I am a Democrat. I never voted for a Republican in my life although I am considering voting for Jay Dardenne for Lt. Governor this fall. First and foremost, I am a Louisianan. Observing the latest disaster to hit our state has made me quite disenchanted with those in power. I feel we are being treated like a political football as there seems to be no incentive for this administration to help. I know the President has been here 3 times to observe and listen; maybe all he can do at this point. He exclaimed he was looking for ‘whose ass to kick’; but I don’t think it will do much good. Criminal charges might punish those responsible, but I want to see a stronger sense of urgency. BP has 600 workers cleaning beaches, why can’t the National Guard assist. I think 6,000 might be needed to thoroughly clean beaches, skim oil, and save wildlife. BP will pay for it- last year they made $230 billion dollars in profit. I am unclear why the Federal Government won’t just assume control, give us the resources and manpower to clean up and dictate to BP that it pays for all damage. My feeling is that Louisiana is not an important state for this President. It is red and becoming burgundy. We won’t help the President get re-elected. Imagine if something happened tragic in Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, or Missouri. We would see the full might of big government everyone fears fixing the problem.
I feel the same way I did during Katrina. I don’t want people feeling sorry for us, and we can take care of our own business. But I thought one of the fundamental precepts of the federal government was to protect its citizens. This oil spill threatens our way of life, much like airplanes that crash into buildings. We need federal money to fix this problem. We can accept it by holding our nose, but right now it’s about our Louisiana economy. The Governor seems to be doing a good job here; even demanding federal assistance (which he detests). Seafood prices might increase a few dollars around the country and nobody will realize the difference or complain. Yet, legal Louisiana/American citizens lost their source of income as they rely on the seafood and oil industries for their livelihood. Our Federal Government could handle this in an efficient and prudent manner but doesn’t seem at all interested.
The Katrina abortion was due to incompetence. We had political operatives in the White House actively trying to dilute the minority voting population in New Orleans while people drowned. They succeeded for a while, but many have returned despite entire neighborhoods still looking like disaster areas. This time I feel as if the White House seems too casual about the situation. Where is the emergency spending bill for the gulf region? Where is the public assistance when we really need it? Not only must we face indifference, we listen to the likes of Rand Paul exclaim that accidents happen and the government is not responsible for fixing it.
I don’t know what the answer is to this reoccurring dilemma. Maybe we could change from a red state to a swing state so people will pay attention to us, but I am not sure that will work. I know that the Chairman of BP is ‘ready to get his life back’ and we know that ‘Louisiana isn’t the only place that has shrimp’. As they sleep in their ivory tower at night, many Louisiana residents are also ready to ‘get their lives back’. I’m just sayin………..
