State of New Orleans Unmasks Federal Government's Priorities

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Over two and a half years ago a predicted hurricane hit New Orleans and Mississippi. More catastrophically, the levees guarding large parts of New Orleans from related flooding burst open. For those who care, what's the current state of things? You can find some good news and good times in New Orleans, despite the handicapped school system and increasing wealth disparities. There are stories of neighborhoods that are nearly 80% rebuilt. But they are in areas where residents had determination and, let's be honest here, private wealth and resources. Vast areas have been cleared of garbage and debris, including the Upper and Lower Ninth Wards. Thing is, the latter neighborhood still has more porches and open fields than houses. It's here and in other poorer areas that rebuilding is slow and no going. Why? Because the same government that allowed the levees to corrode and rupture is unsurprisingly sluggish in dispensing funds to local officials, citizens and organizations that need it. There are numerous reasons, but an article in USA Today highlights the federal government's rule that emergency disaster funding be granted on the condition that the state requesting and/or city requesting it be able to give 10% of the request up front. Now this was waived for governments of previous natural disasters, including Florida's Hurricane Andrew. But not New Orleans. The city currently has a homeless rate around 400% of most major U.S. cities (1 in 25 compared to 1 in 100). And YES, many are waiting for homes to be rebuilt or at least the money for raw materials needed to get the process going themselves.

Here's our beef. How can the same government that's raining money on major corporations through "give-away" loans, paying astronomical rates for contract services in Iraq and quietly spending inordinate amounts of dinero on space exploration deny money to American citizens whose only crime was being poor or middle class or "just making it" when Hurricane Katrina blew into their neck of the woods? What makes it even worse is that our government's negligence of the structure designed to protect against flooding collapsed. That's not natural. That's what you call a man made disaster. (Funds have gone toward fixing the levees, but it's largely a case of too much, too late.) Seems the federal government through their maneuvering and determination find money for when officials decide to find money. There is little campaign funding or back end profit to be had in simply helping people get economically and socially back on their feet or on at least their knees. The decision for many in New Orleans is "find it yourself." Or rather, go find somewhere else to be ignored.

Being Broke By Any Other Name....

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that UCLA calls the current and immediate future state of the American economy not great, but NOT a recession. Warren Buffett, a billionaire who is currently marketed more for his charity than his dependency on government subsidies, said weeks ago that the United States was already in a recession. Meanwhile the Bush administration (if you want to call it that), along with Congress, is allowing much more relief for mortgage companies than their endangered clients. They are unwilling to call the shrinking value of the American dollar (in America) among other economic and social indicators an official recession. Sort of like the hesitancy to call the Arab massacre of blacks in Dafur, Sudan a genocide. But not calling it that didn't change what it was and what it continues to be today. Such is the case with the American economy. More jobs at Jack N The Box taking the place of higher paying blue and white collar jobs is part of a country's receding status in real economic power. Though a recession involves more, people should be smart enough to ignore this political game of semantics. We owe too much. Spend too much. Save to little. And aren't making sure that enough of our children are smart enough to manage the future any differently. For those interested in long-term consequences of current actions, we're screwed. Unless you are well connected and/or well monied, it's going to get rough and it's going to get worse. If the majority of people are in a recession, then so is the rest of the country - charts and graphs be damned. Studying the economic power of the top 10% or 1% of Americans tells us very little. Even studying the economic situation of the 30+% of working age Americans that have a college degree tells a more limited story. The state of the non-college educated, working age individual is the true story of the majority of the country. THAT is where you look to find out what's really going on. Why? Because except for the 2004 presidential election, the story of the majority should rule.

No Thank You White Lady!

(For those confused by the title, we hope you one day see the Saturday Night Live skit, because it's hilarious.)

We're posting this story from the NY Times because we are TIRED. Tired of the lies and the bullshit. Ever heard of the gang memoir Love and Consequences? Us neither, and we were born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. However the author of this book was not and that explains so much. Captain Save-A-Thug, otherwise known as Margaret Seltzer, wrote a book about being a bi-racial (white and Native American) woman who grew up in foster care and went on to become a teenage drug courier for the Bloods. Here's the catch. She's white and grew up in Sherman Oaks. We also find it trifling that she was never in foster care nor did she run drugs. And shocker of shockers, she was never a member of the Bloods. So why did she pull a James Frey and write a book of fact-based fiction as her own memoir? According to this liar, she felt this was the only way to give voice to those who were strugglin' in the streets and not being heard. That's bullshit. Sorry, but it is. If Ms. Seltzer really wanted to give voice to the gang members and foster care children she met through her self-aggrandizing volunteer work, she could have helped them author their own stories and gotten it published. Instead she lied and painted herself as an unsung hero rather than some privileged white chick interested in the hard realities of gang life as entertainment. To top it all off, guess who dropped dime on her? Her own sister. While her sibling obviously isn't wise to the Stop Snitchin' campaign, she did help us out by exposing someone who was lying for profit and basking in an unearned spotlight. Now that's gangsta!