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Apologies and Promises
Bush Fails in Response to Hurricane Katrina

The American people are beginning to understand that George W. Bush is not what he seems to be. They’re starting to see through the daily lies and excuses for his administration’s continuous mistakes. Nothing has driven this fact home more deeply than Bush’s failure to respond, or even show real concern, for Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans as well as other cities and small towns in Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and along the Gulf Coast.

Americans are outraged at their government’s late and inadequate response to the devastation. We are a caring people known for our generosity in supporting catastrophes anywhere on the globe. We contribute countless billions of dollars in foreign aid to help people in need. Most of us were both surprised and then embarrassed when our government failed miserably to take care of its own people.

Bush appeared heartless and unconcerned. While disaster victims suffered through four unbearable days of heat and starvation without potable water and the very basic necessities of life, Bush was enjoying the last few days of the longest presidential vacation in at least 36 years.

When he did consent to cut his vacation short by two days, he first flew to a political fund raiser instead of going to New Orleans. This demonstrates where his priorities really are. When he finally did make a rapid tour of the devastated areas it was little more than the sort of photo op we’ve come to expect of GW and the same kind of sloganeering statements he is famous for.

He actually apologized for his administration’s failure to react appropriately to the disaster, but slicked over the issue by promising New Orleans "will rise again and be a greater City of New Orleans.” He insisted the recovery effort had already produced "a good flow of progress" and assured victims that “help is on the way.” Meaningless mumbo jumbo. He had a couple of pictures taken of himself consoling disaster victims and then was quickly on his way.

Bush, who has spent around 319 days at his ranch in Crawford, Texas --- almost 27 percent of his time in office --- was doing what he usually does. He lays low and lets others make the decisions. His administration’s policy appears to be: “Wait until the opponents point out the failures of a situation and force some action.” Then they adopt the opponent’s recommended actions and claim them as their own. A famous Karl Rove technique. For Bush Corporation the Katrina disaster seems to be politics as usual. They waited four days before it finally dawned on them just how angry Americans are with them.

Bush’s attitude is arrogance. He has led such a life of privilege that he doesn’t identify with real people at all. They’re pretty much just votes for him. He doesn’t need them anymore. It’s one of the reasons his people selected him for their candidate when they first organized the political campaign to put him in the White House. The man is really not connected with reality, and this actually makes it easy for him to read the “talking points” of the day without even a hint of guilt.

The fact is, the Bush camp does have an agenda (More Info ) and it doesn’t include you or me. It concentrates solely on some very basic issues: money and power. The money is the phenomenal wealth provided by the taxpayers of this country and the power is the White House, which controls the finances.

The goals are to further enrich the already wealthy and to channel government funds into their private pockets. Their policy considers the poor a financial hindrance and they are continuously working to cut back on what they call “Entitlement Programs.” These include such programs as social security and healthcare, which directly affect the citizens of this country. A disaster like Katrina might have actually served to advance their plans, if Bush hadn’t worked himself into such a precarious position in the current popularity polls. It is not just the social programs that are suffering from the Bush Regime’s cutbacks while it squeezes every dollar it can to send to Iraq. Some of these cutbacks are directly responsible for the current devastation. (More Info)

In 2004, the Bush administration cut U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) funding for a project to improve the levees that hold back Lake Pontchartrain by over 80 percent. Funding for the Corps has been cut by 44.2 percent since Bush took office. Bush cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to help pay for the Iraq war.

The dangers of a hurricane disaster like this one were well known. In 2001 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) warned a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters to occur in the U.S. The USACE proposed a program to protect New Orleans from such a catastrophy, but Bush squelched it. The Senate debated additional funds for fixing New Orleans' levees, but the Republican controlled Congress failed to pass the measure.

New Orleans Needs a New Deal!

The citizens of the United States need to take back their country from the Bush Regime. And this is the time to do it. America needs to revisit the successful work programs of Roosevelt’s New Deal. These projects will put money in workers pockets and help to stabilize the economy as well as rebuild the disaster areas.

Thousands of disaster victims have lost their jobs as well as their homes. They will need work as well as a place to live. Government-sponsored work programs for rebuilding New Orleans and the other disaster areas could be the saving grace for the working class of this country. If we can squander billions of dollars in Iraq we can certainly afford to rebuild America and put our citizens back on their feet!

As greedy corporate managers continue to outsource jobs overseas and to cut back on jobs, salaries and healthcare benefits, the ranks of the poor and jobless are increasing exponentially. This is a good time to reverse this trend --- for the good of America and all of its citizens.

For example, Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided jobs for 8 million Americans who constructed or repaired such facilities as schools, hospitals and airfields. The Public Works Association (PWA) launched projects like the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. A similar agency could build rock-solid flood control for the Mississippi Delta.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), an environmental program, put 2.5 million unmarried men to work maintaining and restoring forests, beaches, and parks. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) public work program employed four million workers to build or repair roads, parks and other infrastructure facilities. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) also believed that men should be put to work instead of given charity.

The Bush Regime has continuously poor mouthed when it comes time to spend money on the nation’s own citizens. They can’t come up with enough money to fund the schools. They have refused to push for adequate healthcare for the populous. Bush’s Social Security plan is a scheme to place the program’s funds in the hands of the financial industry. They repeatedly cut back on the “entitlements,” which they constantly blame on the “Tax and Spend” policies of Democrats. The truth is the Republicans have once again placed this country in hock, like they did during the Reagan Administration, by spending far more than is coming in and then attempting to place the blame on others.

Poor mouthing doesn’t cut it. If we can afford $300 billion and more to rebuild Iraq we can do at least as well for the victims of Katrina. The Bush Administration has poured money into the Department of Homeland Security Agency and the so-called War Against Terror at the expense of programs for the good of Americans.

A Catastrophe in the homeland tops senseless, ill-planned wars that haven’t done a single thing to decrease the threat of terrorism. We need to use the manpower, equipment and finances invested in the American presence in Iraq to rebuild America. Government programs that employ Americans can boost the economy by placing the funds in the hands of people who will spend it in America, not squander it in some foreign land.