Bush's Attention Wanders From Katrina as Reconstruction Lags

[UpInArms]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aGO.7z56rSB4&refer=us

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Just three months ago, President George W. Bush couldn't talk enough about the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast and the effort to rebuild it.

Bush traveled to the region eight times in the six weeks following Hurricane Katrina's Aug. 29 landfall. He spoke about the disaster almost every day in September and in all four radio addresses that month. On Sept. 15, during a nationally televised speech from New Orleans, the president promised that ``we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.''

That now seems a distant memory. Bush hasn't been back to the region in almost two months, and he doesn't speak about it much anymore -- four times in November and twice so far this month, and then only fleetingly. In a 44-minute speech on the economy on Dec. 5, Bush mentioned hurricane damage in the context of urging Congress to pass energy legislation.

<snip>

There is broad agreement that the federal effort is lagging. ``We are at a point where our recovery and renewal efforts are stalled because of inaction in Washington, D.C.,'' Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, former Republican Party chairman, told a congressional panel investigating the botched government response to the storm.

...more...

[JPZenger]

1. Levee Study Not Due Until Late 2007!

This morning NPR reported that the Army Corps study of whether to strengthen the levees won't be done until late 2007! This is just the study - not any actual construction.

[marmar]

2. Even the Grand Wizard Haley Barbour is complaining...?

America makes less and less sense every minute!

:crazy:

[harlinchi]

15. I guess members of his family aren't profiting enough! n/t

[silvermachine]

16. My thoughts exactly...

...if he's speaking out about this then you know how bad things really are. I never could stand Barbour. He and Dick Armey were really 2 of a kind.

[Crankie Avalon]

3. New headline: Bush's attention wanders...wonders "what's for lunch?"

Remind him of that "fabulous" rebuilt house of Trent Lott's he wants to sit on the porch of--it'll all come back to him, maybe.

[deminks]

4. Liar!

He is just waiting for the land grab. Condemn all the property and suck it up through the new imminent domain laws.

[Rose Siding]

5. What a great headline

Its portrayal of the fool as ineffectual and simple is refreshingly accurate.

[rodeodance]

8. yes, it is a grand headline.

[Maggie_May]

6. Call me cold

We are dumping billions into Iraq to rebuild their country while tax paying Americans have to suffer. This should be reason for pull out of Iraq its that simple Democrats.

[rodeodance]

7. even Haily Barber is complaining!

There is broad agreement that the federal effort is lagging. ``We are at a point where our recovery and renewal efforts are stalled because of inaction in Washington, D.C.,'' Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, former Republican Party chairman, told a congressional panel investigating the botched government response to the storm.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

12. Your tax dollars help purchase weapons of mass destruction. nt.

[rodeodance]

9. not cold. We need to take care of the people in our Gulf Coast but our

piggy back is broke.

[Al-CIAda]

10. Dems should be HAMMERING at this simple point.

[BJW]

22. Agreed! Get OFF the stupid War on War on Xmas Now!

[UpInArms]

11. related: Critics say Bush, Congress neglect hurricane victims

http://today.reuters.com/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2005-12-08T142222Z_01_N08299503_RTRIDST_0_HURRICANES-RECOVERY.XML

WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Senior Republicans and Democrats are accusing President George W. Bush and Congress of not fulfilling the promise to do "whatever it takes" to rebuild the Gulf Coast after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Bush made that commitment in an address to the nation delivered from New Orleans two weeks after the devastating hurricane that hit Louisiana and Mississippi on Aug. 29.

But some Republicans and Democrats say the administration has failed to come forward with a comprehensive recovery plan beyond the immediate cleanup and Congress has failed to appropriate the necessary funds.

"We are at a point where our recovery and renewal efforts are stalled because of inaction in Washington, D.C., and the delay has created uncertainty that is having very negative effects on our recovery and rebuilding," said Mississippi's Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, a staunch Bush loyalist, in a speech on Wednesday.

Barbour said there was no money to rebuild highways and bridges; school districts were close to bankruptcy; homeowners whose houses were destroyed were awaiting help with their mortgages, and long-term state and local budgets were shrouded in uncertainty because of Congress' failure to act.

...more...

[Al-CIAda]

14. 'The only explanation I can think of is...'

"There has been an amazing reluctance on the part of the White House to commit to rebuilding New Orleans. The only explanation I can think of is that the president has looked at the situation and decided that victory in Iraq is more important and there's not enough money to do both," said Ron Walters, director of the African American Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland.

[CJCRANE]

20. And there wasn't enough money to strengthen the levees

(before the hurricane) and invade Iraq. Seems like Iraq comes first everytime.

