The devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the disastrous bureaucratic bungling of its aftermath happened a year ago, now.

And yet, despite President Bush's many promises televised live from New Orleans' Jackson Square, very little has been achieved to restore the lives and homes of most residents of New Orleans and other hard-hit Gulf Coast areas.

AP reports, "Billions of promised federal dollars to fix New Orleans' crumbling infrastructure have gone largely untapped a year after Hurricane Katrina. City officials complain that a snarl of red tape, restrictions and unexpectedly high costs have kept hundreds of public buildings in disrepair, streets pocked with potholes and most parks too dirty for children to play...

'We're not asking for a lot. At this point, we're just looking for basic services: power, gas, water. Sewer that doesn't back up into your house would be nice too,' said Jeb Bruneau, president of the neighborhood association in the Lakeview area."

According to AP, "So far, the city has collected only $117 million to start the repair work in what has been billed as the largest urban restoration in U.S. history." The Bush Administration spends $177 million in Iraq DAILY, and New Orleans has received $117 million in a year for repair work?

Do the math: In one year, New Orleans has received from the federal government what the feds spend in 16 measly hours in Iraq.

I struggle for words to convey my disgust with most Bush Administration spending priorities, but particularly with the White House's criminal neglect of American citizens in the post-Katrina Gulf Coast.

(I fervently hope that images of the New Orleans Superdome, and of Spike Lee's new documentary on the post-Katrina Gulf coast, are fresh in voters minds this November.)

However, John Edwards, the former senator turned Director of the Center on Poverty, Work, and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina, penned eloquently this week about Hurricane Katrina victims... the devastation, the heroism, the lack of economic justice, and where we go from here.

Please take a few moments to read John Edwards on Responding to Hurricane Katrina Victims One Year Later.

Related Reading
Article in 2004 Predicted New Orleans Flooding: Bush Budget Cuts Blamed
Bush Acknowledges Government's Katrina Failures, US Gov't Info at About.com
Images of New Orleans Devastation, Special Report by Guardian Unlimited
New Orleans Awaits Billions in Federal Aid, AP via Yahoo News on August 25, 2006