Project Katrina

In the aftermath of Katrina we have seen, at all levels of government, that we were not prepared.

We were not ready for the inital diaster, nor the long-term requirements needed to rebuild the region. Case in post is that FEMA, a year after Katrina hit, has delivered 19,000 trailers to displaced homeowners in New Orleans. But many others are still waiting, including 4,200 in New Orleans and nearly 4,000 in neighboring parishes. My math ain’t great, but we’re talking about only addressing the needs of a little more then 50% of the population. Not acceptable!

Which is why when I see articles like this I have to step away from the computer and take a walk around the block.

But the federal government has spent less than half the rebuilding funds that it amassed for Katrina recovery, which has raised sharp questions about the Bush administration’s stewardship of the Gulf Coast’s reconstruction and has provoked a chorus of complaints about excessive delays and government sluggishness.

Despite four emergency spending bills approved by Congress to provide more than $110 billion in aid, federal agencies have spent only $44 billion. Even as President Bush insisted last week and in his radio address Saturday that $110 billion was a strong commitment, he conceded that the recovery effort was plagued with bureaucratic hurdles.

What the hell are we doing? A year later we’ve still not figured out how to allocate the funds approved, much less how to monitor that those that have been allocate are used as proposed.