[Al-CIAda]

21. Billions for his crime family and the PNAC cabal come first.

[wordpix]

26. now, THAT's the absolute truth. I say, shake 'em down

[rodeodance]

31. a delayed response from the WH--now neglect.

[VaYallaDawg]

13. "Bush's attention" ...

What attention? It's almost like watching a monkey in the zoo!!

[xchrom]

17. when hasn't his attention wandered?

i mean it's not like the man has any {natural}abilities that actually allow him to DO anything useful.

he's a failure -- end of conversation.

[gratuitous]

18. Bush just makes promises, he doesn't keep them

And don't you know that by remembering stuff, you're hurting our troops? They're such delicate flowers!

[hadrons]

19. I guess polls showed that most of them will vote GOP ....

so why should Bush get worked up if the kool-aid drinkers still believe

[KamaAina]

23. Hey King Dumbass**!

Check out my new sig line! Get Mr. Cheney to explain it to you if you have to.

[KamaAina]

24. Maybe we could get the Cartoon Network to break in with a special report

:evilgrin:

[AllegroRondo]

25. He's easily distracted by shiny objects.

[wordpix]

27. what can we expect from the King of ADD?

[ninkasi]

28. His priority is to spend money killing people overseas

and none to help out our own citizens who have lost everything to a hurricane. This is not the way a moral, caring nation acts. Bush, and his Republican friends, do not care one bit what happens to our own people. He lied us into an illegal invasion, he is causing the country to be bankrupt in order to shovel money by the ton to his wealthy friends, and he has abandoned the rest of us to struggle to live as best we can.

He is without a doubt the worst president we have ever had. Anybody would have been better, I think. We all have to work as hard as we can to pressure Congress to do something to help our citizens on the Gulf Coast get their lives back. It is unconscionable that we are allowing this to happen. Between this blatant disregard for our own people, and becoming a nation which tortures those they consider enemies, we have become what we used to fight against.

[WhiteTara]

29. another hanger on gets his

ass kicked by the * team. Not only is monkey boy a c student, alcoholic, cocaine addict, scoiopath, he has attention deficit and Haley Barbour just got his. Now he know how the rest of us feel.

[Vogon_Glory]

30. If Gee Dubya's Attention Wanders, Will That Of Folks Living There...

If Gee Dubya's attention wanders away from the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, will that of the folks still living there and voting there wander away, too?

Somehow, I doubt it. I think that the folks still living there will see the continuing neglect, especially if it persists through 2006's hurricane season, and most of the ones who voted for the Elephant Party back in 2004 and earlier will not be quite so obliging next time around. Devastated housing and infrastructure does alter people's political perceptions and voting habits, as Dubya might have noticed if he'd bothered to skim through his European history notes back at Yale or even the Phillips Academy, assuming that he bothered to take even a general European history survey course that covered even a little of the post-World War II period.

If reconstruction aid is lacking, I expect that smart pundits can plan on voters marshalling their anger at the GOP.

[Miss Chybil]

32. Poor Hailey. I guess he didn't get his nose quite far enough up

Bush's ass to leave a lasting impression. I'm sure Bush promised to call, but in the end, it was just another one night stand. Oh, the shame of it all.

[Al-CIAda]

33. .

[Javaman]

34. short attention span theater

[Ellipsis]

35. Too busy playing trade show salesman...

...running the country was taken from his job description long ago.

[Buns_of_Fire]

36. No more dramatic photo-ops to be had in NOLA, time to move on...

Okay, the dust has settled after the WTC collapsed. Time to climb up on a mound of rubble and strut and promise all sorts of federal aid. Later: New York who?

Saddam's been run out of power. Terrific. Time to strap on the ol' codpiece and fly out to an aircraft carrier and strut and promise all sorts of good things to America and Iraq. Later: Help for veterans? Huh?

Oh, the floodwaters are receding in New Orleans? Great. Time to fire up the kleig lights downtown and strut and promise all sorts of federal aid and rebuilding efforts. Later: New Orleans what?

Junior, you and your cronies are doin' a heckuva job -- unfortunately, it's sure as hell not as the leadership of this country.

But really, is anyone surprised by this anymore?

[beltanefauve]

37. Katrina=

drop in poll numbers. Terra= rise in poll numbers. 9-11+ rise in numbers...
oh, I forgot. This pResident doesn't believe in polls. Yeah, its ALL about the photo-op.

[Wordie]

38. a kick for Katrina survivors!

[Cocoa]

39. I was gonna rebuild NO

but then I got high.

[Al-CIAda]

40. .