Reply #93: The Bush administration comes up with another alibi. [View All]

[Bullshot]

They were totally unprepared. Check that. They made this country less prepared for such a disaster, even though the federal government has been putting more emphasis on the Mississippi Basin for grain shipments at the expense of the Great Lakes. The Chicago Board of Trade recently placed more emphasis on Mississippi River ports for national grain storage and phased out Great Lakes ports. Locks are being upgraded on the river to accommodate larger barges. Grain prices paid to farmers are more tied to the condition of the Mississippi ports.

Personally, I think you need to be diverse and not have all of your eggs in one basket. Yeah, upgrade the river's locks, but keep our Great Lake ports up-to-date in the event such an emergency occurs and our shipments come to a screeching halt.

More of that Washington foresight, I guess.