Broken Levees, Broken Lives: Katrina's Healthcare Legacy

More Than 900 Charged with Katrina, Rita Fraud

More than 900 people across the United States have been charged with crimes relating to contracts or false claims for government help associated with Hurricanes Katrina or Rita, according to a new report by the Justice Department.

The Katrina Fraud Task Force, operated by the Justice Department, also has received 667 calls relating to possible fraud from Hurricane Gustav and another 466 complaints regarding Hurricane Ike.

One of the indictments alleging a false claim in Galveston for Hurricane Ike involved a woman the Justice Department said also had filed a fraudulent claim for disaster assistance during Hurricane Katrina.

Among the Katrina-related cases were instances of people creating fake disaster charities and a scheme in which people signed up themselves and others for disaster benefits to which they weren't entitled. The government says the vast majority of the Katrina cases have resulted in guilty pleas or guilty verdicts.

"Whenever a natural disaster strikes, there will always be unscrupulous people willing to take advantage of victims' assistance and rebuilding efforts," said Matthew Friedrich, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division and chief of the Katrina Fraud Task Force.

Among the cases cited in the Justice Department report:

• On May 15, a federal grand jury in New Orleans indicted Kern Carver Bernard Wilson, a former contract employee for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Durwanda Elizabeth Morgan Heinrich, a dirt, sand and gravel subcontractor, for participation in an alleged bribery scheme related to the awarding of a contract for the Lake Cataouatche levee, south of the city.
  
• On Nov. 28, 2007, two brothers in South Texas -- Stephen Stephens, 24, and Bartholomew Stephens, 27 -- were sentenced to 111 months and 105 months in prison, respectively, for operating a Web site that purportedly raised money to help the Salvation Army aid Hurricane Katrina victims. The fraudulent Web site, the Justice Department said, collected $48,000 before its accounts were frozen.
  
• On Sept. 30, Phyllis Ann Taylor, 28, currently of Houston, was charged with filing a fraudulent claim for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance for damages purportedly caused by Hurricane Ike, three years after the Justice Department said she filed a fake claim for disaster damage to a public housing residence in Marrero that suffered no damage in Katrina.
  
• Last week, Noah A. Thomas Jr. of Marrero, who was pastor of the Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in New Orleans that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina, was sentenced to 17 months in prison for pocketing a $35,000 grant from a fund operated by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush that was supposed to pay for repairs to the church. According to the Justice Department, Thomas had the fund's check mailed to his house and then deposited into a bank account he established and controlled.
  
• In June, a federal judge in Texas sentenced eight defendants in what the Justice Department says was a conspiracy to file disaster applications on behalf of 70 residents who were not victims of Hurricanes Katrina or Rita. The ringleader of the plot was sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to pay $92,958 in restitution and forfeit the Lincoln Navigator she purchased with the fraudulent funds.

"Those who would try to profit from the misfortunes of disaster victims should know that the Department of Justice, federal investigative agencies and inspectors general will continue their aggressive pursuit of disaster fraud," said Friedrich, head of the Justice Department's criminal division.

Final Thoughts As Gustav Approaches......................

Life is just bullshit. I don't understand. I am so angry. My entire existence has been bullshit. I survived one of the biggest disasters in my city to see a even possible bigger disaster?

I barely slept. I am so tired right now because I have been watching the storm. It will not move to the east nor west...it just keeps up that path directly at New Orleans. It feels like this storm wants to finish what Katrina did not.

As if New Orleans has not been through enough. As if the people have not been through enough. It just makes no sense why this is happening again!

I am thinking of moving after this out west. I rather earthquakes than this every few years. The storms are more frequent and stronger than they used to be. I grew up here and you can Google hurricanes from the 80's & 90's and see that we have not ever seen seasons like this.

Climate change? I think so, but many people believe in no such thing. Even though weather is setting precedents all over the world, people still deny that something is wrong with our world. There is even weathermen who report this messed up weather everyday and they do not see anything is wrong.

