Sunday Open Thread: Katrina Edition
by PubliusWho knew that this was the beginning of government health care in this country?

We may never fully appreciate the full costs of Hurricane Katrina.
Who knew that this was the beginning of government health care in this country?

We may never fully appreciate the full costs of Hurricane Katrina.
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Tags: government health care, Hurricane Katrina, Mary Landrieu, public option
Posted Nov 22nd 2009 at 7:45 am in Open Threads |
3523875 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/11/22/sunday-open-thread-katrina-edition/Sunday+Open+Thread%3A+Katrina+Edition2009-11-22+14%3A45%3A00Publius
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75 Comments
"We may never fully appreciate the full costs of Hurricane Katrina"
You are right; those costs will be passed on generationally in perpetuity. Entitlement…………………
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so far all the money given to LA to help with catrina is approximately 80,000 per person, will we still be shoveling money to LA until….? it never ends, give an inch theyll take a mile
Bush may have screwed up by appointing Brown to head FEMA, but the MSM gave a complete pass to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco for their abject failure to prepare adequately for ANY hurricane, let alone category 5 Katrina.
The canard continues apace whenever Katrina is mentioned. The idiots in 'Nawlins reelected Nagin for God only knows what reasons, but it appears the rest of Louisiana held Blanco accountable and replaced her.
Nagin allowing that thousand or so school buses to sit unused and to be destroyed when they could have been used to transport people out of harm's way should have been grounds for criminal malfeasance proceedings. Instead, he gets a complete pass. Mind boggling.
I posted this in the Harry Reid Open Thread…But I
think it’s more appropriate here……
cardon – November 22nd, 2009 at 7:42 am
Is anyone aware of the ruling last week that New Orleans was a
“Man Made” disaster? If this is true, does anyone know what the
language in the Healthcare bill says about giving Louisiana that
payoff? Did’nt they use Natural Disaster?…If the language doesn’t
match will Dirty Harry be able to shake Landrieu’s hand, and say,
“sorry chump”?…
Harry the jerk, is bribing the other creeps with taxpayers money,
and that really makes my blood boil, they act like it’s their
money,and not one of them has any conscience..2010 can’t get here
fast enough!
Katrina Flood Ruling Article
http://www.wdsu.com/news/21658334/detail.html
Abject dependence. Disgusting. The best in America is still rebuilding the place. The palm isn't even out for a handout anymore. It's deep into all Americans' wallets. We all paid $100M to LA for a yes vote on cloture. This sickens me.
We have the Marxist right where we want them, fully exposed, and in American politics, it’s not good for your political career. It’s time to firm up, we’ve just begun to fight, and just like in ’80 and ’94 we will throw the bums out, except this time we cannot disappear back into our lives. We must remain vigilant, and protectors of “The Constitution” and subsequently the greatest country the world has ever produced, the USA. God Bless America!
http://www.blowoutcongress.com
Throw them Out!
Stan,
you're right. WE have them right where we want them. They have US surrounded. At least we know where they are.
Abject dependence? The Plantation Mentality; that is all they know.
Liberal politicians think 100 million dollar bribes are a part of normal business in politics, and they have the nerve to say health care companies are corrupt.
AGAIN, projection.
Y'all should call up your Senators and tell them you don't want to be forced to buy health insurance, tell them: "You don't own me. And don't tell me what to do."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Yrg9xNSS0
"I'm free, and I like to be free, to live my life the way that I want, to say and do whatever I please."
These people call themselves "Liberals" but they are statists.
And this points out the import of the media in this takeover.
Lenin and Stalin knew this.
And as such must be addressed as part of any counterattack; they are the enemy and we will fail if they are not neutralized. They know this. This why they are so fiercely anti-Palin, they are afraid of her power.
We have to use this, 'presidential' or not (whatever that means) she is one of the most powerful forces we have.
The Democrats face a bloodbath next year… some are saying they could lose over 100 seats.
