[StBernard] Councilman Joey DiFatta Quoted in Bloomberg Article

[Westley Annis]

Bush's Attention Wanders From Katrina as Reconstruction Lags 


(Bloomberg) -- 


Just three months ago, President George W. Bush couldn't talk enough 
about the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast and the effort to rebuild it. 


Bush traveled to the region eight times in the six weeks following 
Hurricane Katrina's Aug. 29 landfall. 


He spoke about the disaster almost every day in September and in all 
four radio addresses that month. 


On Sept. 15, during a nationally televised speech from New Orleans, 
the president promised that ``we will do what it takes, we will stay 
as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and 
their lives.'' 


That now seems a distant memory. 


Bush hasn't been back to the region in almost two months, and he 
doesn't speak about it much anymore -- four times in November and 
twice so far this month, and then only fleetingly. 


In a 44-minute speech on the economy on Dec. 5, Bush mentioned 
hurricane damage in the context of urging Congress to pass energy 
legislation. 


``The president can do better and should do better,'' said Republican 
Representative Charles ``Chip'' Pickering of Mississippi. 


``The people of Mississippi and Louisiana need to know the 
administration is still with them.'' 


The two states were the hardest hit by Katrina, which Bush said was 
the biggest natural disaster in the nation's history. 


Entire towns were wiped out, 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded and 
had to be evacuated and almost 1,000 people died. 


In the aftermath, Mississippi officials told a congressional panel 
yesterday, aid for rebuilding has been delayed, school districts are 
facing bankruptcy and thousands of people remain in temporary 
shelters. 


                Building Resentment 


While state and local officials say Congress shares much of the blame 
for lagging reconstruction aid, resentment may be building in the 
region toward Bush, who created an expectation that the government 
would focus its resources on recovery. 


``Folks are starting to be cynical and thinking that the White House 
has counted the votes and decided that mad Mississippians and 
Louisianans can't do much damage politically,'' said Marty Wiseman, a 
professor of government at Mississippi State University in Starkville. 


``The president needs to reconnect with southeast Louisiana and 
remember that there're Americans who are down here who need his 
attention and his help,'' said Joey DiFatta, the council chairman of 
St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans.