Clinton Blasts Federal Response to Katrina
Good for her. I hope Hillary continues to say this and other Democratic candidates as well. Gulf Coast recovery should be a major campaign issue. From the Times Picayune.....
Calling the still-ravaged condition of post-Katrina New Orleans "a natural disaster that has become a national embarrassment and an international disgrace," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday delivered a scorching critique of the federal government's response to the storm and outlined a 10-point recovery program she promised to enact if voters send her to the White House next year.
"Unfortunately, the federal government did not do its job," the New York Democrat said at Dillard University's commencement. "It did not uphold its end of the bargain. ... Rebuilding this city is not just an obligation of New Orleans or Louisiana. It is an American obligation."
In a speech that drew frequent applause and shouts of "Yes!" and "That's right," the presidential candidate assailed delays that have hobbled the recovery effort.
"If talk, bureaucracy and promises were enough, we would have rebuilt New Orleans three times over," she said. "How do we stop talking the talk, and how do we start walking the walk?"
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Clinton said the program she envisions would cut red tape, attract workers to the area to help it rebuild, erect a reliable hurricane-protection system, provide affordable housing, fight crime, revitalize the city's school and health-care systems, promote ecologically friendly development and revise federal disaster response procedures to be ready for the next storm.
Clinton discussed this program, which she has described as "a mini-Marshall Plan," frequently during two days in New Orleans.
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Throughout her time in New Orleans, Clinton was adamant about the need to restore the city, saying, "The people who ask, 'Why rebuild New Orleans?' are offensive, insensitive and ignorant.
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"If New York had been flooded and the president had treated it the same way as he has Louisiana, we would have dogged him everywhere, holding signs and talking to the press," she said.
Good for her. I would like to see all the Democratic candidates standing up for New Orleans' rebuilding.
I am especially pleased that she slapped down the idea that we shouldn't bother to rebuild the city. Considering some of the offensive and insensitive (to say the least) comments people have made regarding New Orleans' plight, I applaud anyone who says publicly (and with a big microphone) that this is offensive and unAmerican.
Posted by: Nora | May 19, 2007 at 17:53
Did she say anything about Lieberman's Lax Oversight Committee?
Posted by: darrelplant | May 19, 2007 at 18:12
Yeah Hillary. What Katrina did to New Orleans is a tragedy, so has been the Federal Government's response. It's been a tragedy for almost 2 years now. Where the fuck have you been??
Posted by: gene214 | May 19, 2007 at 22:03
Now, if she'd say something like that on the Senate floor...
Posted by: ashley | May 21, 2007 at 00:17
Now, if she'd say something like that on the Senate floor...
Posted by: ashley | May 21, 2007 at 00:17
Yeah she needs to say this other than before the "home crowd"
Posted by: scout | May 21, 2007 at 02:58
Great site!
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Posted by: Alex Fetcher | November 02, 2007 at 01:48