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Give him time, Obama tells New Orleans
Bending to give hugs like a sweetly somewhat feminine paternal hybrid figure, Obama tries to comfort New Orleans.
Telling residents of New Orleans that he understands their impatience, President Obama faced some irritated people at his town hall today in the city still recovering from 2005 Katrina. Of 120 state rebuilding projects FEMA says 76 have been completed and 1.4 billion federal aid dollars have been sent.
One man sparred with him, asking Obama why he seemed no different from W Bush in 2005.
The several hundred attendees had won the right to be present in an internet lottery.
NEW ORLEANS — Insisting he's "just getting started," President Barack Obama defended his administration Thursday against complaints from some residents of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast that federal help in recovering from the 2005 disasters hasn't improved much since he took office."We've got a long way to go but we've made progress," Obama told a town hall at the University of New Orleans. "We're working as hard as we can and as quickly as we can."
As a candidate, Obama criticized former President George W. Bush's response to Katrina, when the government showed up late and unprepared and the Federal Emergency Management Agency became the object of widespread scorn.
The storm killed some 1,600 people in Louisiana and Mississippi — and damage has been estimated at roughly $40 billion. The damage is still starkly visible in New Orleans — in blighted neighborhoods of creaky houses, boarded-up businesses, structure after structure awaiting demolition and critical recovery work not yet started.
Obama wanted to use his first visit as president to the Gulf Coast to listen to residents' concerns about the recovery effort. And although most questions were on unrelated subjects, one man gave him an earful.
"I expected as much from the Bush administration, but why are we still being nickeled and dimed in our recovery?" asked Gabriel Bordenave, 29, of New Orleans.
"I wish I could write a blank check," Obama replied, promoting Bordenave to shout back, "Why not?"
Obama claimed progress since he entered the White House in January. He cited reconstruction projects that have moved forward after having been stalled by disagreements over whether the state or federal government would foot the bill. FEMA is working "around the clock to clear up red tape and to eliminate bureaucracy on backlogs that go back years," he said.
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skintone
Windsor, Ontario, Canada -
Susan Marie Kovalinsky
Ledgewood, New Jersey, United States
Recommendations (43)
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Barry ORegan
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada -
Mary Richard
Toronto, Canada -
Rhonda J Mangus
North Tonawanda, New York, United States 
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charliemcmillan
Elderslie, Renfrewshire, Scotland, United Kingdom -
mudricky
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djermano
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Rory Cripps
New Port Richey, Florida, United States -
Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke
Redwater, Alberta, Canada






Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
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AGKat 18:22 on October 15th, 2009
rng: Wow, that is fascinating to hear that you are there! Have you lived in New Orleans all your life? You should have taped some, and we could post it here. Thanks for that.
Roy: grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
at 18:23 on October 15th, 2009
Times Up!
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Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpokeat 18:35 on October 15th, 2009
I saw a good portion of that speech today and I wondered when he will get off the campaign mode. It was a story from the campaign, promises, promises, time is up to deliver.
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AGKat 19:01 on October 15th, 2009
But......but........but...........:(........did the icon ever have any plans, any at all? Let him eke out what he can, I'm afraid this is all too much for him. :(
at 19:14 on October 15th, 2009
SMK: You're comment piques my curiosity . . . what in the hell is President Obama up to anyway? Does he have a clue or is there a method to his madness? He appears to be totally and completed paralyzed! I don't mean to sound racist here! LOL!
at 19:07 on October 15th, 2009
I have never seen a more indecisive American president, nor have I seen an administration that has stumbled and bumbled on virtually every issue like the Obama Administration has. Sorry! Believe me . . . I take no delight in my criticism. And I made a sincere effort to hold off my criticism of the Obama administration until next January. But what this administration is doing (and not doing) is unbelievable! I've said it before and I'll say it again: President Obama is making Jimmy Carter look like a political genius!
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djermanoat 05:06 on October 16th, 2009
I agree Rory... So let's help the cripple along... Afterall it's not just Obama in America, it is all of the American people who either help or hinder... I say we need to help.
