Siding with Katrina Victims, Ruling Faults Army Corps for New Orleans Flooding

Scene from “Left to Die: Causeway Concentration Camp,” by Elizabeth Atly

Victims of Hurricane Katrina have won a major legal victory that could lead to scores of lawsuits against the US government. A federal judge has ruled “monumental negligence” by the Army Corps of Engineers led to the severe flooding that ravaged New Orleans in the aftermath of the storm. If the ruling is upheld, thousands of residents of the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish would have grounds to seek compensation. Appearing on CNN, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he hopes the ruling will result in more legal action.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin: “What this does, particularly for the people in the Lower Ninth Ward—many of them did not get enough money from the Road Home program, which were the federal grants. Many businesses did not get enough help. And hopefully this ruling will open up the floodgates, if you will, for those people to receive proper compensation.”
The ruling was limited to assessing the Army Corps’ maintenance of a navigation canal, not assessing the canal’s actual construction as residents initially sought. The ruling marks the first time the government has been held responsible for any of the flooding that devastated New Orleans.



Click here to post a comment.

Click here to view all our blogs and discussion groups, where you can comment on any news stories or post your own news.

Read and search hundreds of news stories on SeeingBlack.com's 411 Channel.

Do you shop at Amazon? Please shop through our link and support
SeeingBlack.com!


Senate Votes To Open Debate on Healthcare Bill
Senate Democrats have moved one step closer to passing a major healthcare reform bill. In a party line vote of 60-39, the Senate voted Saturday evening to open debate on the bill. Ahead of the vote Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged fellow Democrats to back the measure.
Sen. Harry Reid: "Don’t try to silence a great debate over a great crisis. Don’t let history show that when given the chance to debate and defend your position, to work with us for the good of our country and constituents, you ran and hid. You cannot wish away a great emergency by closing your eyes and pretending it doesn’t exist. There is an emergency and it exists and it exists now.”

The Democratic victory was assured earlier in the day when the party’s last two holdouts, Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu, said they would support the motion but would not commit to backing the final bill without changes. Landrieu backed the vote only after she secured an additional $300 million in increased Medicaid funding to her state in 2011. Senators will begin debate on the bill next week.


Unemployment Rate Rises in 29 States
In economic news, the unemployment rate rose in 29 states last month. California, Delaware, South Carolina, Florida and the District of Columbia all registered record rates of unemployment in October. In California the jobless rate has reached twelve point five percent; the state has lost nearly 700,000 jobs over the past year. Michigan still has the nation’s highest jobless rate at fifteen point one percent.

The President of the Chicago Federal Reserve Charles Evans said he expects the national unemployment to peak at around 10.5 percent next spring and hopefully easing to about 9.5 percent by end of next year.


Mortgage Delinquencies Hit Record High
The number of Americans struggling to pay their mortgages has hit a new record high. New figures show 14 percent of borrowers, or 7.4 million households, are either behind on their payments or in foreclosure. The Mortgage Bankers Association says it expects delinquencies to rise as the economy continues to shed jobs.


Study: Uninsured 80% More Likely to Die From Traumatic Injuries
In healthcare news, a new study says Americans treated in emergency rooms for traumatic injuries are almost twice as likely to die if they’re uninsured. Harvard University researchers analyzed nearly 700,000 patients treated in trauma centers over a four-year period. The study found uninsured emergency room patients are 80 percent more likely to lose their lives.


Vulture Funds Make Millions Off Gov’t-Backed Home Loans
The New York Times reports Wall Street has found a new way to make money from the mortgage mess as millions of Americans struggle to hold on to their homes. Vulture funds are buying billions of dollars’ worth of discounted home loans and then, in what might seem an act of charity, the funds are helping homeowners by reducing the size of the loans. But as part of these deals, the mortgages are being refinanced through lenders that work with government agencies like the Federal Housing Administration. This enables the vulture funds to pocket sizable profits by reselling new, government-insured loans to other federal agencies, which then bundle the mortgages into securities for sale to investors.While homeowners save money, the arrangement shifts nearly all the risk for the loans to the federal government–and, ultimately, taxpayers.


Wall Street Headed for Record Profits in 2009
New government figures show Wall Street is on pace to have its most profitable year to date. The New York Comptroller Office said Wall Street profits are set to exceed the record set three years ago, before the onset of the nation’s financial meltdown. The four largest firms—Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase—took in $22.5 billion in profits through September. The top six banks set aside $112 billion for salaries and bonuses over the same period. In a statement, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said, “The national economy is slowly improving, but Wall Street has recovered much faster than anyone had envisioned.”


