Am I Wrong?

[Samarta]

I have tried real hard to play nice on this one because it is a sensitive subject and I do kinda understand where everyone is coming from. The bottom line is race, income level, crime rate, education level, religion, or anything that has to do with the makeup of the city of New Orleans should not be in question period! The only thing that should be in question here is how did this happen in our country?!?

So you get a blizzard (yes I saw the pictures) and let's say it destroys your town. You have no food, no money, no home, and no one is coming to help you, then you are told "oh I know it's where your home is, but you know what, we think you would be better off on a cot in a gym somewhere in Idaho. Oh and don't worry about your things, they're gone, you don't have the blizzard insurance, so you aren't going to get anything for your years of labor, and we really don't know what happened to the rest of your family and neighbors, but hey, good luck to you."

The inconvenience of the winter snows and associated power outages doesn't come close to what those people went through. I lived on the Gulf Coast and went through a pretty significant Hurricane (Elena) and just not having power, water, gas, etc for those 2 weeks was horrible. But again it all comes back to the fact that when a community in our country was in dire need of help, the people that were elected to provide that help were not there to answer the call.

[FGFan]

Originally Posted by Samarta

The only thing that should be in question here is how did this happen in our country?!? EXACTLY, for the life of me I will never understand it.

Oh and don't worry about your things, they're gone, you don't have the blizzard insurance, so you aren't going to get anything for your years of labor, and we really don't know what happened to the rest of your family and neighbors, but hey, good luck to you." People with lots of insurance got left with nothing. And we are screwed, I'm afraid to change my insurance company even though I've never made a claim

The inconvenience of the winter snows and associated power outages doesn't come close to what those people went through. I lived on the Gulf Coast and went through a pretty significant Hurricane (Elena) and just not having power, water, gas, etc for those 2 weeks was horrible. But again it all comes back to the fact that when a community in our country was in dire need of help, the people that were elected to provide that help were not there to answer the call.

We were prepared, and went 2 weeks without power. Florida got reimbursed for gas the year before but they decided on Katrina they weren't reimbursing us. I spent over $1000 to run generators and help the older folks around here that just couldn't deal with going to Baton Rouge to get supplies. We were fine though, people came to our house but it cost a small fortune to keep things going. Jeb Bush's state got gas reimbursement but we couldn't.

Uh did you not get the memo were all drinking beer now and giving up on how our country sucked in it's moment to shine?

[Danzig]

it's odd that the media continues to chase a story that isn't there. the workers, the ones who are motivated, are rebuilding. but the ones being interviewed are the ones who took handouts before, and want to continue to do so now. they aren't the ones who will rebuild, as they aren't builders! they are takers, not workers.
the workers don't get interviewed, as they are busy building. as for depending on the govt, they don't get anything right, so why would they get this right? when a disaster is headed your way (and it's not like hurricanes pop up out of nowhere) make a plan and prepare. but those sucking from the govt teat know nothing other than to continue to expect to be taken care of.

'they' should rebuild--but 'they' isn't the govt--'they' are the people actually rebuilding--not waiting for grants, loans, subsidies, and red tape being cut. new orleans is probably a mistake, but other cities and countries exist in that type of environment, and new orleans can as well. hopefully, this time they get it right.

[Samarta]

Originally Posted by Danzig

it's odd that the media continues to chase a story that isn't there. the workers, the ones who are motivated, are rebuilding. but the ones being interviewed are the ones who took handouts before, and want to continue to do so now. they aren't the ones who will rebuild, as they aren't builders! they are takers, not workers.
the workers don't get interviewed, as they are busy building. as for depending on the govt, they don't get anything right, so why would they get this right? when a disaster is headed your way (and it's not like hurricanes pop up out of nowhere) make a plan and prepare. but those sucking from the govt teat know nothing other than to continue to expect to be taken care of.

'they' should rebuild--but 'they' isn't the govt--'they' are the people actually rebuilding--not waiting for grants, loans, subsidies, and red tape being cut. new orleans is probably a mistake, but other cities and countries exist in that type of environment, and new orleans can as well. hopefully, this time they get it right.

You are kidding.................................right?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Samarta

You are kidding.................................right?

about what?

[Danzig]

maybe i wasn't clear about what i mean in my earlier post. the govt doesn't build cities, or re-build them. if business and industry wants to stay there, they will IF they have people there to employ. People will want to stay, as not everyone is ready to throw in the towel any time you have a disaster. after all, if we all automatically hit the road after any and every disaster, there would be nowhere left to live. between floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and blizzards, there is no safe place left. but it's not the govt who will ultimately decide if, when, or how much of new orleans rebuilds. it's the people--they need jobs, and companies will come if they have a viable workforce. you can't have either one of those without the other. the govt helps by providing small business loans, low interest rate loans for those who had no flood insurance, etc. after all, who would WANT the govt to be in charge of the rebuilding? all they know is low bid gets the job--which explains why the levees failed to begin with!!

[GenuineRisk]

Of course, rebuilding might go a bit faster if the Bush Administration would have used some common sense and waived the requirement that the local governments must put up matching funds in order to receive rebuilding money. Seeing as how those local communities have been washed away, where is the matching money supposed to come from? They have no businesses and no workers to generate any. Over half the rebuilding money is currently sitting around, waiting for some magical thing to happen to these poor neighborhoods.

But take heart- Alabama took full advantage of investment tax breaks, meant to spur regrowth in the Katrina area, to build luxury condominiums near University of Alabama's football stadium. Which is a couple of hundred miles away from the ocean. That'll help a lot.

Thinking about some of the earlier posts, about "Just move and get a job"- I strongly, strongly recommend Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed" which is about her experiences attempting to get by in several parts of the US on a minimum-wage job (as a single person, with no kids). She does exactly what is suggested- moves to a new area, and attempts to get work and housing with no savings. Very interesting read.