"A message from homeless New Orleanians" - Katrina victims buy ad in paper

[Kadie]

Katrina Victims Hope Holiday Ad Prompts Action

POSTED: 1:31 pm PST December 11, 2005


WASHINGTON -- Some Hurricane Katrina victims are hoping a newspaper ad keeps them in front of Congress during the holidays. They've raised more than $10,000 to buy an ad in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.

The ad is called "A message from homeless New Orleanians." It says many storm victims have lived like refugees in their own country. It also says they're still waiting for Congress to spearhead the rebuilding of flood protection in New Orleans.

One resident said the ad should remind lawmakers that many New Orleans area residents won't be able to go home for Christmas.

http://www.kcra.com/news/5512988/detail.html

[Maraya1969]

1. They should remind lawmakers that they vote.

[skids]

10. Do they?

How much do you want to bet that they get effectively disenfranchised for the 2006 elections due to their relocation?

:grr:

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. There was a thread here today on that very topic.

They cannot vote absentee. They have to go to Louisiana to register (since they have changed residence) and to vote.

[waiting for hope]

2. "Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call"

Shameless! They took money for this from victims of the hurricane? Couldn't a more compassionate paper come forward and footed the bill? God, what crap.....

[shenmue]

6. Good point

:bluebox: :shrug:

[RagingInMiami]

3. Good for them

I hope others with money take up their cause and continue the ads.

[obxhead]

4. A march on the capitol would be more effective I think.

The MSM would surely cover that kind of protest.

[mcscajun]

7. There's a march planned for this Wednesday, actually...

...let's see if the CorporateMedia bothers about it.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1979954&mesg_id=1979954

[sandnsea]

11. They've been to the Capitol

There was a fundraiser back in October for Katrina victims to go to DC and try to get help. "Storm the Capitol" I think it was called. Did you see any mention of it on the teevee? Neither did I. But a few teen-agers fighting in Houston, now that's NEWS!!

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=3196

[Ian David]

5. Relying on the value of their message rather than a lobbyists dollars

How quaint.

[strategery blunder]

8. K and R

Now on the Greatest page.

:kick:

[Kadie]

16. .

Thanks.

This story saddens me so. I can't believe the lengths they need to go to so they will not be forgotten. Heartbreaking.

[babsbunny]

9. Nothing anyone does is effective!

We are in HELL!!!!!!!!

[Rex]

12. Waste of money, Congress is to busy building bridges to no where.

They don't work for us anymore (well a few do, but most work for lobbyist).

[Karenina]

13. Another waste of money is

the THOUSANDS of empty trailers parked in ARKANSAS.

[Wordie]

15. I emailed this to Keith Olbermann. Anyone have Anderson Cooper's email

address? Or Ron Reagan's?

This is something we have to make sure stays in the msm.

Edited to add: recommended.

[Kadie]

17. Maybe this will work

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?10

It is the only thing I found at CNN for Anderson Cooper.

Don't know about Ron Reagan. Is he still on the air? Wasn't his show just cancelled?

[Wordie]

18. That was all I could find for Cooper, too. Odd. Seems like there ought

to be a better way to contact him. And I heard someone else say Ron Reagan's show was cancelled, but then saw him on air after that, just last week. The website for the show is really out of date, I noticed. I hope it isn't cancelled. I like Ron Reagan. He is a breath of fresh air. Do you have any info from MSNBC saying it was cancelled?

[Kadie]

22. I found this

[e-mail]

on the DU activist page at...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=8816&mesg_id=8816

All I know about Ron Reagan's show being canceled is what I have read here at DU.

[Wordie]

25. Hey! Thanks a lot! I'll send it off right away. And as far as R.Reagan's

show is concerned, I still see it listed on the MSNBC TV page, and the page for the show, Connected: Coast to Coast is still there, too (although it's still somewhat out of date - the most recent date I see is Dec. 5, but I know they've been on since then). When I looked before, though, the email links that appear after some of the articles are dead. Maybe they are wondering how come they aren't getting much feedback!

For anyone curious about the show, here's the link to it's webpage:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6862172/

[Wordie]

26. It's true about R. Reagan's show being cancelled. I found this:

Join us for our final show.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6862172/

...referring to last Friday's show. It was in an article on the site. Oh, how sad. I'm disappointed. I really liked his reporting. Maybe it was the Monica Crowley problem. I hope they find something else for him.

[Kadie]

27. Thanks for the info.

I hope they find something else for him too.

[Wordie]

30. I think I'll write an email to MSNBC asking that he have a new show. eom

[jbnow]

19. They talked about NOLA

on meet the press. They read an editorial from a NOLA newspaper. One of the panelists said bush hasn't been there once for 2 months. He gave the big speech and big promises when the public was so unhappy with how he handled Katrina.
Now that it's out of the spotlight he pretends its not there anymore, as though to bring it up would remind people of how bad he'd done. No one began to defend him. Seemed to be it has to get back in the spotlight to make him move, remind him of his promises. They said it was the shortest "war on poverty in history"

So what is Congress's excuse? I think it's the same damn thing, they ignore it because they can. They went right to helping the rich and screwing the poor.

This ad is a great idea but it should blare in every paper's headlines every day. Both the horrible conditions and all the missing people.

How did we turn away so quickly?

By the way on the show they also said that they and even some Republican's hope the Dem's get a majority back. They said we need that to be able to effect legislation and hold hearings.
That is very true, but people from NOLA can't wait till 06!

[EFerrari]

20. Has the CBC had a press conference about this lately?

There should be a way to gather $ to keep that ad there.

[cyberpj]

21. Any way to get a copy of the ad - I want to mail it to all my reps too.

I don't want any of them saying they didn't see it.

In fact, I might mail one a day for the next month - all through the holidays.

[Kadie]

28. I'm going to try to keep an eye out for the ad.

I will see if I can find out anything else on this story.

[Kadie]

31. I think I found it!

Homeless Katrina Victims Forced To Take Out Ad To Get Congress’ Attention

According to one of President Bush’s advisers, Katrina “has fallen so far off the radar screen, you can’t find it.” Meanwhile, Congress has not yet approved funding to repair New Orleans’ broken levee system. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has threatened to keep the Senate in session through holiday recess unless funding is approved for flood protection, and she is backing a D.C. rally tomorrow that hopes to bring attention to the issue.

more...
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/12/13/homeless-katrina-victims/

the ad... pdf file...
http://thinkprogress.org/wp-images/upload/RollCallad.pdf

[kevinbgoode]

23. Shameless!!! Every one of those congresspeople

should have families at their mansions for the holidays...it continues to be an outrage to me that this country would let people wander aimlessly because this Administration is too busy fighting with the American Taliban over a stinking "holiday" card.

[CornField]

24. "remind the federal government of its obligations to help"

That's the last line when you click through to the article. I guess I'm curious, does the government have an obligation to help? I can see where ethically and morally there is an obligation, but is there a legal one as well?

I believe since so many have stood up to say that New Orleans will rise again, they should be held to their word. I just don't think 'obligation' is the correct term to be used here.

[Catherine Vincent]

29. They (Congress) just voted themselves a raise.

Maybe now they could do more?

[earth mom]

32. How sad and shocking that they have to go to this kind of extreme!

What a f-cked up country this is! What f-cked up people are in office! :grr: