Katrina Disaster Was the Corps of Engineers Failure
John on November 19, 2009 at 11:29 pm
From Time magazine:
There can be something thrilling about accountability, so it was nice to see a federal judge declare the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers directly responsible for the destruction of most of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. The blistering ruling validates the rage felt by so many survivors — and may put them in line for some much needed cash. It also provides an always welcome opportunity for those of us who have banged our spoons on our high chairs about the culpability of the Corps again and again and again to say we told you so. And it could help spread a message to millions of Americans who still think the tragedy of Katrina was the government’s response to the disaster rather than the government’s creation of the disaster.
The idea that Katrina wasn’t Bush’s fault is probably a novel one to most Americans. That the Mayor and Governor were Democrats was inconsequential. The media pounded us with the idea that all that really mattered was how much Bush cared. Clearly, not enough. The Democrats got a lot of mileage out of that fact-free bit of demagoguery.
The lesson of Katrina doesn’t just apply to hurricanes. Health care reform is a government made disaster in the making. Sure, Medicare is a disaster now, but the government fix is going to be the thing that sends a storm surge of red ink over the levies. When it happens, you can bet the left and their media allies will be ready to shift the blame to the nearest Republican.
Category: Politics |
The Corp is not the sole reason for the bad levees.
November 20, 2009 @ 12:32 amThe Orleans levee board is one of the more corrupt gov’t agencies in the overly corrupt Louisiana. They were a large part of badgering the Corp into backing the new lock instead of improving the 9th Ward levee.
They also were a big part of the design and building of the 17th street levee that failed in it’s second year or so of completion. Before it was finished, the locals on the N.O. side were complaining of water seeping up from under the levee. This was ignored by the Board who is responsible for maintaining the levees after the Corp builds them (actually a local contractor builds them. . . usually Bohn construction).
Truth is that the city was built BELOW SEA LEVEL and that the efforts of the Army Corps of Engineers tried to protect the city despite this seems to have been swept under the rug.
November 20, 2009 @ 12:14 pmWe now hear the huge sucking sound as tax dollars are drawn from Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, etc., to rebuild this idiotic town!