Thursday, December 13, 2007
Where credit is due
Yesterday's
T-P articleDelivering the fiscal jolt that local leaders say will help them shift rebuilding programs into high gear, the Louisiana Recovery Authority on Tuesday voted to redirect $500 million in federal grants to hurricane-ravaged parishes for infrastructure improvements.
...
The new influx of cash comes from a pool of $750 million that was freed up when Congress and the White House agreed to waive the requirement that local governments pay 10 percent of the cost of all reconstruction projects.
Recovery authority members had long said they would shift the bulk of money to the parishes if it were released, but they opted in August to hold on to it as they figured out how to plug a multibillion-dollar gap in the Road Home homeowner grant program.
Here are some reactions to this news:
"
This is the critical decision that provides an allocation of funds that the city can use to create healthy neighborhoods,"--
Ezra Rapport, top aide to city Recovery Director Ed Blakely, said after the meeting.
"I'm just happy that the $500 million is being released.
This is an incredible, incredible win for the people of this region." --
Craig Taffaro, St Bernard Parish president-elect.
"
We believe 2008 is a tipping-point year for this community. I think it is the most important year in the history of New Orleans. It is the year that people will make the decision to either reinvest in our community or to make the decision not to do so." --N.O. Councilmember Arnie Fielkow
“
We’re at a tipping point. I think these funds are definitely going to help us to move forward and to accelerate our recovery so at some point in time in the future when we sit down and talk to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren we can say that we did a great thing in bringing back a wonderful city in a great state.” --
N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin.
So, how did this "incredible win" during this important "tipping point" in New Orleans history occur? It seems clear enough to me that Senator Mary Landrieu and Rep. Charlie Melancon pretty much saved the day here.
Landrieu negotiated a $3 billion bailout for Blanco's Road Home program that was brilliantly shoe-horned into "must pass" legislation, and
Melancon pressured Democratic leaders to force Bush to finally waive the 10% Federal match requirement. That's the reason that these LRA funds are now available.
Am I missing something here about who should be getting the credit for the $500 million in infrastructure monies? Why was everyone thanking the LRA for approving money that wouldn't've been there had Landrieu and Melancon not come through in the clutch?
Would, say, a
newbie Senator in the minority party have been able to secure such an important windfall?
Labels: Dems, Mary Landrieu, Melancon, Queen Bee
11 Comments:
Of course... great sums of money are only as good as what they eventually get spent on.
The answer is no, a newbie Senator in a minority party would not have been able to secure such an important windfall.
Considering that Landrieu is the one who got us a fair share of our oil revenues as well, I think the choice will be clear in 2008.
Charlie Melancon is my early choice to be our next Senator. I can't wait to see him destroy David Vitter whenever that election comes up. (Not soon enough)
I've also got high hopes for Melancon. He's got a chance to put together a serious populist coalition in the coming years... if he knows what he's doing.
I think he does. He's got a tough-as-nails type of demeanor about him. He don't take no guff from no Republican suit.
Since the storm, the LRA has been given a free pass on pretty much everything. They get full credit for the wins, but don't take any blame for the losses. Walter Leger and Andy Kopelin show disgust for ICF, but take no responsibility for how screwed up things have been. The LRA set the policies that ICF follows. While ICF is not without fault, it is clear that the policies were poorly constructed and poorly monitored.
Make no mistake about it, but the LRA has held on to money that could have helped the recovery of New Orleans because they wanted to make sure they had enough for the homeowners - that was purely a political decision. They believed that many more people would choose the buyout option, which would make New Orleans smaller, which would mean less infrastructure money would be needed (evidence of this is the fact that the shortfall didn't appear until much later, remember the buyout was at a discount). I have heard stories that several LRA members have even made comments shortly after the storm that spending the money on New Orleans is a mistake because the City will never come back.
The problem for them was that the citizens of this city completely screwed up their plans. By rebuilding and becoming active in our community, the LRA realized that they could not kill this City by starvation. While there is not much we can do now, and clearly things are on the mend we need to stop giving any sort of walk to the LRA.
While I am not a Mary fan, she certainly came through for us!
Uh oh.
The Mayor's talking about "moving forward" again.
Shit.
Landrieu and Melancon for Senate!!!!
I've met Charlie Melancon at the JJ dinner and he is a very nice man....
A few more years in office and Mary Landrieu will be the biggest, baddest SOB in the Gulf states in the US Senate. She ain't perfect but I'd keep her. Imperfect and powerful beats imperfect and impotent, no?
She controls what you need to control to have power in the US Senate, a bipartisan group of Senators (DLC Dems like Pryor, Lincoln, Nelson + GOPers from energy states) who can swing legislation from 40 to 60 votes with some arm twisting.
She's the queen in a ball of floating fireants in the middle of the Senate. It ain't pretty but it beats the alternative.
you make good points joex3. she can be a tremendous asset, even if we're not in love with her.
my friend adam once said that life is about building coalitions.
Every GOP strategist seems to think Mary is vulnerable.
She's the only one doing this stuff at a national level. While Vitter was breaking prostitution laws, and Jindal was campaigning instead of voting, Mary actually did her job.
Hell yeah.
