Former NOLA Mayor Ray Nagin Found Guilty of Bribery, Fraud, Laundering in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Funny how these things work out:

So it turns out that Ray Nagin, the Democratic ex-mayor of New Orleans best known for his furious denunciations of the Bush administration in their response to Hurricane Katrina, wasn’t exactly acting with the city’s best interests at heart himself. The guy left office in 2010 with bottom-of-the-barrel approval ratings and insisted that he wouldn’t be running for political office again — and I think this just about seals the deal on that. The sentencing is still to come, but each of the 20 charges of which he was convicted carries a sentence of at least several years, and he could be looking at a nice long prison term. Via CNN:

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, whose desperate pleas for help during Hurricane Katrina drew national attention, walked silently out of a courthouse Wednesday after a jury convicted him of federal corruption charges.

Nagin was elected as a reformer in 2002. But after a two-week trial that began in late January, he was found guilty of 20 out of 21 counts of bribery, money laundering, fraud and filing false tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The sole acquittal was on one of the bribery counts. …

The charges detailed more than $200,000 in bribes to the mayor, and his family members allegedly received a vacation in Hawaii; first-class airfare to Jamaica; private jet travel and a limousine for New York City; and cellular phone service. In exchange, businesses that coughed up cash for Nagin and his family won more than $5 million in city contracts, according to the January 2013 indictment.

In a nutshell, he used the opportunity of the Katrina recovery effort to kick city contracts back to any vendors that offered to sweeten the deal, while simultaneously blustering about the incompetence and corruption of everybody else’s post-Katrina commitment. What a swell guy.

RELATED:  Many Louisiana Republicans blame President Obama for Hurricane Katrina response

Obama Administration Asking Hurricane Katrina Victims To Give Back Money

Need further proof that the "first black President" doesn't give a rat's ass about black people? Yunno, that 95% electorate that voted for him in 2008 mostly based off the color of his skin. Since Barry came into office three years ago he's not only visited New Orleans all but a handful of times, but has also okayed a moratorium on deep-water drilling, which has put thousands of jobs at risk and angered many in Louisiana. And now through FEMA, Barry has the nerve to ask Hurricane Katrina victims for their money back?!? Yet despite all of this, black liberals who've never met a liberal Democrat politician that they didn't like, will no doubt stand behind Barry in 2012 even while he continues to ignore their needs and wants:

When the Federal Emergency Management Agency mailed out 83,000 debt notices this year to victims of Hurricane Katrina and other 2005 storms, one of the letters showed up in David Bellinger’s mailbox. Bellinger, who is blind, needed a friend to read it and break the news that FEMA wants him to pay back more than $3,200 in federal aid he received after Katrina.


“I nearly had a stroke,” recalls the 63-year-old, who moved to Atlanta after the storm wrecked his New Orleans home. “I’m totally blind. I subsist entirely on a Social Security disability check. If I have to pay this money back, it would pretty much wipe out all the savings I have.”


Many other Gulf Coast hurricane victims are in the same position, angry and frustrated at the prospect of repaying money they spent years ago as they tried to rebuild their lives.


FEMA is seeking to recover more than $385 million it says was improperly paid to victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. The debts, which average about $4,622 per recipient, represent slightly less than 5 percent of the roughly $8 billion that FEMA distributed after the storms. At least some of the overpayments were due to FEMA employees’ own mistakes, ranging from clerical errors to failing to interview applicants, according to congressional testimony.


But the agency says it is required by law to make an effort to recover improper payments, even if the recipient wasn’t at fault. Last week, however, Congress approved legislation that would allow FEMA to waive many of the debts. President Barack Obama signed the measure - part of a $1 trillion spending package - into law last Friday.


FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen said the agency is reviewing the law’s provisions and developing a plan to implement them. It remains to be seen how many recipients of FEMA money could benefit from the change.


Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat who sponsored the provision, said disaster victims shouldn’t be punished because FEMA was “dysfunctional.”


