Shame … Shame … Shame …

by   |  August 29, 2007

Two years ago today, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast ripping lives and property to shreds. The storm also tore a gaping hole in our nation’s façade, revealing to Americans and the world the impoverished lives of some U.S. citizens and the Bush administration’s pitiful response to the disaster.

AFSCME member Michele Baker and her husband, Alex, survey the damage at their home after Hurricane Katrina. Nearly two years later, AFSCME members and their families exemplify the plight of many Gulf Coast families who are still struggling in the wake of the Bush administration’s shocking neglect of public services and inept response to America’s greatest natural disaster. (See: “AFSCME Members Continue the Struggle to Rebuild” at AFSCME.org)

The Times Picayune reported yesterday that compared with two years ago in New Orleans:

• There are 42 percent fewer hospital beds available;
• There are only 50 percent as many schools open; and
• A shocking 80 percent of the levee system is still not meeting its original authorized height.

The AFL-CIO Now Blog rightly titles its post on the Katrina anniversary “Our National Shame.”