I have lived in New Orleans my whole life. We have seen many things that show something is wrong. Just a year or so ago, we had a tornado go from the west bank of the river to the east. It traveled for miles and jumped over the river. It went across town, across two parishes. I have been here my whole life and NEVER seen a tornado touch down. So how did we have one move across the town? I ask locals after that thunderstorm, "You are from here, when was the last time you saw a tornado wreck havoc from one side of the river to the other?". Their answer is always, "never".....

I am not worried about storm surge. I am in a high area. I live by the river, but the wind is worrying me. 150 mph sustained winds will rip my roof off. My house was built like almost 60 to 80 years ago.....I will be taking refuge in a school that is next to my home. Its 2 story brick building and very safe. So my safety will be ok. It is the aftermath that is gonna be so horrible.

I am so angry at our politicians in this country. The Republicans actually are still going to be having a party for John McCain this week while some of it's own people are being tested in the country. Then what blows my mind is he picked a VP that does not believe in climate change, That is why these storms are more frequent and stronger than ever? Every storm almost sets records. Not every hurricane is suppose to set records. Something is terribly wrong.

Not only does his VP not believe in climate change, but she is the Governor of Alaska. Where have the big oil companies who are part of the problem with climate change been wanting to drill for years? Alaska! You think that is coincidence that she was chosen? Big oil chose her for McCain. McCain probably had no say on the choice since big oil has donated millions to his campaign.

On a side note about McCain's VP pick, she does not believe the polar bears are endangered. This is not true. They are very endangered. The ice they use to land on during long swims is melting away. They are finding many who are drowning to death b/c they have no ice to climb on to.

So back to the storm. I have food, got water, filled my jugs, have my kerosene burners to cook and am now picking up anything that may become a projectile. Wish me luck......

I will lose power. The last time we were without power for 21 days. So no one will prob hear from me for a minute. Truthfully, lately I have been living in a depressed state. I have been real bitter and aggravated a lot. I haven't really felt creative with my music either. Maybe this is what I need. Something like Katrina to make me realize that there's more to live for then these moods where I drown in my own self pity.

Be safe...

Dan the Man

Obama's Acceptance Speech

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the briefu nion between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.


This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know.
Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.

Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

Federal Evacuation Plan for New Orleans

1. We know you are low income and treasure what little things you do own. So please leave it all behind when you leave. We will make sure to protect your property like we did last time.

2. Any low income families who need a ride out of town; we will supply you with a way out of town. You will not have a say where you go, nor will we provide a way back for you. Hopefully you will not come back, b/c you are poor and spend no money in our ever growing tourist industry.

3. Any low income families who have pets. Please leave your pets in your home. We will pick them up and adopt them out to new families. You are poor, why do you have animals anyways?

4. If you do not leave and we find you when we begin our door to door search of homes, we will arrest you, take any weapons you have and place you on a bus out of town.

5. We will provide no shelters of last resort. You are screwed if your house floods. We will come and rescue you, but you will have no say where we send you. Just sit on your roof for 5 days. We will be along shortly.

This is a message from FEMA and the Federal Government..........

New Orleans Makes Evacuation Plan As Storm Nears

Charges Dismissed in Hurricane Katrina Bridge Shootings

A state district judge has dismissed all charges against six officers and a former officer accused in two deadly shootings at a New Orleans bridge in the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina.

The shootings, on September 4, 2005, left two men dead and four other people severely wounded.

Investigators said police fired shots only after being shot at first.

The officers were indicted in 2006. Four of them were facing first-degree murder charges. All seven officers were facing attempted murder charges.

Boondocks - Invasion of Katrina

Bill Helps Iraqi Refugees, Ignores Katrina Victims

Congress is prepared to ax a $73-million package to provide shelter for disabled Hurricane Katrina victims, while the same bill sets aside $350 million to help Iraqi refugees.

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., added the provision for post-Katrina housing assistance to a $212 billion bill to finance the Iraq war through the Bush administration and a month into the next president's term. The war legislation also would provide $100 million for Jordan's military and $50 million to Mexico's armed forces.

