"What we are left with is a spectacular failure of government," the report's conclusion on Page 62 states. "Prior to the flooding of New Orleans, Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform... publicly stated... 'I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.' It seems he got his wish, at least for the people of New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina should and undoubtedly will force us to reexamine prevalent notions of the market fundamentalists... It was under-funding that contributed to the flooding of New Orleans, and to the delinquent response."
Congressional Democrats had boycotted the panel at first because they were concerned that the scope of the Bipartisan Committee would not provide enough scrutiny. However, Rep. McKinney participated anyway.
"The Republicans by and large have accepted the Republican report. The Democrats are now changing their mind about it. They had previously called the panel a sham, but now the Hill Newspaper reports there are some Democrats who are changing their mind about the work of the panel," Rep. McKinney told Atlanta Progressive News.
"Now the Democrats are putting together a Task Force and I intend to ask to serve on that Task Force by the Democratic Caucus under the leadership of Jim Clyburn," Rep. McKinney said.
"It was too important not to participate," she said. "It's like asking a voter to boycott an election. We can't boycott elections, we have to overwhelm elections with our voters."
The renegade Congresswoman also says working on the bipartisan panel with numerous Republicans taught her something about looking past party lines. "I learned that we shouldn't automatically judge... I won't be partisan... I learned that all Republicans are not interested in covering up the truth. We should stay away from generalizations," Rep. McKinney said.
But that's not all Rep. McKinney found in her inquiry. "I learned how incompetent [DHS Director] Michael Chertoff really is, but then the whole country is seeing that as well," she said.
So, why is a Congresswoman from Georgia taking the lead in regards to a Hurricane that didn't physically hit her District?
"My District was hit by Katrina because the entirety of the US was hit by Hurricane Katrina and our country can't suffer through such a tragedy and revert to regionalism or parochialism," Rep. McKinney explained to Atlanta Progressive News.
"Hurricane Katrina is an American problem and all Americans have to care," she said.
Atlanta Progressive News also participated in a recent Hurricane Katrina Town Hall Meeting that Congresswoman McKinney hosted in Clarkston, Georgia, in her House District, about two weeks ago. The photographs above of the Congresswoman and her Katrina evacuee constituents used for this article were taken at that event.
About the author:
Matthew Cardinale is a Katrina Evacuee from New Orleans, and is Editor of Atlanta Progressive News. After evacuating to Atlanta in October 2005, Mr. Cardinale almost immediately started Atlanta Progressive News.
Prior to Katrina, he was actually planning on starting New Orleans Street News, a plan which is currently on hold until better levees prevail. This article is the first in an ongoing series of APN coverage of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Mr. Cardinale may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com
Congressional Democrats had boycotted the panel at first because they were concerned that the scope of the Bipartisan Committee would not provide enough scrutiny. However, Rep. McKinney participated anyway.
"The Republicans by and large have accepted the Republican report. The Democrats are now changing their mind about it. They had previously called the panel a sham, but now the Hill Newspaper reports there are some Democrats who are changing their mind about the work of the panel," Rep. McKinney told Atlanta Progressive News.
"Now the Democrats are putting together a Task Force and I intend to ask to serve on that Task Force by the Democratic Caucus under the leadership of Jim Clyburn," Rep. McKinney said.
The renegade Congresswoman also says working on the bipartisan panel with numerous Republicans taught her something about looking past party lines. "I learned that we shouldn't automatically judge... I won't be partisan... I learned that all Republicans are not interested in covering up the truth. We should stay away from generalizations," Rep. McKinney said.
But that's not all Rep. McKinney found in her inquiry. "I learned how incompetent [DHS Director] Michael Chertoff really is, but then the whole country is seeing that as well," she said.
So, why is a Congresswoman from Georgia taking the lead in regards to a Hurricane that didn't physically hit her District?
"My District was hit by Katrina because the entirety of the US was hit by Hurricane Katrina and our country can't suffer through such a tragedy and revert to regionalism or parochialism," Rep. McKinney explained to Atlanta Progressive News.
"Hurricane Katrina is an American problem and all Americans have to care," she said.
Atlanta Progressive News also participated in a recent Hurricane Katrina Town Hall Meeting that Congresswoman McKinney hosted in Clarkston, Georgia, in her House District, about two weeks ago. The photographs above of the Congresswoman and her Katrina evacuee constituents used for this article were taken at that event.
About the author:
Matthew Cardinale is a Katrina Evacuee from New Orleans, and is Editor of Atlanta Progressive News. After evacuating to Atlanta in October 2005, Mr. Cardinale almost immediately started Atlanta Progressive News.
Prior to Katrina, he was actually planning on starting New Orleans Street News, a plan which is currently on hold until better levees prevail. This article is the first in an ongoing series of APN coverage of the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. Mr. Cardinale may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com
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