Hastert says NO should not be rebuilt

[Nikki Stone 1]

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html

5:27 P.M. - (AP): House Speaker Dennis Hastert says it makes no sense to spend (b) billions of dollars to rebuild New Orleans, which is seven feet under sea level.

Hastert, in a transcript supplied by the newspaper, said there was no question that the people of New Orleans would rebuild their city, but noted that federal insurance and other federal aid was involved.

Hastert's press secretary, Ron Bonjean, said Hastert was not suggesting New Orleans should be abandoned or relocated.

Hastert announced today that the House, currently at the end of its summer break, would return for an emergency session tomorrow to approve some $10 billion in federal aid for hurricane victims.

[katsy]

1. twit.

[NashVegas]

2. If Nothing Else ...

We should give the land back to the Mississippi for 5-10 years and let the river do what rivers are supposed to do. Then rebuild after seeing nature's way of healing itself.

[xchrom]

3. i'm uncertain re:NO -- but

i'm not uncertain about people who live where there are mudslides, or by the side of rivers, lakes, oceans because of the pretty view. and then when disaster strikes -- every year -- expect the rest of us to help pay for it -- every year.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Well, that would insure a totally red Louisiana, wouldnt' it? nt

[Ediacara]

5. I agree with Hastert

There is no realistic infrastructure left there, and rebuilding New Orleans is really building a huge city from scratch. Another disaster like this (or worse) will happen to a new city in the same spot, and that's a price I am unwilling to pay in money or in lives. Do we want to spend $1T for this? Kill another 100,000 people?

I don't want a great American city to be lost, but we have to be realistic about what's happened there physically.

Rebuild a shipping port if you must, but don't put a city there.

[stickdog]

11. NO is one of the 4-5 greatest US Cities.

Which US cities should we abondon next?

SF & LA because of earthquakes?

Chicago because of the heat, cold and tornados?

[Ediacara]

14. Hone your reading skills

If L.A. was completely obliterated, then yes, it's folley to rebuild it. New Orleans may as well have been scooped up and thrown into outer space. You may see buildings, but the city is already gone.

THERE IS NOTHING THERE ANYMORE. YOU WOULD HAVE TO REBUILD IT FROM SCRATCH.

[buddysmellgood]

21. Was one of the greatest cities. I breaks my heart, but it really doesn't

make sense anymore than it would to relocate to the middle of a Lake. One could build walls and pump the water out, but it's not done because it doesn't make sense.

[tx_dem41]

17. No infrastructure??

Most of the new downtown is fine ... the port is fine...the surrounding refineries and petrochemical plants are fine...the major universities (save for UNO) are fine...most of the hospitals are fine...the interstate highways will be there when the water recedes....

Are you sure that "most" of the infrastructure is gone???

[buddysmellgood]

22. Fine? Can you show me an engineering analysis of that?

[tx_dem41]

23. What do you dispute?

The new part of downtown, at most had a 2-3 feet of water on the street...I've lived in NO...that happens once a year or two. I forgot to add the two major spans (technically 3) major spans over the Mississippi...the Causeway...the Hi-Rise over the Intracoastal....

[buddysmellgood]

26. You know the Interstate bridge failed right? That just what's visible.

[tx_dem41]

27. Yes...and I didn't mention the Interstate bridge in my list....n/t

[Ediacara]

24. All gas, water, and sewer lines are completely comprimised

Every structure that isn't a highrise has been compromised by extreme water damage and will have to be destroyed. Many highrises are probably unrecoverable as well. What isn't waterlogged will probably burn to the ground. All streets that are still there will have to be torn up to relay gas, water, and sewer lines.

Don't give me this "everything is peachy keen, we'll just drain out the water" line. Make no mistake, New Orleans has been completely destroyed, and to rebuild it, would be a monumental financial boondoggle especially with it continuing to sink, and the Gulf continuing to rise...

[Sparkman]

18. Like Iraq, don't blame the situation, blame those in power!! Dutch did it!

How many mistakes does it take for us to condemn the government, instead of nature. Alaska is home for millions, and it freezes solid down to 6 feet, for months!! Venice is surrounded by the ocean, and for hundred's of years, the Italians figured out a solution.
Can you think of any other examples of man's triumph over adversity?
Let's place the blame on where it belongs, where the BUCK stops.

[Ediacara]

25. Venice and Amsterdam are not hurricane prone

I agree, the gov't does bear responsibility in this disaster, but the very nature of the city is untennible. We can't beat nature this time. Nature will win no matter how strong the seawall is.

I don't want to waste the money or the lives in a rebuilding folley.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Hastert is from Illinois

wonder if he would want the Quad Cities abandoned if the upper Mississippi flooded them out?

[anarchy1999]

7. Dear Mr. Hastert, please resign in grace, go to spend more "time with your

family".

Peace dearest! Now go, flee before we the people come to Washington to clean the house. I want to stand right next to Granny D!

[McCamy Taylor]

8. Huh? Will they or wont they give federal aid to NO?

[SlackJawedYokel]

9. It'll get rebuilt whether people like him like it or not.

Way, way too much money already invested in that city.

Would we abandon LA after "the big one"?
Did they abandon Chicago after the fire?

Aside from Hastert being an idiot, what kind of people in *the richest* first world country on the planet abandons a city with as much history and personality as New Orleans?

Ridiculous.

Please, it doesn't speak well of us as American citizens to even suggest such a thing.

Cletus

[DarkmoonIkonoklast]

19. Does the current regime speak well of us as Americans?

Hastert is emblematic of the cabal which has misrepresented my nation before the world for the past 57 months.:mad:

Heartless, worshipping the Golden Satanic Idol while preaching hate in the Name of the Christ...

I can't help wondering if maybe it IS time for a Peoples' Coup! Should we now do unto THIS George and his Court as our forebears did to George III?

Never mind Jesus... "WWJD" = "What Would Jefferson Do?"

[KamaAina]

10. ex-New Orleanian says Hastert should not be re-inflated

if he steps on a thumbtack or something and all the hot air leaks out.

What really hurts is that, but for a sex scandal, the speaker would now be Bob Livingston, from Metairie, La. That way we could get something done.

[opstachuck]

12. he's an idiot

too many people have such a strong connection to the city to let that happen. i believe new orleans will be rebuilt and it'll be better off in the long term (please humor my optimism, i'm from there). Saints fans know disappointment and the love of our culture and hope for the future is stronger than a little wind and water or some half brained twit (man, this is tough).

[DebJ]

13. I"m calling that SOB tomorrow.

[Sparkman]

15. Isn't Holland and the Netherlands surrounded by levies & dikes?

Aren't flood planes all over the country managed.
Huntington beach, Calif., is a flood plane, and huge. But the job got done. It's just an Engineering and a funding matter. Logistics is impossible for the money grubbing glory seeking idiots running this place.

[nonconformist]

16. BUT IRAQ SHOULD BE AND ON OUR DIME AND SWEAT

Remember that.

[whosinpower]

20. I agree with him

And before you flame me.....I think we should build a lovely memorial at the shores where New Orleans once was, list the deaths, as a testimont to the leadership of George W. Bush....and rename the area - "Lake George".

For without his insight and vision - none of this would of been possible.

(it was sarcasm just in case)