3 million for Barataria Bay; and $500,000 for the Louisiana Immersive Tech Enterprise Program at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

[R. Scott]

I found one item on the New Orleans City budget that included over a 100 Million Federal dollars for improvement to the trolleys on Canal Street.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Lots of good info in that post. Doesn't surprise me that the needed funding was misspent or mishandled.

[dfwgator]

It's not about facts. It's about shaping opinion.

It's all about sound bytes, and the Rats win that battle every time.

[dfwgator]

Read up on the 1927 New Orleans flood and the political ramifications from it. Nothing new under the sun.