As UC Regents Approve Major Tuition Hike, Students, Faculty Decry Erosion of Public Education in CA and Nationwide
Amid thousands of student protesters and armed police standing guard, the University of California’s Board of Regents approved a 32 percent increase in student fees Thursday. A crowd of about 2,000 protesters, including students and labor union activists from across UC campuses, faced a large force of police in riot gear outside UCLA’s Covel Commons, where the regents met. The twenty-one regents approved the fee hikes with little debate. Only student regent Jesse Bernal voted against the increase.
After the vote, some of the regents were trapped inside as students protested outside the building and all over campus, marching in the streets and in lecture halls. The demonstrations were part of a system-wide strike to protest the fee increases, which will bring the total cost of a UC education to more than $10,000 per year for the first time.


GOPers block debate on credit card rate freeze.
Republican senators have blocked debate on a measure to freeze credit card interest rates. Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd had written a bill that would have prevented interest rate hikes before new regulations take effect next year. But on Wednesday, Republicans thwarted Dodd’s attempt to debate the measure on the Senate floor.


Bill Moyers To Retire; PBS Cancels “Now”
And in media news, Bill Moyers has announced his retirement from weekly television. The last broadcast of his show Bill Moyers Journal will air on April 30th 2010. That day will also mark the final episode of “Now” hosted by David Brancaccio, which has been canceled by PBS.


CIA Prison Uncovered in Lithuania
A previously undisclosed secret CIA prison has been identified in Lithuania. A Lithuanian official and a former US intelligence official told ABC News the CIA held prisoners at a horsing stable outside the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. The CIA is said to have bought the property using a front company. As many as eight prisoners were held at the prison for more than a year. Earlier this month, a Lithuanian parliamentary committee launched a probe into whether the CIA jailed and tortured prisoners in Lithuania.


Public Campaign Forces Apparel Giant to Rehire Unionized Workers
Anti-sweatshop activists have won a major victory in a campaign to save a Honduran factory that had been closed after its workers voted to unionize. United Students Against Sweatshops says the sportswear giant Russell Athletic has agreed to rehire some 1,200 Honduran workers that were dismissed last January. The move follows a nationwide campaign that pressured investors and forced dozens of collegiate athletics departments to sever or restrict their licensing deals with Russell.


Israel Under Widespread International Criticism for Settlement Expansion Plan
Israel is coming under widespread international criticism for its plan to engage in a new round of illegal settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land. Israel says it will build 900 new housing units in East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Israel’s decision, quote, “provides 900 more reasons why hopes for salvaging the two-state solution and restarting genuine negotiations are rapidly fading, and why Israel is not a partner for peace.” The US-backed Palestinian Authority has also called on the public to boycott several large supermarket chains in the West Bank that sell products made in Israeli settlements.

In an interview on Fox News last week, President Obama said, quote, “Additional settlement building makes it hard to relaunch any kind of serious talks.”

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: There’s no doubt that I haven’t been able to stop the settlements, and there’s also no doubt, from my perspective, that it’s in not only US interest, but actually Israeli interest to not build settlements.

Look, the situation in the Middle East is very difficult, and I’ve said repeatedly, and I’ll say again, Israel’s security is a vital national interest to the United States, and we will make sure that they are secure. I think that additional settlement building does not contribute to Israel’s security. I think it makes it harder for them to make peace with their neighbors. I think it embitters the Palestinians in a way that could end up being very dangerous, and it makes it hard to relaunch any kind of serious talks about how you achieve a two-state solution.


Click here to post a comment.

Click here to view all our blogs and discussion groups, where you can comment on any news stories or post your own news.

Read and search hundreds of news stories on SeeingBlack.com's 411 Channel.

Do you shop at Amazon? Please shop through our link and support
SeeingBlack.com!


Other Ways to support SeeingBlack.com:
• Become a paid subscriber or sustainer of Black-owned media or buy and ad for your business or organization.
• Make your online holiday purchases, (and purchases throughout the year) through the SeeingBlack.com Amazon Store or the SeeingBlack.com Author’s Store.
• Click here to make SeeingBlack.com your default homepage.

• If you don't get our free newsletter, subscribe today!
• Visit early and often!
• Tell your friends to visit early and often!

© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com

Top of Page