Louisiana Largest Corps of Engineers Grantee. Levy System Repair Not State Priority

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu quipped that the old Saturday Night Live clay figure "Mr. Bill" knew more about the possible failure of the levy's in New Orleans than President Bush. Ms. Landrieu, scion of the famous Landrieu family, who's father Moon Landrieu as Mayor of New Orleans, played a hand in building the now infamous Superdome. Her brother, Mitch, is the current Lieutenant Governor of Louisana, right up there next to wiffle, waffle and wait, Governor K. Babineaux "Babs" Blanco.

So when dollface Mary gives a speech demanding to know why nothing was done to improve the levy system to protect New Orleans from a category five storm, people rightly ask: "You've known about this problem for how long? What did YOU do about it?

Well, Mike's America went to Senator Landrieu's web page to get the goods from the horses mouth. I was looking for bills that Ms. Landrieu had sponsored during either the 108th Congress or the 109th where she sought funds for Army Corps of Engineers projects to strengthen the New Orleans levy system to withstand a category 4 or 5 storm.

As Mr. Bill would say: "OHHH NOOO!!!" Dear Mary didn't sponsor ANY legislation to upgrade the levy's in New Orleans!

Well I suppose that's President Bush's fault too! He should have known the people of Louisiana were too incompetant to elect anyone better than dear Mary to save them. The President should have sent the Army in to take control of Louisiana and depose boobs like dear Mary years ago!

Louisiana Largest Pork Projects Did Not Include Flood Control

From The Washington Post: "Money Flowed to Questionable Projects State Leads in Army Corps Spending, but Millions Had Nothing to Do With Floods"

Before Hurricane Katrina breached a levee on the New Orleans Industrial Canal, the Army Corps of Engineers had already launched a $748 million construction project at that very location. But the project had nothing to do with flood control. The Corps was building a huge new lock for the canal, an effort to accommodate steadily increasing barge traffic.

Except that barge traffic on the canal has been steadily decreasing.

In Katrina's wake, Louisiana politicians and other critics have complained about paltry funding for the Army Corps in general and Louisiana projects in particular. But over the five years of President Bush's administration, Louisiana has received far more money for Corps civil works projects than any other state, about $1.9 billion; California was a distant second with less than $1.4 billion, even though its population is more than seven times as large.
...
Despite a series of independent investigations criticizing Army Corps construction projects as wasteful pork-barrel spending, Louisiana's representatives have kept bringing home the bacon.

For example, after a $194 million deepening project for the Port of Iberia flunked a Corps cost-benefit analysis, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) tucked language into an emergency Iraq spending bill ordering the agency to redo its calculations.
...
Pam Dashiell, president of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, remembers holding a protest against the lock four years ago -- right where the levee broke Aug. 30. Now she's holed up with her family in a St. Louis hotel, and her neighborhood is underwater. "Our politicians never cared half as much about protecting us as they cared about pork," Dashiell said.
...
But overall, the Bush administration's funding requests for the key New Orleans flood-control projects for the past five years were slightly higher than the Clinton administration's for its past five years. Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, the chief of the Corps, has said that in any event, more money would not have prevented the drowning of the city, since its levees were designed to protect against a Category 3 storm, and the levees that failed were already completed projects.
...
[M]ore than any other federal agency, the Corps is controlled by Congress; its $4.7 billion civil works budget consists almost entirely of "earmarks" inserted by individual legislators.

This won't be the first inspection of grants and spending that went awry in Louisiana and New Orleans. But it should be a wake up call for the knee-jerks who can't get beyond the Bush is to blame mantra.

Lefty Katrina Blame Fair and Balanced?

Left Blames All Equally for Katrina Mess? Put Up, or Shut Up!

Update: Thus far, no lefty who has taken repeated pot shots at President Bush has stepped forward to offer evidence of comments slamming the response of state officials with equal vigor.

O.K. kiddies. All I've heard from the neosocialists the past week is how Bush is at fault for the Katrina mess in New Orleans. Oh, they claim to be objective, claim they have offered criticism of the local and state government, and insist that I somehow validate their Bush hate with an admission of culpability on his part. Of course they also fail, after numerous requests to provide the LEGAL justification for what would amount to President Bush seizing the assets of the government of Louisiana.

