"Chocolate City" Mayor sentenced to 10 years in jail

[Vandalshandle]

Still, having been through Katrina myself, many of us were aware of how events were shaping up when the National Guard showed up to the largest flood in American history...with no boats.

 

[jon_berzerk]

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.....

Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin, the businessman-turned-politician who became the worldwide face of the city after Hurricane Katrina, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday.

Nagin, 58, was ordered to report to federal prison Sept. 8. Nagin, also ordered to pay restitution of $82,000, was found guilty Feb. 12 of fraud, bribery and related charges involving crimes that took place before and after Katrina devastated the city in August 2005.

Nagin, based on sentencing guidelines, had faced a possible sentence of 12 to 30 years.

Ex-New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin sentenced to 10 years

with any luck he will

be able to serve out his time

with his ol buddy cold cash Jefferson

 

[DigitalDrifter]

The only difference between Nagin, and any other big city Dimocrat politician, is Nagin got caught.

 

[KissMy]

"....and brownie, you are doing a terrific job..."

(President Bush to Michael Brown a few days before firing him for having totally botched the Katrina disaster)

That's because Bush couldn't fire Nagin and Governor Blanco, who totally fucked up the state and city response.

Yup - Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco screwed New Orleans citizens during Katrina. They had the power to commandeer or declare marshal law. Bush did not have those powers. The police have the power to commandeer any property or vehicle they need to evacuate the city. Yet all those buses sat there & flooded. Those Buses ran on diesel & they had plenty of that. The city ran out of gasoline for all those cars trying to leave at the last minute. The police could have contra-flowed traffic for bus only lanes & emptied that place in hours. They failed their people who pay their salary. Funny how all the other cities & states don't have their populations in harms way when a disaster comes.

 

[Vigilante]

 

[daveman]

"....and brownie, you are doing a terrific job..."

(President Bush to Michael Brown a few days before firing him for having totally botched the Katrina disaster)

That's because Bush couldn't fire Nagin and Governor Blanco, who totally fucked up the state and city response.

Yup - Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco screwed New Orleans citizens during Katrina. They had the power to commandeer or declare marshal law. Bush did not have those powers. The police have the power to commandeer any property or vehicle they need to evacuate the city. Yet all those buses sat there & flooded. Those Buses ran on diesel & they had plenty of that. The city ran out of gasoline for all those cars trying to leave at the last minute. The police could have contra-flowed traffic for bus only lanes & emptied that place in hours. They failed their people who pay their salary. Funny how all the other cities & states don't have their populations in harms way when a disaster comes.

NOLA's disaster response plan included using school buses to evacuate people with no transportation.

Nagin let them flood. Idiots blame Bush.

 

[Peach]

You do the crime, you do the time. Nagin's charges had nothing to do with Bush cutting the 20 year SELA budget though, that money went straight to the ACE; Nagin took bribes.

 

[Peach]

"....and brownie, you are doing a terrific job..."

(President Bush to Michael Brown a few days before firing him for having totally botched the Katrina disaster)

That's because Bush couldn't fire Nagin and Governor Blanco, who totally fucked up the state and city response.

The response to a disaster that could have prevented had the ACE SELA project been at the stage planned? Plannning for the project started under GHWB, was on schedule until Bush II started slashing planned yearly funds. Give it a rest, Nagin didn't do a good job, Bush cut the levee funds(.)

Bush Funding For New Orleans Delayed and Slashed 44.2% From 2001: Bush Budget Not Expected to Diminish New Orleans District's $65M New Orleans: DEON ROBERTS / New Orleans CityBusiness 7feb2005

Demma said she couldn't say exactly how much construction funding will be cut until the president's budget is released today. But it's down, she said.

The New Orleans district has at least $65 million in projects in need of fiscal year 2005 funding. In fiscal year 2006, the need more than doubles to at least $150 million.

Unfunded projects include widening drainage canals, flood- proofing bridges and building pumping stations in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. The Corps also wants to build levees in unprotected areas on the West Bank.

Demma does not expect the Corps to award many more projects before fiscal year 2005 ends.

The New Orleans district already owed about $11 million to construction companies after funding dried up last July, well before the end of the fiscal year. By paying its debt, the Corps lost money it could have spent on other projects in 2005.

Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans waited until November for the Corps to pay off a nearly $2 million debt, said Robert S. Boh, company president.

When the Corps doesn't pay its bills, companies like Boh Bros. either use internal funds or borrow money to continue work.

That is a tough burden that is placed on us, Boh said.

Boh said his situation was not as bad as construction companies working the Corps' Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.

The burden that reduced funding puts on us is that funds are not necessarily available in each fiscal year to pay for the construction work that we might be able to do, Boh said. They're running out of funds and presenting the contractor with a real dilemma.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to this Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness:

The "Katrina was a Cat. 5" line is false also, she had weakened to a Cat. 3 before hitting NO.

 

[daveman]

You do the crime, you do the time. Nagin's charges had nothing to do with Bush cutting the 20 year SELA budget though, that money went straight to the ACE; Nagin took bribes.

"....and brownie, you are doing a terrific job..."

(President Bush to Michael Brown a few days before firing him for having totally botched the Katrina disaster)

That's because Bush couldn't fire Nagin and Governor Blanco, who totally fucked up the state and city response.

The response to a disaster that could have prevented had the ACE SELA project been at the stage planned? Plannning for the project started under GHWB, was on schedule until Bush II started slashing planned yearly funds. Give it a rest, Nagin didn't do a good job, Bush cut the levee funds(.)

Bush Funding For New Orleans Delayed and Slashed 44.2% From 2001: Bush Budget Not Expected to Diminish New Orleans District's $65M New Orleans: DEON ROBERTS / New Orleans CityBusiness 7feb2005

Demma said she couldn't say exactly how much construction funding will be cut until the president's budget is released today. But it's down, she said.

The New Orleans district has at least $65 million in projects in need of fiscal year 2005 funding. In fiscal year 2006, the need more than doubles to at least $150 million.

Unfunded projects include widening drainage canals, flood- proofing bridges and building pumping stations in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. The Corps also wants to build levees in unprotected areas on the West Bank.

Demma does not expect the Corps to award many more projects before fiscal year 2005 ends.

The New Orleans district already owed about $11 million to construction companies after funding dried up last July, well before the end of the fiscal year. By paying its debt, the Corps lost money it could have spent on other projects in 2005.

Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans waited until November for the Corps to pay off a nearly $2 million debt, said Robert S. Boh, company president.

When the Corps doesn't pay its bills, companies like Boh Bros. either use internal funds or borrow money to continue work.

That is a tough burden that is placed on us, Boh said.

Boh said his situation was not as bad as construction companies working the Corps' Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.

The burden that reduced funding puts on us is that funds are not necessarily available in each fiscal year to pay for the construction work that we might be able to do, Boh said. They're running out of funds and presenting the contractor with a real dilemma.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to this Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness:

The "Katrina was a Cat. 5" line is false also, she had weakened to a Cat. 3 before hitting NO.

It was Nagin's responsibility to get his people out.

He failed. You can blame Bush for the ACE budget getting cut, but that in no way mitigates Nagin's failure.

 

[TrainTime]

The response to a disaster that could have prevented had the ACE SELA project been at the stage planned? Plannning for the project started under GHWB, was on schedule until Bush II started slashing planned yearly funds. Give it a rest, Nagin didn't do a good job, Bush cut the levee funds

Bullshit! The levee funds hadn't been spent on the levees in years....funneled off to crooks who either fudged the jobs or used inferior materials. Widely known and yet you bring this crap out to trick your own kind. Pitiful.

 

[Peach]

You do the crime, you do the time. Nagin's charges had nothing to do with Bush cutting the 20 year SELA budget though, that money went straight to the ACE; Nagin took bribes.

That's because Bush couldn't fire Nagin and Governor Blanco, who totally fucked up the state and city response.

The response to a disaster that could have prevented had the ACE SELA project been at the stage planned? Plannning for the project started under GHWB, was on schedule until Bush II started slashing planned yearly funds. Give it a rest, Nagin didn't do a good job, Bush cut the levee funds(.)

Bush Funding For New Orleans Delayed and Slashed 44.2% From 2001: Bush Budget Not Expected to Diminish New Orleans District's $65M New Orleans: DEON ROBERTS / New Orleans CityBusiness 7feb2005

Demma said she couldn't say exactly how much construction funding will be cut until the president's budget is released today. But it's down, she said.

