Friday, June 29, 2007

Candidates and Katrina

Below is a copy and paste job - its about what the Democratic candidates would do about Katrina recovery:

A question about whether the candidates would support a federal law guaranteeing a right to return for New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina produced one of the most spirited discussions. The Democrats roundly condemned the Bush administration for its response to the storm and offered a series of pledges to use the power of the White House to help rebuild the ravaged city. Former senator John Edwards of North Carolina said he would appoint a White House counselor with the responsibility to report to him daily on the pace and progress of reconstructing the city.
"What we should do is allow the people of New Orleans to rebuild their own city," he said. "We ought to pay them a decent wage, give them health-care coverage, instead of having big multinational corporations get billion-dollar contracts with the government."
Clinton, touting a 10-point plan for Gulf Coast recovery, said rebuilding must come before repatriation. "This administration has basically neglected, with almost criminal indifference, the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, in particular New Orleans and the parishes," she said. "So even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to."
Obama said that what may be most critical is having a president who is in touch with the problems of a city such as New Orleans before disasters hit. "Part of the reason that we had such a tragedy," he said, "was the assumption that everybody could jump in their SUVs, load up with some sparkling water and check into the nearest hotel."

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