But let's move on. The neosoc comments here always include that throwaway line about state and local governments, then launch an extensive screed against President Bush and the way he has handled the situation.

Now, is it possible that these oh, so fair-minded neosocs are visiting lefty blogs and offering similar chastisement to the virulent Bush hate that clouds these people's judgement? Is it possible that I am wrong when I say that their efforts are a transparent C.Y.A. for failed Democrat leaders in Louisiana and New Orleans and just another disgraceful round of partisan politicking at a time of national tragedy? Could it be that at lefty sites they offer paragraph after paragraph of criticism of the state and local response?

O.K. Prove Mike Wrong

Please offer in the comments section below a link back to comments you have made on lefty blogs where you demonstrate the balance you seem to be lacking here. Provide links to those comments that occur BEFORE the date of this post. Link back directly to your comment, not some general link to a story posted at whatever-lefty.com, as I have no desire to wade through the verbal sewage that swirls around those places worse than it currently does in the streets of New Orleans. That toxic spew has shown to be highly dangerous to mental health.

Louisiana Refused Red Cross Permission to Save Superdome Refugees

SUPERDOME? SUPERDUMB!

Thank God there is usually a sheep dog around when you need one. Flopping Aces has corralled the sheep with an excellent round up of analysis of the Katrina relief failure. Course what we really need around here is someone who can herd cats, but that's another story.

The scenes outside the Superdome in New Orleans and the Convention Center were heart-rending. Thinking how much those poor folks suffered for what seemed like an eternity waiting to be evacuated. Sadder still when we consider how it all could have been prevented.

Excerpts from Flopping Aces roundup here:

This from Hugh Hewitt:"The Fox News Channel's Major Garrett was just on my show extending the story he had just reported on Brit Hume's show: The Red Cross is confirming to Garrett that it had prepositioned water, food, blankets and hygiene products for delivery to the Superdome and the Convention Center in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, but were blocked from delivering those supplies by orders of the Louisiana state government, which did not want to attract people to the Superdome and/or Convention Center. "

Political Teen has the video for the Garrett interview on Fox News.

The Red Cross confirms the above here.

Ed Morrissey states the obvious:

"It's also worth noting that the Red Cross gets more access to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay than the people still stuck inside New Orleans."

And Chris Regan has an interesting thought about what Bush did do wrong:

"President Bush failed now in one way. He failed to ascertain that he was dealing with a governor who was a clear and present danger to the people of Louisiana. That's a tough nut to crack in a crisis, so I don't blame him. Taking military control over Louisiana to save Blanco's subjects from her sociopathic leadership style would have been helpful to some individuals for sure, but the problem is that such a move may have done more serious long-term damage than the Democrats have already done to the United States in this crisis. Can you say "military dictator?"

New Orleans Police Radio System Had No Emergency Fuel Supply For Generators

Chaos in the streets, no communications? Too bad New Orleans didn't have an emergency fuel supply for the generator that powered police radios. I suppose that's Bush's fault too!

Accountability For Local Government or CYA Cover-up?

On Sunday, September 11th 2005 America will observe the fourth anniversary of the September 11th atrocities. It was day that Americans of all stripes, Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, young and old came together, united in a common goal to recover our fallen, and march forward to protect our nation. New York's finest, the police and firefighters, many of whom lost friends and family in the attacks, worked tirelessly for weeks after the attack, first to rescue those they could, then to recover what few remains were found.

If you haven't had the chance to see the National Geographic special "Inside 9/11" it will be repeated on Thursday, September 8, 2005. The first part of the four hour special was a real eye opener on the events which led up to the attacks and formed the basis of my post here.

Four years later, we find ourselves facing another tragedy. This was not a terrorist attack, but an act of nature. Yet even with the winds of Hurricane Katrina still howling, as people were being rescued and as many were dying, we saw the opposite of a united front of caring and compassion. In stark contrast to the unity expressed after the September 11th atrocities, Hurricane Katrina brought forth an instant chorus of race baiting and finger pointing aimed in one direction, and one direction only: President Bush and the federal response to the disaster.