And by 2012?
The GOP could take forty states running Gilbert Gottfried, lol
Dear Leader at all-time low at Rasmussen AND Gallup now too…
Hope-n-Change = Train Wreck
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com
There are more of us than there are of them. Many more.
They are exposed.
Yup, Katrina was a "man-made disaster" according to some whacked-out judge. Or at least the flooding was. The blame goes on the Army Corps of Engineers. When all else fails, blame the gub-ment.
http://www.RightWingInc.com
Anti Liberal Stickers
They have us surrounded, those poor bastards.
Oh contraire my good Cowboy, we have them surrounded. A government only stands with the faith of the governed. The USA is a giant pyramid scheme with 55trillion, or more in unfounded mandates, and the idiot class in Washington pushes the apex ever higher, making promises they can only keep, with the submission of the governed. As you stated on an earlier post it’s time to strike, as the producers in this country, stop producing. We are the real power, as we control the wealth, and I’m not talking about the superrich liberals, but middle and upper-middle. We boycott, we don’t hire people, no business expansion, on and on, and do it as a group. Boardrooms across America will begin to tremble in fear, waking up K-Street and getting the politicians to pay close attention. We stop the country stops. He who controls the money, controls the debate. IMO that is our real strength!
If true, the real blame lies with the corrupt Orleans Levee Board and their continual dismissal of myriad warnings of insuffient design and stability allowing Katrina's damage to be maximized.
I wonder what changes to the Board, if any have been undertaken by Ray Nagen and his cronies since?
Actually the Army Corps of Engineers RECOMMENDED fixes and upgrades for YEARS (decades actually) – and the money was voted on for those fixes. And it NEVER got to fix the levy's. It didn't get to the levy's BECAUSE of the local and state POLITICIANS of Louisiana. It had nothing to do with the Corps.
Remember that NaginNeglect and BlancoBitch WERE given funds to repair, remedy and otherwise reinforce the whole levee system suround NO. Those funds were misappropriated and spent instead on pet projects of the governor and the mayor. They should have been prosecuted after the dust settled…but they are LIBS…so they get away with this form of malfeasance. Corrupt scum.
The concept of government health care started long before Hurricane Katrina. It started forty years ago when the values and traditions that built this great country (personal responsibility, hard work, a limited government by and for the people, low taxes) were thrown under the bus by elected officials, aided by a liberal press and an education system that ceased to educate and, instead, began to propagandize and indoctrinate America's youth. Teachers, professors, democrats, the press had a dream: turn America into a socialist-Marxist utopia. With the election of Obama their dream came true. How's that hope and change working for you?
This is not a hurricane's fault. We have only ourselves to blame.
Well, y'know, after G.W. Bush blew up the levees, killing thousands of poor black citizens, and then sent in the National Guard with explicit instructions to shoot poor black citizens…
What's that you say? He never did such a thing? Well, by God, I'll tell ya what, I heard it with my own two ears, from that paragon of virtue and logic, Kanye West.
Yeah, I know. Sarcasm is no way to approach this horrific problem. But, what are you gonna do when the poor black citizens of New Orleans (and elsewhere) are willing to believe the rankest bullshit ever to come down the pike? It reminds me of the dumb-masses (of all races) who subscribe to the 9/11 truth theories.
You know, I had just looked at this Sunday Open Thread and left to get a cup of java and was thinking about the news media being the root of liberty/tyranny so was quite surprised to see your post when I got back. You are so right. It starts with the media and works its way down the line, stopping next at education.
The anti-Palin (almost hysterical) reaction from so many fronts borders on being a phobia. People feel a connection with her, a sense that she is one of us, not contaminated by elite-college education syndrome and cultivated through a political party nursery. She is "Rogue" to those in power, both Dem and Rep.
Children even know that water runs downhill.
What then is the problem with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Government. Haven't they realized that New Orleans will flood, every time it rains? It is NOT an unnatural occurrence. On the contrary, it is the natural course of events. What IS unnatural, is trying to maintain a city that is below sea level. It simply dfies the laws of nature, physics and gravity.
