RE: New Orleans and National Disaster Resilience

On the current state of the New Orleans, a far off time table of 2011 for completing repairs, finding $14 billion for this, and in the mean time, cherry picking what levies embankments to first repair, seems to be like a cart in front of a horse when stuck in a box to find a solution.

Regardless of some embankments being fortified, the ones that are not have the risk of causing the repaired toalso eventually fail. Without 'New Orleans', it has no private property value.

Further, the question about what about next time our nation faces a disaster ? is not sincerely embraced by our federal government.

For New Orleans, the issue we have to face is how to find $14 billion ? When well financed, tactical and strategic concerns become less of an issue. Time tables get reduced, and there is parity in the recovery plan. Property becomes just property. For New Orleans,. its value is intrinsic and not based on personal / private property value.

The solution for the current New Orleans recovery effort must be strategic. Its funding cannot be based upon what can be squeezed out of a federal budget that does not really exist. Please keep in mind that we are floating serious foreign debt, and that budgets for recovery, besides 'disaster prevention' itself in terms of infrastructure and health, safety and welfare, are not really accounted for. That is, unless we view them as pork on major Congressional Bills.

By placing a government bond, a debt instrument, on Wall Street that is totally tax exempt in returns, as well as purchase, becomes a hotly traded bond in the institutional, as well as for private investment.

Investing in our nation should not be taxable. On the contrary, as an investment, it provides the basis of a source of revenue for financing recoveries and disaster prevention. In the New Deal , this is called a GIF, or Government Infrastructure bond.

For $14 billion in liquidity, about $70 billion would be financed in bonds. About 25% is used for the $14billion in liquidity, and the other 75% is invested and managed by institutional markets who are obliged to provide a return, or it comes out of their pockets.

Now we have the \$14 billion necessary. It can also be spread out for a time table of 2 years, and have part of it in interest based accounts too. The other 75% that is in the markets is considered an asset, and can be borrowed against by the Government, when needing to meet the next disaster. And it is not at tax payer cost.

New Orleans is also a prime example of what is needed in real Universal Health Care thinking as also describedin the New Deal.

Sincerely,

Orion Karl Daley
Presidential Candidate for 2008
Author - The New Deal ISBN: 1419670948
for the Strategic Future of our nation
Balanced Party http://unity2008.org
New York, NY, USA -

New Orleans was killed by Katrina and buried a few days later by George W. Bush in front of the St. Louis Cathedral!

Katrina is a "national disgrace"! It shows the callousness of our Governance. How can you "service" the World; through our overabundant foreign aid gifts; spend unnecessarily, for a unconsensus war on Iraq and Afgan;yet, forget, our own "goddam" citizens-in dire crisis! America is "Ripe for Revolution"! I said it.

I live in Memphis, TN and I am appalled by this nation as a whole in its respond to Hurricane Katrina victims. Two years after this disaster, the federal and state government has shown themselves to be inept and foolish.

On this day, two years after the worst disaster to hit the United States of America, the media giants has failed to provide massive coverage on the non progress and mental anguish facing the people of New Orleans.

If we as a nation can spend many, many billion of dollars in another country, then why the h@ll can't we spent 14 billion to get a city in these United States back up and running.

Cut the red tape out and just rebuild the houses and apartments.

If we don't care about what's happening in New Orleans right now, wait until it's your turn...Remember, cities are having tornados, flooding, fires that never had these disaster before....Maybe your city will be the next national disaster....

Money should NOT be put into saving a city that is below sea level. Pay to have the people moved to the high ground.
Keith Hellems

It frightens me that IF we spend the billions needed to restore some semblance of security to New Orleans, the large corporate developers will build right on top of the corpses of the living dead that should have the right to return,as families, to their homeland.

What New Orleans really needs is honest politicians. ( I realize that's an oxymoron)
Local corruption has been endemic for decades and that needs to cease before federal support otherwise the governmment is just poring gasoline on the fire.

Can't you see the Government doesn't care about it's people? Look at the open Borders. Bush is giving Billions of dollars to Mexico to fight the corrupted criminals, and billions more for the War. Also your city is built below sea level, so they won't give you money. Also he's for decreasing the population. WISE UP!

Other places in other sates have had similare desastetrs and recoverd because the state is properly run and local government is properly run and the people are not dependent on the government for everything.
New Orlens is a perfect exeample of what you get when you are totally dependent on the governmet for your welfair.

New Orlens re-elected the same incompeten local govenment that got them in this shape. They are on their own now.

