302Riz
09-09-2005, 08:36 AM
MoveOn.org presented three survivors of Hurricane Katrina to the media outside the White House Thursday to draw attention to the group's ongoing criticism of the Bush administration.
About 100 supporters of the liberal political group descended on Pennsylvania Avenue and spent most of their time blaming the president for the allegedly slow local, state and federal response in New Orleans; and, indirectly, for the failure of the city's levees.
One woman who stopped to show her support for President Bush received a loud and emotional rebuke from a MoveOn.org protester.
New Orleans residents Iona Renfroe, Michelle Augillard and Christine Mayfield recounted their stories of surviving the storm and the described the lack of assistance they received in the aftermath. Each criticized the federal government without addressing accusations of early failures by local and state officials.
Renfroe, a New Orleans attorney, claimed that there has been "absolutely no response by the federal government ... absolutely nothing has been done."
"The administration, OMB (Office of Management and Budget) cut out of the budget, what was it, $71 million in funding for the levee upgrades in Louisiana. OMB is a function of the White House, the OMB director reports to the White House," Matzzie said. "And, that money could have been used to upgrade the levees."
But records Cybercast News Service obtained from the U.S. Senate's Energy and Water Development Subcommittee paint a different picture. According to an analysis of funding for Corps of Engineers projects from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, Louisiana was the top recipient of funding in the country, getting $1.9 billion of the Corps' $22.9 billion budget.
The three Corps flood control projects surrounding New Orleans received a total of $391 million in direct funding during that five-year period.
Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), believes there was more than enough money to correct any deficiencies in the levee system, even without funding the Corps of Engineers. But, in his opinion, much of the money was wasted.
"Like all the other appropriations bills Energy and Water has been filled with pork," Schatz complained. "It's the nature of the problem in Washington that members of Congress like spending money, especially on pork-barrel projects, and that means that significant national priorities are ignored."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200509/NAT20050909a.html
About 100 supporters of the liberal political group descended on Pennsylvania Avenue and spent most of their time blaming the president for the allegedly slow local, state and federal response in New Orleans; and, indirectly, for the failure of the city's levees.
One woman who stopped to show her support for President Bush received a loud and emotional rebuke from a MoveOn.org protester.
New Orleans residents Iona Renfroe, Michelle Augillard and Christine Mayfield recounted their stories of surviving the storm and the described the lack of assistance they received in the aftermath. Each criticized the federal government without addressing accusations of early failures by local and state officials.
Renfroe, a New Orleans attorney, claimed that there has been "absolutely no response by the federal government ... absolutely nothing has been done."
"The administration, OMB (Office of Management and Budget) cut out of the budget, what was it, $71 million in funding for the levee upgrades in Louisiana. OMB is a function of the White House, the OMB director reports to the White House," Matzzie said. "And, that money could have been used to upgrade the levees."
But records Cybercast News Service obtained from the U.S. Senate's Energy and Water Development Subcommittee paint a different picture. According to an analysis of funding for Corps of Engineers projects from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, Louisiana was the top recipient of funding in the country, getting $1.9 billion of the Corps' $22.9 billion budget.
The three Corps flood control projects surrounding New Orleans received a total of $391 million in direct funding during that five-year period.
Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), believes there was more than enough money to correct any deficiencies in the levee system, even without funding the Corps of Engineers. But, in his opinion, much of the money was wasted.
"Like all the other appropriations bills Energy and Water has been filled with pork," Schatz complained. "It's the nature of the problem in Washington that members of Congress like spending money, especially on pork-barrel projects, and that means that significant national priorities are ignored."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200509/NAT20050909a.html