Subj : Re: Um...no comment?
To   : alt.tv.farscape
From : Nick
Date : Fri Sep 02 2005 01:14:12

From Newsgroup: alt.tv.farscape

RR wrote:

> In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one
> of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush
> administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent
> to pay for the Iraq war. 
> 
> A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how
> New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but
> the Bush administration ordered that the research not be
> undertaken. 
> 
> After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the
> Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the
> Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and pumping
> stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
> issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was
> one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a
> terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding
> for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was
> drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut
> funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army
> Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake
> Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the
> beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 
> percent since 2001) forced the New Orleans district of the Corps
> to impose a hiring freeze. The Senate had debated adding funds for
> fixing New Orleans' levees, but it was too late.
> 
> The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which before the hurricane
> published a series on the federal funding problem, and whose
> presses are now underwater, reported online: "No one can say they
> didn't see it coming ... Now in the wake of one of the worst
> storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of
> preparation." 
> 
> By Sidney Blumenthal
> Salon.com Wednesday 31 August 2005
> 

Yes, this is all true but they don't mention that every president since 
Carter has cut funding for the Corps of Engineers and the flood control 
projects of New Orleans.  Yes, Bush did wrong here.  I believe it was 
after hurricane Betsy in the mid 60s that they made some big plans for 
the New Orleans levee system but since it isn't a sexy, high-profile 
project it just keeps getting cut and pushed back.

.