“They have significantly improved the process,” Landrieu said. “This is very unlikely to happen again.”

Politiks As Usual: In The News 8/29/11

Al Gore Calls Climate Change Skeptics 'Racists'

Why Is The MSM So Ignorant About Religion?

Colin Powell Blasts Dick Cheney's 'Cheap Shots'

Did Major Media Overdo Coverage Of Hurricane Irene?

Excluding Prayer From 9/11 Memorial Compounds The Tragedy Of That Day

Obama's War On The Secret Ballot

Surprise! New Fall TV Lineup Heavy On Sex

Rick Perry Bills Feds $349M For Incarcerating Illegals

Minister: Obama's $50,000-a-Week Vacation A 'Disgrace' In Light Of Economy

NBC's Ann Curry, CNN's Don Lemon Headline 'Revolutionary' Gay Journalist Convention

Pollsters: Modern History Shows Obama Can't Win In 2012

Genocide Continues In Sudan, Christian Group Seeks Congressional Help

Battle For New Orleans, 6 Years After Katrina

Politiks As Usual: In The News 8/29/10

Fire At Proposed Tenn. Mosque Site Probed By Feds

Gay-Themed Shows Win Big At Emmy's 

Patients Have Nothing To Fear From Atheist Doctors 


Hurricane Katrina And The Race Card: 5 Years Later


More Government To Protect Us From Ourselves


John Mayer Flips Out On Huffington Post, Says Website Is 'Full of S***'


Dr. Alveda King: ‘Coretta Scott King Knew That Her Husband Was Pro-Life'

'Hipster' Christianity vs. Authenticity 

Howard Kurtz Smacks Down Bill Press for Comparing Glenn Beck to Al Qaeda

Obama Wants Change To Allow Thousands Of Illegals to Stay in US

What The Left Needs Is A Sarah Palin Of Their Own

Time To End The Criminal-Punishment Binge

Obama Slams 'Lies' About His Background, Beliefs

Spike Lee Blasts President Obama on Oil Spill Response

FOXNews.com:

Spike Lee takes President Obama to task for mishandling the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. 

"I don't know why Obama ever trusted these BP guys! They would lie to their mothers," Lee opines to GQ's Mark Healy. "[Former BP president Tony] Hayward does not give a [bleep]. The thing we don't talk about is that 11 Americans lost their lives and it took seven weeks to invite their families

to the White House. I'm not trying to bash my man, but that's a long time." 

Lee also blamed "environmental racism" for the slow response: "If this oil spill would have reached the Hamptons, Martha's Vineyard [where Spike summers], Cape Cod, that [bleep] would have been fixed."

Politiks As Usual: In The News 5/24/10

Louisiana Demands Federal Action On Dredge Plan

South Korea: North 'Will Pay' For Surprise Torpedo Attack

Joe Sestak Confirms WH Job Offer To Get Out Of Senate Race

It's Not 'Anti-Incumbency,' Stupid: It's 'Anti-Liberalism'

Obama Exporting Chicago's Misery To A City Near You

The Miley Cyrus Effect: Young Girls Acting Like (Trashy) Adults

Texas Adopts New Social Studies Curriculum

Sorry, Mr. President: Socialism's Not In The Bible

Senate Democrats Pass Bill Allowing Gov't To Collect Addresses, ATM Records

Gallup: More Have 'No Religious Identity'

17 More States Planning Ariz. 'Illegal' Crackdown

Obama's Model 'Green' Country? Denmark Evicts Citizens

Has Reality TV Become Black Women's Enemy?

