GOP Carefully Calculates Gustov Spin

[Stillraining]

The only thing you can blame Bush for in New Orleans is Allowing it to be rebuilt...Should all be condemned and turned back into wetlands...

If it happens again I hope we as a country dont spend a dime on it..

Not a popular guy I bet right now to some of you for that statement...I feel the same way about people repeatedly flooded by some of our rivers here in Washington.. Live there at your own risk!!!!!!!!!!!

[PBzeer]

Now Joel, I didn't say Bush didn't share some of the blame for the way things turned out down there. But I do think it's inappropriate to only blame the Feds for it, no matter who says it.

[sailingdog]

It was also Bush and his cronies that sent Formaldehyde tainted FEMA trailer homes to Louisiana... the trailers had such high formaldehyde levels, they were condemned. See HERE

...

Air quality tests of 44 FEMA trailers conducted by the Sierra Club since April have found formaldehyde concentrations as high as 0.34 parts per million – a level nearly equal to what a professional embalmer would be exposed to on the job, according to one study of the chemical’s workplace effects.

And all but four of the trailers have tested higher than the 0.1 parts per million that the EPA considers to be an “elevated level” capable of causing watery eyes, burning in the eyes and throat, nausea, and respiratory distress in some people.

[Joel73]

Originally Posted by PBzeer

Now Joel, I didn't say Bush didn't share some of the blame for the way things turned out down there. But I do think it's inappropriate to only blame the Feds for it, no matter who says it.

No, but you certainly made it sound like i was trying to say it was only his fault. I blame him and his administration... but mostly his cronyism.

[PBzeer]

The best thing they could have done, is let Walmart, Home Depot and the other private companies that stepped up, do what needed done, and then just paid 'em back.

[RickQuann]

Katrina wasn't just a Bush administration fiasco, it was a cluster **** at every level of government.

[cardiacpaul]

Hey, Dawg, you know WHY the levels were that high?

Building materials used.
no, there was nothing special about them, just they were built "too fast". They're still today using the exact same materials.

Typical lead time on the work in progress of a mfg. home, or an RV for that matter is 8 to 10 weeks from wheels to site.

FEMA spec trailers? 2-4 weeks. Not enough time for it to disapate. (spelling?) all that would have been needed was them to sit with the windows open for a bit... but noooo, something had to be done.

RickQuann is right, it was a bear cub circle jerk for decades. From the Corps, to funding, to levee design, to the state and local gov't corruption, its a wonder they had levves at all, or pumps working (remember, most of the pumps were put in service around 1924.)

[sck5]

Presidents get to take credit for good stuff that happens on their watch. They also get to take the blame for the bad stuff. That is OK - It keeps them on their toes just like on a boat - and it is a good thing to have a President who is on his/her toes making sure things get done so they dont get blamed for it.

Bush blew it in New Orleans - He wasnt the only one who blew it but he sure didnt do what he could have done after the disaster hit. Sometimes it takes a President to cut through all the BS and make sure things are happening. Bush failed to do that and so it is fair enough to dump on him for it.

If you repubs were honest you know perfectly well that you would be dumping on a Dem who failed as spectacularly as Bush did that time - and you would be right to do it.

[SailKing1]

First you have to understand the President no matter which party can not act in a state unless he is asked to do so by the Governor. Remember that person who at the time was Governor said NO. The Governor has to ASK for help BEFORE the President can respond. Bush was refused. He can not even declare a state of emergency.

As for the formaldehyde trailers. Well, they have been built the same way for many years before and are still built that way today. They met then and meet today the standards set forth by the government. I know I have been involved in that fiasco since the beginning. Walk in any new trailer today that has been closed up in 90+ degree heat and sit for 10 minutes you will see what I mean. It is all about FEMA trying to get money back on trailers they let rot in fields.

The irony in all of this is history will repeat itself. If Gustav hits, New Orleans will flood. And the same people will still be because???

By the way, where was all the media, Hollywood, Jesse Jackson, AL sharpton and the rest when Iowa was flooded? I guess those folks just decided to deal with it instead of Loot, kill, whine and feel they where owed something from the government.

[hellosailor]

Most of us are sadly undereducated about American history.

Seattle was plagued by disease, because "downtown" was built on the waterfront at sea level and raw sewage had no place to go. The town fathers decided to raise the street level by one full story, the residents didn't agree. The town fathers built walls along the sidewalks, raised the streets, and left the residents to move their front entrances if they didn't follow along. Today, this has resulted in "underground Seattle", a whole subterranean second level below where the streets and sidewalks are today.

PS, the city boomed after the street level was raised and modern plumbing installed, so the sewage could run downhill.

Then there's Chicago, which was built as a trading post in a swamp. Chicago had similar problems but after the Chicago fire, the merchants decided to raise what was left, and fill over what burned, again raising the "downtown" street level nearly a full storey. Chicago never looked back.

New Orleans? Hell, sell the po folks swampland, let it flood, then whine for federal dollars to help them rebuild on the same bottomlands again. The town fathers in New Orleans figure, whyu spend their own money to fix the problem, when there's so many other folks can be ripped off rebuilding things in a way guaranteed to make it flood out again.

I'm sorry, I pity the fools in New Orleans, but every time I see them rebuuilding, I'm reminded of a kid slapping himself in the face and saying "Don't do that!" to himself. Rebuilding without raising the ground level is simply idiocy. Spending federal money on it is double idiocy. Programs like Habitat mean well--but they should be required to add twenty feet of fill, or build dutch-style flood control systems BEFORE they're allowed to rebuild any homes.

Probably the best thing that could happen in NO is for the city to get flooded out three years in row, by a Cat4 each year. Maybe then they'd figure out that unless they change the way they build--nothing is going to change.

Seatlle figured it out. Chicago figured it out. New York, London, Rome, many great cities figured out they had a fire problem (they've all been burned down) and afterwards, banned the type of construction (wood) that led to the mass fires.

New Orleans? What is this, evolution in action?