They are having the joint news conference.   A reporter asked about the criticism lodged at the government and George Bush 41 said now is not the time, etc etc,

Clinton, as only he can do, said that he increased funding for the levees before his second term was over and "doesn't know what happened after that"

He NEVER ceases to amaze me

Thats a bit of a lie right there...

Why this surprises anyone is equally amazing to me....

Come on now,

Slick Willy would never lie..... "I did NOT have sex with that woman"..... how can anyone ever believe what he has to say?

Yeah i heard it.  

I don't think it was a jab so much as it was a "don't blame me."

In fact, he was presented with an opprotunity to take a jab, but said wait until this is all over before asking how he thinks the government should be organized. That is basically the current administration's line.

Haven't we seen info that suggests that the funding was there but the city officials misused it?

I saw it, wonder if 41 woulda had the cojones to say something about it if he had the chance.

Were Bubba's lips moving?

Quoted: I don't think it was a jab so much as it was a "don't blame me." In fact, he was presented with an opprotunity to take a jab, but said wait until this is all over before asking how he thinks the government should be organized. That is basically the current administration's line.

Clinton has been pretty supportive of the current admin.


Presidents stick together.  

If Klinton had any class at all he would not have made the comment.

If he had any class at all.

How can you tell Clinton is lying?

Quoted: Were Bubba's lips moving?

Quoted: Haven't we seen info that suggests that the funding was there but the city officials misused it?

Yep, marina and a casino were built with federal funds instead of working on the levees. Edwin Edwards had his play ground and the rest of Louisiana got fucked. They got the money to improve the levess and stole everything that they could from it. Typical for that shit hole.

wganz
¶

Clinton never LIED!! he said "I never had sex with that woman"!! Now as any self respecting straight married man will tell you, a blow job ain't sex! and neither is a hand job, a pearl necklace, or a dirty sanchez so technically if you do those things you're NOT cheating on your wife. Anyone who belives those things are "cheating" is either a woman or an oprah watching fag peterpuffer! Ask any bubba redneck on the street and they'll tell you it aint cheating, and if they do, follow them for a few minutes, you'll probably see them go cruising in the Sears mens bathroom.

How is it a jab?  Clinton in the best possible way said "I'm staying out of it" by saying he didn't know anything.  He wanted to make a jab at Bush he would have said something about it not being funded enough or as well.  If you have a friend that has done something wrong and someone else asks you about it, what do you say?  "I don't know anything about that."  That is what Clinton's answer sounds like to me.  Bush isn't a threat to the Clinton's and the Clinton's need any press with the Bush's that they can get...so they aren't going to be making them look bad.

Spin expert at work

Quoted: They are having the joint news conference.   A reporter asked about the criticism lodged at the government and George Bush 41 said now is not the time, etc etc, Clinton, as only he can do, said that he increased funding for the levees before his second term was over and "doesn't know what happened after that" He NEVER ceases to amaze me

Not me, and Clinton is revising the past to make him look good, far-sighted, and wise in the present just like he always does.  He's such a fucking liar.

I saw some info about how the government under Clinton denied funding to expand the levees and dredging of the New Orleans system since 1995.  It was brought up right after Clinton's flak and professional liar Sidney Blumenthal wrote articles in European papers blaming Bush for the levees' failure because he cut funding for them in order to pay for the Iraq war, which is just not true.

I'll have to find it though.........

Here, via www.michellemalkin.com

It's worth noting, too, that Democrats not from Louisiana have not always been enthusiastic supporters of New Orleans' anti-flood efforts. The Clinton Administration held up a major New Orleans levee construction project in 1995, according to a June 23, 1995, article in the Times-Picayune (via EU Rota):

   

A hurricane project, approved and financed since 1965, to protect more than 140,000 West Bank residents east of the Harvey Canal is in jeopardy.    The Clinton administration is holding back a Corps of Engineers report recommending that the $120 million project proceed. Unless that report is forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress cannot authorize money for the project, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's office said Thursday.    Without the improvements - a flood gate in the Harvey Canal and raised levees along the Intracoastal Waterway - a tidal surge produced by a hurricane "could result in the catastrophic loss of life and property damage," corps officials reported. In a worst-case-scenario storm, 82 percent of the buildings east of the Harvey Canal, from The Point in Algiers to the Algiers Lock in the Industrial Canal, would be flooded, causing $2.2 billion in damage, according to corps estimates.    Gerald Spohrer, executive director of the West Jefferson Levee District, is seething. "The bureaucracy in Washington has been given a specific instruction and the way they are dealing with it is to do nothing," he said.    If financed by Congress, the project could be started early next year, Spohrer said. Work on the Westwego to Harvey Canal Project hurricane levee, costing $90 million, is 30 percent complete, and plans are about to be drawn for the $20 million Lake Cataouatche Project, which would protect the area west of Westwego....    That project is not the only West Bank flood-control work in jeopardy. Federal budget cuts also may prevent construction of levees outside the main hurricane levee system that would protect the Jean Lafitte-Barataria area. Those levees, to cost $5 million, would not protect the area from severe hurricane surges, but could offer protection against a storm such as Hurricane Juan, which while weak, had heavy rains that caused massive flooding.

EU Rota has more examples of Clinton-era obstructionism here.
(Maybe this explains why Clinton took the high road yesterday and refused to trash Bush on CNN.)

