The struggle to apply foreign aid in the aftermath of the hurricane, which has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $125 billion so far, is another reminder of the federal government's difficulty leading the recovery. Reports of government waste and delays or denials of assistance have surfaced repeatedly since hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005.

Administration officials acknowledged in February 2006 that they were ill prepared to coordinate and distribute foreign aid and that only about half the $126 million received had been put to use. Now, 20 months after Katrina, newly released documents and interviews make clear the magnitude of the troubles.

Tell them we blew it,' or not ...
More than 10,000 pages of cables, telegraphs and e-mails from U.S. diplomats around the globe -- released piecemeal since last fall under the Freedom of Information Act -- provide a fuller account of problems that, at times, mystified generous allies and left U.S. representatives at a loss for an explanation. The documents were obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a public interest group, which provided them to The Washington Post.

In one exchange, State Department officials anguished over whether to tell Italy that its shipments of medicine, gauze and other medical supplies spoiled in the elements for weeks after Katrina's landfall on Aug. 29, 2005, and were destroyed. "Tell them we blew it," one disgusted official wrote. But she hedged: "The flip side is just to dispose of it and not come clean. I could be persuaded."

In another instance, the Department of Homeland Security accepted an offer from Greece on Sept. 3, 2005, to dispatch two cruise ships that could be used free as hotels or hospitals for displaced residents. The deal was rescinded Sept. 15 after it became clear a ship would not arrive before Oct. 10. The U.S. eventually paid $249 million to use Carnival Cruise Lines vessels.

And while television sets worldwide showed images of New Orleans residents begging to be rescued from rooftops as floodwaters rose, U.S. officials turned down countless offers of allied troops and search-and-rescue teams. The most common responses: "sent letter of thanks" and "will keep offer on hand," the new documents show.

Overall, the United States declined 54 of 77 recorded aid offers from three of its staunchest allies: Canada, Britain and Israel, according to a 40-page State Department table of the offers that had been received as of January 2006.

"There is a lack of accountability in where the money comes in and where it goes," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the public interest group, which called for an investigation into the fate of foreign aid offers. She added: "It's clear that they're trying to hide their ineptitude, incompetence and malfeasance."

Feds say they learned lesson
In a statement, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that the U.S. government sincerely appreciated support from around the world and that Katrina had proved to be "a unique event in many ways."

"As we continue our planning for the future, we will draw on the lessons learned from this experience to ensure that we make the best use of any possible foreign assistance that might be offered," Casey said.

Representatives of foreign countries declined to criticize the U.S. response to their aid offers, though some redirected their gifts.

Of $454 million in cash that was pledged by more than 150 countries and foreign organizations, only $126 million from 40 donors was actually received. The biggest gifts were from the United Arab Emirates, $100 million; China and Bahrain, $5 million each; South Korea, $3.8 million; and Taiwan, $2 million.

Bader Bin Saeed, spokesman for the Emirates Embassy in Washington, said that in future disasters, "the UAE would not hesitate to help other countries, whether the U.S. or any other state, in humanitarian efforts."

DOne been posted by Me down further on the User blogs.

Larry

Happens all the time Larry. Don't sweat it.

not only arrogant but stupid, too.

well I posted on Larry's and will not repeat myself if you care what I said (I know, I know, you don't) then go look on his thread.

In a way it doesn't matter whether or not this Administration accepted millions in foreign aid for Katrina because the money would never have gotten to the American people anyway -- and particularly would never have gone to those in New Orleans who needed the money the most.

This aid, if accepted, would only have gotten as far as the bank accounts of Bush cronies like Halliburton.

Most of the aid went uncollected, including $400 million worth of oil. Some offers were withdrawn or redirected to private groups such as the Red Cross. The rest has been delayed by red tape and bureaucratic limits on how it can be spent.,..

I noticed there was no 'red tape' or 'bureaucratic limits' holding up the money when it came to flying BILLIONS of our tax dollars -- IN CASH -- laid out on pallets in the cargohold of a C-130 directly to Paul Bremer in Iraq never to be accounted for again.

DOne been posted by Me down further on the User blogs.

Larry

Posted by LarryMohr at 2007-04-29 07:15 AM | Reply

I'm taking a guess but I think your earlier posting of this same story (last night) might have been accidentally overlooked and replaced because your headline didn't say "Katrina' or 'hurricane' and no one checked to see what the subject was about. just a hunch.

