Obama to lay out a detailed plan to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast Region today

[TeamJordan23]

Details, Remarks of Obama’s Gulf Coast Rebuilding Plan

NEW ORLEANS, LA – In a speech at Tulane University today, Senator Barack Obama will lay out his comprehensive program to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and help make the region a model of what can be achieved in America when we unite around a common purpose. In carrying out his proposals to protect against future storms, enhance basic infrastructure and services, and invest in education, Obama will restore competence to the White House and rebuild trust between Washington and the citizens who were impacted by Katrina.

Obama’s comprehensive program to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast includes:

Ensuring that New Orleans has a levee and pumping system to protect the city from a 100-year storm by 2011.

Creating a special “COPS for Katrina” program to empower communities to hire local enforcement personnel, as well as helping local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies establish an integrated regional crime control partnership.
Developing the health care infrastructure by building new facilities and providing incentives like loan forgiveness to attract more medical professionals back to New Orleans.
Rebuilding schools and assisting communities in the Gulf Coast to make necessary infrastructure investments so kids from all backgrounds have safe and supportive environments to learn. Creating a loan forgiveness program to bring college students back to New Orleans.
Ensuring the FEMA Director reports directly to President Obama, serves a fixed six-year term so he or she is insulated from political pressure, and has professional emergency management experience.
Ensuring that every displaced resident has a home to return to, by strengthening the Road Home Program, working with the state to guarantee that every application for housing assistance will be approved no later than two months after it is received, and increasing the supply of rental property.

Developing transit partnerships to ensure public transit is integrated across New Orleans’ parish lines and a possible rail line connecting New Orleans with Baton Rouge.

Rebuilding the local economy, both by fighting to ensure more local residents direct and implement Katrina-related recovery and reconstruction activities, as well as targeting tax incentives to lure businesses to the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Coast.

Working with emergency management officials, emergency responders and other experts from all 50 states to create a real National Response Plan, which will ensure we have fully-trained and prepared personnel to respond to disasters across the United States.

Creating a National Catastrophe Insurance Reserve, which will save homeowners $11.6 billion on annual insurance premiums.

Senator Obama’s program to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast can be viewed in full HERE.

This is Obama’s fifth visit to New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005. Since then, Obama has successfully pushed legislation in the U.S. Senate to plan for evacuation of people with special needs, he’s helped to create a centralized federal database to account for individuals displaced in an emergency, and he has successfully fought against wasteful no-bid contracts. Additionally, along with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Senator Obama has worked to address the immediate income, employment, business and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities affected by the storm.

PLEASE READ SPEECH HERE: http://thepage.time.com/details-remarks-of-obamas-gulf-coast-rebuilding-plan/

[TexasObserver]

1. Ridin on the city of New Orleans ...

good news from O

[Bitwit1234]

2. On my is he going to use a jet or his wings.

[sniffa]

5. He's going to buy HRC's personal jet that she can't afford anymore

[Coexist]

7. ouch!

[Icyclemort]

11. good reply

..., though a tiny-bit mean...

[spinbaby]

21. You're new, aren't you?

Get used to meanness.

But welcome to DU!

[Icyclemort]

24. :/

both thx and :(

[FlyingSquirrel]

15. Well he definitely will need something

'cause he and Hillary are both supposed to be in my state today. She decided Bill couldn't handle it himself and sent him off somewhere else

[Bluerthanblue]

3. it is time-

that someone took this up seriously.

I want to see this become reality.


peace~

[TheDebbieDee]

I agree.......the condition of New Orleans has

been overlooked by far too long by too many people.

Previously, Sen. John Edwards seemed to be the only one willing to mention the subject.

I'm a Hillary supporter, but when it comes to raising awareness of the situation in New Orleans, GOBAMA!*

*(Let us not speak of this again!)

[Bluerthanblue]

16. hey- we're

in agreement on more than this particular forum might suggest- :silly:

go New Orleans!!!
:pals:

peace~

[blm]

4. Excellent.

And some of this sounds familiar - like he's worked in points from Kerry 's plans in 2005 and Edwards' ideas from 2006-7.

Smart move because both of them were very good on this issue.

[sniffa]

6. Awesome! K&R

:bounce:

[sandnsea]

8. His Fifth Visit

"Since then, Obama has successfully pushed legislation in the U.S. Senate to plan for evacuation of people with special needs, he’s helped to create a centralized federal database to account for individuals displaced in an emergency, and he has successfully fought against wasteful no-bid contracts. Additionally, along with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, Senator Obama has worked to address the immediate income, employment, business and housing needs of Gulf Coast communities affected by the storm."

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. Important to look at his Senatorial record

and see what he has already started to do. Does Clinton's Senatorial record compare favorably or unfavorably to Obama's?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

9. I hope he will also encourage the use of solar/wind power

in the neighborhoods, as well as "green" construction.

[Bluerthanblue]

13. I understand Brad and Angelina are involved with

houses that are very earth friendly and affordable-

I agree with you- and I hope that more responsible building becomes the "norm" in the US.

peace~

[Kittycat]

23. Imagine the new mindset that can come out of that?

Developing new and better ways of building while sustaining and help remaining off the grid? It could essentially be a clean slate for renewable energy, not to mention that when you get a community directly involved in their rebuilding - they're more prone to caring for it and nurturing it's future prosperity.

[book_worm]

12. Excellent! They both should do this.

[laconicsax]

14. This is great (nt)

[jefferson_dem]

17. Impressive.

:kick:

[hisownpetard]

18. Wonderful!

[calmblueocean]

19. Looking forward to this.

Some sort of well-planned intervention into rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast has been necessary for a long time now. I like the way it fits into his slogans, too, and moves them from catchphrases to emblems for something specific even beyond his presidency.