If the Government wanted to solve the New Orleans problem, once and for all, they would noticy ALL residents that they had 90 days to re-locate. At which time the pumps would be turned off, and the levees would be breached. Send it back to its natural order. It is nothing but a stinking, fetid sewer as it is. For US to rebuild New Orleans every time it rains, is the same as US rebuilding California every time there is a fire, and then mudslides the following year. The Government better realize they cannot be all things to all people. WE, don't want it.
A well-informed electorate is the first priority. Unfortunately, that task can't be accomplished any time soon. Not when you've got a President who was willing to sit still and listen to Jeremiah Wright spew hate all over him. AIDS was created by government scientists to kill low-income black folk. Now, there's a sensible thought. And, since the thought was so sensible, it only follows that we should elect the empty suit who plopped his ass down every Sunday to listen to the sensible thoughts. ("I never heard him say that.") ("Or that.") ("Nope, not that, either.")
This is the age of the professional victim. It is a very rewarding vocation indeed.
The people there re-elected Nagin. Why? By what logic would they do that?
Lawyers need victims
Little old me knows not to build my house on low-lying land.,,certainly NOT A CITY! Sure it was "man made disaster"…building the city below sea level!
This could be the way we could all go John Galt without the hideout in the mountains. No hiring, no big purchases, no innovation, no application of our wealth creating talents until freedom returns. We need to withdraw the consent of the governed.
Totally agree! My tax dollars used to secure votes for cloture! 2010 cannot come soon enough!
Agree. Our popular culture is so degenerate that true authenticity is shocking and even repulsive to a lot of people.
If this comes to pass…we'll to unwind a huge totalitarian hairball of legislation.
This is exactly my huge problem with how the flood aftermath has been handled. Human beings should not live in that area. It should have been designated a development area for an oil refinery and been built to withstand the inevitable flooding.
Doubt that 0 sat down in any church every Sunday.
Amen!
Maybe we can sue the Army Corps after Louisiana finishes with them.
LOL — You're so right…
"Hey, that four years of absolute incompetence and dishonesty was pretty damned awful. May we have four more, please?"
Idiots!
The concept of the article is sort of a deliberate joke: In the bill, the $100 million payoff is preceded by language that says any state that is a disaster area, blah blah blah, meaning that Louisiana is the state that gets the $100 million.
Without Katrina, there would be no $100 million payout, and presumably the healthcare monstrosity would've gotten stalled. It's only a joke. The author knows that, with or without Katrina, the Dims would've bought the necessary votes.
I don't know about that. Many aspiring politicians (even atheists) will go to church every Sunday, just for show. He was a member for twenty years. I'm quite sure he heard some hateful rhetoric, then lied about it when it Wright became inconvenient.
That is actually easy…
Just don't fund it…
If it doesn't have any money, it won't work…
After the Mississippi's natural cycle was changed and it was prevented from flooding and silting the New Orleans area, this portion of Louisiana was doomed. No amount of levees, engineering, pumping, or emergency planning will EVER stop this from happening over and over again once the conditions are right…Katrina was almost the end; had the storm breached Lake Pontchartrain fully…
This portion of LA will simply become a sinkhole for money forever…
anyone stupid enough to build a house and live in the bottom of a bowl below sea level, needs to sink or swim on their own merit. No-one forced them to live below sea level, and no-one forced them to stay their ater they all received a three day warning about the dangers about to hit them from Hurricane Katrina…..but, I guess the stupid win…..they just hire stupid lawyers to represent them so they can sue stupid politicians and giess what — they win!!! Because we have to be politically correct, even though the city of New Orleans should have been bulldozed under, the levies broke and water should be allowed to flow naturally, drowning the land of the stupid.
The Landrieu family fortune rests upon this mentality.
Surely you don't mean to deprive little Mary of her money….