I always run a fast check of the stories on the back page, though, before I start to put up a userblog to make sure I'm not reposting a story already put up by someone else.

This, from the nation that rebuilt Europe after WWII and sustained the Berlin airlift when the Soviets closed access to it.

And NO remains in ruins after all this time.

Actions speak louder than words.

Who's up for the evangelical right being the ones keeping the pressure on the Bushies votewise, from doing anything meaningful in the Sodom and Gomorrah of America.

Who's up for the evangelical right being the ones keeping the pressure on the Bushies votewise, from doing anything meaningful in the Sodom and Gomorrah of America.

I doubt it. The evangelical right counts on the votes of some real christians who are mislead to keep it's power. Real christians do not belive in withholding help from people.

I suspect the real problem is the same as every other part of this administration. Lazyness, Incompetence, and Profiteering.

This headline makes me think of the movie "Slums of Beverly Hills". At the end of the movie they are sitting there eating dinner when the younger brother who got checks once a month from his older brother to keep him up asked if he could get the check because his children were at the table. Well his older brother went berserk saying its made no difference because he was really still paying for dinner.

Seems the same applies here. Many of these countries are receiving aid from us so this would only be a PR stunt.

Tell the people in NO still living under bridges that it was a PR stunt. Turd.

Many of these countries are receiving aid from us so this would only be a PR stunt.

Posted by leftwingnutjob


yeah, like Germany, South Korea and those poor folks in UAE and Bharain. I suppose the Greeks could have made the offer to send ships as a PR stunt but then we decided to pay Carlival a whopping $245 mil for their service.

we decided to pay Carlival a whopping $245 mil for their service

Just another neocon scheme to send taxpayer dollars into private hands for a future service rendered. And it has nothing to do with providing cruise ships.

This headline makes me think of the movie "Slums of Beverly Hills". At the end of the movie they are sitting there eating dinner when the younger brother who got checks once a month from his older brother to keep him up asked if he could get the check because his children were at the table. Well his older brother went berserk saying its made no difference because he was really still paying for dinner.

Seems the same applies here. Many of these countries are receiving aid from us so this would only be a PR stunt.

Posted by leftwingnutjob at 2007-04-29 01:39 PM | Reply | Flag:'


Wow...you truly are conceited beyond belief.

So, when some of these countries want to help out and give back, we should say no?

Well, the last two words of your name are fitting.

Ahhh, bureaucrats. Never fail to disappoint! Keep up the great work guys.

LARRY

You certainly did post this before me....mine actually in the wee predawn hours of the morning.

As long as the story got here.

In either case, this refusal to accept Katrina aid is amazing arrogance at a time when our treasury is stretched to the limit and beyond.

But, what's a billion here and there to Bush? He spends like a drunken sailor on all his buddies and could care less about Americans.

Seems the same applies here. Many of these countries are receiving aid from us so this would only be a PR stunt.

Posted by leftwingnutjob at 2007-04-29 01:39 PM | Reply | Flag:'

You are an idiot. Damn those third-world countries that survive on US aid like Canada and Britain and their PR stunts.

NutJob-
re: We know that currently there has been 122 Billion dollars allocated for Hurrican Katrina. By using simple division here each member of the population has had $251,715.86 allocated for them. Now I know some of you idgets here will cry and say that they did not directly recieve that amount of money and what was received was not equally dispersed.


Let's cut to the chase, Nutcase. Do you think anyone would be bitchin' if they'd each recieved a check for a quarter million?

No.

They ran the Katrina recovery like they ran Iraq. You know it. I know it.

(The bush administration cares about one thing: Its own ass)

Try it: Things will make more sense.

Personally I would prefer that they just given them the quarter of a million dollars each directly and tell them to do as they wish.

Then we could just plow New Orleans into the ocean. Otherwise this same thing can happen again.

Of course democrats would still be complaining that they didn't get enough. Who's responsibility is it that so many were poor? Well I'll give you 2 parties. First themselves and secondly that same government who is wasting so much money here. Many of these people allowed themselves to hooked on the socialist titty, public housing, public assistance, food stamps, mass transit, etc. Never prepared to take care of themselves. Now I am not talking about 80 year olds or cripples here. Just the 25-50 year olds that get told the federal and state government will take care of them. They grow soft sitting at home doing nothing and eventually become mentally dependent on the nanny state.

