Right? We can all agree on that, especially after reading stories like:
Chicago Tribune Flood-control funds short of requests
Despite continuous warnings that a catastrophic hurricane could hit New Orleans, the Bush administration and Congress in recent years have repeatedly denied full funding for hurricane preparation and flood control.
That has delayed construction of levees around the city and stymied an ambitious project to improve drainage in New Orleans' neighborhoods.
For instance, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested $27 million for this fiscal year to pay for hurricane-protection projects around Lake Pontchartrain. The Bush administration countered with $3.9 million, and Congress eventually provided $5.7 million, according to figures provided by the office of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).
Because of the shortfalls, which were caused in part by the rising costs of the war in Iraq, the corps delayed seven contracts that included enlarging the levees, according to corps documents.
....Similarly, the Army Corps requested $78 million for this fiscal year for projects that would improve draining and prevent flooding in New Orleans. The Bush administration's budget provided $30 million for the projects, and Congress ultimately approved $36.5 million, according to Landrieu's office.
“I'm not saying it wouldn't still be flooded, but I do feel that if it had been totally funded, there would be less flooding than you have,” said Michael Parker, a former Republican Mississippi congressman who headed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from October 2001 until March 2002, when he was ousted after publicly criticizing a Bush administration proposal to cut the corps' budget.
Even Repuglicans must always walk the Bush party line. No dissent allowed ever- that would be unpatriotic.
A corps plan to shore up the levees began in 1965 and was supposed to be finished in 10 years but remains incomplete. “They've never put enough money in to complete it,” Parker said. He said the corps' budget has been regularly targeted by the White House because public works projects are perceived as pork and aren't considered “sexy.”“Go talk to the people who are suffering in New Orleans,” Parker said. “Ask them do they think it's pork.”
Joseph Suhayda, an emeritus engineering professor at Louisiana State University who has worked for the Army Corps of Engineers, said the corps simply didn't have enough money to build the levees as high as the designs called for.
“The fact that they weren't that high was a result of lack of funding,” he said, noting that part of the levee at the 17th Street Canal--where one of the breaches occurred--was 4 feet lower than the rest. “I think they could have significantly reduced the impact if they had those projects funded. If you need to spend $20 million and you spend $4 or $5 million, something's got to give.”
...
Fred Caver, who retired in June as the corps' deputy director of civil works, said there is always competition for funding and “you're never going to get everything you want.”But he said a reluctance to invest in unglamorous public works projects and especially heavy demands on the budget, from the war in Iraq and entitlement programs, have added to the difficulty in securing funding for corps projects.
Tags: New_Orleans