[BattyDem]

20. Good! It's about time our government did something.

It's disgusting that a city in the "richest country in the world" has been ignored for this long!

There are some good ideas in the plan, not just to help NOLA, but to help the entire country in the event of another catastrophe.

:applause:

[Yael]

22. Thank you for this, Senator

:applause:

[Alhena]

25. This is the kind of thing a smart campaign does ...

yes, I know it's a good plan, but the announcement also has smart timing as well. If Hillary had beat him to the punch it would have been a coup for her, with the La. primary coming up. Now she's probably scrambling to come up with a plan of her own but it will look like me-tooism.

[HillaryVoter]

26. Obama copycat: Follows Hillary's Lead On Gulf Coast Recovery Plan

http://facts.hillaryhub.com/

To bad he is just a copy cat:

In May, Hillary introduced a comprehensive Gulf Coast Recovery Agenda.
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/katrina/

Three months later, in August, Sen. Obama released a very similar proposal. Today, Sen. Obama "introduced" the same plan he released in August.
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/katrina/

A comparison of the core elements of Hillary's plan and Sen. Obama's plan is below.

Cutting red tape

May 2007: Senator Clinton will cut red tape by streamlining the FEMA “project worksheet” project, by amending the Stafford Act, and by giving FEMA maximum flexibility in implementation. She will also elevate the federal rebuilding coordinator so that he or she reports directly to the President.

August 2007: Senator Obama will cut red tape by streamlining the FEMA application process and by altering/eliminating unnecessary regulations to give FEMA more flexibility. He will also elevate the federal rebuilding coordinator so that he or she reports directly to the President.

Health care

May 2007: Senator Clinton would provide financial incentives to skilled medical professionals to return to New Orleans and serve high need areas. She would deploy the Gulf Coast Corps to rebuild hospitals and clinics, especially those that serve the under- and uninsured.

August 2007: Senator Obama would provide incentives to lure medical professionals back to the region. He would fight to establish a major medical complex in downtown New Orleans that would serve the entire community.

K-12 Education

May 2007: Senator Clinton would fill the large teacher shortage by recruiting skilled teachers though her Gulf Coast Corps. Senator Clinton would renovate and modernize school facilities so that they are modern, energy efficient, and free of lead, mold, and other pollutants.

August 2007: Senator Obama would work to recruit and retain top teaching talent for New Orleans schools and would help communities make necessary school infrastructure investments so all kids would have safe and supportive learning environments.

Public safety

May 2007: Senator Clinton would provide sufficient COPS and Byrne Grant funding to put 200 new police officers back on the beat and would work in partnership with local community leaders to deploy new crime-fighting technologies and methods. She would provide funding and technical assistance to help federal, state, and local leaders confront the challenge of interoperability across police departments and other law enforcement agencies.

August 2007: Senator Obama will establish a “COPS for Katrina” program to put new police officers on the street and to develop community-based crime fighting strategies. He would help federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies establish an integrated regional crime control partnership.

Housing

May 2007: Senator Clinton would convene a state-local-federal summit to resolve challenges confronting the Road Home program. She would work to expand the stock of affordable rental housing through a number of specific initiatives.

August 2007: Senator Obama would work with the state to approve all Road Home applications within two months and would work to increase the supply of rental property.

Jobs and economy

May 2007: Senator Clinton would create a Gulf Coast Corps that would directly hire thousands of workers and apprentices – especially locals and those who left but want to return – to complete priority public works projects.

August 2007: Senator Obama will fight to ensure more Katrina-related recovery or reconstruction activities can be done by local residents. These measures would ensure that Gulf Coast residents, and not big corporations, will rebuild their communities.

May 2007: Senator Clinton would support and extend federal incentives to stimulate a thriving Gulf Opportunity Zone and to support small businesses.

August 2007: Senator Obama would target tax incentives to lure businesses to the hardest hit areas of the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane protection

May 2007: Senator Clinton would order a stem-to-stern review of the Army Corps plans and progress and expedite construction of the levees and pumps. She would order the Corps to move to Category 5 protection over time. She would require the Corps and other agencies to integrate a wetlands restoration plan as a vital component of hurricane protection efforts.

August 2007: Senator Obama will have the levees and pumps to 100-year storm protection by 2011 and would ultimately move to Category 5 protection. He would help the Gulf Coast restore wetlands, marshes and barrier islands that are critical to tamping down the force of hurricanes.

FEMA

May 2007: Senator Clinton would elevate FEMA to cabinet-level status (with the director reporting directly to her). She also proposed in late 2005 that Congress pass a law requiring the director to have professional emergency management experience. That proposal became law in 2006.

August 2007: Senator Obama would have the FEMA director report directly to President Obama, serve a six-year term, and have professional emergency management experience.

May 2007: Senator Clinton would add a Catastrophic Annex to the Stafford Act and direct FEMA to work with folks on the ground to develop preparedness and response plans and lines of authority.

August 2007: Senator Obama would work with emergency management officials, emergency responders and other experts to create a real National Response Plan. Transportation

May 2007: Senator Clinton would promote smart development by helping communities build environmentally friendly public transit systems.

August 2007: Senator Obama would help the New Orleans area develop regional transit partnerships.

National Insurance Reserve

May 2007: Senator Clinton announced at a campaign stop in Florida that she would work on legislation to create a national catastrophe fund. She introduced that legislation in the fall.

August 2007: Senator Obama would work with the insurance industry to set up an efficient catastrophe insurance “backstop.”


http://facts.hillaryhub.com/