Heres a perfect example: A saw a newsreport several weeks after Katrina of a family who had relocated to Charlotte NC. They took an apartment here and were given an initial $2,800. dollars by Fema. The story was about how they had not paid the rent on this aparment and were being told they would be evicted. Well the story goes on to tell you that they had used the $2800. on all new furniture. When things got hot about the rent they contacted the media.

My thoughts are this. Why did they not pay the rent first and keep the rest for food? Next, why did they buy all new furniture? Goodwill and other charity organizations sell used furniture at really cheap prices. Why did they call the media?

You see they could have done the responsible thing here with the money but had never done so before so why start now. They allerted the media to garner sympathy and try and embarrass the government. Now some may have been deceived by this story but not me. These people were bought and sold on there dependence to the government.

It would not have mattered how much money the had received they would have been broke again sooner or later. I would suggest that the government would have been better off to use waivers to pay their rent for them removing any chance they could have squandered it.

Just so you will know an apartment in Charlotte can be easily rented for $800-$900. dollars.

Boyd wrote,

They ran the Katrina recovery like they ran Iraq. You know it. I know it."

Well to qoute what I hear from you democrats here so often. They threw money at a situation that could not be fixed. Its time to withdraw from New Orleans. Both fiscally and personally.

I do know that Katrina was ran a hell of a lot better than Hugo or Floyd!

Leftwing-
What people are we talking about?

Nutcase:
re: They threw money at a situation that could not be fixed. Its time to withdraw from New Orleans. Both fiscally and personally.

You want to "withdraw" from an American city, and stay in Iraq?

Right?

Nutcase:
re: "They threw money at a situation that could not be fixed. Its time to withdraw from New Orleans. Both fiscally and personally."

You want to "withdraw" from an American city, and stay in Iraq?

Right?

Posted by Boyd at 2007-04-30 05:53 AM | Reply | Flag:

Later...feelin' a bit nauseated.

Some information for LeftwingIgnoramus.

States impacted directly by Hurricane Katrina: Lousiana, Mississisppi, Alabama and Florida.

NOLA greater metropolitan area population: 1.3 Million.

Square Miles Declared Federal Disaster Areas: 90,000

47 Counties in lower Mississippi alone were declared disaster areas.

Property Damage estimate: $81.2 Billion.

30 Oil Platforms damaged or destroyed.

Yer right, idiot, your math is real fucking fuzzy.

The aid is not just for families, Sparkty. It's for rebuilding entire regions of the Gulf Coast.

Try using facts next time, oh wait, I forgot you were scared of the actual truth.

Have some more kool-aid, pal.

You want to "withdraw" from an American city, and stay in Iraq?


Boyd, the city is under sea level. Why spend hundreds of billions of dollars rebuilding something and then have another hurricane do the same thing? To me that seems crazy. Surely for a couple hundred billion dollars we could just build an entirely new city further inland. Hey but practical solutions are never used by the government.

Boyd, I do not want to stay in Iraq. Nor do I think it has been well managed. Too few troops and too much money spent there. I do however think Iraq is now if not in the past a strategic location on the war on terror. We are right where most of the terrorist in the world are currently presiding.

TreesGoneWild,

You say 81 billion in total property damage. Well much of that is covered by Insurance but lets pretend it isn't. The federal government has already allocated 122 billions dollars to this mess. That leaves 40+ billion to disperse among the people.


"NOLA greater metropolitan area population: 1.3 Million."

We both know that all of New Orleans was not flooded. We both also know that some had insurance. We also know that some were wealthy enough to not need government assistance.

"30 Oil Platforms damaged or destroyed"

This might have caused the price of gas to go up but wasn't paid for by the government.

"The aid is not just for families, Sparkty. It's for rebuilding entire regions of the Gulf Coast."

$81 billion was your number for all property damage. That still leaves 40+ million for the poor.

The $122 billion doesn't include money that has yet to be allocated nor does it cover state money that will be spent on Katrina victims.

I just love it when a Woman puts a Man in His place. Oooooolala Yummy.

Larry

No amount of money or effort would satisfy you left wingers. Unless of course Bill Clinton had been in office. I live in NC and when Floyd happened you fuckers didn't say a fucking word why our people suffered in misery and Clinton sat on his fat lazy ass getting blowjobs.

