Re: MoveOn.org claims contradicted by federal spending records

panson@xxxxxxx wrote: 
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200509/NAT20050909a.html

MoveOn.org claims contradicted by federal spending records

Speaking with Cybercast News Service after the event, Matzzie implied
that cuts by the Bush administration might have been responsible for
the breaching of New Orleans levees.

"The administration, OMB (Office of Management and Budget) cut out of
the budget, what was it, $71 million in funding for the levee upgrades
in Louisiana. OMB is a function of the White House, the OMB director
reports to the White House," Matzzie said. "And, that money could have
been used to upgrade the levees."

But records Cybercast News Service obtained from the U.S. Senate's
Energy and Water Development Subcommittee paint a different picture.
According to an analysis of funding for Corps of Engineers projects
from fiscal years 2001 through 2005, Louisiana was the top recipient of
funding in the country, getting $1.9 billion of the Corps' $22.9
billion budget.

So what ? This by no means doesn't mean that $71 million wasn't cut. Louisiana was the top recipient of funding before the cut and Louisiana was the top recipient of funding after the cut. But the cut did exist, and its not just Moveon.org who says so. Its also according to the largest newspaper in the state and Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. " And he also said "The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. Everything is sinking, and if we don't get the money fast enough to raise them, then we can't stay ahead of the settlement...The problem that we have isn't that the levee is low, but that the federal funds have dried up so that we can't raise them."

Once again, you are citing nothing but classic propaganda. They left out alot, and what they wrote is deliberately deceptive.

The three Corps flood control projects surrounding New Orleans received
a total of $391 million in direct funding during that five-year period.

Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW),
believes there was more than enough money to correct any deficiencies
in the levee system, even without funding the Corps of Engineers. But,
in his opinion, much of the money was wasted.

"Like all the other appropriations bills Energy and Water has been
filled with pork," Schatz complained. "It's the nature of the problem
in Washington that members of Congress like spending money, especially
on pork-barrel projects, and that means that significant national
priorities are ignored."

CAGW identified nearly $631 million in what it considers pork-barrel
projects just in the 2005 Energy and Water Appropriations Act. The
group's 2005 "Pig Book" details millions of dollars for such projects
that went to Louisiana following the efforts of the state's
congressional delegation, especially Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu
and former Republican U.S. Rep. and current Sen. David Vitter.

"$43,813,000 for projects in the state of Senate appropriator Mary
Landrieu and the district of House appropriator David Vitter,
including: $11,450,000 for the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway ($9,000,000
for construction and $2,450,000 for operation and maintenance," CAGW
states.

The group also notes that on Jan. 9, 2000, the Washington Post said the
waterway "still carries less than 0.1 percent of the commercial traffic
on America's government-run river transport system - even though it
receives a remarkable 3.4 percent of the system's federal funds."

The list of projects CAGW considered wasteful also included $2,000,000
for a "sugar-based ethanol bio-refinery" at Louisiana State University;
and $500,000 for "alternative fuel plant construction" in Livingston
Parish.

Schatz said he isn't sure if the death and destruction caused by
Katrina will cause members of Congress to "wake up and smell the coffee
you can't drink in New Orleans anymore.

"It is just outrageous," Schatz concluded, "and I don't know [that
it's] shocking enough to members that they will actually forego some of
their local projects."

CAGW is asking members of Congress to sign a pledge not to add
extraneous funding to federal relief bills for hurricane victims. Four
members of Congress had signed the document as of Thursday. Another
eight had expressed their intent to take the pledge, but had not yet
returned a signed copy to the CAGW offices.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: MoveOn.org claims contradicted by federal spending records
    ... the budget, what was it, $71 million in funding for the levee upgrades in Louisiana. ... "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. ... "It's the nature of the problem in Washington that members of Congress like spending money, especially on pork-barrel projects, and that means that significant national ...
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