205 School buses made inoperable by the flood in New Orleans. Buses that could have been used used BEFORE the storm, or in the immediate aftermath to evacuate and save the poorest residents. Should President Bush have seized these buses and other state and local government assets to save New Orleans BEFORE the storm?

Never before have we seen such a crass, and transparently political C.Y.A. operation launched to shield the complete breakdown of state and local government that occurred BEFORE Katrina's winds reached the gulf shores.

A few miles away from New Orleans, the residents of Mississippi took the direct hit that was feared for New Orleans. Flooding, wind damage and immediate loss of life far exceeded that found in New Orleans on early Tuesday. Yet, we didn't hear stories of a failed evacuation plan or poor black families trapped and deprived of food and water for days as people died.

Back across the waters of Lake Ponchatrain, The Federal Emergency Management Agency began surveying the scene preparing to bring in relief supplies. The Red Cross stood poised to move in as well. But armed thugs decided that helicopters offering rescue made good targets and the relief effort was delayed until the security situation improved.

Where was the National Guard? Were they in Iraq? Noooo.... They were ready to move, but that decision, by law, had to come from the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Ms. Blanco waffled at so many critical points. First in not ordering the mandatory evacuation of the poorest residents using the full transportation resources of the state and local government BEFORE the storm (she did so on Wednesday, August 31, AFTER New Orleans buses were made inoperable by the flood). But as egregious as that failure, Ms. Blanco refused to send in the guard and STILL refuses to grant the federal government the full authority it needs to conduct operations in New Orleans.

Federal Emergency Management disaster plans clearly state that it is not possible for the federal government to respond fully to the needs of disaster victims for at least 72 hours AFTER a storm passes. The massive footprint of supplies and personnel were prepositioned in the safety zone outside the worst swath of Katrina's destruction. Had they been closer, they might have become part of the tragedy, not part of the response.

Within that 72 hour time-frame, the federal government, with the authority belatedly granted by Governor Blanco, entered New Orleans and immediately established order. The evacuation of those trapped at the Superdome and the Convention Center was completed in another 24 hours.

Blame Bush Continues

You might have thought that after the massive and effective federal response the one-way finger pointing by those on the left would stop. Sadly, not so. Sadder still are the people who say that they won't give one dime for relief because A. Bush is responsible for the hurricane or B. The people who live in red states deserve to get hit because they voted for Bush.

It hasn't been much better in Congress, where Democrats fresh from their long August vacations launched an instant outrage offensive. Interesting that at the same time many Democrats were sitting on the beach enjoying the last days of summer sun, leaders like Senator Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, was on the ground at the New Orleans Convention Center offering his services as a physician on the first line of rescue and hope.

And many of our commenters at Mike's America offer little more than a tepid throwaway line of blame for the local and state governments before launching an extended and continuing demand that Bush and the federal government be held to account. Such a transparent device is clear evidence of the most massive C.Y.A. operation I have yet seen. And it will do nothing to hold accountable the first responders in local and state governments dominated by Democrats for generations.

And what about those who suggest that President Bush should have realized the gross incompetence and corruption of local and state governments would impair their response to evacuation, preparedness and response needs? Many of these same lefties have screamed bloody murder about expanding federal intrusion into their lives via the Patriot Act. Bush was Hitler and we were living in a fascist police state. Yet, NOW, they ask why President Bush didn't act BEFORE the storm to supplant the legally elected governments in New Orleans and Louisiana.

Apparently, Bush wasn't Hitler enough for you folks!

Now we learn that nearly a third of the New Orleans police force abandoned their job after the hurricane. The remaining force was quickly overwhelmed and is now headed to R&R in Las Vegas at city expense. Mayor Nagin also has his hand out, salivating at the prospect of the first $ 10.5 billion down payment from the federal government.

Perhaps we should send a contingent of New York firefighters and police down to the "Big Easy" to fill in while their brothers are in Vegas.

The City of New Orleans has known about their vulnerability to just this kind of tragedy for decades. And they did what to prevent it? Here is their disaster plan. Did they implement it effectively to avert the post Katrina disaster? Were some of the poorest and sick evacuated BEFORE the storm to safety outside the city? Did the city preposition supplies at the evacuation sites? If so, I am sure the "mainstream" media would like to hear about it. Wouldn't you think the Bush blame/ Bush hate media would be all over this story as proof that the local government followed through on it's disaster plan?

