On the anniversary of the worst engineering failure in US history, Glenn Beck with CNN says not another dime should be sent to help New Orleans.
Such a judgement requires an exquisite comprehension of the facts and issues. But, in the very first lines of his monologue, Mr. Beck blows it by making statements that show he doesn’t know what caused the near destruction of New Orleans.
First Mr. Beck says, “… Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans…. causing well over $150 billion in damages.”
EVERYBODY knows that Katrina missed New Orleans and the majority of the damage was due to the failure of the flood walls which are the responsibility of the federal government via the US Army Corps of Engineers. Even the Army Corps itself has admitted such.
Second, Beck says that President Bush has sent “…over $100 billion in aid to rebuild New Orleans.” EVERYBODY knows that the $100 billion in aid was divided among 5 states for damage from 3 hurricanes.
Third, on the logic of rebuilding New Orleans, Mr. Beck says, “Now, it would be different if New Orleans were being built bulletproof for a Category 5 hurricane…But it’s not.” True, so true, but Mr. Beck doesn’t know that it’s up to Congress to authorize Category 5 flood protection. This isn’t a local decision.
A nickel’s worth of advice for CNN: Make sure your talk show hosts get the facts.
This blog posting was by S. Rosenthal, Executive Director of Levees.Org. www.levees.org
Click here for the full transcript of Glenn Beck’s show on CNN.
While I agree, that money should continue to be sent to help the City of New Orleans. I don’t think it should be given to the city or state governments. It is the grassroots organizations that have kept the spirit of New Orleans alive and who have sustained it’s people. While the Federal and state governments spent billions of no bid contracts, the grassroots organizations were delivering food, water, clothing, first aid, medical supplies, and who have remained to help.
I mow lawns and clear lots for elderly property owners in the Lower Ninth Ward with the goal of saving their property from Seizers.
President Bush spoke at the Martin Luther King Jr. School in the lower Ninth on August 29th 2007. That building was saved by Common Ground Relief and volunteers from colleges across the country who came on their own dime to help to gut the building over the passed two years. This saved the School over $500,000 in clean up costs and was the key factor in making it possible for the school to afford to reopen.
If you want to help people in New Orleans help the organizations who are actually doing the work.
here are a few links:
http://www.plenty.org
http://neworleansvfp.ning.com