BF2S Forums Does GWB care more about Iraqis than people from New Orleans?

Pubic wrote:

Instead of giving heaps of money to the refugees, why not build stuff that'll help them get out of the poverty that existed prior to Katrina?

How about instead of putting all the money the put into trailers that are still sitting empty, put it into education grants.  You know the Chinese proverb: “Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.”

GunSlinger OIF II wrote:

Pug wrote:

Sgt.Kyle wrote:

I mean the weather channel did tell them like a week earlier to leave. Some of them waiting to the last minute and they paid the price.

Not that this is the norm, but the guy in my office said that the newscast the night before said Katrina was going to miss them.  They got a phone call a 4:30 and left 2 hrs later.

When it doesn't happen a lot, you kind of think it's never gonna happen.  That's pretty much why the public voted against improving the levees.

I thought the Bush administration reduced the funding to the Army Corps of Engineers for levee improvement on its own?

The Army Corps of Engineers requested 142.7 million and received 41.5 million for New Orleans flood control. FY 2006.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati … 3346.story

   
   
 
HURRICANE-PROTECTION PROJECTS
Flood-control funds short of requests

By Andrew Martin and Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau
Published September 1, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.

That has delayed construction of levees around the city and stymied an ambitious project to improve drainage in New Orleans' neighborhoods.

For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane-protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).

Because of the shortfalls, which were caused in part by the rising costs of the war in Iraq, the corps delayed seven contracts that included enlarging the levees, according to corps documents.

Last edited by GATOR591957 (2007-07-18 15:17:32)

GATOR591957 wrote:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509010170sep01,1,5853346.story

Thanks but I think I will listen listen to the chief of engineers for the corps rather than a A Democrat in Louisiana trying to blame Bush.
"Strock also denied that escalating costs from the war in Iraq contributed to reductions in funding for hurricane projects in Louisiana, as some critics have suggested. Records show that corps funding for the Louisiana projects has generally decreased in recent years."

Which war was Clinton fighting we he cut the funding to the levee's? Bush was following the trend Clinton had laid down. Which is  kinda like what Clinton did to the intelligence agencies when he followed Bush Sr.'s trend of cut backs.  But lets be honest, none of it matters since the the Corp.(The guys doing the work) acknowledge that funding was not an issue and the flooding would have happened anyways. Nothing they could have done within reason would have stopped the flooding. Mother Nature is a bitch of a whore.

sergeriver wrote:

I think you are missing the most important point.  American citizens from NO are having a real tough time and nobody seems to care about them.  Kmarion you are bringing numbers and projections, these people are suffering since 2005 coz of this.  I can't believe the federal government couldn't solve their problems, despite if the government of Louisiana sucks.  And most documentaries I saw and the articles I read show that there was a lack of funds.  Who's lying?  And how can people say "it's their problem, those people were told to leave a week before, but the bastards stayed".

Serge you are suggesting that they have been completely abandoned and that is simply not the case. The disaster area was the size of Great Britain, it's going to take a bit longer to rebuild. It's more complex than throwing money at the problem as fast as you can. Otherwise you get crap like this.

AP wrote:

But an Associated Press analysis of government data obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act suggests the government might not have been careful enough with its checkbook as it gave out nearly $5.3 billion in aid to storm victims. The analysis found the government regularly gave money to more homes in some neighborhoods than the number of homes that actually existed.

The pattern was repeated in nearly 100 neighborhoods damaged by the hurricanes. At least 162,750 homes that didn’t exist before the storms may have received a total of more than $1 billion in improper or illegal payments, the AP found.

If you truly think that Americans do not care about what happened in New Orleans than I can honestly say you are clueless to what we have done to try and support them. Even the evil corporations chipped in. You say "despite the government of Louisiana sucks". Mismanagement has much to do with their suffering still today. You are cherry picking in your attempt to hold someone accountable. It was a Natural Disaster, don't degrade the genrosisty and compassion by making it political.

