WaPo: DON'T rebuild the levees til LA agrees to federal mortgage LAND GRAB

In an official editorial, the Post says the feds should rebuild the
Levees ONLY After the State of Louisiana approves a Republican-
sponsored plan to federalize mortgages in the hardest-hit areas,

to allow the FEDERAL government to buy out displaced homeowners throughout New Orleans (who have yet to be allowed to return to their military-controlled neighborhoods)

before their mortgages (unchecked by government oversight) forclose on them:

New Orleans's Transition

Editorial Staff, Friday, November 25, 2005 (day after Thanksgiving)

"Almost none of the 1.5 million people evacuated... have gone home. New Orleans today is a city of contractors, low-wage workers from elsewhere and a small number of "natives" living in the relatively undamaged higher-altitude wards. Even if they have homes, most of these residents still have no easy access to hospitals or to schools. Large chunks of the city are still without gas or water, and large numbers of homes are still uninhabitable."

NOTE: Mostly due to toxic mold that must be removed ONLY, these old homes have been subject to extensive flooding in the past and survived.

"The next steps forward for the city are in some ways the hardest: At the moment, few people can live there because there are no services, and there are no services because few people live there. Recognizing that they need to move on -- and quickly -- most, if not all, of Louisiana's politicians have abandoned their initial "give us $250 billion and let us decide how to spend it" plans and are entertaining more sensible proposals... The Urban Land Institute, in cooperation with city politicians, has issued a series of recommendations, most notably including the idea that rebuilding should take place in phases, with safer, higher districts being rebuilt first. Both (Governor Blanco) and (Nagin) appear to have signed onto that model, even though it implies that
the lower, more heavily damaged parts of the city may not be rebuilt for years -- if at all.

"The governor and the mayor also more generally support the creation... of a federal or federal-local corporation that would purchase damaged property from owners who can't or don't want to rebuild; the corporation would redevelop the property or put it to some other use. The most advanced version of this plan is a bill proposed by Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), whose Louisiana Recovery Corp. would:

settle outstanding mortgages;

give property owners to sell or repurchase at a later date or in a drier location;

and make infrastructure improvements so land can be sold and redeveloped.

Any profits from development would be returned to the U.S. Treasury.

The proposal is timely: Within weeks, mortgage companies
may start foreclosing on New Orleans property."

The POST concludes:

"If and when these ideas recieve the full political support of the state and city,
it will be the turn of Congress and the federal government to step in with carefully targeted recovery money: for repairing levees... When that's in place, the uncertainty about whether there will again be a New Orleans will come to an end."

****SAMPLE LETTER*****

Dear Congressman:

I implore you to provide the needed support to secure the safety of the people of New Orleans and South Louisiana by:

1) Restoring the levees.

Authorize the funds needed to restore the levee system immediately to protect against a Category 3 hurricane – before the 2006 hurricane season. If this is not done, the city will languish, and the federal government will be left holding the entire bag. Protection against Category 5 is preferable and should also be studied. Due to the actions of the Army Corps of Engineers initially, we never were given the opportunity to know if Category 3 protection was enough: we never had it!

2) Giving the state a bigger share of its own revenue.

Let Louisiana share in a larger percentage of revenue from the oil and gas production that is done off its shores. Other states (Alaska, Colorado, Montana, Texas, etc.) get much, much more. If Louisiana were able to share in that revenue, the state could fund much of its own protection.

3) Committing to the restoration of the wetlands.

There is a plan to restore the vital wetlands that could have protected the city from much of Katrina’s destruction. The work Louisiana has already done is showing results. The ill-informed scientist on "60 Minutes" did not account for the progress that has been achieved, and he didn’t account for any remediation; his theory was based on everybody just sitting back and doing NOTHING. Restoration has to be part of the rebuilding plan. We must act now because we’ve seen how much inaction costs in the long run. If the paltry millions requested in the past had been granted, we would not be facing the billions now required.

4) Providing appropriate tax incentives to encourage businesses and residents to rebuild the city.

Even though the images we’ve seen over and over on television show a decimated city, the core of the city − including the business district, the French Quarter, and many area neighborhoods − are alive and well. The citizens are passionate about its renaissance. All they need is a hand up to go along with faith in their resilience and their own commitment to rebuild and do it right.

Yes, there are risks in a vulnerable area − not unlike the entire state of Florida, the east coast, the state of California. This is not a no-win situation. There are reasonable ways to protect the city. The city can be and should be revived. It just needs your help.

The federal government let the people of New Orleans down in their moment of dark despair, with people on rooftops and dying waiting for help that never came. Don’t let them down again.

New Orleans is a jewel that supports the rest of the nation in myriad ways, from its port to its seafood to its oil and gas. To lose the unique culture that resides there would be a tragic loss. Please support rebuilding New Orleans.

Read the editorial: http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/editorials/index.ssf?/news/content/editorial112005.html

=========

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER

Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn.; 509 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-3344; Web site: www.frist.senate.gov.

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss, chairman; 113 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-5054; e-mail address: senator@cochran.senate.gov.

