Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both made pledges of more federal aid to victims of hurricane Katrina during campaign stops in Louisiana.These two Democratic Presidential hopefuls made speeches in front of the National Conference of Black Mayors on Saturday were they both took shots at the Bush administration's foreign and domestic policies of the last six years.
Sen. Clinton told these conference members how shocked and appalled she was to see people on rooftops begging to be rescued from the flooding caused by Katrina. Sen. Clinton said the Bush response to this disaster was complete incompetence.
In a morning speech that was punctuated with applause, Sen. Clinton went on to say that is a great injustice when our own American people are denied required resources, but she said this should come as no surprise since most Americans are invisible to President Bush.
Sen. Obama gave a speech later in the day that had to be moved to a larger venue than the one used by Clinton during the morning. Organizers of this conference said the venue change was necessitated by a much higher interest amongst reporters and conference members in hearing Sen. Obama speak.
Sen. Barack Obama noted the size of his crowd was much bigger because people are yearning for governmental change. This huge crowd gave Sen. Obama standing ovations throughout his speech.
During his speech Sen. Obama noted how New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has been going through so much lately. However, during her speech, Sen. Clinton did not mention the name of the New Orleans mayor once when speaking about the challenges facing mayors.
Sen. Obama said the federal government should invest roughly $250 million for schools in New Orleans because these schools were neglected even before Katrina hit the area. Sen. Obama said that not only should the federal government be cleaning up the mess left by Katrina, but the federal government also has the responsibilty of cleaning up the mess that was in New Orleans prior to this disater.
Sen. Obama also mentioned that only 16 votes are required to override any Bush veto on Iraq, and that there is a certain Republican Senator from Louisiana who needs to change his vote. Sen. Obama was referring to Sen. David Vitter because the other Senator from Louisiana is a Democrat.
Of course Sen. Obama must have been speaking hypothetically because the vote of Sen. Vitter is really a moot point since the House of Representative has yet to override any Bush veto on Iraq funding.
The Bush administration pointed out that over $110 billion has been earmarked for rebuilding the Gulf Coast area that was devastated by Katrina in August of 2005. However, because of continued finger pointing amongst federal, state and local officials, including those in New Orleans, the pace of recovery has been slowed down.
Amber Wilkerson, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said that while the Bush administration was focused on, and offering solutions, to rebuilding the Gulf Coast, Sen. Clinton was off pandering and making the Gulf Coast rebuilding effort a political issue.
Even though a judge issued an order against a Louisiana State University student to be held on a million dollar bond because of a death threat this student made against Sen. Clinton, it appeared no additional security was made for this event. It should be noted that Sens. Clinton and Obama all ready have Secret Service security wherever they go.
Sen. Obama also said to boggles the mind that the 10 percent match of FEMA ( Federal Emergency Management Administration ) money has not been waived for the Katrina relief effort as it was for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and for hurricanes which have hit Florida.
Read more about Clinton and Obama at Yahoo News
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