America Takes a Dive
By Jacques Amalric
Libération
Thursday 08 September 2005
Everything or practically everything has been said and written about the causes of the catastrophe that ravaged the American coasts off the Gulf of Mexico: the federal authorities' incompetence, George W. Bush's insensitivity, the impacts of racial inequalities. Nonetheless, here, pell-mell, are a few historic and contemporary facts that still deserve reflection:
In 1900, a hurricane - we don't know whether it was category 4 or 5 - ravaged the port of Galveston, Texas. It killed more than 6,000 people. The local papers, ardent defenders of racial segregation, asserted that blacks profited from the disorder to cut off the fingers of white victims of the elements in order to get hold of their wedding bands. A fact which has never been established. Galveston's devastation was to be Houston's good fortune as it soon muscled in as the state's biggest urban center.
In 1927, a gigantic flood of the Mississippi inundated New Orleans. To save the city's fancier neighborhoods, the (white) municipal officials let the water invade the poorest parts of the metropolitan area; they promised to compensate for the damage, but never did. At the same time, they gathered a part of the black population into hastily set up camps that were in their turn also inundated, but with armed guards blocking any exit. The racial violence that ensued would incite numerous Blacks to leave the city to try their luck in the North. It also marked the beginning of New Orleans' decline and the appearance of a neo-fascist demagogue, Huey Long, who was to surf all the discontent to acquire a long-term grip on Louisiana. Elsewhere in the country, voices began to be raised to demand that the federal government intervene in cases of national catastrophe. Demands that were to open the door, along with the 1929 crisis, to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.
Rather than visit the scene, two days after the August 29 catastrophe, George W. Bush went to California, where he described opponents to the War in Iraq as nostalgic for "isolationism and defeatism." Barely a word of (conservative) compassion for Katrina's victims and the perpetual, endless, everlasting excuse that he had already used after the September 11, 2001, attacks: no one could have predicted. It is even more of a lie today than it was four years ago. "I don't think anyone could have predicted that the levees would give way," the President calmly asserted, in spite of the numerous experts' warnings launched for years against the dilapidation of this system of protection.
Two days after his California escapade, on September 2, George W. Bush finally went to Louisiana. To overall stupefaction, he paid tribute to a certain Michael Brown, the director of the federal agency responsible for crisis management, one of those who did not care to be caught up with New Orleans' vulnerability and who approved the drastic reduction in federal funds intended to reinforce the city's protection. General opinion holds that the man, who previously presided over an association devoted to the protection of Arabian pure-breds, knows nothing about his job and owes his position to pure cronyism. For example, he acknowledged having only learned of the presence of 15,000 refugees in the New Orleans Convention Center on the fourth day of the catastrophe. It's true that ever since the priority of priorities was awarded to the struggle against terrorism, his agency (FEMA) has only been an appendage of the new Department of Homeland Security; most of the executives who were competent in natural disaster management quit.
In 2004, according to a Census Bureau report published last week, 1,100,000 Americans joined the ranks of those who officially live in poverty. The total of this category of citizen has now reached 37 million, or 17% more than during Bill Clinton's second term. According to the same source, the ranks of those who enjoy no health insurance swelled by 800,000 in 2004. The total number of Americans without health insurance is now nearing 46 million.
Asked about whether he would maintain his legislative program for Congress's return, George W. Bush answered in the affirmative last week. This program notably provides for the progressive suppression of inheritance taxes, reductions of taxes on stock market income, and deep cuts in Medicaid, food stamps, and federal student loans. It is also planned that the minimum hourly wage remain at its 1997 level: $5.15 dollars. All of which will still further intensify income inequality, which, nonetheless has been continuously increasing: only 5% of American households saw their incomes go up in 2004, while 95% experienced income stagnation or reduction.
At White House request, Congress voted a little over 10 billion dollars in aid for reconstruction in the South. The damage having already been estimated at over 100 billion dollars, Congress could have gone up to 50 billion, allowing the budgetary deficit - due to already adopted tax cuts and the intervention in Iraq - to grow still further. And this while American economic growth is likely to be curbed by the increases in the price of gasoline. Without even talking about the nation's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Translation: t r u t h o u t French language correspondent Leslie Thatcher.
