WASHINGTON -- The White House has quietly signaled its opposition to a 72-mile levee system in south Louisiana proposed to protect about 120,000 people who have watched the Gulf of Mexico creep ever closer to their homes as the coast erodes.

The Bush administration raises concerns about the $900 million project in a draft policy paper being circulated on Capitol Hill as the House of Representatives prepares to consider legislation that would authorize construction.

The president stopped short of threatening a veto. But his opposition could delay the long-awaited Water Resources Development Act or scuttle the snaking system of levees and floodgates that has been on the drawing board for 15 years to protect people and property in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

I heard he doesn't like black people.

Seriously though, this just is a slap in the face after his pandering post-Katrina put on. I feel really bad for the people of Louisiana.

maybe if al qaeda threatens the levees he'll do something about it.

Crush his toes?

Gimme that hammer, I'll crush his fucking head.

Maybe if he can find a way to convince people that Al Qaeda is behind hurricanes and that the government of Louisiana is harboring Al Qaeda and that immediate military intervention is required and that Haliburton can take over all oil production in Louisiana he'll do something about it.

That's the problem Drink. Haliburton has the oil production in Louisiana already.

You know, I wondered if that was the case as I was posting.

And I guess coastline erosion doesn't really affect oil production.

The needs of Louisiana should top our foreign aid agenda.

Yeah - he'll send troops to Cuba.

What's the stated reason for this bizarre move?

"i am the president and can do whatever the fuck i want."

If only there was a bird or something on the brink of extinction in the swamps of the Bayou. Then the Supreme Court could get involved and some enviro-friendly judges could do something.


Someone should write a legal brief.

I hate Bush as much as anyone, but I do question the wisdom of rebuilding a place below sea level, especially with the looming prospects of global warming.

I would think there's probably dozens of species threatened by this. those activist judges are running scared!

a pelican brief?

Thank you R.

Do millions of people with nearly 300 year history, culture and unique contribution to Americana just up and head north a bit?

I'd applaud Bush's balls for having the opacity to stick to his weird principles if it didn't involve the real future of a significant portion of the country.

It's not just po folk in da 9th War', Georgie (though that should be enough reason). The Gulf is crucial to many things. Oil, fishing, tourism. And much more.

You can't erase New Orleans and have a proper Gulf.

Opacity - proper noun, a mythical metropolis in which the world of craigslist manifests in physical form, mostly populated by Greek homosexuals.

i.e Obner

I understand this sentiment. Throw out the cultural aspect, people need to work here for the American Economy. Oil, gas, shipping, and agriculture would be massively impacted if we all upped and moved.

yeah, but doesn't it stand to be massively impacted AGAIN? Especially if it looks like it's gonna be that hard for federal protection?

Louisiana is a part time home for the largest migratory bird population in North America. Birds moving south and north from Canada to S. America stop here to rest. Birds literally fall out of the sky when they reach the shores of LA. More and more birds are dying on the trek because the land has receeded so much.

Also, the pelican and the egret are native birds.

Bush is probably weighing how much time he has left in office versus how much the levee build-up would cost.

But, you know it costs more for one day of the Iraq war than it would for the entire levee cost.

Plus there's the whole "promise to do right by the gulf folk" stuff from right after the hurricanes.

Has he forgotten the impact that the hurricanes had on food prices, fuel prices, how having the guard oversees affected emergency response, how devastated the region STILL is?

Guess he forgot.

Maybe he figures Houston can become the new New Orleans. But you'd have to flood some inland areas first.

Also, I think we're saying that Mexicans are more of a threat than water and wind damage by building that damn wall and not funding this.

np. Sam Cooke - If I Had A Hammer