2nd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Can you believe it has been two years already? I wonder how many Bush photo ops we'll see of Chimpy and his wife, Bubbles, in New Orleans today? Perhaps sitting in Jackson Square having a bignette at Cafe DuMonde or maybe they'll go visit a school! You know, it's all about the children, isn't it?

He can sit there and tell them how he's fucked up so badly, that the students and their own children someday will still be footing the bill for the War in Iraq. But don't worry, I'm sure the Bushies will pray for them.

Guardian Unlimited:

There are residents who want the city rebuilt as it was, but there are many others - city officials, engineers and environmentalists - who argue that there needs to be a more compact city, built on higher ground, more easily protected. Many of the areas to be abandoned would be the poor, black ones.

The Army Corps of Engineers, a mainly civilian organisation, has rebuilt the levees, pumps and locks over the last two years but admits that is not enough. There was nervousness in the city last week as the residents watched Hurricane Dean cross the Caribbean, and the hurricane season is not over yet.

Jeffrey Buchanan, Huffington Post:

When confronted with the failing Katrina recovery, President Bush and his various spokespeople continue to insist the federal government has done its job. The proof, they say, is "the big check" Washington has allegedly signed for the Gulf Coast, allegedly more than $114 billion.

Chris Kromm, executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies and I just issued a report to get to the truth and weed our way through the White House talking point on Gulf Coast rebuilding and why alleged federal funds had not made a greater impact.

You can read it as part of the report Blueprint for Gulf Renewal. We found less than $35 billion in federal funds actually available to rebuild the region. Most of the $114 billion Bush administration officials refer to was for the emergency response, not to help rebuild the region. Still the White House continues to mislead the public about our country's investment in rebuilding the Gulf Coast and New Orleans to avoid its obligations to aid in recovery and help families and communities rebuild.

The region suffered $150 billion in damages, more damage than the September 11th attacks, Hurricane Andrew and the Northridge Earthquake combined, and displaced over 400,000 people (the largest displacement in U.S. history) yet our federal government has relied on old systems and paradigms meant to repair damage from much smaller disasters.

Even more shocking: less than 42% of the money set aside for rebuilding has even been spent, much less gotten to those most in need.