--- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- In [email protected], "shempmcgurk" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "sparaig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > > You don't read much on this group. The $250 million that was to > > > be spent last year on strengthening New Orlean's levees was > > > spent on the war in Iraq instead. > > > > Yes, I read that (I believe it was Judy who posted the article). > > Indeed, it only strengthens the argument that I am > > making...perhaps private enterprise would have had their > > priorities right. > > Not to get in the way of a private ShempJudyspat or > anything,
Good, because this isn't one. > but just to provide a little more background > on the subject, t'would seem that private enterprise > (in the form of a subject dear to the heart of TMers, > real estate developers) was at the *heart* of setting > the priorities wrong. Actually that isn't what the article you quote says at all. What is says is that Bush's favors to real estate developers "almost certainly contributed" to the storm surge. Aside from Bush's general lack of interest in prudent domestic policy and its disregard for science, "at the *heart* of setting the priorities wrong" was the perceived necessity of funding the Iraq war. Warning to GWB TBs -- Bush-bashing > ahead... > > > "No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming" > > By Sidney Blumenthal > > 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. > > Biblical in its uncontrolled rage and scope, Hurricane > Katrina has left millions of Americans to scavenge for > food and shelter and hundreds to thousands reportedly > dead. With its main levee broken, the evacuated city > of New Orleans has become part of the Gulf of Mexico. > But the damage wrought by the hurricane may not > entirely be the result of an act of nature. > > 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." > > The Bush administration's policy of turning over > wetlands to developers almost certainly also > contributed to the heightened level of the storm > surge. In 1990, a federal task force began restoring > lost wetlands surrounding New Orleans. Every two miles > of wetland between the Crescent City and the Gulf > reduces a surge by half a foot. Bush had promised "no > net loss" of wetlands, a policy launched by his > father's administration and bolstered by President > Clinton. But he reversed his approach in 2003, > unleashing the developers. The Army Corps of Engineers > and the Environmental Protection Agency then announced > they could no longer protect wetlands unless they were > somehow related to interstate commerce. > > In response to this potential crisis, four leading > environmental groups conducted a joint expert study, > concluding in 2004 that without wetlands protection > New Orleans could be devastated by an ordinary, much > less a Category 4 or 5, hurricane. "There's no way to > describe how mindless a policy that is when it comes > to wetlands protection," said one of the report's > authors. The chairman of the White House's Council on > Environmental Quality dismissed the study as "highly > questionable," and boasted, "Everybody loves what > we're doing." > > "My administration's climate change policy will be > science based," President Bush declared in June 2001. > But in 2002, when the Environmental Protection Agency > submitted a study on global warming to the United > Nations reflecting its expert research, Bush derided > it as "a report put out by a bureaucracy," and excised > the climate change assessment from the agency's annual > report. The next year, when the EPA issued its first > comprehensive "Report on the Environment," stating, > "Climate change has global consequences for human > health and the environment," the White House simply > demanded removal of the line and all similar > conclusions. At the G-8 meeting in Scotland this year, > Bush successfully stymied any common action on global > warming. Scientists, meanwhile, have continued to > accumulate impressive data on the rising temperature > of the oceans, which has produced more severe > hurricanes. > > In February 2004, 60 of the nation's leading > scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, warned in a > statement, "Restoring Scientific Integrity in > Policymaking": "Successful application of science has > played a large part in the policies that have made the > United States of America the world's most powerful > nation and its citizens increasingly prosperous and > healthy ... Indeed, this principle has long been > adhered to by presidents and administrations of both > parties in forming and implementing policies. The > administration of George W. Bush has, however, > disregarded this principle ... The distortion of > scientific knowledge for partisan political ends must > cease." Bush completely ignored this statement. > > In the two weeks preceding the storm in the Gulf, the > trumping of science by ideology and expertise by > special interests accelerated. The Federal Drug > Administration announced that it was postponing sale > of the morning-after contraceptive pill, despite > overwhelming scientific evidence of its safety and its > approval by the FDA's scientific advisory board. The > United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa > accused the Bush administration of responsibility for > a condom shortage in Uganda -- the result of the > administration's evangelical Christian agenda of > "abstinence." When the chief of the Bureau of Justice > Statistics in the Justice Department was ordered by > the White House to delete its study that > African-Americans and other minorities are subject to > racial profiling in police traffic stops and he > refused to buckle under, he was forced out of his job. > When the Army Corps of Engineers' chief contracting > oversight analyst objected to a $7 billion no-bid > contract awarded for work in Iraq to Halliburton (the > firm at which Vice President Cheney was formerly CEO), > she was demoted despite her superior professional > ratings. At the National Park Service, a former Cheney > aide, a political appointee lacking professional > background, drew up a plan to overturn past > environmental practices and prohibit any mention of > evolution while allowing sale of religious materials > through the Park Service. > > On the day the levees burst in New Orleans, Bush > delivered a speech in Colorado comparing the Iraq war > to World War II and himself to Franklin D. Roosevelt: > "And he knew that the best way to bring peace and > stability to the region was by bringing freedom to > Japan." Bush had boarded his very own "Streetcar Named > Desire." > > Sidney Blumenthal, a former assistant and senior > advisor to President Clinton and the author of "The > Clinton Wars," is writing a column for Salon and the > Guardian of London. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. 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