The Looting of America - A National Tragedy
by Randall Rolph, Nashua, Iowa

In the aftermath of the catastrophic hurricane that has inflicted great harm on the people of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the nation is seeing and realizing the reality of what has happened to our country. As we witness the looting of stores in New Orleans, mostly for food, medicine, water, and clothing, the looting not being discussed is the looting that occurred years ago - the looting of the treasury by the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.

As Bush and the Republicans depleted the surplus left by President Clinton, as well as cut funding to essential services while providing billions of dollars in tax relief to the wealthy, the reality of their policies are being played out before our eyes.

As American taxpayers spend billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq, Bush can't find the time or the means to provide water to those suffering in New Orleans. While Republicans like Congressman Tom Latham of Iowa regurgitate, "Stay the course in Iraq for as long as it takes," Republican House Leader Dennis Hastert of Illinois expresses doubt on spending money to rebuild New Orleans.

Listening to some Republican talking points, one is left with the impression it's the fault of those suffering for not leaving. Their fault because they have no car or transportation? Money for a bus ride; money for a hotel out of the danger zone? Family to take them in?

The truth is, their fault was believing that our government was going to respond to the impending threat by sending the National Guard and transportation to get them out. Oh, that's right. There is no Guard... It's in Iraq!

Further, much in the manner of 9/11, Bush responds to the facts of his failures with lies. During his interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America on Thursday, September 1st, George Bush stated, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."

Fact: Since 2001, the Army Corps of Engineers has requested $496 million dollars to upgrade and fortify the levees, floodgates, and pumps that hold back the waters around New Orleans. Bush budgeted only $166 million.

Reports on the aftermath of a hurricane hitting New Orleans and the impact of levees in current conditions breaching have been circulating for years. Bush ignored these reports just as he had done with the PDB (pResidential Daily Briefing) in August, 2001. [The PDB suggested planes might be flown into buildings and Bush dismissed such a possibility until 9/11.] Adding insult to our collective injury in the current situation is Bush's further failure by allowing days to pass before responding.

What is happening to our country, what has happened to our nation is shameful. It's a national tragedy that goes beyond Hurricane Katrina. And to paraphrase Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield, "Our national crisis is managed by the 'president' we got, not the 'president' we want."
This essay was written for Blog for Iowa by Randall Rolph of Nashua, Iowa.