Louisiana Goes After Federal Billions

WaPo reported 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.

They are insane. I do not even support protecting the current New Orleans from a Category 5 hurricane. I don't mind protecting the land above sea level (the French Quarter and the business district, plus some homes), but not one penny should be spent protecting houses 7 to 15 feet below sea level, that would be flooded by the rain even if the levees held up.

Louisiana Sens. David Vitter (R) and Mary Landrieu (D) tucked the request into their $250 billion Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief and Economic Recovery Act, the state's opening salvo in the scramble for federal dollars.

That is absolutely ridiculous.

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.

Louisiana is filled with corruption. If they want to spend state money through a state commission, that is their business, but NO federal funds should be controlled by them

The bill would exempt any Corps projects approved by the commission from provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. It would also waive the usual Corps cost-sharing requirements, ensuring that federal taxpayers would pay every dime.

Not only no, but hell no.

With the public eager to help Katrina's victims, President Bush and Congress have already approved $62.3 billion in spending for the Gulf Coast. But some budget hawks are grumbling about the impact on the deficit; the Louisiana delegation's $250 billion bill would cost more than the Louisiana Purchase under the Jefferson administration on an inflation-adjusted basis.

I wonder if France would like to buy it back (not the entire Louisiana Purchase, but just the part of New Orleans below sea level).

Some critics of federal water projects said the $40 billion Corps request could make the delegation look especially greedy and undermine support for the state's reconstruction plans. Vitter and Landrieu have described their bill as a starting point for congressional deliberations,

Ok it is a starting point. Zero is another starting point, and it is what they should get.

but one GOP Senate aide said they should not expect to get their entire wish list, voicing particular skepticism of the funding for the Corps. Even before Katrina, Louisiana received more Corps funding than any other state, and that was less than $400 million a year. The overall Corps budget for fiscal 2005 was $4 billion, and Corps officials have estimated that they could upgrade the New Orleans flood protection system to defend against a Category 5 storm for about $2.5 billion.

One percent of what these greedy people want

"This bill boggles the mind," said Steve Ellis, a water resources expert at Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Brazen doesn't begin to describe it. The Louisiana delegation is using Katrina as an excuse to resurrect a laundry list of pork projects.".... Corps funding is only part of what Louisiana wants. The 440-page bill also includes $50 billion in open-ended grants for storm-ravaged communities and $13 billion for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, along with mortgage assistance, health care, substance abuse treatment and other services for hurricane victims. It also includes hefty payments to hospitals, ports, banks, shipbuilders, fishermen and schools, as well as $8 million for alligator farms, $35 million for seafood industry marketing, and $25 million for a sugar-cane research laboratory that had not been completed before Katrina.

I suspect we already have enough alligators, I dont see a need for a farm to grow more, the seafood industry should handle its own marketing, and as far as mortgage assistance, surely you are not planning on rebuilding houses in an area 7 to 15 feet below sea level. President Bush has proposed providing free land tracts in federally owned land (that is above sea level) which they can get if they can come up with their own mortgage or provide a charity like Habitat for Humanities to build a house on it, and that is the direction we should go.

InstaPundit blogged This needs to be a non-starter. It is, to me, an open and under-debated question whether the federal government should fund the rebuilding of New Orleans -- I'm inclined to agree with the polls that say it shouldn't -- but this is a naked grab for money by the very political establishment whose corruption and ineptitude led to the problems in the first place. It should be slapped down fast and hard.

Jason blogged How about you guys just team up with those other overspending, bribed liberals in Boston who dug a big ass hole under their city, have them truck all that dirt to New Orleans, and fill in the city you built in a bowl next to the ocean and make it... oh, I don't know... ABOVE SEA LEVEL!?!?!?

Merv blogged Louisiana gets a couple of storms and acts like it won a double lottery. I do not trust Louisiana politicians at this point. Reconstruction should be given to a group that has a majority of its members outside of Louisiana who can hopefully keep them honest. Contractors from outside the state whould be allowed to bid on an equal basis for all work that the federal government is to pay for. This will force the Louisiana contractors to be competitive and provide a better finished product if they happen to win the bid.

Reaganite blogged I don't usually suggest activism, that's for you to decide, but this can't stand. Call your Senators and Congressional delegations and tell them this is nuts!