Why do we bash the people in New Orleans for not fixing their?

Question

own problems left by Katrina, blame the poor in America for being poor and not getting up off their lazy *** and working hard or joining the military, ***** about the taxes that we obviously need for our own old, sick, schools, roads, military but so many feel the need to pour money that we obviously don't have into helping Iraq??? Okay, we've made a huge mess over there and can't just walk off now. My feeling is this.... don't we have enough here to worry about, fix, spend money on, take care of. How can we not want to help Americans but do all we can for Iraq? NO matter what we do over there it won't change.....they will never improve. It's a total waste....no WMD, not the terrorists, just a bunch of c**p.

Answer 1

Because there are opportunities in America to improve oneself, but many people decide they want to stay on the dole and not get a job.  Other countries do not have the opportunities that America provides.  If you are a deadbeat in America it is probably because of choice or stupid decisions.

Answer 2

Spending money to help Iraqis is patriotic.

Spending money to help Americans is socialism.

Answer 3

I'm not AMerican but I did wonder why AMericans spend more aiding foreign countries) like India but their own state New Orleans no one cares to help rebuild ?

Sorry many might be mad and think that I am wrong and Iran/iraq deserves more help but I feel "Charity should begin at Home "

Answer 4

You are so lost and so wrong about all you have posted that I thought about educating you but have found that people like you aren't worth because you don't listen anyways, so I'll let you drown in your own self pity and ignorance!

Answer 5

The poor you talk of are working that is the sad part. Your right rebuild American first.

Answer 6

most people are more worried about trash talking than waste there time with that     besides iraq is way more important,so every one  resume you hillary-obama trashing the repubs love you for that so make em  proud...........

Answer 7

New Orleans isn't a good example, because it's located in a spot that isn't suitable for habitation.  I'm glad I didn't donate a dime to rebuilding New Orleans.  I offered to donate, but only on the condition that the city is not rebuilt in the same location. No one would promise me that, so I didn't donate.

Believe me, the same problem will happen again someday. People are not intended to live where the city is located.  And most of us don't like the thought of money being wasted on something that should not exist in that spot.  If you have a choice, why run uphill?

Answer 8

When ever over a certain number of people get hit by a disaster the News Media is on it like flies at a picnic.

And the people who do not want to rebuild because

They do NOT want to live by a wall of dirt that is holding back the ocean

How would you feel if you had to live by a wall of dirt that has already failed once

And a rain storm kicks in one night and the flood warnings go out???

Yell right honey let's rebuild our home on the old foundation and hope the hurricane season is not too bad next year.

Answer 9

this has been the same tragic question(s) since the aftermath of Katrina, and you make great, valid points.  I agree with you all the way, help American citizens first not oil interest abroad.

Answer 10

There's a ton of money pouring into New Orleans.

There's also a lot of people that ARE doing a lot to fix things there.

However, anytime you create a population that becomes dependent on the government for everything, they are conditioned to sit around waiting for SOMEONE ELSE to fix their problems, and the Katrina aftermath is a good example of how that always plays out.

Every city in the country has at least one area that is a giant welfare dependent town.

We saw this on TV before Katrina, as they were warning people to evacuate, and the people in the bad areas refused, even going as far as to start shooting at authorities who were trying to evacuate them.

Then, after the floods, these very same people whined how nobody helped them enough, which is absurd.

What part of "your neighborhood is going to be underwater" do these people not understand?

Answer 11

Most Americans that are in the very bottom of the socioeconomic chart are lazy and they are lazy because they know there are handouts available.  New Orleans mayor Nagin is a racist who wants to keep his citizens down to perpetuate racial stereotypes that are no longer relevant and would have faded within this generation had guilt-mongering bleeding-hearts not fought to perpetuate it.  I believe you are one of those bleeding-hearts who define issues without offering any solutions.  Further you are obviously well indoctrinated by liberal groups that would have you believe the tripe you've cut and pasted here.

Answer 12

Your question doesn't make much sense because we ARE rebuilding.  The problem is that people are not back because of money (or lack thereof). Much of the money problem is due to the way flood insurance is administered (flood insurance is a federal program).

Despite the myths, there was a very high rate of flood insurance coverage at the time Katrina struck and anyone with a mortgage was required to have it.  However, you cannot over-insure property or even get "replacement value" under the flood insurance program and the maximum coverage offered for a home is $250,000.

Also, any home considered 50% or more damaged was declared "destroyed". In those cases the mortgage company would "take" the insurance payout and give the homeowner only whatever was left after applying the payout to the loan. The amount left over was very often too little to matter or even zero - leaving the homeowner NOTHING to rebuild with.

Note that home construction and repair costs skyrocketed after Katrina.

To give examples:

You have a job as an Assistant Manager at McDonalds that pays $36,000 per year (your job survived the storm). At the time Katrina struck, you owned a 2000 square foot home worth $100,000 that had a mortgage of $75,000 and was covered with $100,000 in flood insurance.  Your home was flooded to the ceiling (very common) and declared destroyed.  The mortgage company "took" the insurance payout and gave you the $25,000 left over.  However, the cost to replace your home has increased to $150 per square foot, which means to build a house will be $300,000.  No one will loan you the other $275,000 because you make $36,000 a year.  What do you do?  



You have a management job with a hospital that pays $100,000 a year (your job survived the storm).  At the time Katrina struck you owned a 2800 square foot home worth $300,000 with a mortgage of $250,000 and was covered with the maximum flood insurance coverage of $250,000. Your home was flooded to the ceiling and declared destroyed.  The mortgage insurance company took the insurance payout (you got zero) and you are still paying on the remaining $50,000 of the mortgage.  The cost of replacing your home is $420,000 but no one will loan you that much (or even the $275,000 in the first example).  What do you do?

The Louisiana Road Home program was supposed to help with grants up to $150,000.  However, the program is horribly administered, intensely bureaucratic, and possibly corrupt.  It is now more than 2 1/2 years after Katrina and most applicants have received nothing but grief from the program.  Even those who have gotten money have received a small fraction of the possible $150,000.  The scandal is so bad the Governor decided to not run for reelection.  

What we need now is good leadership plus resources.  We elected a reform Governor who took office in January and there are high hopes he can provide the leadership lacking in the previous administration. The next election for mayor (of New Orleans) is in 2010 and we can hope someone honest, competent, not racist, and not crazy will be elected.

Maybe the resources will follow.

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Realize that all of this matters to you, even if you have no connections to New Orleans.

There is no USA precedent for the disaster that was Katrina, which was the strongest storm ever recorded to strike North America. It killed 1600 people, wrecked an area of 90,000 square miles (larger than Great Britain), displaced 2 million people for months, made 500,000 of us long-term homeless, and did $200 Billion in damage to New Orleans alone.  To compare, the 2007 California fires killed 7 people, affected an area of 700 square miles, burned the homes of about 2000 people, and did about $1 Billion in damage. I really feel for the people who lost their homes, but the long-term effect on California will be nil.  It will take years for Louisiana and Mississippi to recover from Katrina.

The disaster response system in the USA is designed for things like a tornado hitting a small town in the midwest or the California fires.  It could not cope with Katrina and broke down.

The disaster response system needs to be able to cope better with a mega-disaster like Katrina.  

There WILL be another one someday.

Answer 13

Iraq come$ FIR$T!