The silence is deafening!

Sources:

Journal of Homeland Security

U.S. Code, Title X, The Insurrection Act

State of Louisiana Emergency Evacuation Order

City of New Orleans Emergency Evacuation Plan

US Department of Defense Briefing on Hurricane Katrina Relief

New Emergency Phone Information

Statement from the White House: Please discontinue phoning 911 in emergencies.

In the wake of grumbling about the poor quality of local and state government response in the preparation, planning and execution of disaster relief post Hurricane Katrina, the federal government today is issuing the following order:

Please do not phone traditional emergency services should your house catch fire or you are in need of emergency services. It is apparent that the first responders charged with responsibilty for providing those services in many areas of the country are unable to meet your needs.

We suggest that should you have an emergency, you contact the White House immediately at this number: 202-456-1414. We have President Bush standing by to take your call. Should he need to go to the bathroom or sleep from time to time, Laura or Dick Cheney will be filling in.

We don't recommend you phone your local or state governments for help, unless those governments are headed up by Republicans, such as Governor Barber of Mississippi, who thus far seems to be pretty darn competant when it comes to handling a crisis and saving the lives of his poorest and weakest citizens.

(Oh, and in case you are a complete ignorant boob, or a devotee of Michael Moore (same thing) the above is a SATIRE!)

Louisiana Governor STILL Resists Federal Disaster Efforts

Not content with completely bungling the planning, preparation and evacuation for a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, Governor Blanco (LA-D) continues to resist federal efforts to take control and better assist those in need.

From the Washington Post: Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.

The administration sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind the request. "Quite frankly, if they'd been able to pull off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything on the locals," said the source, who does not have the authority to speak publicly.

A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and the New Orleans mayor.

Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said. As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.

"The federal government stands ready to work with state and local officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana," White House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. "The president will not let any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of Louisiana."

Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state's victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief effort.

Who remebers what the Church Lady, the Dana Carvey character on the good Saturday Night Live used to say? "Well, isn't that SPECIAL!"

Yes, special indeed. Perhaps more interesting is what was going on between the Federal and LA and N.O. governments BEFORE Hurricane Katrina struck. We know President Bush was on the phone from Crawford, (amazing, I didn't know they had phones there and that he could do his job) before he declared a state of emergency in Louisiana. We will find out more behind the scenes info the next couple of days that may dispel the flood of raw sewage coming from Michael Moore and the hate Bush crowd.

Thanks V the K for pointing me to this via Moonbattery.

Chief Justice Rehnquist Dies at Home

BREITBART.COM - Just The News:

"Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died Saturday evening of cancer, ending a remarkable 33-year tenure on the Supreme Court and creating a rare second vacancy on the nation's highest court.

Rehnquist, 80, was surrounded by his three children when he died at his home in suburban Arlington. 'The Chief Justice battled thyroid cancer since being diagnosed last October and continued to perform his duties on the court until a precipitous decline in his health the last couple of days,' said court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg.

Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court as an associate justice in 1971 by President Nixon and took his seat on Jan. 7, 1972. He was elevated to chief justice by President Reagan in 1986. "

One of the stalwarts of the conservative court has finished his last term on the bench. Let's hope we have at least a decent interval to honor his memory before we are bombarded with calls from Democrats for a "mainstream" replacement....

Rest in peace Mr. Chief Justice, you served your country well.

More on New Orlean's Mayor's "Bus Gate" Scandal

The finger pointing and race baiting continues in the tragic wake of Hurricane Katrina. As I pointed out yesterday, fleets of buses were destroyed by the storm in New Orleans, that could have been used by the local government to evacuate those who had no other transportation.

New Orlean's Mayor Nagin , waited until the day AFTER President Bush declared a federal emergency in his state, before declaring his own state of emergency and ordering a mandatory evacuation.

Junk Yard Blog is all over this story in detail. He cites the Southeast Louisiana evacuation supplement (page 13, paragraph 5):

5. The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating.

The mayor and the police force also had power under this emergency order to commandeer any vehicle to assist in their efforts.

Yet for the last several days, Mayor Nagin has been running around giving interviews saying things like: the federal government needs to "get their asses moving," stop calling "goddamn press conferences." In another angry interview Nagin said: "I need reinforcements," he pleaded. "I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. This is a national disaster."

You've seen the closeup aerial photo of school buses that were destroyed by Katrina and never used to help get the poor out of harm's way.

Here's a wider satellite shot. The buses that could have been used to evacuate residents of the poorer neighborhoods are only a few miles up the freeway from the Superdome and the Convention Center where many refugees were stuck without food, water or sanitation for days. Junkyard blog estimates that the 205 buses shown could easily have evacuated over 10,000 people in their very first trip to the Astrodome in Houston, had time to return and take another load before the storm hit on Monday morning.

Bill Hobbes points out that the New Orleans Regional Transport Authority had at least 364 buses, which could have carried thousands more to safety had they been employed in time.

That's at least 500 buses Mayor! Why didn't you use them?

Mayor Nagin isn't the only one trying to confuse the issue by blaming someone else:

From Associated Press: An angry Terry Ebbert, head of New Orleans' emergency operations, watched the slow exodus from the Superdome on Thursday morning and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency response was inadequate. The chaos at the nearby New Orleans Convention Center was considerably worse than the Superdome, with an angry mob growing increasingly violent and few options for refugees to leave the scene.

"This is a national disgrace. FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control," Ebbert said. "We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans."

As Junk Yard Blog points out, Ebbert was appointed by Mayor Nagin, and it is Ebbert's job to implement the evacuation plan.

World Net Daily also points out that New Orleans had a similar evacuation mess with the scare caused by Hurricane Ivan the year before. After that, disaster plans for the city were reviewed.

Next time Mayor Nagin or Emergency Operations Chief Ebbert give yet another blame the feds press condference, It would be nice if JUST ONE REPORTER ASKED WHY THEY DID NOT USE THE BUSES TO GET PEOPLE OUT!

Where Was Jesse When Katrina Threatened?

The so-called reverend Jesse Jackson, long upset that Muther Sheehan has been hogging all the cameras lately, has found his voice in criticizng President Bush's response to the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

On Saturday, August 27, President Bush declared a state of emergency in Louisiana and mobilized the resources of the federal government to assist in that state as well as Mississippi and Alabama in advance of Hurricane Katrina's Monday morning landfall.

On Saturday, August 27, Rev. Jesse was in Venezuela, praising Venezuelan dictator Chavez as he goes about transforming his once free country into a Cuban style Stalinist regime. At the same time as Jesse was praising Chavez, protestors in the streets of Caracas demanding restoration of democracy were violently set upon by pro-government mobs.

Rev. Jesse Jackson and Venezuelan dictaor Chavez on Saturday, August 27 in Caracas.

On Monday, as Hurricane Katrina was ripping through Louisiana and Mississippi, Jesse was still hard at it; promoting Dictator Chavez while undermining American foreign policy.

In case you're wondering what possible business J.J. has in Venezuela, you're not alone. But the sad truth is that Jesse and a cadre of Marxists, Socialists, Anarchists and America haters (your typical left wing Democrat) have been spending quite a bit of time helping Chavez with his communist takeover by providing propaganda cover for activities through visits like the one above.

Last year, during the runup to the recall election that could have saved Venezuela from Chavez's dictatorship, Jesse led a group down south to show their support. The list of illuminati supporting that venture reads like a Who's Who for aging hippie America hating socialists:

Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Dr. Howard Zinn
Edward Asner
Dr. Saul Landau
Naomi Klein
Doug Henwood
Dr. Blase Bonpane
Liza Featherstone

In the final days leading up to the recall referendum that would have saved Venezuela from the Chavez dictatorship, Jesse Jackson, led a cadre of the usual susptects to Caracas to lend Chavez (red shirt center) their support.

Jesse: If you really cared about the poor people in New Orleans, you would have been here to help!