-------
Link Here
Link Here French Link
Libération
Thursday 08 September 2005
Everything or practically everything has been said and written about the causes of the catastrophe that ravaged the American coasts off the Gulf of Mexico: the federal authorities' incompetence, George W. Bush's insensitivity, the impacts of racial inequalities. Nonetheless, here, pell-mell, are a few historic and contemporary facts that still deserve reflection:
In 1900, a hurricane - we don't know whether it was category 4 or 5 - ravaged the port of Galveston, Texas. It killed more than 6,000 people. The local papers, ardent defenders of racial segregation, asserted that blacks profited from the disorder to cut off the fingers of white victims of the elements in order to get hold of their wedding bands. A fact which has never been established. Galveston's devastation was to be Houston's good fortune as it soon muscled in as the state's biggest urban center.
In 1927, a gigantic flood of the Mississippi inundated New Orleans. To save the city's fancier neighborhoods, the (white) municipal officials let the water invade the poorest parts of the metropolitan area; they promised to compensate for the damage, but never did. At the same time, they gathered a part of the black population into hastily set up camps that were in their turn also inundated, but with armed guards blocking any exit. The racial violence that ensued would incite numerous Blacks to leave the city to try their luck in the North. It also marked the beginning of New Orleans' decline and the appearance of a neo-fascist demagogue, Huey Long, who was to surf all the discontent to acquire a long-term grip on Louisiana. Elsewhere in the country, voices began to be raised to demand that the federal government intervene in cases of national catastrophe. Demands that were to open the door, along with the 1929 crisis, to Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.
Rather than visit the scene, two days after the August 29 catastrophe, George W. Bush went to California, where he described opponents to the War in Iraq as nostalgic for "isolationism and defeatism." Barely a word of (conservative) compassion for Katrina's victims and the perpetual, endless, everlasting excuse that he had already used after the September 11, 2001, attacks: no one could have predicted. It is even more of a lie today than it was four years ago. "I don't think anyone could have predicted that the levees would give way," the President calmly asserted, in spite of the numerous experts' warnings launched for years against the dilapidation of this system of protection.
Two days after his California escapade, on September 2, George W. Bush finally went to Louisiana. To overall stupefaction, he paid tribute to a certain Michael Brown, the director of the federal agency responsible for crisis management, one of those who did not care to be caught up with New Orleans' vulnerability and who approved the drastic reduction in federal funds intended to reinforce the city's protection. General opinion holds that the man, who previously presided over an association devoted to the protection of Arabian pure-breds, knows nothing about his job and owes his position to pure cronyism. For example, he acknowledged having only learned of the presence of 15,000 refugees in the New Orleans Convention Center on the fourth day of the catastrophe. It's true that ever since the priority of priorities was awarded to the struggle against terrorism, his agency (FEMA) has only been an appendage of the new Department of Homeland Security; most of the executives who were competent in natural disaster management quit.
In 2004, according to a Census Bureau report published last week, 1,100,000 Americans joined the ranks of those who officially live in poverty. The total of this category of citizen has now reached 37 million, or 17% more than during Bill Clinton's second term. According to the same source, the ranks of those who enjoy no health insurance swelled by 800,000 in 2004. The total number of Americans without health insurance is now nearing 46 million.
Asked about whether he would maintain his legislative program for Congress's return, George W. Bush answered in the affirmative last week. This program notably provides for the progressive suppression of inheritance taxes, reductions of taxes on stock market income, and deep cuts in Medicaid, food stamps, and federal student loans. It is also planned that the minimum hourly wage remain at its 1997 level: $5.15 dollars. All of which will still further intensify income inequality, which, nonetheless has been continuously increasing: only 5% of American households saw their incomes go up in 2004, while 95% experienced income stagnation or reduction.
At White House request, Congress voted a little over 10 billion dollars in aid for reconstruction in the South. The damage having already been estimated at over 100 billion dollars, Congress could have gone up to 50 billion, allowing the budgetary deficit - due to already adopted tax cuts and the intervention in Iraq - to grow still further. And this while American economic growth is likely to be curbed by the increases in the price of gasoline. Without even talking about the nation's
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Translation: t r u t h o u t French language correspondent Leslie Thatcher.
-------
Link Here
Link Here French Link
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:54 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home