It wasn't only in Louisiana that the Clinton Administration opposed flood control measures. During the 2000 presidential campaign, Clinton vetoed legislation designed to prevent flooding on the Missouri River. According to Michael Catanzaro, the veto stemmed from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision ordering the Army Corps of Engineers to manipulate the Missouri's water levels to save three endangered species. The veto, a significant campaign issue, was a factor in Bush's narrow win over Al Gore in Missouri.

If the Missouri river floods, will that be Bush's fault too?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 17, 1995

An Army Corps of Engineers "hit list" of recommended budget cuts would eliminate new flood-control programs in some of the nation's most flood-prone spots - where recent disasters have left thousands homeless and cost the federal government millions in emergency aid.

Clinton administration officials argue that the flood-control efforts are local projects, not national, and should be paid for by local taxes.

Nationwide, the administration proposes cutting 98 new projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico, for an estimated savings of $29 million in 1996.

Corps officials freely conceded the cuts, which represent only a small portion of savings the corps ultimately must make, may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. But they said they were forced to eliminate some services the corps has historically provided to taxpayers to meet the administration's budget-cutting goals.

June 23, 1995

A hurricane project, approved and financed since 1965, to protect more than 140,000 West Bank residents east of the Harvey Canal is in jeopardy.

The Clinton administration is holding back a Corps of Engineers report recommending that the $120 million project proceed. Unless that report is forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress cannot authorize money for the project, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's office said Thursday.

On June 9, John Zirschky, the acting assistant secretary of the Army and the official who refused to forward the report, sent a memo to the corps, saying the recommendation for the project "is not consistent with the policies and budget priorities reflected in the President's Fiscal Year 1996 budget. Accordingly, I will not forward the report to the Office of Management and Budget for clearance."

July 26, 1996

The House voted Thursday for a $19.4 billion energy and water bill that provides $246 million for Army Corps of Engineers projects in Louisiana.

The bill, approved 391-23, is the last of the 13 annual spending measures for 1997 approved by the House.

One area in which the House approved more financing than the president requested was for flood control and maintenance of harbors and shipping routes by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Flood control projects along the Mississippi River and its tributaries were allotted $303 million, or $10 million more than the president wanted.

June 19, 1996

The Army Corps of Engineers, which builds most flood protection levees on a federal-local cost-sharing basis, uses a cost-benefit ratio to justify a project. If the cost of building a levee is considered less than the cost of restoring a flood-ravaged area, the project is more likely to be approved.

For years, the Jean Lafitte-Lower Lafitte-Barataria-Crown Point areas couldn't convince the corps they were worthy of levee protection. But the use of Section 205 and congressional pressure has given the corps a new perspective, Spohrer said.

But even so, when the Clinton administration began to curtail spending on flood control and other projects a year ago, the corps stopped spending on Section 205 projects even after deciding to do a $70,000 preliminary Jean Lafitte study, Spohrer said.

July 22, 1999

In passing a $20.2 billion spending bill this week for water and energy projects, the House Appropriations Committee approved some significant increases in financing for several New Orleans area flood control and navigational projects.

The spending bill is expected on the House floor within the next two weeks.

For the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the panel allocated $106 million for construction projects, about $16 million more than proposed by President Clinton.

The bill would provide $47 million for "southeast Louisiana flood control projects," $16 million for "Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection," $15.9 million for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock on the Industrial Canal in New Orleans and $2 million for "West Bank hurricane protection -- from New Orleans to Venice."

Most of the projects received significant increases over what the Clinton administration had proposed. The exception: general flood control projects for southeast Louisiana, which remained at the $47 million suggested by Clinton. Local officials had hoped for double that amount.

February 8, 2000

For the metropolitan New Orleans area, Clinton's budget was seen as a mixed bag by local lawmakers and government officials. For instance, while Clinton called for $1.5 billion to be spent at Avondale Industries to continue building LPD-17 landing craft, his budget calls for significantly less than what Congress appropriated last year for Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection and for West Bank flood control projects.

September 29, 2000

The House approved Thursday a $23.6 billion measure for water and energy programs, with sizable increases for several New Orleans area flood-control projects. The Senate will vote Monday, but it may be a while before the bill is enacted.

President Clinton is promising to veto the annual appropriation for the Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers, not because it is $890 million larger than he proposed, but because it does not include a plan to alter the levels of the Missouri River to protect endangered fish and birds.

May 8, 2005 (extra)

Ten years ago today, the Bonneaus and hundreds of thousands of New Orleans area residents rode out a rain unlike any they had ever experienced. The flood killed six people and generated more claims than any in the history of the National Flood Insurance Program. In its aftermath, Congress created a new role for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and federal and local governments spent more than a half-billion dollars to widen and line drainage canals, bury culverts bigger than cars and beef up pumping stations.

But not even those improvements could prevent massive flooding if a storm of similar intensity were to strike today.

And on it goes. No amount of money can guarantee the risk-free existence so craved by the US Left. The post is not a slam on President Clinton, it merely shows that his administration was not exactly tackling the flood-control issue in Louisiana as Mr. Blumenthal suggests in his anti-Bush "piece". The post asks Mr. Blumenthal and the US Left to stop looting this disaster for very cheap political reasons.

eurota.blogspot.com/2005/09/us-left-all-straws-clutched-every.html