First of all in concern to New Orleans and Louisiana.....and I have failed to write this aritcle, because of so many things I have to do in life. I believe the FEMA failure and the rescue was not successful because of our environment. We have only so many resources, and only so much money. Just how was Bush to wage War and save the people of Louisiana at the same time? Reality check.... The Oil is in Iraq that they planned to steal from Iraqi's so to ship to the US for relief efforts.
But the relief efforts seem hopeless...because of the location of Louisiana. Now think of this if you will.. What happens when they get everything rebuilt and spent billions....and another bigger katrina hits? All that job activity and pollution created in the rebuilding added more global warming straws on the camels back....to then have another storm and catastrophe occur...and destroy everything that was built. Now what?
Our USA has no Land Management to the Elements of Weather Regions in the USA. We blindly have one storm after another...and go on our merry repair and rebuild efforts in a blind manner....to continue the cycle of destruction and rebuilding like a dog chasing its tail.
I am aware of Brad Pitts efforts to contribute to the rebuilding of Louisiana...but I have written to him and told him the efforts he is doing is quite in vain... Sure enough Louisiana will have another storm..You can bet on it.
So we the people need to think how we can recover and build things so there is less damage, or build buildings that can not be blown away or sunk in floods. We need to think in this level of understanding. If I am living in Louisiana I would want to live in a dome home, because dome homes withstand extreme winds...and do not blow away... Depending on where I am would determine if I made my house so it can float. Such as a House boat...or a dome house boat...so we do not lose everything. We need to think and plan our lives and communities around this self preservation concept.
And really this plan would benefit the world. Just think if Bangladesh built Dome Home House Boats, who cares if a flood comes again. Bangladesh will be floating high and dry for once. Talk about the New Venice... All areas in the world have their unique Weather Regional problems. Indonesia and the Phillippines have floods, and earthquakes not to mention tsuami threats.. So why throw all that good money at something in rebuilding to have it only rehappen again? We need this type of thinking in the US and in the World to uplift and protect our people. Thing is we have morons who run our government, and wrecklessly spend and gobble up resources until the planet literally crashes into itself like our banks have done. Believe me we need this to have real hope and stability in real communities in the US and around the world.
This renewed hope will make people feel beeter about investing in homes...without fear of losing everything. Right now in Louisiana people do not want to invest because of this.....and the high cost of insurance that is involved to rebuild, when another storm hits...But Insurance companies are tied to the failed banks in the US...and who really believes you are getting Insurance when you pay these high premiums each month to have Katrina happen and everyone gets nothing...because of the crooks on Wall Street.
Can you see the dilemma? I think we can see. Obama has no capacity to change anything in Louisiana unless he creates this new approach in the US in building according to disaster prone regions. In the South it is Hurricanes, and Floods. Texas enjoys floods, droughts, Tornado's and Hurricanes..so we need to implement Dome Home Floating Home Construction... In Florida and along the East Coast it is the same Hurricane threat, or Tsuami threat to beach fronts and inland floods.
The Midwest is tornado, and the effects of Winter Storm damage.....when spring comes and flooding occurs. We need floating homes...The homes do not need to be in water per-say.. it is just that when they are built....and floods come...they can rise and float.....and handle the stress presented.
In California it is earthquakes and Fire...that seem to ruin havoc every year. Homes need to be earthquake resiliant and fireproof. And each and every state in the US has their own unique weather regional problems they deal with on a yearly revolving basis.
So the idea is to have a Fed Plan to deal with this..so disasters are not disasters anymore. They become only alerts instead....and people get through them... Banks and Insurance companies become stable...and the threat of global warming is diminished because huge rebuilding efforts are no longer necessary.
This will also save American resources such as the lumber that is eaten up, the concrete and all the things that it takes to rebuild communities.
So I hope this gets to President Obama...so a plan can be envisioned....to help the people in prone disaster regions....
Now if he would end the war in Afghanistan...he would have more money for this project and healthcare..... His stubborn refusal to accept the light of truth..will be his fall....and he will hit hard I am afraid..if he does not act and get the donkey pulling the wagon soon.
Hope this helps...see light through the darkness of Bush and Obama.
Rev. Jermano