We are right where most of the terrorist in the world are currently presiding.

Posted by leftwingnutjob at 2007-04-30 06:03 AM


Gee that's good---why don't we just shoot them all and come home? Oh yeah, that's right---we can't tell them apart from the regular civilians, so we have to wait until they shoot at us first before we know who to shoot. Unfortunately, they always seem to be hiding about a quarter mile away when they snipe at our troops, and are usually home watching CNN tell them we are sending more troops when their IED goes off.

So tell me Super Genius---how do we know who the terrorists are?

Who are we waiting to surrender to us.

Where's Osama?

No this is all about attacking republicans and George Bush.

Explain to me why Fema didn't show up in eastern NC for 30+ days. If you want more proof it happened I can provide to more links on stories written at the time by the Raleigh News and Observer a left leaning paper!

I live in NC and when Floyd happened you fuckers didn't say a fucking word why our people suffered in misery and Clinton sat on his fat lazy ass getting blowjobs.

Posted by leftwingnutjob at 2007-04-30 06:14 AM


I thought all that stuff was up to the local officials to straighten out. Where was your mayor? Where was your governor. Why do States Rights people always whine to the government to help them out when the going gets a bit bumpy?

Buffalo Shit, your f*cking opinions are worthless. When you read the popular mechanics article on building 7 and come apologize to all of us here then maybe we will acknowledge your questions.

Buffalo Shit, I have never said I was a states rights person. You don't know what you are f*cking talking about as usual.

Boo Hoo Hooo---help me MR Government---that nasty hurricane blew away my house---please give me money while I whine about welfare to poor people---please feed my kids while I tell others to stand on their own two feet and take responsiblity for their lives. Please help me build a better life while I tell others to go fuck themselves. Please make my life all better and I'll vote to send more money to kill brown people and bitch about the Power of the Central Government

The Republicans of North Carolina.

(BB- By that I think NutJob meant that he's never actually used the words, "I'm a states rights person", in that order in a sentence. )

I thought all that stuff was up to the local officials to straighten out. Where was your mayor? Where was your governor. Why do States Rights people always whine to the government to help them out when the going gets a bit bumpy?

Posted by Buffalo_Bob at 2007-04-30 06:19 AM | Reply

Yeah imagine That. Oh they talk a good game but when it's time to follow through No such luck. Know what I am saying?? FEMA FEMA WHOOOO

Larry

Leftwingnutjob---I read that bullshit article---but I doubt you did since there weren't any cartoons of ducks or mice involved. But in case you heard some big people talking about it---what part did you find compelling? The Popular Mechanics rebuttal has been torn apart long ago. Try to keep up.

1999 Hurricane Swamped Clinton's FEMA

Democrats led by Sen. Hillary Clinton are blaming the Federal Emergency Management Agency for failing to respond adequately to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

But FEMA didn't do much better under much less taxing conditions, when the floods that followed Hurricane Floyd left tens of thousands stranded up and down the Eastern seaboard, wondering what happened to federal rescuers.

New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida were hit hard when Floyd slammed the coast on Sept. 16, 1999. It was the worst storm to hit the U.S. in 25 years - yet it killed only 61 people. That death toll expected to be dwarfed by Katrina.

Clinton FEMA Director James Lee Witt won high marks for hurricane preparation, but the flood that followed swamped his agency.

A full three weeks after the storm had passed, Rev. Jesse Jackson interviewed Witt on his CNN show "Both Sides Now" - and complained that flood victims were still suffering from a "misery index."

"It seemed there was preparation for Hurricane Floyd, but then came Flood Floyd," Jackson began. "Bridges are overwhelmed, levees are overwhelmed, whole town's under water . . . [it's] an awesome scene of tragedy. So there's a great misery index in North Carolina."

Witt explained that the storm's devastation was unparalleled, prompting Jackson to ask what was being done for the thousands of families left homeless by Floyd.

Though nearly a month had passed since the storm first hit, Witt said his agency was just beginning to address the problem.

"We're starting to move the camper trailers in," he explained. "It's been so wet it's been difficult to get things in there, but now it's going to be moving very quickly. And I think you're going to see a -- I think the people there will see a big difference over within this next weekend."

The Clinton FEMA Director came in for more criticism during another CNN interview - this time for failing to do a better job with Hurricane Floyd evacuation efforts.

