New Orleans scales back on rebuild
NEW ORLEANS - After struggling for months to come up with $1.1 billion for stage one of New Orleans’ hurricane rebuilding plan, city officials faced with growing public frustration intend to move ahead with a drastically scaled-back first step of $216 million.
The blueprint being released Friday by city Recovery Director Ed Blakely is far more modest than the one he issued in March. But he said it will at least get the rebuilding started and give the public desperately needed signs of progress — which, in turn, will encourage private investment in New Orleans.
“Plans help you make progress,” Blakely said.
The plan — the general outlines of which were approved by the City Council earlier this year — is not the radical remaking of the city urged by some urban planners who wanted to see a New Orleans with a much smaller footprint, and with people moved out of flood-prone areas.
Instead, it largely embraces Mayor Ray Nagin’s settle-where-you-will philosophy, while also endorsing the removal of blight and the creation of parks, affordable apartments and vibrant communities.
All I can come up with is one thought, New Orleans is SINKING, why do these numb-skulls want to dump billions of dollars into rebuilding it?? It’s not going to be there that much longer, why should the taxpayers of this nation have to finance a half-assed rebuilding and a massive cash theft?? That’s what you’ll get if you hand Louisiana politicians $6.1 billion dollars, and I think someone in the Federal government may have realized that little fact…
And let’s face one more fact, that $6.1 billion would take away from Mr. Bush’s war effort in Iraq, he can’t allow that to happen now can he??
By one estimate, rebuilding New Orleans could cost $14.4 billion in private and government money and take at least a decade.
Well, look at the bright side, spread over a decade that’s only $1.4 Billion a year, not too bad if you say it really fast, I just wonder how many hurricanes will hit New Orleans in that 10 year period?? Do you suppose that there will be a Cat 4 or 5 blast New Orleans off the map and take those billions of dollars with it??
But two years after Katrina laid waste to much of the metropolitan area, the rebuilding is slow, stymied by red tape, bureaucratic infighting and what some see as a lack of political leadership.
Lack of political leadership?? Wait a minute, the have ‘Chocolate Ray’, the Dark Knight of New Orleans, and his faithful minion, Chief Warren J. Riley, and oh yeah, the re-elected William ‘Cold Cash’ Jefferson himself, how much more competent leadership can you possibly have?? Throw in Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and hell, you have a ‘four of a kind’, 4 Dems, ALL crooks with their hands out taking anything and everything that’s not nailed down, how can the MSM be so cold hearted as to call that a ‘lack of leadership’??
That is New Orleans leadership at it’s very best…
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New Orleans scales back on rebuild
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October 12th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I think it would make a lovely water park.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Yeah, but Jenn, you gotta be careful, the gators gotta eat too…
October 12th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Thailand or not, but there are a lot of villages there that you can drive through where the villages are all on stilts, literally standing above a shit river.
You can see naked Thai hookers through the cracks in all their walls. If you drive fast enough it looks like you’re watching a Thai porno with old film grain in it…
Replace with some black hookers and I’m thinking of places in NOLA like this for some reason.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
That’s not just a lack of N.O. leadership, it’s a matter of STATE leadership as well — not to mention the fact that there isn’t another state more mired in corruption in the nation. That chocolate idiot couldn’t lead himself anywhere except perhaps to his own secret numbered account, much less anyone else.
LET NEW ORLEANS FUCKING DIE. IT IS NOT, REPEAT: NOT, WORTH SAVING.
BZ
October 12th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
BZ - you are so right! Anyone who lives in Arkansas or has Entergy for their electrical service probably noticed a nearly 20% increase in their bill. I called Entergy and was told we were STILL PAYING FOR KATRINA! In an effort to recoup the costs, they tacked another surcharge to our bill.
Excellent post, TexasFred…..
October 14th, 2007 at 7:36 am
RTaylor,
Entergy lied to you. I know this beause Entergy separated Entergy New Orleans into a separate company before the storm. Even though the parent company was raking in big bucks, New Orleans Entergy was able to declare bankrupcy and let the citizens of New Orleans pay the cost of it. So don’t blame New Orleans for your bill increase. Maybe it was Katrina Mississippi that caused it.
October 14th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
RTaylor, I wonder how the could be paying for Katrina when the government is picking up the cost for everything. It would be interesting to know how much they’ve been paid by the government.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:52 am
BobF,
The government did NOT pick up the tab for the bankrupt Entergy New Orleans, like it did for NYC utility company in 911. They left that weight on the citizens that lost everything to do. They also did not aid small business like they did for NYC after 911. This is another reason I am so bitter at this government. It treated Louisiana differently from the very beginning. Heck, even Mississippi got a better deal than Louisiana.