Obama: U.S. can't fail New Orleans again

[demoleft]

Source: AP

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama said Sunday the country cannot fail New Orleans again and that as president, he would keep the city in mind every day.

"The words never again cannot be another empty phrase," he said in front of one of the few rebuilt houses he saw on a brief tour of the city's Gentilly Woods section. "It cannot become another broken promise."

Obama is the first of several presidential candidates from both parties who are set to visit New Orleans in connection with the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday. President Bush also is expected to mark the occasion with a trip to the Gulf Coast.

Obama, whose day began at First Emanuel Baptist Church, said that long before Katrina, the nation had failed to lift up New Orleans, a city with persistent struggles such as poverty and poor public schools. He said that cannot happen again and that Americans have a "collective responsibility" to each other.



Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_NEW_ORLEAN...

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I just feel like we've been forgotten about, said a resident.

[pitohui]

1. i know some folks who lost their home in gentilly woods and they ain't coming back

the entire neighborhood suffered terribly from the flood, and my friends house was a total loss

last i heard almost no one had returned there -- it might have the lowest rate of return of any neighborhood in gentilly?

several older folk died in their homes just in that one neighborhood -- there was a lot of elderly and older housing there

it would be for the best to give folks "road home" money or other funds to re-build somewhere higher and dryer than gentilly woods if you ask me

i don't think it's going to be re-built honestly (more than the few houses obama saw on his tour0 nor do i necessarily think it's a safe place for people to rebuild

[youngdem]

4. Nah. Lower 9 has a MUCH lower repop rate than Gentilly

Much.

We have rebuilt several Gentilly homes and I have helped get a few dozen Gentilly insurance cases finished so they too can rebuild.

The big shortcoming in Gentilly is businesses. So many were small biz's who were underinsured, that it may take a generation for them to redevelop.

Gentilly is coming back though. And Dillard has rebuilt, so that too will help.
The race track is open, better condition than ever. Jazz Fest, while not in Gentilly proper, also will help.

If you haven't been back in a while, the progress in many areas might surprise you. I hope you can revisit soon pitohui

The lower 9th and Lakeview are taking the longest, but that is because they were hit the hardest. Worse still is St. Bernard and Plaq. They were reduced to worse than starting over, since they had to clean up and replace the levees before even beginning to rebuild, but even Venice, Buras and Empire are breathing again.

[pitohui]

6. i meant i thought gentilly woods was the least repopulated neighborhood in GENTILLY

sorry i type fast and not always very clearly!!!

i just don't go to gentilly any more, i don't want the memories as i used to live there and would not be willing to live there again after the drownings, i just don't want those memories coming up every day

[rodeodance]

2. all dems and Bush -and repugs going to NO with promises.

[Omaha Steve]

3. Obama develops plan for Gulf Coast restoration

Source: The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON -- On the cusp of the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, will present a plan today aimed at hastening the rebuilding of New Orleans and restructuring how the federal government responds to future catastrophes in America.

The Gulf Coast restoration, said Obama, a candidate in the Democratic presidential primary, has been weighed down by red tape that has kept billions of dollars from reaching Louisiana communities. As president, he said, he would streamline the bureaucracy, strengthen law enforcement to curb a rise in crime, and immediately close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet to restore wetlands to protect against storms.

Obama also said that he would seek to lessen the influence of politics in the Federal Emergency Management Agency by giving its director a fixed term, similar to the structure of the FBI. Under Obama's plan, the FEMA director would serve a six-year term and report directly to the president.

Obama and several presidential hopefuls are scheduled to arrive in Louisiana this week to highlight how New Orleans has -- and has not -- recovered from Hurricane Katrina. Democrats have sought to use the city as an example of what they believe was among the Bush administration's greatest domestic failures.


Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/08/26/o... /

[youngdem]

5. He needs to revise his plan in regard to the closure of the MRGO

That is ALREADY paid for, and underway. The rock has been ordered, the cranes reserved, and the physical dropping of the rip rap begins in February, and should only take a few months.

[pitohui]

7. it will be good to see the end of MRGO EOM

.