WP: Post-Katrina Promises Unfulfilled

[Pirate Smile]

Post-Katrina Promises Unfulfilled
On the Gulf Coast, Federal Recovery Effort Makes Halting Progress

By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 28, 2006; Page A01

Nearly five months after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans, President Bush's lofty promises to rebuild the Gulf Coast have been frustrated by bureaucratic failures and competing priorities, a review of events since the hurricane shows.

While the administration can claim some clear progress, Bush's ringing call from New Orleans's Jackson Square on Sept. 15 to "do what it takes" to make the city rise from the waters has not been matched by action, critics at multiple levels of government say, resulting in a record that is largely incomplete as Bush heads into next week's State of the Union address.

The problems include the slow federal cleanup of debris in Mississippi and Louisiana; a lack of authority for Bush's handpicked recovery coordinator, Donald E. Powell; the shortage and poor quality of housing for evacuees; and federal restrictions on reconstruction money and where coastal communities can rebuild.

With the onset of the hurricane season just four months away, there is no agreement on how to rebuild New Orleans, how to pay for that effort or even who is leading the cross-governmental partnership, according to elected leaders. While there is money to restore the city's flood defenses to protect against another Category 3 hurricane, it remains unclear whether merely reinforcing the levees will be enough to draw residents back.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701818.html

[jobycom]

1. Oh, you think? I hope every goddamned Republican just once

has to depend on Bush for their survival.

[KainNero]

4. I agree

seriously, when I was watching news about Hurricane Katrina and the damage done and the HUGE LACK of help the people were getting, I was thinking...WTF? This is the USA and they can't even help their own countrymen?

[gator_in_Ontario]

2. I knew that

promise was BS from day one. Frances and Jeanne tore us up and they said 6 months, then Wilma danced a tango. Bottom line is recovery takes years... it will never be the same, but what you DO get takes years

[rodeodance]

3. Most know BushCo has other priorities (helping NO/LA was an after-

thought to him anyway (gee people are upset-I best get down there and make a few promises).

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Yet another failure of an admin that cannot, and/or will not, govern. nt

[gratuitous]

6. Are they saying Bush just used the disaster as a PR stunt?

Oh my gosh, what, oh what, will we tell our children? Bush strode out there so manfully with his shirtsleeves rolled up, his buttons askew, and declared without reservation that he'd do whatever it takes to put New Orleans back on the map. Now the Post is telling us it was just so much more hot air on a humid night?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot; we've been saying that since the kleig lights were extinguished, that Bush is long on talk and short on action. And that if New Orleans was going to resurface, it wouldn't be the Bush administration that did much about it.

But I suppose tomorrow the Post will once again be back, taking Kanye West or Harry Belafonte to task for stating what is so screamingly obvious to a majority of the populace. After all, it's unseemly to point out the ruling class's racism. You're not supposed to notice when the host lets go with a big ripe fart at those high tone cocktail parties, either. Bad manners, don't you know.

[ninkasi]

7. Bush doesn't care

he was just trying to stop his poll numbers from falling more then he made his empty promises. He never keeps promises. I really believe that Bill White, the mayor of Houston, has done more for many of the victims of Katrina than Chimp ever will.