But Landrieu's effort to help physically and mentally disabled Katrina victims is in danger of being cut by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Her staff points out that President Bush has signaled he will veto the war bill if it is not trimmed to around $108 billion.

Landrieu said the housing money is vital to a recovering city that has seen its homeless population double to an estimated 12,000 since the 2005 disaster.

"The bill also includes $6 billion for levees to protect us from future storms," said Landrieu in an e-mail. "I fully support giving our troops the funding they need and am concerned about the plight of Iraqi refugees. But we cannot neglect the most pressing emergency here at home along the Gulf Coast."

Pelosi's spokesman, Brendan Daly, said the speaker recognizes the urgent need for housing in New Orleans, but may still have to cut the provision as early as next week.

"She's very supportive of this and other things in the bill that we might not be able to include," said Daly. "The speaker has made the same point that we're spending more than $10 billion a month generally on the war, and we're not spending here at home."

Also pushing the spending cuts is the Blue Dog Coalition, 49 congressional Democrats who want strict spending policies to tame the national debt. Blue Dog leader Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., did not comment directly on the prospect of helping Iraqi refugees while overlooking Katrina's displaced.

But he said in an e-mail Thursday that the $9-trillion national debt includes significant percentages financed by foreign banks.

"In this bill and others, the Blue Dogs and I are pushing for our priorities to be paid for, instead of borrowing the money from China that will have to be paid back with interest by our children and grandchildren," Boyd said. The Blue Dogs want money raised through tax increases or offset by cuts elsewhere.

The housing assistance funds would pay for 3,000 rent-aid vouchers for people who because of mental of physical disability have had trouble pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps after the August 2005 hurricane.

Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans and killed 1,600 in Louisiana and Mississippi. In its wake, homelessness has become painfully visible.

A 150-person tent shanty has been evicted from a plaza in front of City Hall and has since migrated to a freeway underpass near the Louisiana Superdome. Tourists, professional sports teams, and Presidential candidate John Edwards have visited, sometimes equating the several blocks of tattered men and women to a refugee camp.

"When the Katrina disaster happened we couldn't help but notice here was forced displacement in the richest country in the world," said Joel Charny, vice president for policy for Refugees International, a humanitarian advocacy organization based in Washington D.C.

"You just don't want to be in a situation where it's either money for people who are disabled and really hurting in New Orleans, as opposed to money for people who are dislocated because of the war in Iraq," he said. "Our view, at the risk of sounding naive, is that money would be available for both."

Advocates have lobbied for housing vouchers for years. They were cut from the 2006 war supplemental under similar political pressures.

"I'm pleading with them not to negotiate with the lives of 3,000 of our most vulnerable citizens," said Valerie Keller co-chair of the Louisiana Supportive Housing Coalition. "People have been languishing in New Orleans for two and a half years."

Is Every New Orleanian Deep Down a Libertarian?

According to this latest assessment of the Recovery by the national policy magazine, City Journal , New Orleans and its rebuilding successes show that…

“.....restoring neighborhoods is a job far better suited to citizens and organizations than to government. ” - City Journal

The piece goes on to explain where it thinks government should be more of a leader in areas like blighted properties and crime.

I’ve always found it fascinating how the battle of ideas constantly influx in Washington squared off time and time again in New Orleans over the last three years. From charter schools, to charity, to housing, and to law enforcement, it was a non-stop fight. Now, it seems some ideas are clearly winning out. This piece is a classic example (see Paul Vallas and charter schools for another).

I’m honestly not ready, however, to declare a winner or a loser, much less who I agree with more. I would point out that its only natural for the people of New Orleans who have been failed by government so catastrophically on multiple levels to lean towards the concepts of self-reliance and remain skeptical about government effectiveness in certain areas. Yet, that doesn’t mean we should all be ready to make New Orleans into Paulville either ( btw this is actually not a joke).