Continued

"I hate to do this to you so early in the morning," host Carol Lin began apologetically.

"But I want to show you some video of Hurricane Floyd. This was the evacuation scene out of Florida last year. And you can recall, some three-million people in three different states were hitting the highways, jammed back-to-back trying to get away from the danger. And much of the local as well as the federal government was criticized for this backup. What is being done this year to prevent something like this from happening again, keeping people out of harm's way?"

Witt explained that evacuation problems were to be expected under such dire conditions. "It was very unusual when you had multiple states all evacuating at the same time," he told CNN. "It was the first time that that has happened that way and it did clog the highways."

While Witt's reputation remained largely intact after the Floyd fiasco, more than a few of the storm's thousands of flood victims complained that the agency had failed them.

"I had heard FEMA was going to be downtown, so I got up early to get down there and get in line," one North Carolina woman told the Associated Press, recounting her ordeal months after Floyd had passed. "The time came and nobody was there, just all these people waiting in line."

FEMA's sorry performance left her overwrought.

"I had been let down so many times, I just lost it," the flood victim said. "A friend of mine came walking up, and I just started toward her. She said, 'Robin, what in the world is wrong?' I was just standing there in the middle of the street crying, totally disoriented, practically hysterical."

Weeks after Floyd's floodwaters subsided, the suffering for many had yet to be addressed.

"We passed hundreds of families sitting outside their now-uninhabitable homes, with their water-soaked possessions spread out on their lawns," the Raleigh's News & Observer noted on Oct. 3, 1999.

"Desperately picking through the mess for anything to salvage, most people - particularly the elderly - seemed to be in a state of shock."

And where was FEMA?

"The larger towns had a visible FEMA and Red Cross presence," the paper said. "But in smaller towns it looked like utter confusion and despair - no one in charge, no one knowing what to do or where to go for help."

Leftwithouthisdick,

You know that many of the claims that have gone to insurance have not been paid. Also for any home or business that was flooded (read the majority of them) even if they had flood insurance it wouldn't come close to covering the entire cost of rebuilding or repairing the damage.

For all of the businesses damaged or destroyed you had employees out of work. I really shouldn't need to explain that portions of that aid were to offset the negative economic impact of those people being out of work.

Then we have the baiscs...food, water, clothing, medicines, bandages, portable facilities, man power, equipment, emergency transportation...all that costs money too.

The damage in New Orleans wasn't limited to flooding, there was also widespread damage from the winds. Or did you think flood waters knocked out all those windows in the downtown hotels and other businesses?

Now we haven't even covered the cost to rebuild the levees. Rebuild infrastructure up and down the gulf coast. Nor have we covered the cost to other cities that absorbed many of the refugees from hurricane Katrina.

YOU

ARE

STUPID.

P.S. Floyd? Cakewalk compared to Katrina and you got federal aid too, bad comparassion, but you haven't made a good comparassion yet, Buckaroo.

Now was James Lee Witt fired?

Did democrats call for him to be fired?

Did democrats or republicans blame Bill Clinton or Fema for the sorry as response? Well it does seem that Jesse Jackson was complaining because Eastern NC has a large minority population. But hey no other dems were because first it would have hurt Bill Clinton and second it would not bring any votes to attack themselves.

Hurricane Floyd: $4.5 billion in damage. 57 Fatalities.

Hurricane Katrina: 81.2 Billion in damage. 1836 Fatalities. 705 Still counted as missing.

Yeah, I can see how you might think one was like the other.

*eyeroll*

TreesGoneWild, you said 80 billion in total property damage. Since 122 billion has been allocated that should cover all property damage. Even that which was or was not covered by insurance.

New Orleans is below sea level on a sinking foundation. You dumbasses want to rebuild and waste resources that could be used to relocate the people or the city. Wheres the logic in that.

There is a strong likelihood that this kind of disaster will happen again in both New orleans and along the coast. Where is the sense in continuing to rebuild so close to the coast much less below sea level.

TreesGoneNuts wrote,

"Hurricane Floyd: $4.5 billion in damage. 57 Fatalities.

Hurricane Katrina: 81.2 Billion in damage. 1836 Fatalities. 705 Still counted as missing.

Yeah, I can see how you might think one was like the other.

*eyeroll*"

Obviously you don't get the point here.