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., ranking member; 311 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-3954; e-mail address: senator_byrd@byrd.senate.gov

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska; 522 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-3004; Web site: www.stevens.senate.gov

SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., chairman; 393 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-3324; Web site: www.gregg.senate,gov

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., ranking member; 530 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-2043; Web site: www.conrad.senate.gov

SENATE ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE

Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman; 453 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-4721; Web site: www.inhofe.senate.gov

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., ranking member; 511 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; (202) 224-2651; e-mail address: max@baucus.senate.gov

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.; 235 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-2976; Web site: www.house.gov/hastert

HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; 217 Cannon House Office Building; Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-6536; Web site: www.blunt.house.gov

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., chairman; 2112 Rayburn House Office Building; Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-5861; Web site: www.house.gov/jerrylewis

Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., ranking member; 2314 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-3365; Web site: www.obey.house.gov

HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE

Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, chairman; 303 Cannon House Office Building; Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-2911; e-mail: nussleia@mail.house.gov

Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., ranking member; 1401 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-5501; Web site: www.house.gov/spratt

HOUSE RESOURCES COMMITTEE

Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., chairman; 2411 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-1947; e-mail: rpombo@mail.house.gov

Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, D-W.Va., ranking member; 2307 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-3452; e-mail: nrahall@mail.house.gov

HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, chairman; 2111 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-5765; Web site: www.donyoung.house.gov

Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn, ranking member; 2365 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; (202) 225-6211; Web site: www.oberstar.house.gov

IMHO, as New Orleans goes, so goes the nation. Enough said!

The authorities and some of the NGO's don't care enough to do what we think is right for the people living there currently. They think people will be so much better off living somewhere else. People have internalized this sense that New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is not a place where a poor person can or should live.

:cry:

are doing.

:mad:

Now they seem much more probable. They were needed to further their Gulf coast agenda...whatever the hell that is. Prisons for U.S enemy combatants? Where better to put prisons than in a LA. swamp full of snakes and alligators? Maybe they want to drill at will in the Gulf? Gambling boats? Trump wants an entire street....what for? This looks to me to be by design. Yup...the bombing of the levees seems more probable now. What the hell are they up to?

Louisiana white supremacists (my folks grew up in heavily segregated northern Louisiana) have been going on for years about what a good thing it was that the government was too corrupt to repair the levees, which were built in the 1940s (think of that -- we're talking Huey Long era here). They've been positively salivating for years on the prospect of "When the Big One hits, I don't want none of them n***rs being allowed to leave the city and come into MY neighborhood. Let 'em kill each other off. And by God don't spend a red cent of my federal tax dollars on new levees to protect that godforsaken hell-hole."

So much hatred and anticipation of this event, A National Geographic reporter had to take note of white fisherman's comments on the subject, in a scenic tour of the Delta they did for the millenium issue.

No wonder Michael Brown and W. Bush were so sanguine about the levees bursting.

out on the Gulf working for HALLIBURTON....I kid you not.:grr: When I was told he worked for Halliburton it was all I could do to not go off on him..(this was at my dad's funeral. Not a good time for a fight :()
His mom and dad, RACISTS, live in Houma. The things that came out of their mouths that day were SICKENING and they felt VERY comfortable saying them...like NO ONE WOULD CARE! I wanted to tell them they were in the BLUE State of Illinois, but I had to keep my mouth shut. I will NEVER speak to those people again...ever. I bet they're THRILLED about what happened to the AA people in LA. I just know they are from how they were talking about them. :( It made me sick to think they were related to ME! :cry:

Fortunately, his immediate family seemed to escape it, perhaps because their mother was a schoolteacher from Oklahoma (which is moderate compared to northern Louisiana, at least when it comes to racism). My uncle's a yellow-dog Democrat and none too pleased at the goings-on...

My other uncle, who grew up in poor conditions, became a partner at Arthur Andersen (I kid you not) I always thought he was the more liberal of the two since he seemed more of the upscale, Beatle's fan, baby boom generation type, while my dad's brother is more of a dyed-in-the-wool good old boy type, but wouldn't you know it, I think my dad and his brother are the only democrat branches of the family. (They don't always get along either. :eyes: ) Point is, whenever we used to invite friends up from back on the farm, they would always make nasty remarks about the (heavily black) city we live in -- not to mention New Orleans -- and my dad would usually end up inviting them to stay elsewhere.

I hope more people see this article from the Washington Post -- this can't be tolerated! This is where our "moderate" elected officials and "progressive" urban experts (the ones always chant "homeownership, homeownership" when displacing people from COOPERATIVE affordable housing and trying to tear down EXISTING older homes in the inner city instead of helping them refurbish it) are leading us! :grr:

... enough to protect the 9th Ward. It's simple. Just require it to be 1' higher than the levee on the other bank, no matter how high (or low) it's built. (Think about it.)

I don't get it.

The problem with the 9th Ward is they're scapegoating it for problems that exist in white areas like Metairie and Lakeview, too.

Like "You can't rebuild the levees, they'll just sink further into the muck."

Or "It's just too far below sea level."

Or "It's hopeless, their mortgages will be taken away from them anyway and they can't get insurance because of the (poor and black) location."

Or "That's an unhealthy environment for raising children, let's move them all to a converted Japanese internment camp like both the sherriff of Portland Ore. and the conservative officials suggested. A rural, whiter area. That's worth the loss of their loved ones, for the chance to raise their children in a structured environment. Where Wal-Mart can employ them."

These sorts of excuses never stopped anybody when the lives in danger were rich and white.

low life scum - every one of 'em.