The glaring hole in the City Journal piece was a complete omission of the New Orleans communities that are still struggling (aside from a ‘yay for Brad Pitt’). It is likewise the glaring hole in the libertarian-esque argument championed by these prevailing policies and ideas in New Orleans schools, housing, and law enforcement. Why haven’t these great virtues of self-reliance, free-market forces, and choice worked as well for those communities ie for everybody? Before we can declare these ideals as universally superior over their competitors, it would seem to me that would need to be addressed. That or we would need to admit that these principles aren’t actually universal, mainly in those communities like most of New Orleans East, the Lower 9th Ward, and Central City.

My guess is that the answer lies somewhere in the subtler parts of the City Journal piece.

“True, a strong government role was necessary at first to set the stage for New Orleans’s progress. Federal agencies, especially the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Army Corps of Engineers, worked with contractors to clear millions of tons of debris from lawns and streets, unclog waterways, and provide trailers so that New Orleanians could live in their driveways while fixing their houses. They also repaired levees and are working on upgrading flood-control infrastructure in general—crucial steps in making homeowners more confident about weathering future hurricanes. But government, while critical for acute recovery, hasn’t driven the long-term rebuilding work.”

Mainly that one can embrace a shift in his/her relationship with government for a particular circumstance without embracing an entire political philosophy whose blueprint doesn’t ever provide a perfect fit for the real world. That goes either way, whether its libertarianism or big government liberalism.

Because while it may be a battle of ideas in Washington or in the City Journal, this stuff is real life in New Orleans.

Rebuilding New Orleans, Two Years Later After Katrina

We still here..............

Katrina: May We As Americans Never Forget

Defective pumps used to protect New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS - The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush’s promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a storm, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The 2006 hurricane season turned out to be mild, and the new pumps were never pressed into action. But the Corps and the politically connected manufacturer of the equipment are still struggling to get the 34 heavy-duty pumps working properly.

The pumps are now being pulled out and overhauled because of excessive vibration, Corps officials said. Other problems have included overheated engines, broken hoses and blown gaskets, according to the documents obtained by the AP.

Col. Jeffrey Bedey, who is overseeing levee reconstruction, insisted the pumps would have worked last year and the city was never in danger. Bedey gave assurances that the pumps should be ready for the coming hurricane season, which begins June 1.

The Corps said it decided to press ahead with installation, and then fix the machinery while it was in place, on the theory that some pumping capacity was better than none. And it defended the manufacturer, which was under time pressure.

“Let me give you the scenario: You have four months to build something that nobody has ever built before, and if you don’t, the city floods and the Corps, which already has a black eye, could basically be dissolved. How many people would put up with a second flooding?” said Randy Persica, the Corps’ resident engineer for New Orleans’ three major drainage canals.

The 34 pumps — installed in the drainage canals that take water from this bowl-shaped, below-sea-level city and deposit it in Lake Pontchartrain — represented a new ring of protection that was added to New Orleans’ flood defenses after Katrina. The city also relies on miles of levees and hundreds of other pumps in various locations.

The drainage-canal pumps were custom-designed and built under a $26.6 million contract awarded after competitive bidding to Moving Water Industries Corp. of Deerfield Beach, Fla. It was founded in 1926 and supplies flood-control and irrigation pumps all over the world.

Ties to Jeb Bush
MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. And Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

MWI has run into trouble before. The U.S. Justice Department sued the company in 2002, accusing it of fraudulently helping Nigeria obtain $74 million in taxpayer-backed loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment. The case has yet to be resolved.


Because of the trouble with the New Orleans pumps, the Corps has withheld 20 percent of the MWI contract, including an incentive of up to $4 million that the company could have collected if it delivered the equipment in time for the 2006 hurricane season.

Misgivings about the pumps were chronicled in a May 2006 memo provided to the AP by Matt McBride, a mechanical engineer and flooded-out Katrina victim who, like many in New Orleans, has been closely watching the rebuilding of the city’s flood defenses.

The memo was written by Maria Garzino, a Corps mechanical engineer overseeing quality assurance at an MWI test site in Florida. The Corps confirmed the authenticity of the 72-page memo, which details many of the mechanical problems and criticizes the testing procedures used.

About a dozen of the 34 pumps on order were already in place in New Orleans when Garzino wrote her report, according to Bedey.