Kmarion wrote:

If you truly think that Americans do not care about what happened in New Orleans than I can honestly say you are clueless to what we have done to try and support them. Even the evil corporations chipped in. You say "despite the government of Louisiana sucks". Mismanagement has much to do with their suffering still today. You are cherry picking in your attempt to hold someone accountable. It was a Natural Disaster, don't degrade the genrosisty and compassion by making it political.

Exactly.

sergeriver wrote:

Kmarion wrote:

If you truly think that Americans do not care about what happened in New Orleans than I can honestly say you are clueless to what we have done to try and support them. Even the evil corporations chipped in. You say "despite the government of Louisiana sucks". Mismanagement has much to do with their suffering still today. You are cherry picking in your attempt to hold someone accountable. It was a Natural Disaster, don't degrade the genrosisty and compassion by making it political.

Where did I say that Americans didn't care about NO.  I said that GWB seems more concerned about what's going on in Iraq than in NO.  You are accusing me wrongly of saying things I didn't say.

When you said nobody seems to care.

sergeriver wrote:

Kmarion wrote:

sergeriver wrote:

Where did I say that Americans didn't care about NO.  I said that GWB seems more concerned about what's going on in Iraq than in NO.  You are accusing me wrongly of saying things I didn't say.

When you said nobody seems to care.

Nobody aka the federal government, sorry.

Yes Politicians are self serving. In fact that is precisely why the funds began to flow. The Administration was trying to keep face after FEMA's fumbling of the response (Or at least perceived response times). Unfortunately like I said it takes much more than cash administrate relief.

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

sergeriver wrote:

Does GWB care more about Iraqis than people from New Orleans?

If that's true, would that make America less selfish than popularly-depicted?

No, that would make for really screwed up goverment priorities.

you forgot about Blackwater

What have we learned from this thread?

A. The government is willing to spend more on a foreign country than an American city.
B. New Orleans, like Iraq, has been very expensive to rebuild.
C. Both Iraq and New Orleans are rife with poverty.
D. Authorities and businesses in both Iraq and New Orleans have been squandering the massive amounts of funds being thrown at each area.
E. Both areas are places that many people would prefer to leave behind.

So, in actuality, there really is a lot in common between the two situations.  The primary difference, however, is that Iraq's progress is being hindered by extremists, while New Orleans's progress is hindered by neglect and corruption.

While I would normally support the idea of focusing on aiding an American city over aiding a foreign country, I have to say that New Orleans looks like about as much of a waste of time, money, and effort as Iraq is, at least when you take into account the much smaller area of New Orleans.

As someone else pointed out, maybe we should take a hint and not rebuild a city in the same vulnerable area.  If your city is occasionally prone to hurricanes and depends heavily on levees, maybe you should move things upriver some.  Now would be the ideal time for it.

Of course, that makes too much common sense for people to be willing to follow it.

BN wrote:

Pug wrote:

Did you know that there was 1.4 million people in Greater New Orleans (includes the delta) before, and there is 1.2 million now?  So a 14% population reduction after one of the worst disasters to hit the US?

200K left when they heard richard simmons was coming there to do a tv special. FACT.

Pug where did u get that lie from theres maybe half the population in the city at most

Turquoise wrote:

Yeah, I had heard that only about half of the city returned.  Granted, I heard that about 6 months ago.

Maybe things have improved?...

No

Pug wrote:

Sgt.Kyle wrote:

I mean the weather channel did tell them like a week earlier to leave. Some of them waiting to the last minute and they paid the price.

Not that this is the norm, but the guy in my office said that the newscast the night before said Katrina was going to miss them.  They got a phone call a 4:30 and left 2 hrs later.

When it doesn't happen a lot, you kind of think it's never gonna happen.  That's pretty much why the public voted against improving the levees.

And he didn't turn to the weather channel? Not like the hurricane was a cat 1 or anything...