Nagin: Class and race issues killing New Orleans' recovery (AP/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Mayor Ray Nagin told a Senate committee Monday he doesn't see the will to fix his hurricane-battered city when compared with the billions spent on the war in Iraq.

"I think it's more class than anything, but there's racial issues associated with it also," Nagin said.

Nagin also asked for Congress to change the laws and regulations to speed up the flow of federal aid.

"From my perspective, not having the resources at the local level is the absolute killer of this recovery," Nagin told the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is looking into the government's hurricane response.

As of January 18, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to pay for $334 million for infrastructure repairs in New Orleans, but the state only has forwarded $145 million to the city so far.
***
more: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/29/katrina.hearings.ap/index.html

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. Does That Include Racially Motivated Comments Like "Chocolate City?

Hey Mr. Nagin, look in the mirror. You're part of the problem!

[R_M]

9. Exactly!

[eppur_se_muova]

2. " at least 10 years of federal commitment to rebuild New Orleans"

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2007_01_29.html#230791

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said at a hearing Monday that it will take at least 10 years of federal commitment to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast from the 2005 hurricanes.

(Longer if they drag their feet...)

[aaronbees]

4. And they will drag their feet...

as long as the Repubs are in control. :( Big understatement by Nagin.

[MGKrebs]

3. Too bad we don't have a president with any credibility

on those issues to step in and show some leadership.

[funkybutt]

5. Full Testimony of Mayor Nagin

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breaking/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_localbreakingnews/archives/2007_01.html#230781

"...citizens are tired, frustrated and angry. Worst of all, they are losing hope. We need systemic, meaningful change now"

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Thanks, funkybutt! nt

[bleedingheart]

13. I think the powers that be want the folks to lose hope

because the fewer people that return, the easier it will be for the real estate brokers and the folks with the money to turn New Orleans into the venue they want it to be. A sterile disney-like version of what it used to be.

[funkybutt]

6. A picture

[eppur_se_muova]

8. LOL! This is a job for Jimmy-Jeff!

:rofl:

[pitohui]

10. i like that picture

saw it on nola.com earlier, very nice job

[struggle4progress]

11. Senators at Louisiana Hearing Criticize Federal Recovery Aid

... Mr. Obama and Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, focused on why Louisiana, which had far more damage than Mississippi, did not receive a larger proportion of federal aid. Mr. Powell said Congress had put a cap on how much aid money any one state could get.

The senators complained about federal rules requiring a local match for aid after disasters; Mr. Powell said that in some cases, like the removal of the tons of debris that inundated the landscape here, the rules had been waived.

The senators, including the panel’s chairman, Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, voiced little criticism of Mayor C. Ray Nagin or other local officials, and Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana was not on the witness list. Ms. Blanco is responsible for the Road Home, a troubled housing assistance program that has made little progress in getting federal rebuilding aid to thousands of homeowners.

Fewer than 300 homeowners have received aid under the program, Mr. Lieberman said, though more than 100,000 have applied. (A program official said on Monday that 359 had received grants.) The program’s failure is cited as a crucial reason for the faltering repopulation effort ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/us/30katrina.html?ref=us

[rodeodance]

12. NYT: Senators at Louisiana Hearing Criticize Federal Recovery Aid

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=102&topic_id=2708121&mesg_id=2708121


January 30, 2007
Senators at Louisiana Hearing Criticize Federal Recovery Aid
By ADAM NOSSITER

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 29 — Three United States senators sounded off on Monday about the slow pace of recovery from Hurricane Katrina at a hearing in the French Quarter, criticizing federal officials for perceived inequities in aid to Louisiana and for imposing rules that are halting government assistance.

With Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois and a presidential candidate, expected to speak at the hearing of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, dozens of residents lined up outside the Louisiana Supreme Court building hoping to be admitted. But only a small fraction were allowed inside, where Mr. Obama jousted with Donald E. Powell, the federal coordinator of Gulf Coast rebuilding, about where the money was, and why more of it was not in Louisiana.

Mr. Obama and Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, focused on why Louisiana, which had far more damage than Mississippi, did not receive a larger proportion of federal aid. Mr. Powell said Congress had put a cap on how much aid money any one state could get.

The senators complained about federal rules requiring a local match for aid after disasters; Mr. Powell said that in some cases, like the removal of the tons of debris that inundated the landscape here, the rules had been waived..............

The senators, including the panel’s chairman, Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, voiced little criticism of Mayor C. Ray Nagin or other local officials, and Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana was not on the witness list. Ms. Blanco is responsible for the Road Home, a troubled housing assistance program that has made little progress in getting federal rebuilding aid to thousands of homeowners.