Bush in NOLA

I know that i should really try to give "W" a fair chance to redeem himself - i know that would be fair. But he just seems so ... disinterested. Enjoy this article.

The New York Times
March 8, 2006
Bush Visits Gulf Region as It Struggles to Rebuild
By ROBERT PEAR

NEW ORLEANS, March 8 — Saying he fully understood the "pain and agony" of this storm-battered region, President Bush urged local officials today to speed the removal of debris from Hurricane Katrina and said the federal government would rebuild the levees to provide greater protection against flood waters like those that swamped the city six months ago.

In a quick visit to the Gulf Coast, Mr. Bush encouraged the victims of Katrina to "pick up and move on and rebuild," and he outlined a strategy that he said would "help this part of the world rise again."

The president, in shirt sleeves, spoke at a work site here, in front of construction cranes, cement mixers, bulldozers and excavation equipment — tangible symbols of the reconstruction he wants to galvanize.

Mr. Bush's visit, his 10th trip to the region since Katrina, came as a political battle broke out among Gulf Coast states seeking federal money for relief and reconstruction.

On Tuesday, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana, a Democrat, said she feared that Congress would "chip away" at the money promised to Louisiana and divert some of it to other states.

"I do not for a minute seek to minimize the needs of Mississippi, Alabama or Texas," Ms. Blanco told the Senate Appropriations Committee. "The entire Gulf Coast suffered, but Louisiana bore the brunt of this disaster."

Ms. Blanco endorsed the president's proposal for $4.2 billion for housing recovery, but some influential Republican members of Congress have been reluctant to earmark all the money for Louisiana.

Today, President Bush backed the state's pleas for help. "Congress," he said, "should make sure the $4.2 billion I requested goes to the state of Louisiana."

After a tour of the New Orleans area, Mr. Bush said: "I am getting a view of the progress that is being made. There's still a lot of work to be done, no doubt about it."

One of the worst natural disasters in United States history, Katrina killed more than 1,300 people, left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. Ms. Blanco said that 1,100 of the deaths occurred in Louisiana.

With Governor Blanco and Mayor C. Ray Nagin at his side, Mr. Bush declared: "The vast majority of debris on public property has been removed. Most of the remaining debris is on private property."

The president said the Army Corps of Engineer would repair the city's flood-protection system before the new hurricane season begins in June. With those repairs, he said, the levees will be "equal to or better than what they were before Katrina."

But Mr. Bush said Congress had shortchanged the financing, and he urged lawmakers to provide $1.5 billion more for work on the levees — an elaborate system of embankments and structural barriers.

Governor Blanco and her counterparts from Mississippi, Alabama and Texas told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that the federal government had not done nearly enough to help their states recover from the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Ms. Blanco said her state was still waiting for federal money that Mr. Bush promised in a speech from Jackson Square, in New Orleans, on the evening of Sept. 15.

Ms. Blanco said she did not understand why federal officials were more willing to spend money overseas than at home.

"Every month, American taxpayers spend nearly $6.8 billion for infrastructure improvements, equipment and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan," Ms. Blanco said. "Surely we can find a way to provide the $1.4 billion needed to strengthen levees protecting Americans citizens. Surely, we can fund the $4.2 billion for American homeowners who want to return home to Louisiana."

Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Republican, said that more than 100,000 residents of his state were still living in trailers and mobile homes.

"Permanent housing is far away," Mr. Barbour said, "because the new supply will not meet the demand for several years. The trailers are designed and built to be used recreationally a few weeks a year. They are not designed to be used as housing for a family for several years."

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican, said his state had been penalized for giving refuge to hundreds of thousands of Katrina victims.

Mr. Perry said the federal government had broken its promise to reimburse Texas for the cost of providing food, housing, health care and education services to hurricane victims.

"Federal financial assistance has been woefully inadequate, a fraction of what was promised," Mr. Perry said. Moreover, he said, "there remains no viable or clear plan to return victims to their home state."

In a study issued a few days ago, the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan research institute, said: "The city and region of New Orleans remain at a virtual standstill. Little construction or redevelopment progress is under way because of the cloud of uncertainties still lingering over the city."

Demolitions of flooded homes in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans began just this week.

People have begun coming back, but the Brookings study said that "more than 300,000 residents still have not returned" to New Orleans. The city had a population of 156,000 last month, far lower than the level of 458,000 prior to Katrina, the study said.

President Bush said that strengthening the levees would give people confidence that they could safely return.
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