Certain "natural disasters" are such because we assist it…
New Orleans happened because we allow our emotion to override our lack of sense about building below sea level in a high probability hurricane area… we watch the California hills burn every year, and we still allow people to live in hilly, high wind, forested scrub areas without forcing them to remove all the vegetation, an anathema to our "pro-environmentalist", flammable home and building Californians…we see governments pay to re-build beaches, and allow people to have homes along coasts, even though oceans constantly erode those beaches, and hurricanes constantly knock down the buildings…because its pretty…
I live in Fla, I'm no stranger to the canes and their threats. However it seems to me that in the case of NO and La in particular its like moanin about airplane noise after you buy a home beside the airport.
Exactly how many decades has La had to plan raise money to fix the problems they knew about? No they decided they would just freakin risk being wiped out. They lost. The short is they made a conscious decision to rebuilding their city on the tax payers when the bet they wouldn't be wiped out.
A great deal of Fl is below sea level and one day will pay for it again. However we didn't build any city I know of in a freaking bowl. I have empathy and I have sympathy. I don't however care much for holding up the tax payers for their misinformed conscious choices.
Mary Landrieu,
I will NEVER forget, NEVER forget what you did.
I intend to remind everyone as often as possible.
You lied when I called your office to ask about this.
Because I emailed you so many times I was on your email list.
LOUISIANA, as a small protest, unsuscribe to that silly thing.
I told you in one of my emails, to pack up your camp and leave if this went through.
Well, camp town girl,
IT IS TIME TO PACK IT UP.
You got it.. I remember the one video of this guy cryin "who's going to feed my family" And I am just thinking WTF???? YOU ARE. GO FIND A JOB! There were a gazillion cleanup jobs and still are.
They are just now realizing what they have done……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9SPdh4Nzy4&fe...
Mary bragged that it was actually $300 million. The lady can be bought for the right price.
Gov. Jindal is investigating a bunch of contractors who took government money to rebuild and have yet to do any rebuilding. Most of these contractors are black. I'm sure there will be cries of RACISM as soon as the race pimps find out.
There's only around 500 of them. Unfortunately, they're running the government right now.
I wrote a post several weeks ago that wasn't allowed, but since this topic has been raised, I'll try again. I read this after Katrina. The Orleans Levee Board was given ample money over the years to repair the levees, but instead squandered the money on the casino, refurbishing the Mardi Gras fountain and other dubious projects. There was much speculation as to whose pockets were also being lined. As you all know, the Dems ran Louisiana and New Orleans for decades and ran them into the ground. When they got caught with their pants down, they blamed Bush. Sound familiar?
So instead, they blamed Bush. Bush tried 3x to get Blanco to call out the National Guard, who were waiting at the ready. He wasn't allowed to call them out because of Federal law prohibited him from doing so. Instead, Blanco dithered because she didn't want to appear incompetent.
I love historic New Orleans and the French Quarter is built on higher ground, which was why it didn't sustain much damage. I thought the unruly crowd had moved to Houston?
In CA, much of the fire hazard is caused by the environmental lobbies which forbid the regular cutting back of overgrowth. And then, of course, there are the arsonists.
Let's call a spade a spade, it has caused more trouble and damage to this country over the last hundred + years and getting worse, simply because the negros were not sent back to Africa. The whole politically correct mindset came about all because of race.
Allegedly, he went 2x per week for 20 years. Said he wasn't paying attention. Sure acts like he was. BTW, Rev. Wright sure has benefited from his slavery gig. He lives in a mansion in a gated community in Chicago.
I believe he and the Reverend have a lot in common: Racism against white people; a willingness to get rich and powerful on the backs of poor, ignorant black folk; and an overweening cynicism that allows them to look directly into the camera and lie, lie, lie.
You're absolutely right. I'm glad somebody beside me is finally chiming in.
I'm not a civil engineer but if I was going to build a city, I would not choose a location that is below sea level. Location, location, location.
