Ray Broussard Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Again, the damage done in New Orleans was not the result of a NATURAL DISASTER. It was a MAN MADE DISASTER. Engineering Negligence caused the flood in New Orleans. The MAN RESPONSIBLE for the disaster and our losses was our federal government.

Ray, you’re full of shit… If ANYTHING caused the levies to give way it was because the money that was appropriated to build them was robbed before it ever got into play…

You are one ignorant son of a bitch, now, I have been pretty civil about this, until NOW, here’s the deal, stay the fuck OFF my blog you brain dead asshole…

LET NEW ORLEANS FUCKING DIE. IT IS NOT, REPEAT: NOT, WORTH SAVING.

BZ

Again, the damage done in New Orleans was not the result of a NATURAL DISASTER. It was a MAN MADE DISASTER. Engineering Negligence caused the flood in New Orleans. The MAN RESPONSIBLE for the disaster and our losses was our federal government.

That tax dollar is as much ours as it is yours.

Compensate us for our losses which you caused – at least enough to help us return to our homes or cut us free. Treat us like the US citizens that we are or invite our succession.

Perhaps you don’t understand the issue. So far, about 50,000 homeowner families have received a federal grant to help them rebuild. The average grant has been $70,000. About 100,000 families are still waiting for their grant to see if they get enough to help them rebuild. The homeowner grant program will run out of money in a couple of months and the last 60,000 families will not get their promised grant unless the US Congress funds the shortfall. These US citizens have been suffering terribly for the past couple of years and you propose their only source for hope for their family to return home be denied. That is not very neighborly of you. What you propose is outright cruel, unfair and I’d say inhumane.

Whoever said we are particularly in harm’s way… We don’t get mudslides, earthquakes, floods (except when USACE levees fail), tornados or and we were many dozens of miles from the Gulf Coast when the USACE channeled our river. And, most importantly, PLEASE CONSIDER that what happened in New Orleans was NOT A NATURAL DISASTER.

I never tried to limit your free speech, but I did appreciate your reading my opposing position. I don’t understand what you are talking about with the free speech thing.

Ray Broussard

Make it a Ripley’s aquarium, it’ll make all the carp happy and Ray too once they figure out it’s the only thing keeping them from being eatin by sharks.

And since it is sinking, I still say it would make a super fine sanctuary city for all the illegals in this country. Again, you’d have to build walls around it but I’d offer some monetary support for that, better than wasting it.

Now I’m not for forcing people to move, I’m just saying if you want to live in harms way don’t expect the rest of the nation to subsidize your choice. I’m all for allowing the people in NOLA and the rest of the Gulf Coast to stay where they’re at, but not allow them to buy flood insurance or except the Fed’s to use taxpayer money to rebuild them.

The people in NOLA are like the people on the off shore islands and the people who build houses on the cliff in CA. They love being close to the sea and the great views. Then along comes a hurricane or mudslide and their silly asses are washed out to sea. That’s when the ‘poor mouthing’ starts and the ‘oh poor us bullshit’. Well these people made their choices and as far as I’m concerned they can live with the consequences and either rebuild or move at their own expense.. Ain’t no one holding a gun on these people and making stay there, they do so by choice.

Not one more federal dollar should be spent on the sink hole known as New Orleans LA!

Ray Broussard Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 10:43 am
I’ve rebuilt our flooded home. Our mortgage principle is twice what it was pre-k and for thirty more years rather than the nine I had before the flood. Our insurance costs have trippled. Property taxes have gone way up. Our utility bills have skyrocketed. And, many of my friends and neighbors haven’t the means to recover.

And yet you stay… Knowing NOLA is sinking, knowing that the ‘gouging’ isn’t going to get better, knowing that another even moderate hurricane hits, it’s all for nothing, knowing that if you DO get it rebuilt, the welfare leeches and BAD boys formerly of the Lower 9th will come right back and set up shop once more, knowing that as long as Nagin is Mayor and Riley is Chief the only thing that will help NOLA is the National Guard and the LSP??

Yep, you’re dedicated, I’ll give you that…

Ray Broussard Says:
October 12th, 2007 at 10:14 am
I’m willing to live here on a boat if that is what it takes.

But that statement alone speaks volumes, you guys think you DESERVE to be rebuilt on the taxpayers dime but every one of you guys has told ME to shut up or told me I don’t know what I’m talking about, one of your other NOLA.com members called me a KKK man of the year, a NAZI, Adolph Hitler, a Holocaust denier, Lord knows what else, I gave up when that name calling shit started, that was the ultimate ignorance from a NOLA supporter, and I am betting I can guess his racial persuasion just by his statements and name calling, all because I dared to voice MY opinion…

And you “If our USA doesn’t need us and if our US Government does not want to do the right thing and help flood devestated homeowners recover, than the USA should invite us to succeed from the nation so we won’t continue to be such a burdon.” and then you and your cohorts seek to limit MY free speech??