In her memo, Garzino told corps officials that the equipment being installed was defective. She warned that the pumps would break down “should they be tasked to run, under normal use, as would be required in the event of a hurricane.”

We Have Come to Bring You Peace

Esther Sparks of New Orleans wrote this song "Peace." It's pretty powerful -- and I'm no sucker or pushover.

Abuse Could Push Katrina Costs to $2 Billion

WASHINGTON - The tally for Hurricane Katrina waste could top $2 billion next year because half of the lucrative government contracts valued at $500,000 or greater for cleanup work are being awarded without little competition.

Federal investigators have already determined the Bush administration squandered $1 billion on fraudulent disaster aid to individuals after the 2005 storm. Now they are shifting their attention to the multimillion dollar contracts to politically connected firms that critics have long said are a prime area for abuse.

In January, investigators will release the first of several audits examining more than $12 billion in Katrina contracts (PDF). The charges range from political favoritism to limited opportunities for small and minority-owned firms, which initially got only 1.5 percent of the total work.

“Based on their track record, it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw another billion more in waste,” said Clark Kent Ervin, the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general from 2003-2004. “I don’t think sufficient progress has been made.”

He called it inexcusable that the Bush administration would still have so many no-bid contracts. Under pressure last year, Federal Emergency Management Agency director David Paulison pledged to rebid many of the agreements, only to backtrack months later and reopen only a portion.

‘Laziness, ineptitude ... nefarious’
Investigators are now examining whether some of the agreements — which in some cases were extended without warning rather than rebid — are still unfairly benefiting large firms.

“It’s a combination of laziness, ineptitude and it may well be nefarious,” Ervin said.

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said the agency was working to fix its mistakes by awarding contracts for future disasters through competitive bidding. Paulison has said he welcomes additional oversight but cautioned against investigations that aren’t based on “new evidence and allegations.”

“As always, FEMA will work with Congress in all aspects to ensure that we are carrying out the agency’s responsibilities,” McIntyre said.

The Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane swept ashore in southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, leveling homes and businesses along the Gulf Coast. Its storm surge breached levees in New Orleans, unleashing a flood that left more than 1,300 people dead, hundreds of thousands homeless and tens of billions of dollars worth of damage.

A series of government investigations in the storm’s wake faulted the Bush administration for underestimating the threat and failing to prepare by pre-negotiating contracts for basic supplies in what has become the nation’s costliest disaster.

$1B estimate ‘likely understated’
Earlier this month, the Government Accountability Office said its initial estimate of $1 billion in disaster aid waste was “likely understated,” citing continuing problems in which FEMA doled out tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent housing assistance.

Democrats in Congress called for more accountability. When they take over in January, at least seven committees plan hearings or other oversight — from housing to disaster loans — on how the $88 billion approved for Katrina relief is being spent.

Among the current investigations:

• The propriety of four no-bid contracts together worth $400 million to Shaw Group Inc., Bechtel Group Inc., CH2M Hill Companies Ltd., and Fluor Corp. that were awarded without competition.

The contracts drew immediate criticism because of the companies’ extensive political and government ties, prompting a promise last year from Paulison to rebid them. Instead, FEMA rebid only a portion and then extended their contracts once, if not twice — to $3.4 billion total — so the firms could finish their remaining Katrina work.

The four companies, which have denied that connections played a factor, were among six that also won new contracts after open bidding in August. The latest contracts are worth up to $250 million each for future disaster work.

• The propriety of 36 trailer contract awards designated for small and local businesses as part of Paulison’s promise to rebid large contracts.

Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner is reviewing whether some small and local businesses were unfairly shut out in favor of winners such as joint venture PRI-DJI. DJI stands for Del-Jen Inc., a subsidiary of Fluor, which has donated more than $930,000 to mostly Republican candidates since 2000.

‘It’s who you know’
“It’s not what you know, what your expertise is. I don’t even believe it’s got much to do with price. It’s who you know,” contends Ken Edmonds, owner of River Parish RV Inc. in Louisiana, a company of 9 people whose application was rejected.