I live in Mississippi, and MS got the brunt of Katrina, but
yet it’s never mentioned…All we hear about is New Orleans.I
had water lapping at my door, and I was one of 3 in my sub-div
that didn’t get flooded..The whole state of MS was hit hard, and
from Biloxi to Bay St.Louis it looked like the second world war
bombings of Berlin…Bay St Louis in particular was flattened,
wiped out…..Yet, you did’nt hear about it because people were
out there along with FEMA cleaning up and trying to do as much
as they could to help themselves…….AMEN!!
I forgot to add, We weren’t shooting at our
rescuers either……
But would this just set the stage for the martial-law takeover? For their taking advantage of a crisis?
I'm with you, and I like reading something optimistic for a change, but I'm just wondering . . .
Good point, cardon.
The net result would be the same, the engine of commerce would stop, thus zero taxes.
We now know what a Louisiana prostitute looks like and how much she can get paid if she pretends to play hard to get.
And the MS model should be the plan for every hurricane prone area…what you did was nothing short of AMAZING…
But you folks weren't the squeaky wheel…shame on the Congress for holding up the NO model as the "victim"…instead of the MS model of preparation, effectiveness, and self-reliant brotherhood…
But as you can see, Congress doesn't want someone who can do without them…
MS has a great governor in Haley Barbour. Blanco was awful for LA. Jindal is now in the process of cleaning it all up and making LA prosperous.
BINGO!!
There was plenty of federal money sent over the years to fix the levees but it fell into the wrong hands.
Most stayed in New Orleans to loot the city after Katrina came through.Not knowing how bad it was going to get until it was to late.
the former residents who fled to Texas and Mississippi–are still there–gouging the system of their adopted state.
maybe all these funds will call them home.
Katrina was a category 2 when it hit land genius.
Yeah, I get furious every time the "tragedy" of New Orleans again makes the news, while the recovery effort in Mississippi is ignored by everyone except the folks who are working their tails off to rebuild the Gulf Coast. I lived in Gulfport for nearly 20 years and I was appalled when I realized that Katrina had obliterated much that the far deadlier Hurricane Camille had left standing. I'm just glad that my daughter and SIL and the grandkids who live in Bay St. Louis and lost just about everything (22 feet of water on top of one's house, vehicles, business, etc. tends to do that) have now rebuilt and are doing well.
….someone needs to remind me, WHY are we rebuilding New Orleans again? It seems that a majority of New Orleans residents are non-taxpaying people who exist in perpetual economic slavery (by way of welfare etc); but at the SAME TIME we are NOT rebuilding the WORLD TRADE CENTER which was once such a major center of commerce and a source of funding for the city/state/federal governments that each building had their own ZIP CODE!! ….again, why are we spending all this money on New Orleans?? I say, if the residents of ANY city at ANY point in time cannot rebuild their city with their own funds, then the city might just not be worth it… Why pour federal dollars into a place that will never be able to pay them back?? REBUILD WTC!!! REBUILD LOWER MANHATTAN!!! THE HOLE IN THE GROUND AT GROUND ZERO IS A SYMBOLIC DEFEAT!!!!! I THINK OBAMA LIKES IT THAT WAY!!! HE DOES NOT WANT THE WORLD TO SEE THE U.S. RE-BUILD A MONUMENT TO AMERICAN CAPITALISM!!!!!!!!
Not so Ryan. This is straight from the hurricane Katrina.com website: Hurricane Katrina was a massive hurricane that hit the Gulf Region of the United States on August 29, 2005. The hurricane was a category 5 as it approached the coast, and hit land as a category 4.
It really doesn't matter what the category. The fact that we have poured millions of dollars into New Orleans to "FIX" the levies for 30 years is really the issue. Corrupt politicians and wasteful government spending. The usual problem. Govt can't fix anything they waste and the misuse and bribe. Get them fired in the next election., cut the govt to a small size and let the people grow and prosper