Project Katrina

In a previous post I mentioned that in the coming days HUD is going to spend $762 million in taxpayer dollars to tear down more than 4,600
public housing apartments and replace them with 744
similarly subsidized units—an 82% reduction in housing units. Today John Edwards release his statement:

There is a housing crisis in New Orleans today—the result of
government policies that have failed the people of the Gulf since
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Rents have doubled, families are
being evicted from FEMA trailers and now the current administration is
now trying to make a bad situation worse.

I am calling on HUD to postpone its plans to destroy affordable public
housing until replacement housing is ready. Knocking down historic and
livable housing today that withstood the winds of Katrina with the
bulldozers of Bush is counterproductive to the goal of giving residents
a home to which to return. Decentralizing poverty by encouraging new
mixed-income income makes a lot of sense—I’ve proposed creating 1
million new housing vouchers to do exactly that. But eliminating
housing where people could live in a city where a desperate shortage of
shelter exists makes no sense at all.

I urge the City Council to reject the demolition permits HUD needs for
its plan to destroy hope for current and displaced New Orleans
residents.

I couldn’t find any statements from the campaign sites of Clinton and Obama. But you know, it is just a US city and they got mud to throw at each other and endorsements to announce (read the recent news announcements for yourself.

Update:  Edgery at Daily Kos has a much more detailed post on this topic with analysis and links to a number of other information.

Update II: I have since been pointed to a detailed Katrina Recovery plan on Clinton’s site.

In Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech yesterday:

Seven years ago tomorrow, I read my own political obituary in a judgment that seemed to me harsh and mistaken—if not premature. But that unwelcome verdict also brought a precious if painful gift: an opportunity to search for fresh new ways to serve my purpose. Unexpectedly, that quest has brought me here. Even though I fear my words cannot match this moment, I pray what I am feeling in my heart will be communicated clearly enough that those who hear me will say, "We must act."

I know Gore has a lot going on with the whole Global Warning and the destruction of our planet thing, but I really wish we’d hear him talk more about New Orleans, Katrina, and all the problems that city is facing.