Politiks As Usual: In The News 10/19/09

White House: 3.6 Million Jobs Lost Is "Quite Positive"

Sarah Palin Posts Resume On LinkedIn

Obama Administration To Allow Use Of Medical Marijuana

Island Nation Of Maldives Holds Cabinet Meeting Underwater To Combat Global Warming

Lawsuit Seeks To Halt U.S. Swine Flu Shots

Al Sharpton. Today's Orval Faubus

6 Steps To Save New Orleans

Critics Slam Obama For Picking Fight With FOX

The Roman Polanski Culture: Hollywood's Push To Normalize Sex With Children

Chicago Mayor Squelches 'Bubble Zone' Opponents

Sex Ed Should Not Promote Only Marriage Or Heterosexual Relationships, Liberals Say

Barack Obama Doesn't Care About Black People Part 3: Takes 9 Months To Visit Hurricane Savaged New Orleans

ABCNews.com:

Slightly more than four years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, President Obama is traveling to New Orleans today to fulfill a campaign promise to survey first-hand the city's recovery.

Obama will visit the Martin Luther King Charter School in the city's Lower 9th Ward, a neighborhood devastated by the floodwaters of Katrina after the city's levees were breached. The charter school was the first to be rebuilt following Katrina. On the second anniversary of the hurricane, former President George W. Bush visited the school and met with Louisiana education officials.

Obama will also hold a town hall meeting with members of the New Orleans community.

But before the president even steps foot on the ground in Louisiana, critics in the region have taken aim at the administration on several fronts: They fault him for waiting nine months before going to New Orleans, staying for only four hours and not going to any of the other states affected by the devastating 2005 storm, such as Mississippi and Alabama.

Another sign of the sad state that is the GOP displays itself again when you wonder why they haven't attacked Obama's blatant ignorance regarding issues affecting the Black community. While the radically, Far-Left president has made it his business to be hands-on with matters of concern to his white, liberal base (gay "rights", climate change, health reform, etc.), Obama has dissed his huge base of Black liberals time and time again.

Whether it's the fact that he still hasn't spoken on the death of Derrion Albert, done nothing to address the plight of guns and gun traffic in the inner-city or taking 9 months to visit New Orleans (and only staying for 4 hours!), Barry has provided the GOP with plenty of fodder to show once again how much liberal Democrats take the Black vote for granted. Mind you, who showed more love for Barry during his presidential campaign last year than Black liberals? Yet they've received nothing in return. It says a lot about the current leadership of the GOP that they haven't exploited this issue.

On Katrina Anniversary, Barack Obama Still Has Yet To Visit New Orleans

WSJ.com:

On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to call attention to the human and political tragedies brought on by the 2005 storm, which killed more than 1,800 people and displaced about 1 million more.

He’s also pledging to visit New Orleans before the end of this year, as concerns continue to mount in the Gulf Coast about the halting progress of recovery efforts from the 2005 storm.

Obama’s administration has heaped attention on the storm-ravaged coast since he took office, following campaign promises to “commit myself every day to keeping up Washington’s end of the bargain.” Eleven cabinet members visited the Gulf thus far, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan.

But in a front-page editorial Friday, the Times-Picayune of New Orleans reminded Obama of his promises, urging the president himself to return to the city he visited repeatedly as a senator, but not once since moving into the White House.

There’s no substitute, the newspaper said, “for the focus, the energy, the commitment that a president alone can bestow. There’s no substitute for you, as president, seeing our recovery and its halting progress with your own eyes, for taking time to walk in our shoes. So we ask you to bring your considerable intellect, your problem-solving ability, your influence to bear. When a president pays attention, so does the nation.”

For all the hoopla that surrounded Barack Obama becoming the "1st Black President" last November, isn't it ironic, on the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, that Barry has yet to visit Louisiana? Consider the amount of abuse liberals hurled at Barry's predecessor, George W. Bush, for supposedly failing to do enough in the wake of Katrina, much less taking "too long" to visit. Consider the pass the liberal media gave to Democrats such as former Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco (who decided to not run again for gov after LA voters condemned her for the many mistakes she made before and after Katrina) and the inept mayor Ray Nagin (who somehow was rewarded with re-elected despite his many fails). Consider the amount of attention given to egotistical, lightweight, political "pundit" Kanye West's "George Bush doesn't care about Black people" comment after Katrina.