Hurricane Floyd was caused 1/20 the amount of monetery damage that Katrina did. Yet Clinton did not have a Fema presence in there even 30 days after the event. Even Jesse Jackson complained about it at the time.

Now dems sit and complain about Katrina which was evacuated in less than a week and which has had over a hundred billion dollars allocated to it.

Yet not one peep from your sorry ass about Floyd.

I guess Box Itch is unaware that New Orleans is a MAJOR port city which MUST be rebuilt. Or does that even enter into that brain of Yours??

Larry

Buffalo shit wrote,

"FEMA did a great job in Floyd. You just found some whiny little dummies too stupid to evacuate"

Refer to my Jesse Jackson quote stink brick.

Hmmm by your logic, shithead, then you should probably leave North Carolina. I hear it floods when there is a hurricane.

You know, can ya think of anyplace that is totally immune from a natural disaster?

HOLY SHIT!!! No place is SAFE!!! We must leave the earth IMMEDIATELY!!!!

Are you naturally this stupid or do you have to concentrate really hard to achieve this level of idiocy?

"TreesGoneWild, you said 80 billion in total property damage. Since 122 billion has been allocated that should cover all property damage. Even that which was or was not covered by insurance.

New Orleans is below sea level on a sinking foundation. You dumbasses want to rebuild and waste resources that could be used to relocate the people or the city. Wheres the logic in that.

There is a strong likelihood that this kind of disaster will happen again in both New orleans and along the coast. Where is the sense in continuing to rebuild so close to the coast much less below sea level."

Leftwingnutjob


Because then they can bitch that Bush is an idiot and should have known better then to fund the rebuilding of a city below sea level.

Larry Mole wrote,

"I guess Box Itch is unaware that New Orleans is a MAJOR port city which MUST be rebuilt. Or does that even enter into that brain of Yours??"

There is a difference between rebuilding a port and rebuilding housing below sea level.

Obviously you don't get the point here.

Oh no, I get the point just fine.

The point is that you are an intellectually defective partisan hack.

Oh and who complained about FEMA?

Who was it? OH YEAH, Jesse Jackson! (Pssst, he's a demoncrat by the way!)

From the Wiki entry: The Hurricane Floyd disaster was followed by what many judged to be a very slow federal response. Fully three weeks after the storm hit, Jesse Jackson complained to FEMA Director James Lee Witt on his CNN program Both Sides Now, "It seemed there was preparation for Hurricane Floyd, but then came Flood Floyd. Bridges are overwhelmed, levees are overwhelmed, whole towns under water ... [it's] an awesome scene of tragedy. So there's a great misery index in North Carolina." Witt responded, "We're starting to move the camper trailers in. It's been so wet it's been difficult to get things in there, but now it's going to be moving very quickly. And I think you're going to see a -- I think the people there will see a big difference."

Gimme an M
Gimme an O
Gimme an R
Gimme an O
Gimme an N

What's that spell?

Leftwingnutjob!!!!

*The crowd goes wild!*

Trees Gone Lazy,

My point here about Floyd is to illustrate the hypocrisy of those that bitch about the physical response to Katrina when they sat silent about the physical response to Floyd. Don't you get it?

Because then they can bitch that Bush is an idiot and should have known better then to fund the rebuilding of a city below sea level.

Refer to my Jesse Jackson quote stink brick.

Posted by leftwingnutjob at 2007-04-30 06:44 AM


I didn't know Jesse Jackson was your hero. Was he there?

Refer to my link--those people were there.

Trees Gone Crazy,

read your own post. You can't move trailers into a flood plane.

Leftmybrainwithmydickonthecoun
teratthehome,

Can ya read? Hmmm?

And TreesGoneLazy?

Oh, my name has been mocked by much better men then you, tootsy.

But thanks for playing, we have lovely parting gifts for you!

Trees, if the port is that important, rebuild it. But don't build houses below sea level. The people couldn't even begin to afford the flood insurance it would cost them.

AnAmerican, for once we agree on something. Move the homes that are below sea level back inland. I have no qualms with rebuilding the port of even giving assistance.

AnAmerican,

By that logic I will say again that you cannot build safely anywhere on this planet due to the risk of Natural Disaster.

