New Orleans On Sunday and Monday with days to the 4th anniversary of Katrina, there have been “exclusive” interviews
between first Obama and then Biden and the Times-Picayune. Why? Because here in the crescent city, people feel let down and disappointment finding that the new administration is as slow and unfeeling as the old one was. These interviews were spin control from the top trying to “explain” why the administration has rejected designating recovery money in the stimulus bill.
I am reminded of the long departed, though visionary leader of Little Rock ACORN in the 1970’s, Bill Whipple (who along with Geraldine Bell from New Orleans was honored by leaders long ago with the creation of the Whipple-Bell Leader Internships in the DC office of ACORN). Whipple had a definition for a “rationale,” which I’ve never forgotten. Hew ould say, “A rationale is just a lie in skin of a reason.”
This shuffling reminds me of Bill’s rationales.
The President had to explain why he had not been to New Orleans yet and promised he would make it before the end of the year. The Vice tried to make connections with his daughter’s tour at Tulane where she graduated before the storm.
But on the issue of money for the recovery no amount of spinning conceals the fact that for those of us who hoped to see the effort “recharged” (in the words of recovery czar Ed Blakely), the stimulus has been less than stimulating, I might say. It is especially painful that the final recommendations of the Bush recovery people to the Obama team had been to designate half-a-billion to jump start the rebuilding of Charity Hospital and other health facilities that are desperately needed here. The Obama-ites passed.
The message from these exclusive interviews is that there was really, no matter what I might believe, plenty of money for New Orleans recovery in the package, it is just discretionary.
Who are we kidding, Mr. Big Dogs? Discretionary means Governor Republican-I-Want-To-Dream-of-Being-Preisdent-Too Bobbie Jindal. Those of us who bother to read the paper have already suffered through countless articles about stimulus money that Jindal has refused to receive to help unemployed workers. We have read constantly of his efforts to politically “balance” the money around the state. Only a couple of weeks ago a careful reader will remember that Governor Jindal was doing a road show around the state to act like he should get credit for stimulus funded projects in local areas without saying clearly that that is what they were. Now, we are supposed to find comfort in knowing that Katrina recovery could be added by discretionary action from the Governor and legislature to help New Orleans.
This is a terrible political game now being played between the White House and the State Capitol, and that means New Orleans will lose again.
Mr. President, you need a better answer by the time you visit New Orleans later this year. This doesn’t cut it, brother!