LA Times: Levees' Fate Sealed in Washington

[kstewart33]

Levees' Fate Sealed in Washington
By Richard A. Serrano and Nicole Gaouette, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON -- For years, Washington had been warned that doom lurked just beyond the levee. And for years, the White House and Congress had dickered over how much money to put into shoring up century-old dikes and carrying out newer flood control projects to protect the city of New Orleans.

As recently as three months ago, the alarms were still sounding -- and still being brushed aside.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-levee4sep04,0,3450779.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[daninthemoon]

1. EVERYONE who says this was an unexpected disaster is a LIAR.

[Metta]

2. Absolutely. From George Bush on down. nt

[BeyondGeography]

3. The nature of the beast

And * wins worst of breed.

<These budget decisions reflect a reality in Washington: to act with an eye toward short-term political rewards instead of making long-term investments to deal with problems. Vincent Gawronski, an assistant professor at Birmingham Southern College in Alabama who studies the politics of disaster, said the lost chances to shore up the levees were a classic example of government leaders who, while meaning well, clash over priorities.

"Elected politicians are in office for a limited amount of time and with a limited amount of money and they don't really have a long-term vision for spending it," he said.

"So you spend your pot of money where you feel you're going to get the most political support so you can get re-elected. It's very difficult to think long-term. If you invest in these levees, is that going to show an immediate return or does it take away from anything else?">

[mzmolly]

4. Recommended.

:(

[Usrename]

5. TRUTH,TRUTH,TRUTH

will the liars even care?

[BeyondGeography]

6. How about this stinker from Harry Reid

Spoken like a guy who grew up in the desert:

<...in May 2004, then-Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that he had visited the levees as a guest of Landrieu and believed them adequate.

He particularly praised the ancient water pumps for keeping the waters from cascading into the city, proclaiming them "these old, old pumps that hadn't been changed since before the turn of the century, that still keep New Orleans dry."

"It was as clean as a restaurant," he added. "These big old pumps work."

Today, eight of those 22 pumps are underwater, and inoperable.>

[DELUSIONAL]

10. I don't have much faith in the dems -- since they elected Reid

as minority leader.

He is mostly useless -- he'll puff off and impress people -- but when it comes to voting -- he's not on our side. He works for bush.

[Usrename]

7. faith

[Usrename]

8. science

DEMAND A CORRECTION!!!!!!!!!!!

[young_at_heart]

9. Flood conrol.....Low priority!

Iraq.....High priority!

[CityDem]

11. Spread the blame out

Pretty soon you will hear the Bushco folks blame the Clinton admin for not funding the upkeep of the levies.

[Piperay]

12. True enough

he didn't but they would have never appropriated the money for it and would have claimed he was 'wagging the dog' or some such bullshit. x(

[Judi Lynn]

13. Looks as Mary Landrieu was truly meeting strong resistance from Bush

and his MEpublican Congressional agents:

On Capitol Hill in recent years, several Democrats have warned that more money should be targeted for protecting New Orleans. For instance, last September, Landrieu said she was tired of hearing there was no money for levees.

"We're told, can't do it this year. Don't have enough money. It's not a high enough priority," she said in a Senate speech. "Well, I know when it's going to get to be a high enough priority."

She then told of a New Orleans emergency worker who had already collected several thousand body bags in the event of a major flood. "Let's hope that never happens," she said.
(snip/...)

She must be so damned mad. I hope this will shake her out of her inclination to give up to these monsters when it looks too rocky.