With a proper Levee system in place, New Orleans should weather another Katrina much better. Do a little research, they knew the levees were outdated and in disrepair and had for years prior to Katrina. The Army Corps of ENgineers had plenty of time to correct the problem. Nothing was done.

But this wasn't the initial point that LWNJ was attempting to make. You know that and I know that.

Move the homes that are below sea level back inland.

The Storm Surge from Katrina went as far inland as 10 miles in some places in Mississippi.

Now, theoretically what would you call it if the state would mandate that an entire population relocate to a place the state considered safe?

Authoritarian or Totalitarian? They both kind of apply to your line of reasoning.

Hmmm if we can't have people living where they want, what else can't we have people doing?

Trees,

If you want to get into the state, local and federal government getting into people's personal lives, I'm already bombarded with enough of that.

From the pictures I saw, many of the people that were displaced were living in low cost housing. Flood insurance alone would be beyond their ability to pay. Should we also provide flood insurance for them?

AnAmerican,

You're missing the point. Had the levees been maintained and upgraded as they should have been years prior to Hurricane Katrina we would not be having this conversation.

New, more adequate levees would keep this situation from happening again at the scale it happened after Hurricane Katrina.

That being said, many areas of this nation are at risk for catastrophic flooding. All we need to do is take a look back at the flooding of '93 for an example of non-hurricane related flooding.

Every area of this country is prone to one form of natural disaster or another. So would you propose that anyone who could possibly be affected by a natural disaster move to a safer area?

Because, well that would mean moving to another planet entirely.

Hurricanes, Tornados, Floods, Earth Quakes (Remember Northridge and Oakland/San Fransisco?) Wildfires, Volcanos...Pretty much everyone living everywhere is at risk for some kind of catastrophic smackdown from mama nature.

But, you're right it is all their fault for living in those areas, right? So screw 'em they shouldn't get help when disaster strikes.

Guess we shouldn't have helped those people after 9-11 either, I mean after all the terrorists had gone after the WTC once before! What were those people thinking staying in a massive terrorist target like that?

Please to come back to the Real World AnAmerican, it misses you.

This aid, if accepted, would only have gotten as far as the bank accounts of Bush cronies like Halliburton.
The documented truth says the money would have gone to local corrupt politicians. One of which was recently relected! Go fools, go! So the boss man who is in charge!

Fleas On a Child wrote,

"Now, theoretically what would you call it if the state would mandate that an entire population relocate to a place the state considered safe?"

No dumbass we shouldn't mandate anything. I believe people have the right to be as stupid as they want to be. Just no federal dollars to rebuild houses below sea level.

If insurance companies won,t insure stupid behavior why should we?

Dumbstepchild wrote,

"Guess we shouldn't have helped those people after 9-11 either, I mean after all the terrorists had gone after the WTC once before! What were those people thinking staying in a massive terrorist target like that?"

Now you are making a correlation between a terrorist attack and a natural disaster?

You are a real Einstein here aren't you dipshit?

If insurance companies won,t insure stupid behavior why should we?

Actually, we insure a lot of "stupid behavior" more often than we should.

RCADE

Could you do an IP search and tell us who LEFTWINGNUTJOB was in his previous life as an annoyance here?

""If insurance companies won,t insure stupid behavior why should we?""

I don't know where this idiot lives, don't care. But by his logic all of California should be evacuated before the next earth quake.

Danni wrote,

"I don't know where this idiot lives, don't care. But by his logic all of California should be evacuated before the next earth quake."

No dumbell but throwing federal money at a problem that will reoccur doesn't work either.

Rebuild New Orleans another storm hits 10 years from now and wow there goes another quarter trillion dolloars.

Then 35 years from now whan another global warming super hurricane and 1/2 a trillion.

Sooner or later stupid behavior has to stop.

There ain't enough money for all the stupid behavior out there.

Reminds me of the dumbasses that go mountain climbing in the middle of winter and then get lost. next thing you know 200+ rescuers are risking their lives trying to find them. Hell think about it this way when one of these stories about climbers happens all the reporters that travel there and their carbon footprints.

"Sooner or later stupid behavior has to stop."

Posted by leftwingnutjob

So, when are you leaving the Drudge Retort?

Hans

LWNJ,

Just like a loyal Kool-aid drinker.

Blame the victims of Katrina.

Recite the mantra, they are stupid for living there.

Call names.

And never answer anything at all about what I actually posted.

Dickless coward.