Dean: Bush Still Out Of Touch With Reality In The Gulf Coast
President Bush is in Louisiana and Mississippi today, eighteen months after his Administration's incompetence following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita further devastated the Gulf Coast. The American people watched in horror then as pictures of the disaster filled our TV screens, yet immediately following the disaster, the American people also saw their President playing the guitar and eating birthday cake while their fellow Americans suffered.
Even now, President Bush remains out of touch with reality, declaring last month, "I think the federal bureaucracy responded pretty quickly for Katrina...We set up the funds. Put people in place. The moneys were spent. The moneys were distributed." [FOX News, 1/31/07] Yet according to a report by the Brookings Institution, more than half of New Orleans' schools remain closed, only seventeen percent of buses are running and rebuilding money is being distributed "one coin at a time." [Washington Post, Editorial, 3/1/07] Bush recently said it's hard to see from his "beautiful White House" but that is no help to the more than a hundred thousand Gulf Coast residents who are still living in temporary housing. [President Bush, Press Conference, 2/14/07]
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement:
"Today as President Bush leaves the comfort of the 'beautiful White House' to tour the Gulf Coast, he should open his eyes to the brutal consequences of the Administration's failure to fulfill its promises to the people in the region. Too many of our fellow Americans are still struggling to rebuild their lives as they await assistance the Bush Administration promised but has yet to deliver. This is the legacy of the Bush presidency: incompetence, broken promises, and an inability to lead our country. Democrats will never forget the people of the Gulf Coast and will continue to work hard to honor our commitment to rebuilding the region."
President Bush Promised To Get Residents Back Into Their Homes Quickly: "When somebody goes back to their home, it helps renew the community, and so part of our efforts, and part of our focus is to make sure that people can get back in their homes as quickly as possible." [President Bush, 8/28/06]
110,000 Families Still Displaced And Living In Temporary Housing. "Eighteen months after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is still a 'disaster,' according to a report released today by a Southern research group tracking the recovery. ... About 110,000 displaced families are still living in temporary government-issued trailers or receiving rental assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Administration, the report said. Some rental aid has been extended to August 2007 - two years after the storm made landfall - but 'tens of thousands have already been cut from the rolls,' said the report, titled 'A New Agenda for the Gulf Coast.'" [Cox News, 2/26/07]
President Bush Promised To Crack Down On Violent Crime: "If you want there to be renewal and recovery, like we all do, you got to crack down on violent crime. You got to send a message that the streets of New Orleans are safe. And we'll help you do so." [President Bush, 8/29/07]
Crime Has Led To Fear, Exodus From New Orleans. "Murders, robberies and carjackings are some of the horrors visited upon a people who have suffered enough. Fear and uncertainty about the future have contributed to the acceleration of the departure of the middle class and educated professionals, who were already bidding the city adieu before Katrina blew ashore in 2005. And the population that has been left behind -- half of what it once was -- needs meaningful employment." [Washington Post, Editorial, 3/1/07]
Violent Crime Has Surged, Health Care Is Limited; "Parts of New Orleans Still In Ruins." "Spurred by the determination of residents, the city has made some progress since Katrina struck on Aug. 29, 2005, but recovery has been slow and parts of New Orleans still lie in ruins. Health care is limited. Violent crime has surged, along with rental costs. Many public schools have re-opened, but some are still struggling to hire enough teachers." [AP, 2/28/07]
President Bush's Promised To Provide Funds For Rebuilding: "The role of government here, first and foremost, is to provide enough money to say that the rebuilding effort will be robust." [President Bush, 8/26/06]
Gulf Coast Residents Still Waiting For Rebuilding; Funds Remain Unspent. "It's been almost 17 months since Hurricane Katrina pounded coastal Mississippi and southeast Louisiana, and about a year since Congress authorized the bulk of its rebuilding aid for the region. More than four months have passed since President Bush visited New Orleans on the anniversary of the storm and extolled the 'amazing' reconstruction effort. But a review of the devastated region shows that rebuilding is in a deep stall. Tens of thousands of residents remain displaced as authorities dither over how to disburse housing assistance. Many crucial infrastructure projects have yet to start. Of the tens of billions appropriated by Congress, half remains unspent." [Wall Street Journal, 1/30/07]
Rebuilding Has Been Slow. "Despite $89 billion from the federal government to rebuild the devastated Gulf Coast, New Orleans's recovery has been slow. Painfully slow. ... More than half of the city's schools -- 56 percent -- remain closed. And rebuilding money from Baton Rouge under Louisiana's "Road Home" program seems to be distributed one coin at a time. Only 632 applications had been approved out of the 107,739 on file as of Feb. 12. Guarding against fraud is commendable, but it does not excuse the continual delay in helping those who lost everything and are eager to get on with their lives." [Washington Post, Editorial, 3/1/07]
Federal Bureaucracy Preventing Rebuilding. "Adding to the burdens of dealing with anti-fraud regulations, Bay St. Louis also must deal with an army of sometimes impenetrable federal agencies. The $50 million reconstruction of Beach Drive, the city's long-admired main drag, has yet to start, even though it has the attention of the state highway department, the state attorney general's office, the federal highway commission, FEMA and the Army Corps. The street can't be rebuilt until an associated seawall and the adjacent pier are reconstructed. FEMA calculates the pier alone will cost exactly $1,370,256.22. To the surprise of locals, the Corps didn't request a congressional appropriation until November, more than a year after the storm. Spokesman Patrick Robbins says the project was submitted to Congress as part of a package of other jobs, following agency policy." [Wall Street Journal, 1/30/07]