I live in New Orleans. Only part the city is below sea level. This shows that the national media needs to address the real problem. This was a Man Made disaster. The
Corps of Engineers designs for the levee wall
was the reason for the flooding in most of the city.

While many think that the governments, either local, state and federal need to
do something.. don't you think the people of New Orleans should help out also?
I live in Mississippi, on the Coast,and was affected as many here in Mississippi, but I do not hear Mississippians CRYING "GIVE US SOMETHING FREE".. No we
have taken upon ourselves to get the work done.
And in New Orleans most (if not more) of the homes and apartments that were damaged, flooded and destoryed were not own by the people who lived there,but by
other people who were/are the land owner.
And because of either insurance issues or local government and (probably state)these owner will not build back.
So why should my tax dollars support a city that the people are not willing to
live in?
I am really very tired of hearing about
New Orleans, and how it is the governments fault,, who do these people think the government is? It is not the elected people in Washington, the State of Louisanna, or the City of New Orleans, is The People, You and Me who will get the things done that need to be done.
So get off the sofa and quit blaming others and get a job and get the City of
New Orleans up and running and quit waiting for the government to do it for you

I agree with Susan. Mississippi harder than New Orleans and Mississippi got off their butts and rebuilt. The Cajuns in the sticks got off their butts, helped each other and rebuilt like they always do. New Orleans just turned to crime and Brian Williams.
I turn the channel now when one of the news channes has a New Orlens special because I know it is just a democrat add now.

Susan has it just right!! What New Orleans really needs is a better class of citizens. The majority of the "displaced" citizens were on the government roles BEFORE katrina and are still looking for that handout. I say let them get a job and pay for their own life. The taxpayer don't owe this bunch of trash a living.

Whatever monies are spent will never be enough to prevent another major disaster from another direct hit by a storm equal to or greater than Katrina. Saving lives is much more important than saving property. Too many lives were lost because of city and state inefficiency and corruption. Much blame also rests on the Fed government.However, the city has the primary responsibility to prepare all of its assets for safe evacuation. The State with the help of fed govt must provide sufficient avenues for departure. There can be no excuse for the lack of food , water and basic human essentials that existed in the aftermath. The mayor and a good portion of the police force ran to the high ground and allowed cayous and confusion to abound.

Actually Houston is the city to which my sympathy is given. They opened up their city to a hoard of the refugees that were displaced by katrina and as a result their crime rate has skyrocketed. This bunch of no-gods were nothing but trouble before they were displaced and they remain so today. I would bet that there is a substantial portion of the current population in New Orleans that DON'T WANT THEM BACK!

TYPO THERE SHOULD HAVE READ "NO-GOODS"

How can Kathleen Blanco stand by a liar like George Bush and give him an opportunity to show his support for the New Orleans reconstruction, when in fact he and the Republicans did just the opposite. Most of his numbers on what the federal govenment has done for New Orleans since Katrina are completely wrong and he knows it. The great mass of money went to clearing debris and most of that to Texas and other contractors chosen by the Repub lican laden FEMA and Homeland Security.

Yesterday in Salon, an article talks about how Democrats have gotten hooked into Republican maneuvers time after time because they dont understand how voters respond to their getting pulled into things like the Bush photo op in New Orleans or other situations where they fail to stand up for themselves. A polite appearance by Kathleen Blanco with a stern chiding of President Bush for exaggerating the federal contribution and not really helping most New Orleanians and a demand to speed up spending would have been most welcome.

Is there really any point in encouraging development or population return to areas that are below sea level? Aren't there better uses for the money and effort involved. After all we don't live in the Netherlands with limited land available for citizens' use.

Dick, get over it ! Dems like you blame Bush for anything and everything up to and including the weather. Bush hasn't lied about anything that you can prove. That is the biggest bunch of crap that the Dems have ever added to their stupid "talking points". People like you just parrot whatever the democrat talking heads put out. It has gotten old by now. You lost in 2000 and 2004 ! live with it.

