Bush adminstration cuts hurt New Orleans levees

[J. J.]

It's also amazing how jFRAUD can't read what he posts links to.  Here is a quote from the article:

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I had no idea that Bush was President when he was 19.

[J. J.]

Interestingly, the federal government did pay for most of the anti hurricane protection of the 17th Street Canal Levee, the one that failed.  http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:Z09lHlW-g20J:app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/86256EA9004C005986256EDF005716C3/%24FILE/40bf40b3.PDF+%2217th+street+canal+levee%22+construction+-break&hl=en

Cash wasn't a problem; perhaps engineering was?

You might find the PDF better; the information is on p. 12.

http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/86256EA9004C005986256EDF005716C3/$FILE/40bf40b3.PDF

[J. J.]

Of course, the problem is that the levee that broke was actually the one "upgraded" and fully funded five years ago.  Something tells me that funding wasn't a problem (my guess it, it wasn't a political problem).

[J. J.]

It is absurd to expect a city government, burdened with mostly poor citizens and very little tax base, to deal with such a disaster.  The money for such massive responses must come from where all the money is - the owning classes. 

It isn't exactly a "poor" city overall.  They did have a relatively strong tax base.  There was huge development downtown, massive public projects.  There was also a fairly strong middle class and a lot of incoming money from tourism.

This one isn't a political issue, more of an engineering one.  The 17th Street Canal Levee, that broke, was "upgraded" 5 years ago.  There were both federal (the bulk) and local contributions to its building.

[J. J.]

Of course, the problem is that the levee that broke was actually the one "upgraded" and fully funded five years ago.  Something tells me that funding wasn't a problem (my guess it, it wasn't a political problem).

I think the problem was some idiot thought that building a bridge nearby would be a good idea..

I'll bite, who was the idiot?

[J. J.]

Most unbelivable thing yet. Appearantly FEMA didn't know that there were 15,000 refuges in the NOLA convention center until today (Thursday), even though it had been reported yesterday (Wednesday) on CNN. 15,000 people who were not given any supplies. How can they overlook 15,000 people in one place? That's pathetic.

The reason is that the New Orleans officials didn't tell them they were sending people there. 

Now I can understand that the communications system is gone, but they can send "runners" to these locations. 

One problem is the mayor is sixty miles away in Baton Rouge.  He can't monitor the situation directly.