Well, if Barack Obama cares about Black people, he sure hasn't shown it much, has he? Well, except when his personal friend and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. gets railroaded by an idiot cop. Yet, half-white, liberal elitist Obama, who just returned from a week-long vacation with his family in the predominantly white (and lavish) Martha's Vineyard, can't even make it his business to stop by an area still in ruins, where many of his Black electorate united and rallied around, now some 7 months into his presidency? Once again the silence by Obama stans and Black liberals in general, on Barack Obama's failure to take on issues affecting the Black community, is deafening.

President Bush: Conservative of the Week

Age: 62

Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut

Claim To Fame: 43rd President of the United States

Why He’s Conservative of the Week: for finally getting back at a media that’s placed all the blame on him for the response to Hurricane Katrina. In his final news conference Bush, rightfully, got agitated at a reporter’s question concerning the time of the government’s response: "Don't tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs" not long after the hurricane passed over the Gulf Coast. While the President went on to admit that there were some things he could’ve done differently, this was the first time Bush told his side of the story on Katrina.

Of course, Bush could’ve also mentioned he himself pleaded with then-Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to evacuate the city before the storm hit, but Blanco and Nagin (who were feuding at the time) didn’t want to “federalize” the disaster. Or that in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina, Nagin didn’t use hundreds of buses that were sitting in bus yards, some less than a mile from the Superdome, to evacuate citizens who were too poor to make their way out of the city. Or that the inept leadership of Nagin and Blanco (who got so much heat from her handling of Katrina that she chose not to run for re-election in ’06) was also displayed when they failed to implement the city's evacuation plan, and then directed residents to emergency shelters without food, water, sanitation or security provided. But why do all of that when a media that despises you will continue to spin the response to Katrina how they want it so the blame all falls solely on your shoulders anyway?

50 Cent: God makes hurricanes, NOT Bush

Rapper 50 Cent is showing some guts and not joining the choris of whining liberals who blame the President for the response to Hurricane Katrina.

NEW YORK Nov 2, 2005 — Rap feuds aren't usually about differing opinions on President Bush. However, that appears to be the case between 50 Cent and Kanye West. 50 says he disagrees with West's infamous statement that "George Bush doesn't care about black people," proclaimed during a September telethon for Hurricane Katrina victims.

"I think people responded to it the best way they can," 50 told ContactMusic.com. "What Kanye West was saying, I don't know where that came from." Instead, 50 said, "The New Orleans disaster was meant to happen. It was an act of God."

Amen!

Deranged liberals have continued to exploit the response to Hurricane Katrina as a vehicle to feed their hatred for President Bush. And sadly, many Blacks have bought the con, naively buying into Kanye West's now-infamous barb and even going so far as to buy into Louis Farrakhan's lunatic rant that somehow Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flooding of New Orleans were all part of a plot to kill and disperse the Black population. Farrakhan would go on to suggest that the levees were intentionally blown up to murder poor Blacks in the region. So, if were to believe Farrakhan, the delay in getting to some of the evacuees had nothing to do with the failings of Black Mayor Ray Nagin or even Governor Kathleen Blanco, but instead to a federal government that was hell bent on genocide.

To no ones surprise Democratic Rep. and noted Dick Cheney hater Charlie Rangel joined in the racial outcry following Hurricane Katrina, accusing President Bush of being “our Bull Connor,” in reference to the Birmingham, Alabama police commissioner who resisted the Civil Rights Movement (and happened to be a Democrat).

Meanwhile, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other such opportunists/race baiters focused on the great injustice of the word “refugees” being applied (sympathetically) to displaced New Orleans residents by the media. Indeed, no accusation became too absurd in their attempts to get the most out of the disaster spotlight.

But here's what Farrakhan and the Left WON'T tell you about the response to Katrina: according to Jack Kelly, of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the federal response to Hurricane Katrina was actually faster than years past.