The New Orleans district has at least $65 million in projects in need of fiscal year 2005 funding. In fiscal year 2006, the need more than doubles to at least $150 million.

Unfunded projects include widening drainage canals, flood- proofing bridges and building pumping stations in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. The Corps also wants to build levees in unprotected areas on the West Bank.

Demma does not expect the Corps to award many more projects before fiscal year 2005 ends.

The New Orleans district already owed about $11 million to construction companies after funding dried up last July, well before the end of the fiscal year. By paying its debt, the Corps lost money it could have spent on other projects in 2005.

Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans waited until November for the Corps to pay off a nearly $2 million debt, said Robert S. Boh, company president.

When the Corps doesn't pay its bills, companies like Boh Bros. either use internal funds or borrow money to continue work.

That is a tough burden that is placed on us, Boh said.

Boh said his situation was not as bad as construction companies working the Corps' Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.

The burden that reduced funding puts on us is that funds are not necessarily available in each fiscal year to pay for the construction work that we might be able to do, Boh said. They're running out of funds and presenting the contractor with a real dilemma.

Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans continued to subside.

Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars.

Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to this Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness:

The "Katrina was a Cat. 5" line is false also, she had weakened to a Cat. 3 before hitting NO.

It was Nagin's responsibility to get his people out.

He failed. You can blame Bush for the ACE budget getting cut, but that in no way mitigates Nagin's failure.

Hed the SELA project been a schedule, a Cat. 3 probably would not have broke through the levees. Nagin did not do a good job, correct. But his felonies over shadow his failure there. Nagin should have been prepared for a Cat. 5 actually, as she was only a day from shore.

 

[Vigilante]

 

[Warrior102]

Blame Bush Chocolate Boy… LOL!
Rot in hell dude.
You deserve it.

 

[Peach]

Nagin has "other priorities" than foreseeing a Cat. 3 that destroyed a section of the levees, he knew the project was behind schedule. He should have been ready for a Cat.5. Too busy looking for bribes to worry, it appears. The levee failure lays with Bush AND Congress, the aftermath: Nagin, Bush. Bush said "we dodged a bullet". Nagin went to higher ground before the storm hit. But Nagin is going to prison, Bush is in his condo, no longer pretending to be a rancher.

 

[daveman]

Hed the SELA project been a schedule, a Cat. 3 probably would not have broke through the levees. Nagin did not do a good job, correct. But his felonies over shadow his failure there. Nagin should have been prepared for a Cat. 5 actually, as she was only a day from shore.

Indeed.

Here's an article showing the history of NOLA's flood-control projects: Levees Weakened as New Orleans Board, Federal Engineers Feuded - Los Angeles Times Lots of corruption among city officials.

 

[Peach]

Hed the SELA project been a schedule, a Cat. 3 probably would not have broke through the levees. Nagin did not do a good job, correct. But his felonies over shadow his failure there. Nagin should have been prepared for a Cat. 5 actually, as she was only a day from shore.

Indeed.

Here's an article showing the history of NOLA's flood-control projects: Levees Weakened as New Orleans Board, Federal Engineers Feuded - Los Angeles Times Lots of corruption among city officials.

The 20 year project was behind schedule due to Bush budget cuts; none of which changes Nagin's responsibity to be prepared for the worst possible scenario.

 

[Peach]

Today is racist rants:

Black politicians are genetically predisposed to end up in jail.
They don't have the IQ's to 'keep it in their pants' fiscally.

That sounds very racist of you. What's up with that?

Quoting another rascist, anti-Semitic thing like yourself.

 

[daveman]

Hed the SELA project been a schedule, a Cat. 3 probably would not have broke through the levees. Nagin did not do a good job, correct. But his felonies over shadow his failure there. Nagin should have been prepared for a Cat. 5 actually, as she was only a day from shore.

Indeed.

Here's an article showing the history of NOLA's flood-control projects: Levees Weakened as New Orleans Board, Federal Engineers Feuded - Los Angeles Times Lots of corruption among city officials.

The 20 year project was behind schedule due to Bush budget cuts; none of which changes Nagin's responsibity to be prepared for the worst possible scenario.

OMG. "Bush!!"

Didn't you even read the article?