Letters to the Editor

• And one small reason there has been a delay

  [Read the article: Flooded and forgotten]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, city council members and Louisiana authorities agreed on Wednesday to create a single plan to redevelop the ravaged, city, ending months of disputes that have hampered recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

  The agreement was required by the Louisiana Recovery Authority, which is overseeing rebuilding of areas hit by hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, before releasing billions of dollars in federal funds given to Louisiana.

  Many New Orleans residents are frustrated by the slow pace of recovery and what they see as a lack of clear direction about how homes and neighborhoods can be rebuilt.

  Nagin said the single plan, to be completed by the end of the year, would clearly describe what the rebuilt city will be like and set out home construction requirements.

  In some parts of the city, residents have refused to wait and are rebuilding on their own terms.

  But Louisiana Recovery Authority board member David Voelker said the final plan could make it economically impossible for residents to rebuild in some areas.

  "It's going to be complicated and it's going to be tough," he said. "But I think we're going to get there."

  At least 65 urban planning teams are vying to oversee development of the land use plan, which will be funded in part by a $3.5 million grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and will determine how New Orleans' share of $12 billion in federal fund allocated to the state will be spent.

  Oh Yeah - and it is all the federal goverment's fault - right?

  Permalink Wednesday, July 5, 2006 08:49 PM

• Time to Change Things

  [Read the article: Happy 14th Amendment Day!]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  The 14th Amendment needs to be changed - to specify that all persons LEGALLY RESIDENT born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. Simple, and striking at the root of the problems from current wave of illegal immigrants into the USA. Illegals enter the US, have children which become citizens, and then are used as magnets for remining in the USA. In the most blunt terms, these parents are profiting from the result of a crime.

  Couple that to penalities on employers that hire illegals and some form of physical control at the border (read as wall) and I think you have a deal that most people in the USA could support. Maybe even a national ID card to establish residency. But who is suggesting such a "grand compromise?"

  I don't think the current "hysteria" over immigrants is racist or anything of the sort - the simple motivation is economic. The tax base of many cities, states and municipalities is being pushed to the wall by the influx of people that are not paying taxes to support the schools and social services that they use. That is not racist - it is simple survival where you see your local taxes raised over and over.

  And is is a false comparision to rail against the immigration waves in the past - most, if not all of those immigrants passed through government immigrant points - Ellis Island anyone? They at least had the mark of legal entry - the protests aganist the immigrants were a reflection of the time.

  Why is it when an employer is presented with a falsified social security number by a perspective employee, it is not immediately flagged as invalid? They have to enter a number so the employee/employer can pay taxes. We can check credit cards on line at the grocery, why not Social Security numbers? Why does the same not happen at schools when kids are entered and their parent's SS numbers are entered to establish residency?

  I don't want to be anti-Immigrant, but as an expatriate who has worked all over the world, I can tell you that most countries are tough in enforcing entry and work permits. Why does the US have to be the patsy?

  Permalink Thursday, July 20, 2006 10:51 PM