NEW ORLEANS — George W. Bush stopped by Wednesday for the second anniversary of Katrina’s landing in New Orleans. He blithely told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the federal government had largely done its part and the rest was up to us. Meanwhile, most of the progress was accomplished by the locals and scores of volunteers, many of whom have come through ACORN’s Home Cleanout program.

“A lot of people down here probably wondered whether or not those of us in the federal government not from Louisiana would pay attention to Louisiana or Mississippi,� Bush told the Picayune at a newly restored charter school in the 9th Ward he and Mrs. Bush visited.

The president deflected criticism for the lack of federal response, saying he understood and was still “paying attention.�

“It’s sometimes hard for people to see progress when you live in a community all the time. Laura and I get to come — we don’t live here; we come on occasion. And it’s easy to think about what it was like when we first came here after the hurricane, and what it’s like today.â€?

New Orleans residents, including ACORN members, don’t fall for this line of reasoning and false sympathy anymore. People are tired of waiting for help that doesn’t come and promises that aren’t kept. They’re well informed about where the federal aid went and who benefited. They see wrecked and abandoned houses every day and know that those homeowners have never gotten help and may have possibly given up waiting for governmental assistance that never materializes.

New Orleans City Councilwoman Shelly Midura exposed the president’s hypocrisy in an open letter yesterday, punching wide holes in his argument that the federal government has done its part.

“Indeed, you have allocated $116 billion for the Gulf Coast, but that number is misleading. According to the Brookings Institute’s most recent Katrina index report, at least $75 billion of it was for immediate post-storm relief,� Midura wrote.

“Thus only 35% of the total federal dollars allocated is for actual recovery and reconstruction. And of that recovery and reconstruction allocation, only 42% has actually been spent. In fact, while your administration touts ‘$116 billion’ as the amount you have sent to the entire area affected by Katrina and the levee failures, the actual long-term recovery dollar is only $14.6 billion. This amount is a mere 12% of the entire federal allocation of dollars, billions of which went to corporations such as Halliburton for immediate post-storm cleanup work, instead of to local businesses. Contrast that to the $20.9 billion on infrastructure for Iraq that the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2006 that you have spent, and it’s an astonishing 42% more than you have spent on infrastructure for the post-Katrina Gulf region.�

Add those insults to the disproportionate amount of aid sent to Mississippi over New Orleans for political reasons, in spite of overwhelming storm damage here.

Councilwoman Midura itemized actions the federal government could and should take:

• Completely fix the federally managed levees

• Fully fund our expertly crafted recovery plan

• Give New Orleans all that you have promised to Baghdad – schools, hospitals, infrastructure, security and basic services

• Forgive the community disaster loans, as authorized by the new Congress

• Appoint a recovery czar who works inside the White House who reports daily

• Restore our coasts and wetlands

• Work with Congress to reform the Stafford Act

• Cut the bureaucratic red tape.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2007 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Politics, Homeland Security, The Administration .