President Bush visited New Orleans on Katrina Anniversary on Wednesday night and Thursday.Bush is visiting MartinLutherKingSchool today and had dinner last night with city leaders.
Bush visited New Orleans last year and visited MartinLutherKingSchool.The visit is his 13th to New Orleans since Katrina.
New Orleans is memorializing the second anniversary date since the hurricane that destroyed most of the City.
He also visited with new homeowners in New Orleans.Here are his comments:
THE PRESIDENT: We have just -- Laura and I have just been given a tour by the Whites in their new home. And they're going to be moving into this home this weekend maybe.
MS. WHITE: This weekend.
THE PRESIDENT: There's nothing more hopeful than to be with somebody who says, welcome to my home, particularly given the fact that these mixed-use housing projects have replaced old-style low-income housing projects that, frankly, didn't work. In other words, the storm came, created a lot of heartbreak and heartache, but people took a different look at how best to help people in their homes.
And we're in this beautiful project. This is a stunning project. I'm with homeowners-to-be, renters; here's a homeowner-to-be right here. Right across the street, as a matter of fact, isn't that right? People are going to be able to say, this is my home.
This is really a remarkable project. For people in New Orleans who remember what this site was like, compared to what it is today, they've got to be full of hope. And so I appreciate the builders. I appreciate Alphonso Jackson in Housing and Urban Development, the group that have helped get this project started. But most of all, I appreciate the homeowners-to-be, people who are working hard to be able to say, this is my home. And we really appreciate you giving us a chance to come by. And we wish you all the very best in your new home. Congratulations. (Applause.)
Commentary just arrived; it has a provocative article from, among other things, a mayoral candidate of 1970, Ben C. Toledano. His thesis is that New Orleans had died of self-inflicted wounds many decades before Katrina broke through the levees. Those with long enough memories will be reminded of the parts of Barry's "Rising Tide" that raised the much the same objections of insularity.
Written by Kelly Haggar
on 8/29/2007
I am neither a Bush lover nor a Bush hater. I only deal with facts. The Federal Govt has pumped billions of dollars into this area since Katrina.I couldn't care less about the architectural designs of tax-payer subsidized housing. Sadly, the fact is that for some, it will never be enough. If you know of a "well connected" person being enriched in some way perhaps you should contact Mr Lettens' office.
Written by poboy1
on 8/29/2007
To those for whom the world is already reduced to categories like Bush-haters and Bush-lovers, it's not possible to have an intelligent conversation. Still, I will try. It's clear to me from Bush's remarks that he visited the new house with an agenda. He intended to support the decisions of Alphonse Jackson and HUD without further discussion. His remarks were closed and pointed. He even mentioned Jackson, when it wasn't appropriate to the situation. On the other hand, there are many reasons to oppose HUD's decisions. The new 'projects' in River Garden are not beautiful to everyone, and they are certainly not beautiful to me. With all due respect to the architects, I believe I could have done better. The pseudo-quaint exteriors and the massive conglomeration of buildings actually has a more depressing air than the old St. Thomas. So the first reason to argue with Bush is an architectural one. To challenge my own judgment, I drove around the city and took a close look at the Iberville and Bienville projects. They are solid masterpieces, and there is no excuse replacing them with shoddy construction, whether it's new or not. Besides an architectural argument, there is a socioeconomic one. The old projects were crime-ridden because of poor management, not because of poor people. If HANO and HUD had controlled the rentals and supervised the tenants, the horrors with which we became familiar would never have occurred. For example, it's perfectly legitimate to require tenants to perform services in exchange for reduced rent. It's legitimate to limit the number of residents in an apartment, and it's legitimate to require parents to keep their children in school with the maximum allowable limit of eight absences under penalty of losing residence and support. These management details are legitimate, and HUD and HANO never considered the needs of the working poor in their refusal to manage their properties. I don't want to hear praise from Bush for an artificial solution to a real problem, particularly when I suspect that the solution is actually a means to enrich the well-connected.
Written by Robert Desmarais Sullivan
on 8/29/2007
Maybe the 13th time will be the charm. Air Force one won't be out of New Orleans air space and they will begin bashing Bush on the old "it's not enough" mantra. So many needed so much help and so many received help from our "imperfect" Uncle Sam, but every day now this is starting to look like a money grabbing free for all. Check out the march today in the 9th ward.Sad.
