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Tancredo and the New Orleans Gravy Train

Wednesday, September 5th, 2007

Americans now understand that the majority of the destruction in New Orleans two years ago was due to the failure of the federally built levees which, by the US Army Corps’ own admission, should have withstood Katrina’s storm surge.

Which makes presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo’s comments quite odd. Last Friday, the Colorado Congressman said it’s “time the taxpayer gravy train left the New Orleans station…” citing $1 billion of aid wasted in fraud and abuse at all levels of government.

The citizens of New Orleans due to no fault of theirs (beyond trusting the Army Corps to build levees that work) are struggling mightily to rebuild their homes and lives. Meanwhile, it has become conventional wisdom that had the US Army Corps done their job, the people of New Orleans would be well on their way to recovery.

Perhaps if Mr. Tancredo had visited New Orleans after the flood, he would have discovered this on his own.

New Orleans to CNN: A nickel’s worth of advice

Sunday, September 2nd, 2007

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.

Corps of Engineers is culprit not savior

Sunday, August 26th, 2007

In a recent article, Associated Press reporter Brian Schwaner discusses the lack of progress in New Orleans. But Schwaner, like too many others, does not mention that New Orleans is in this mess because the US Army Corps of Engineers bungled the levees.

The caption below the photograph says “if the Army Corps of Engineers has its way…those in New Orleans should be better protected,” sounding as though the Army Corps is the savior when in fact, the Army Corps is the primary culprit in the drowning of New Orleans.

And what happened in New Orleans isn’t just a New Orleans problem. Go to www.levees.org, join us and find out if you are vulnerable. Don’t we all deserve levees that work?

Sandy Rosenthal
Executive Director, Levees.Org

Click here for Brian Schwaner’s article.

Click here for a recent TIME cover story that details the US Army Corps primary role in the New Orleans flooding on August 29, 2005.