We, New Orleanians never need to worry; there always is some drib out there, who knowing nothing about our terrain, our culture or our lives feels compelled to dump on us.
Let's see where can we start?
First, let's start with the ugly mouthed fellows from Miss. I am not sure which Miss. coast you're looking at, but the one I visit has a handful of casinos, IHOPs and high rise condos on its coastline. Ooops and slabs---- blocks and blocks of slabs. Why? Not because they are lazy, or not working or bums (even though due to their Republican influence they received a massively disproportionate slice of the meager aid sent to us). It's because this disaster is of such huge proportions that no single community can respond on its own. To fully understand the breath of what happened to the Gulf Coast, (New Orleans included) I suggest this Sunday you get in your car and drive 60 or miles an hour down the interstate and do that for an hour to hour and 1/2. Then stop--cause then you will know how broad the devastation is--- not just the damage--- that is much wider--- I am talking about the utter devastation. The devastation goes from the 17th street canal through the city of New Orleans, on to Slidell then pass into Miss through Waveland, Pass Christian, Biloxi-Gulfport---one community after another wiped out. Along the way you will see folks still in trailers, actually in Miss. there are still tents. In New Orleans and Slidell still sitting there largely due the inadequate amount of relief money supplied by the Feds and mismanaged by the State. In Miss. inaction appears to be due to not only the shortage of funds but an inability to decide where and how to build.
After all, the folks in Miss and La. aren't stupid as some of your writers suggest. They did not move into land 30 ft below sea level (not sure where that number comes from!), unprotected from the Gulf. In fact they didn't move there at all , they lived there generation after generation raising their families, burying their dead, working , building a home -building a life. Their ancestors settled New Orleans because it was high and protected by miles and miles of wetlands. Both La. and Miss were also protected by barrier islands ---most of that protection is gone. Some due to drilling operations, some due to redirecting the Miss to provide shipping and flood protection for our fellow Americans, some due to global warming, rising seas and erosion. But none the less gone.
Is it too much to ask our countrymen through our government (of course we do note that thousands of them have come to our aid as volunteers) to help us rebuild--- to help us continue to support this country with our natural resources --our oil, ports, fisheries? What about the shipping industry? (We were the one that gave you the Higgins boats-- remember WWII?) Our refineries? Will not our countrymen in San Francisco expect the same when the Big One comes? What about our friends in the Tenn. Valley --what if the dams, built by the same government that built our crumbling levees, failed? Should we not jump at the chance to save you? Help rebuild your homes and your lives? Or should we mock you saying --how stupid can you be-- living in a valley or on a fault line? Or what if our bread basket becomes a big dust bowl again---should I laugh? Should I deride you? Or some other nut decides to blow up New York or Chicago--too bad, you should have known that they would come back? I think not. We are countrymen, bound by a history and values we share. So, what we ask is that first you respect our loss. Many still grieve--- loss of loved ones, homes, jobs, schools playgrounds--- really dreams. Second, we ask that our nation, rich in resources, share those to help us rebuild our homes and our community, to help replace the protections like levees and wetlands that disappeared or failed. It can be done but it will require not just our commitment but yours. Finally your prayers--because anyone who has seen this knows it requires the help of the Almighty.

Of all the comments posted here the only one that makes any sort of sense ( and which opts out of the blaming and shaming and name calling) is that posted by really metairie .

It is probably not possible to undo the damage done to The Mississipi by man's interence with its natural path and water content and quality which has, amongst other things, denied the coast the silt which contributed to the wetlands which in turn would have absorbed much of the effect of the storm surges from the cyclone.

The levees were poorly designed with scant regard for the geology of the area and were,l at best, a stopgap measure, bound to fail sooner or later.

Poor tragic New Orleans and its citizens.

I really grieve for you.

To get over this will take all the expertise of townplanners skilled engineers good will and lots and lots of money (much of which is now being wasted in Irak).

Here we are spending billions to rebuild a city that is 10' below sea level, surrounded on three sides by water and located right in the middle of a hurricane strike zone, when we should be concentrating on winning the wars in Iraq and Afganistan.

Did you here that thump? That was 5000 liberals falling over in their chairs!

It was a real bad storm, and there will be more. If I lived in New Orleans, and I didn't have lots and lots of money (because its being spent in Iraq) I'd be getting the hell out of there.

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I feel very bad for the City of New Orleans. Having visited NO in the years just prior to Hurricane Katrina, it always amazed me just how much of the city was actually covered with run down housing. This is the part of the city that I struggle about how much we, the taxpayers, should pay to rebuild. I mean, honestly the 9th ward was largely a slum before the hurricane. Should we pay to rebuild the slum? Should we use tax dollars to build housing far superior to the slums that were there? If so, who should get to live in them? It's a true dilemma. One thing that was lost soon after Katrina struck is the overall size of the area of destruction. The area suffering a direct hit (or total destruction in Louisiana and Mississippi) was larger than the United Kingdom. Considering its taken longer than 2 years is not a real surprise.

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