In the article, Kelly points out that:

- more than 32,000 people were rescued, many plucked from rooftops by Coast Guard helicopters.
- The Army Corps of Engineers has all but repaired the breaches and begun pumping water out of New Orleans.
- shelter, food and medical care have been provided to more than 180,000 refugees.

Florida Army National Guardsman, Jason van Steenwyk, said: "The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."

A former Air Force Logistics officer said: "We do not yet have teleporter or replicator technology like you saw on 'Star Trek' in college between hookah hits and waiting to pick up your worthless communications degree while the grown-ups actually engaged in the recovery effort were studying engineering."

Let's not forget that it was Mayor Nagin who originally went on TV and claimed on all the major news networks that the possible deaths in New Orleans could reach 10,000 -- yet the Left had little reaction to the 1200+ who ended up losing their lives.

I'm not a big fan of 50 Cent or any of his self-made controversies, but in this case he should garner plenty of kudos for speaking the truth.

Ray Nagin: Mayor No Not Me

The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses. - Napoleon Hill

Well, it's official, the votes have been tallied and the results are in: New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin is an idiot. Mind you, I don't use the term "idiot" lightly, but every time I read another Ray Nagin quote I can't help but envision the dunce cap on his head getting taller. Yet the mayor's continued malfeasance regarding the response to Hurricane Katrina not only shows you that he hasn't learned anything in regards to accepting ANY kind of responsibility, but also reminds you that he's nothing more then just another politician:

From CNN.com -

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says businesses in some parts of the city will reopen this weekend, and residents of the Algiers neighborhood will be welcomed back next week. Announcing the gradual return, officials also warned of remaining health threats.

New Orleans health director Kevin Stephens stressed warnings to returning residents about one key contaminant, the bacteria E coli.

The French Quarter is scheduled to be re-opened to residents on the Monday after next. Mayor Nagin said city officials are being especially cautious with the area because of its historic significance.

Earlier this week, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco took responsibility for the lack of speedy state action in the Hurricane Katrina crisis. President Bush followed that up last week by taking responsibility for federal mistakes and slow action. But while a city lies in ruins and dead bodies continue to be found, the mayor is busy inviting everybody back home despite warnings from the head of the federal disaster relief team that the city just isn't near ready for habitants yet.

How does this guy do it? How is Ray Nagin able to escape blame despite his continued acts of complete and utter ineptitude in handling leadership? How is Ray Nagin excluded from the Liberal Blame Game despite the fact that even residents of N.O. are more upset with their mayor then anyone else for the response to Katrina? Could his race have something to do with it? Of course. Especially considering how much the liberal media has unashamedly played up the race card throughout this whole thing. Failure occurred at ALL levels, but thanks to liberals Ray Nagin may never have to face the music.

The same Ray Nagin who went on national TV crying while claiming that 10,000 dead bodies may be found (less then 1,000 have been found so far). The same Ray Nagin, mayor of a town where 400 buses lie underwater, 400 buses that could have been used to evacuate those in the Superdome prior to the disaster. Nagin was also made aware more than three days before landfall, but did not push for an evacuation until a day and a half before. Nagin also didn't push for total evacuation of those who did not have the resources to leave on their own.

And keep in mind that the federal authorities did not have the legal jurisdiction to force an evacuation. That power lay with the state and local authorities -- in other words, with Nagin and Blanco. The two of them clearly did not act in the best interest of their constituents, despite their statements to the contrary on television and in various media over the past week. But give Blanco some credit for finally taking herself to task, when will it be Ray Nagin's turn?

FEMA President Resigns

Granted, no one could defend the horrible job Michael Brown was doing in regards to how he's managed Hurricane Katrina and the Times article on his bogus resume was definitely the final nail in the coffin. Yet, its sad that the Left would see this as a "victory" in that they show no shame in continuing to exploit a tragedy due to their relentless hatred for Bush, all the while the search for dead bodies in New Orleans keeps going..

And for the "selective memory"-challenged libs castigating Bush for helping out a friend, should we remind them about Denise Rich?