Katrina Coverage

Shortly after noon on Wednesday, Aug 31, Karl Rove used Senator David Vitter to convey a message to governor Kathleen Blanco: she should announce that she's voluntarily turned control of the evacuation of New Orleans over to the feds, and she should:
explore legal options to impose martial law "or as close as we can get," […]

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) visited New Orleans on Sunday and toured the area together with Sens. David Vitter (R-LA) and Craig Thomas (R-WY), stopping in at a Lakeview home where he got into a candid chat with the homeowners:
"He said, 'Why would we want to rebuild these homes in an area below sea level?' and […]

From this:
Vitter said so-called "FEMA cities" of travel trailers are a "bad idea," though he said in some cases they might be necessary.
FEMA needs to set up any large travel-trailer parks as near as possible to devastated areas, so that people can return close enough to their homes to get back to work — and […]

The LAT article "Lobbyists Shape Gulf Coast Rebuilding" has more on just how much say corporations got in Louisiana's rebuilding plan. Bear in mind, that article is about the state's plan, the one they want $250 billion for. See "Louisiana wants $40 billion; stuffed with pork" for previous coverage.
From the LAT:
…"I was basically shocked," said […]

The AP rounds up Louisiana's plan to get billions of dollars from the feds in "$40B La. Protection Plan Sparks Debate":
A $40 billion plan to hurricane-proof the Louisiana coast has ignited a battle over how best to prevent a repeat of this year's double flooding of New Orleans.
Endorsed by the state's congressional delegation, the proposal […]

That alone should raise suspicions, but, as previously reported that's only part of what they want: Landrieu, Vitter want $250 billion.
WaPo offers "Louisiana Goes After Federal Billions":
Louisiana's congressional delegation has requested $40 billion for Army Corps of Engineers projects in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, about 10 times the annual Corps budget for the entire […]

Maybe the $50 billion amount that their proposal exceeds the already phantasmagoric figure proposed by Bush is intended to be bargained down. Let's split the difference, eh?
Louisiana's Senators, Mary Landrieu (D) and David Vitter (R), have proposed legislation to provide about $250 billion in federal aid to help their state rebuild from Hurricane Katrina. The […]

The Newsweek article How Bush Blew It accuses our leader of having surrounded himself with sycophantic slags, among other sins:
…When Hurricane Katrina struck, it appears there was no one to tell President Bush the plain truth: that the state and local governments had been overwhelmed, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was not up […]

I guess we already knew that, but the Houston Chronicle tells us again in "Louisiana governor's political future in doubt":
…Republican lawmakers, such as U.S. Sen. David Vitter, were quick to criticize the immediate federal response but also took pains in television interviews to say there were problems at the local and state level as well. […]