Posted on 09/13/2005 5:13:40 AM PDT by OESY
"What the American people have seen in this incredible disparity in which those people who had cars and money got out, and those people who were impoverished died."
The above comment about Hurricane Katrina comes to us from Ted Kennedy, who went on to say that the question for Chief Justice-designate John Roberts is whether he stands for "a fairer, more just nation" or will use "narrow, stingy interpretations of the law to frustrate progress." But why stop there? Sen. Kennedy is onto something and, indeed, the question isn't only for Judge Roberts....
That debate has so far largely focused on race and class to explain why tens of thousands of poor people were left behind to fend for themselves in a flooding city. Liberals are now blaming small-government conservatism for cutting "antipoverty" programs. That's a tune a surprising number of people are starting to hum, from NAACP chairman Julian Bond to New York Times columnist David Brooks, who speculated recently that the storm will probably spark a new progressive movement in America. The lyrics are still being written, but the refrain for this ditty is a familiar one: Small government conservatives did it to us again.
There is, however, another explanation: The welfare state failed the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward and other flooded New Orleans neighborhoods long before the levees gave way. This gets us back to the question Sen. Kennedy wants Judge Roberts to answer about whether to adopt a narrow view that prevents real progress from taking place. And it also explains the role Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. Kathleen Blanco--both Democrats--played in leaving mostly poor, minority citizens in a city that was clearly descending into chaos.
...Tourism kept it, well, afloat, but large swaths of the city were mired in poverty for decades....
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Same can be said of Atlantic City, NJ.
Hopefully by not using taxpayers money to house these people (katrina evacuees) for the rest of their lives, or increase their welfare checks.
Condie says to rebuild in "a different way", what is she specifically proposing? I wish she could see what these people are doing in a motel and a extended stay motel in the Dallas area. Yesterday our friend who is a security guard at the extended stay motel said the manager had to put the entire place in lockdown because these people are getting out of hand, illegal drugs are running rampant. (unsubstantiated)
When the government is picking up the tab using taxpayers money what should they build to house these people? Proven fact regardless of how nice a place that is built to house them it all winds up trashed and a ghetto.
I'm from Chicago. I lived at 63rd and Cottage Grove Ave. I have seen all the famous Chicago ghettos, Cabrini Green etc. but when I went through the Laffitte ghetto I was shocked and scared at the degree of poverty and the lawlessnes.
What Kennedy wants more of.
Liver do your duty!
I just read a media piece that talked about the extreme trashing of the Superdome following Katrina by the poor blacks who went there. They destroyed nearly everything in the Dome, except the highest reaches. While readers may wish to think this was a response to the need for water and food, I was unaware that the same thing happened in 1998 when the same group was moved there in anticipation of a hurricane - Georges, I believe. This is not a response to physical needs, it is a group mentality brought on by welfare dependency and lack of any socialization among too many blacks in NO. This is an indicator that a more "progressive" society is not good. We need a more conservative, self-sufficient society.
NO has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remake itself and assist all who so desire a chance to rise above poverty and enter the mainstream of American life. My guess is those who don't want to work will remain where they have been evacuated, becoming a burden and plague on the good city that took them in. Texas, in my opinion, looks to be a net loser in this catastrophe, they just don't know it yet. Given the social cleansing that has occurred, I think NO will win, bigtime as VP Cheney would say.
They will go all out to disprove the fact that the liberalism down there is what done them in.
Sad.......... Hopefully many of the affected will see the error of total government dependency and rethink their prioritities. Some will, most will not.
Trust me I was aware of that from day one when we heard we were getting 250,000 NO poor. The first week they were housed in a local extended stay motel they sat out on the railings and stairs etc, till all hours of day and night, actually I can't sufficiently describe the scene, smoking dope. And still are. I think a call to our local police is in order very shortly and a call to a local newspaper to reveal the truth.
This is a multi-generational mentality - it keeps the poor people down and corrupt officials elected.
Also, whatever happened to the "welfare to work" program? I thought we had ended institutionalized public assistance at the federal level if one was able to work. Did I miss something. Wasn't that a republican idea became a bill that Clinton signed and took credit for?
Count on it!
Poor people are poor because they continually repeat the behavior that makes them poor. It usually starts out with dropping out of school. It often also includes having children out of wedlock, becoming addicted, not developing marketable job skills and the list goes on and on.
The elected Liberal Socialist elites, aka Democrats, have used the so-called "poor" for generations to further their political ambitions and this time will be no different.
It often makes me wonder why so many people continue to vote Democrat. It's obvious what is happening.
The politicians down there are now getting worried about all those Rats leaving and they won't be there to vote for them any longer. What a pity!
Why do they vote Democratic...because the Democrats promise them the most freebies...plain and simple...its one person.... one vote..it is not tied to IQ....I think you should take a test to be able to vote....
Just the thought of that porcine, drunken, pervert murderer questioning the ethics of Roberts makes me want to puke!
> Poor people are poor because they continually repeat the behavior that makes them poor. It usually starts out with dropping out of school. It often also includes having children out of wedlock, becoming addicted, not developing marketable job skills and the list goes on and on.
The elected Liberal Socialist elites, aka Democrats, have used the so-called "poor" for generations to further their political ambitions and this time will be no different.<
When welfare was set up, it inadvertantly (I hope) punished intact, 2 parent families. Men, who had once struggled to support wives and children, were swept to the sidelines. Is it surprising that such a policy has had the side effect of drug addiction, joblessness and crime? Take a whole segment of humanity, and make them not only irrelevent, but a drain on the family.
The thinly-veiled contempt with which Democrats and liberals hold the poor, and poor black men in particular, keeps the cycle of poverty not only continuing, but, in some parts of the country, growing. We see the results plainly in New Orleans.
If Hillary gets the Total WELFARE VOTE in 08' she will be President !
Over 50 percent of the population gets some sort of Gov Hand out ! (SocSec, Disability, Food Stamps, Sec 8 Housing, Medicaid and on and on)
The Reps better put up a Good Canidate !!
"Proven fact regardless of how nice a place that is built to house them it all winds up trashed and a ghetto."
As seen in recent video, 'the poor' will stand there and wait for government aid. This is what they have been taught, and they learned it well. There needs to be incentive to better one's life. I would think living in a ghetto would be incentive enough, but it is aparently not. I have always thought government handouts should be temporary help and not a livelyhood. People of working age should be working, not sitting around. This welfare state is precicely the reason Pres. Bush feels we need to allow illegal immigration: to import a new 'working class'.
I remember trying to find day labor in the days before. The typical response to a job offer was: 'No thanks, I get more from the government by not working.' LBJ's 'Great Society' taught the uneducated how NOT to work! And they've got the nerve to blame conservatives! (apologies for the long rant)
Yeah, Ol' Teddy knows a lot about flooding, cars, and people drowning.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.