September 26, 2005
Louisiana State Sponsored Looting Begins
Louisiana has always been known for its corruption but it seems no disaster is too horrific to be used as an opportunity to elevate this avarice to unprecedented heights.
Louisiana's congressional delegation has requested $40 billion for Army Corps of Engineers projects in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, about 10 times the annual Corps budget for the entire nation, or 16 times the amount the Corps has said it would need to protect New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane[emphasis mine].Why so much when it is not needed for levee construction?
The bill, unveiled last week, would create a powerful "Pelican Commission" controlled by Louisiana residents that would decide which Corps projects to fund, and ordered the commission to consider several controversial navigation projects that have nothing to do with flood protection. The Corps section of the Louisiana bill, which was supported by the entire state delegation, was based on recommendations from a "working group" dominated by lobbyists for ports, shipping firms, energy companies and other corporate interests.Pure unrepentant political pork.
Louisiana is probably the one state in the union that could spend 16 times the money needed to build levees specifically on levee construction and still not end up with any levees.
Posted by Sid at September 26, 2005 12:26 AM | Disasters
