Katrina Coverage

From this:
The head of the Orleans Levee Board has quit amid questions about no-bid contracts to his relatives in the days after Hurricane Katrina.
The final days of board president Jim Huey's tenure also had been marred by his collection of nearly $100,000 in back pay several weeks before the storm. Huey had led the board […]

From this:
Louisiana religious leaders criticized Congress and the Bush administration Wednesday for failing to develop a coordinated plan to allow New Orleans residents to return home and reclaim their city.
Nearly two months after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of its residents, the ministers said the federal government […]

The AP reports on the Davis-Bacon reinstatement in "Bush administration to reinstate prevailing wages on Katrina contracts" by David Hammer. There, way, way, way down in the 14th paragraph, comes a slight bit of truth:
Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Mary Landrieu, D-La., said a Democratic Policy Committee hearing they held earlier this month had an […]

From Froma Harrop:
New Orleans offers a quick study of Bush labor policy in action: On Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina strikes, causing widespread destruction. Four days later, President Bush commits $10.1 billion of the taxpayers' money to rebuilding New Orleans. Four days after that, he suspends the Davis-Bacon Act — the law that requires federal contractors […]

As previously discussed, former FEMA head Michael Brown is still on their payroll. Now, DHS head Michael Chertoff says:
"It's important to allow the new people who have the responsibility … to have access to the information we need to do better… We don't want to sacrifice the real ability to get a full picture of […]

From 10/4's Eased out of the Big Easy from Jesse Jackson:
After his administration's incompetence and indifference had lethal consequences in Katrina's wake, President Bush has been scrambling to regain his footing. He's called for an "unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis." In religious services at the National Cathedral, he called on America to "erase this […]

From the AFL-CIO comes AFL-CIO News: Workers Win Fair Wages as Bush Backs off Davis-Bacon Suspension:
In response to working families and their unions, as well as community and religious groups and some members of Congress, President George W. Bush on Oct. 26 rescinded his executive order that allowed contractors to pay substandard wages to construction […]

Senator Teddy Kennedy offers the following statement while introducing the "Rebuild with Respect Act":
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita exposed the silent slavery of poverty for all of America to see. There’s no excuse for ignoring what so obviously needs to be done to achieve genuine equality and basic fairness in this country. We know we’re a […]

Please, feel free to insert your own jokes in the comments. From Democrats try to protect hurricane voters
Concerned that political operatives may try to manipulate the battered Gulf region's voting process in upcoming elections, House Democrats on Wednesday asked the Justice Department to vigilantly defend the rights of people displaced by recent hurricanes.
House Democratic Leader […]

Firm hired ex-Corps head before winning deal
AshBritt, a debris-removal company, hired as its lobbyist a former head of the Army Corps of Engineers just before winning a controversial $500 million contract from the agency to do post-Hurricane Katrina cleanup.
Mike Parker, who was forced to resign as assistant secretary for civil works in 2002 after budget […]