Race Baiting Makes Katrina Tragedy Worse

Did President Bush prevent New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, or Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco from moving these buses to higher ground or using them to evacuate people in advance of Hurricane Katrina? No, but that won't stop the Mayor nor the Governor (both Democrats) from blaming Bush for their own incompetence.

Well I suppose it was just a matter of time. The people so consumed with hate for George W. Bush that they not only blame Hurricane Katrina on Bush's environmental policy, they blame him for letting mostly black people die in the aftermath in New Orleans.

One of the milder examples of this virulent racism comes from race pimp Jesse Jackson who asks demands that black people, need to be put in charge:

From the Associated Press:

Jackson questioned why Bush has not named blacks to top positions in the federal response to the disaster, particularly when the majority of victims remaining stranded in New Orleans are black: "How can blacks be locked out of the leadership, and trapped in the suffering?"

Of course what "Shakedown" Jesse means is that a couple of his cronies need to be put on the payroll with fat contracts for supplying goods and services. That's his modus operandi.

President Bush has more minority members in his cabinet than any previous administration. Yet getting minorities represented at the table was never the goal of Jackson and company. Readers may recall the words of eminent minority spokesperson, Harry Belafonte, who referred to Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as "house slaves" with President Bush as the "slave master."

Taking things a bit farther down this sad road, Randall Robinson, so-called social justice advocate and author of "The Debt ?What America Owes to Blacks" had this to say:

This is what we have come to. This defining watershed moment in America's racial history. For all the world to witness...My hand shakes with anger as I write. I, the formerly un-jaundiced human rights advocate, have finally come to see my country for what it really is. A monstrous fraud. But what can I do but write about how I feel. How millions, black like me, must feel at this, the lowest moment in my country's story.

Yes, it's the lowest moment in our nation's history when people are dying and suffering and the response from people like Jackson and Robinson is to inflame racial hatred. Hurricane Katrina is a national tragedy. The conduct of these race pimps is a national disgrace!

As if that weren't bad enough, Moonbattery shows that it's not just racial hate that is the problem. The following came from a Democrat blog:

Because these are red states. They voted for Bush. These ninnies obviously wanted these policies, and they deserve to live with the consequences of their votes. A large part of me still believes that many of these W-worshipping numbskulls deserve to suffer and to die. They brought it on themselves. Let them look to Jayzuss for aid: It's time they stopped leeching off the more productive blue staters.

But then it dawned on this sick little toad that New Orleans is almost entirely populated by Democrats, and he had a change of heart:

"New Orleans, we should note, went heavily for Kerry. And that's why we must help. Although it was very tempting to say otherwise."

Every time I think these sickos can't go any lower, they do.

Gas Prices Too High? Thank You Environmentalists!

From the the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration:

According to the Minerals Management Service (MMS), as of 11:30 Central Time August 31, Gulf of Mexico oil production was reduced by over 1.371 million barrels per day as a result of Hurricane Katrina, equivalent to about 91.45 percent of daily Gulf of Mexico oil production (which is 1.5 million barrels per day).

Democrats in the Senate recently over-rode legislation passed by the House to enable ecologically safe drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Would you like to know how much oil would currently be flowing to meet America's energy needs if resources in ANWR were online? Oh... take a guess! Anywhere between 1.0 million and 1.5 million barrels per day.

Source

That's right... ANWR could supply nearly the exact amount of oil resources that are currently offline due to Hurricane Katrina!

The energy bill signed by President Bush in Albuquerque , NM, on August 8th excluded drilling in ANWR. Will the House and Senate take up the measure to restore access to that resource with renewed "energy" considering the urgent need and impact on our economy or will we see yet another sorry episode of obstruction and finger pointing from Democrats, the friend of the "powerless" who pay the heaviest price for Democrats misguided policy, as they try to placate the rabid environmental lobby?

See Also: This map. The entire Artic National Wildlife Refuge is the size of the state of South Carolina. The area proposed for drilling is 2,000 acres, equal to a couple of golf courses on my home, Hilton Head Island.

More on this subject from the Mike's America Archive:

The Story of the Three Bears at ANWR, March 15, 2005

Time for ANWR Oil, March 15, 2005

American Energy Independence: Common Sense vs. Environmental Extremism, December 11, 2004