You’re a whole bag of mixed nuts Ray, and I still say the best thing that could happen would be for NOLA to slip off into the swamp…

Then you could live a Yacht Life…

And Ray, spell check is your friend, I’d think an engineer would know that…

Our situation should not have anything to do with politics or politicians. It is simply a matter of differentiating between right and wrong. It is an insult that so many morons have tried to make our plight a political issue. We sincerely need and deserve help from the federal government.

I’ve rebuilt our flooded home. Our mortgage principle is twice what it was pre-k and for thirty more years rather than the nine I had before the flood. Our insurance costs have trippled. Property taxes have gone way up. Our utility bills have skyrocketed. And, many of my friends and neighbors haven’t the means to recover. They deserve your help and sympathy.

Ray Broussard
a New Orleanian struggling to survive the worst engineering disaster in history

I doubt it…

Most people from NOLA are pretty good folks, they have a lot of heart, but they damn sure come up short on brains, NOLA is sinking, and you say you’ll live there if you have to live on a boat??

I guess you’ll want the rest of the country to buy the damned boat too…

It hurts my wallet to see the money being thrown into that sink hole that gets dumped there, and thank God the government hasn’t just handed those thieves the BILLIONS they want, between Jefferson, Blanco and Nagin there wouldn’t be half of it left…

You should visit New Orleans so you can see the rebuilding that has and is taking place. You are mistaken about the ‘do something to help themselves’ thing. You probably don’t understand the scope of the problem.

‘and the general attitude is, YOU OWE US, well, we don’t owe em a damned thing”

It is true. We feel entitled. Before Katrina, I personally never ‘felt entitled’ to government assistance, but I sure as heck do now.

We feel the Federal Government should compensate us homeowners for our losses. The least the feds can do is give us enough money to get our families back into our homes. Why? Because the levees designed and built by the US Army Corps of Engineers fell down without even being overtopped (way below their design loads) and caused the flooding that resulted in the loss of about 100,000 family homes. It was a case of engineering negligence to the extreme and the USACE admitted its fault before the US Congress. Yes, about 70% of those homeowner families had flood insurance, but that should be irrelevant – If I run my car into yours, who is responsible for your damage? Yes, we feel entitled to be compensated for our losses. I do not care if you feel we are not worthy. We lost our home and everything we ever owned. So did all of our relatives. We also lost our churches, schools, hospitals, our elderly, small and large businesses, every piece of metal that was below the flood line is rusting away, our sewage system was crushed, our energy company went bankrupt and folks all over the country are calling us names and wish to deny fellow tax paying, law abiding, hard working US Citizens the opportunity to recover from the worst engineering disaster in American History – caused by the federal government. Only a small percentage of us are criminals and welfare moms. Virtually none of us homeowners are criminals or recipients of social welfare programs, but you wish to deny our recovery.

‘As Carl has said, other areas are moving on, rebuilding and growing again, NOLA is a cesspool of graft, corruption and race baiting asshats like Nagin and Company’

No, that ain’t the reason New Orleans appears to be having a slow recovery. Our total devastation was universal less 20%. That is the reason. Everything – everyone’s home, business, place of employment, school, church, groceries, gas stations, drug stores, hardware stores -even bars- were totally ruined and unoccupied for miles and miles and miles – an area about 140 square miles or about 26,000 city blocks with twenty properties per block in just Orleans Parish – wiped out. It is difficult to help your Momma or cousins when you are also wipped out. It took quite a while to get back just a few drug stores, groceries, gas stations, etc. Everything soaked in salt water for weeks. Over 100,000 New Orleans families are still in some kind of temporary living situation trying to find a way to return home. Most everyone’s immediate and extended family are still displaced all over the place making it extra hard for family to help family.

The organization whose engineering mistakes caused our losses, our federal government, should compensate flood victims for all of their losses – including contents. That is normally what happens in our justice system – the party responsible for causing a victim’s damage is responsible for making the victim whole. You say our fate should be an exception to normalacy as far as justice goes.

If our USA doesn’t need us and if our US Government does not want to do the right thing and help flood devestated homeowners recover, than the USA should invite us to succeed from the nation so we won’t continue to be such a burdon.

My family has lived here for over 240 year – Under French, Spanish and American rule. We ain’t going no where. I’m willing to live here on a boat if that is what it takes.

It hurts our feelings that so many Americans call us names and wishes us harm.

You’re NOT serious are you?? Did you miss that part where I said I was very familiar with the problems of NOLA and that I didn’t give a damn what happened to that piece of shit place??

If it wasn’t for the damage it would do to the rest of south Louisiana and Mississippi and other parts of the gulf coast, I’d be wishing for another hurricane to finish what Katrina started, and save the U.S. taxpayer BILLIONS in stolen money, because half of what NOLA gets WILL be stolen…

Volunteer to HELP New Orleans?? I wouldn’t piss in it’s ear if it’s brain was on fire…