Video surfaces of Obama in 2007 suggesting racism slowed aid to post-Katrina

[ChiefsandO'sfan]

It's the Obama speech on race you probably haven't heard.

In June 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama told a mostly black audience of ministers that the country's leaders "don't care about" New Orleans residents, suggesting the city was neglected in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina because of institutional racism, according to a an unedited video uncovered by The Daily Caller.

In the address, delivered during the upswing of the Democratic presidential primary season, candidate Obama specifically criticizes in outspoken terms the decision not to waive a federal law known as the Stafford Act that requires communities hit by disasters to match 10 percent of federal aid.

“When 9/11 happened in New York City, they waived the Stafford Act. … And that was the right thing to do,” he tells the crowd at Hampton University in Virginia. “When Hurricane Andrew struck in Florida, people said, 'Look at this devastation. We don't expect you to come up with your own money. Here, here's the money to rebuild. We're not going wait for you to scratch it together, because you're part of the American family.' "

Obama, echoing rapper Kanye West's infamous anti-Bush remarks a couple years earlier, then argues that New Orleans was treated differently, suggesting the reason was that the city is mostly black.

"What's happening down in New Orleans? Where's your dollar? Where's your Stafford Act money?" Obama says. "Makes no sense. ... Tells me that somehow the people down in New Orleans they don't care about as much."

The Obama campaign didn't response to FoxNews.com's request for comment Tuesday night about the Daily Caller report and the video, but the Associated Press reported that Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt dismissed the criticism as "a transparent attempt to change the subject" at a time when Mitt Romney is down in the polls.

Media organizations covered the speech at the time, but the Daily Caller said the video it obtained showed parts of the speech that had never been publicized. It posted what it said was the complete speech on the website.

By January 2007, nearly a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina hit, the federal government had committed $110 billion to relief efforts in areas hit by Katrina through a variety of programs, including Community Development Block Grants, funding for the Corps of Engineers and Small Business Administration loans, according to a report that May by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic and Statistics Administration.

But at the time of Obama's speech, there were still concerns about federal response to the disaster under the Stafford Act, which governs relief efforts. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was unwilling to waive the law’s 10 percent local match provision for aid, like it did after the Sept. 11 attacks and other hurricanes.

“One reason cited for FEMA’s reluctance to waive the 10 percent match in New Orleans is concern about corruption,” the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies said in a 2008 report on the relief efforts.

That report also noted that then-Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco was pushing in early 2007 for a federal law eliminating the 10 percent match. The House passed the bill, but it stalled in the Senate and President Bush had threatened to veto it.

The complete video of Obama’s 2007 speech, surfacing barely a month before the presidential election and the night before Obama’s first debate with Romney, could complicate Obama’s efforts to avoid a politically risky debate over race that partly ensnared him during the 2008 race. Four years ago, his fiery pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, became a political liability over videos that showed Wright making controversial statements.

Obama, after initially defending him, eventually was forced to condemn Wright publicly, and the controversy prompted Obama to deliver his much-heralded 2008 address on race in Philadelphia.

Wright reportedly attended the 2007 speech, and in the video obtained by the Daily Caller, Obama is heard calling Wright "my pastor, the guy who puts up with me, counsels me, listens to my wife complain about me. He's a friend and a great leader. Not just in Chicago, but all across the country."

The Daily Caller also highlighted a segment in which Obama questions federal priorities in transportation spending.

"We need additional federal public transportation dollars flowing to the highest-need communities. We don’t need to build more highways out in the suburbs. If we have people in the cities right now who want to work but have no way to get into those jobs, we've got to help connect them to the jobs that exist,” Obama said. “We should be investing in minority-owned businesses, in our neighborhoods, so people don’t have to travel from miles away.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...#ixzz28DAqpUMX

[patteeu]

Most divisive President in my lifetime, but he can't help it because he's a true believer in the us versus them narratives he's been steeped in since his birth.

[RaiderH8r]

[RaiderH8r]

This guy's pissed Obama stole his material.

[vailpass]

The backlash that is coming from this country's silent majority is going to be wonderful to witness, and to be part of.

[ClevelandBronco]

I can't quite place the accent. Is that boy from Compton, Birmingham or Harvard?

[ClevelandBronco]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Have you ever been to the inner city of Chicago? WTF are you going to tear down to improve infrastrucutre, Profressor?

City Hall.

[mnchiefsguy]

Originally Posted by vailpass

The backlash that is coming from this country's silent majority is going to be wonderful to witness, and to be part of.

But is the backlash going to be enough to prevent another Obama term?

I am hoping the Romney has a fantastic debate tonight, he needs something to kick start his campaign. It seems stuck in neutral at the moment.

[Chief Faithful]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Most divisive President in my lifetime, but he can't help it because he's a true believer in the us versus them narratives he's been steeped in since his birth.

Like you I don't believe the President is racist I believe he is playing to his audience creating divides for political benefit.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

But is the backlash going to be enough to prevent another Obama term?

I am hoping the Romney has a fantastic debate tonight, he needs something to kick start his campaign. It seems stuck in neutral at the moment.

Another obama term is what will cause the backlash. Politics in this country have always been cyclical, when we get too much of one thing we go the other way. Never has a President been so hated by so many as obama.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

What part of the response to Katrina by the Federal Government was racial?

The completely inept and underwhelming response suggests New Orleans' poorer and minority populations were not of primary importance to any level of Louisiana's government.

I'm not saying it's racial, necessarily. But compare how the federal government effectively reacted to comparable disasters prior to Katrina, and it has given the black community the impression that they get lesser treatment.

Whether it's the case, I don't know. But one can understand the African American community feeling that it is. It's a legitimate concern, in my opinion.

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by Garcia Bronco

Chicago is run by the people of Chicago, which is a racially diverse government. Either way it's up to the people of Chicago to build their inner city infrastrucutre. The people of chicago, or anywhere USA, are not making it a priority. And how can they? Their too busy trying to find money to pay for pension money they blew elsewhere.

People do shit to themselves. It's the old fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper. People need to be a little less grasshopper and a little more ant.

I'm not disagreeing necessarily. But inner city strife compared to suburban comfort is a national theme, not one isolated to Chicago. It's difficult to ignore possible reasons why that might be the case.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

The completely inept and underwhelming response suggests New Orleans' poorer and minority populations were not of primary importance to any level of Louisiana's government.

I'm not saying it's racial, necessarily. But compare how the federal government effectively reacted to comparable disasters prior to Katrina, and it has given the black community the impression that they get lesser treatment.

Whether it's the case, I don't know. But one can understand the African American community feeling that it is. It's a legitimate concern, in my opinion.

Huh?

Originally Posted by Direckshun

That there is a racial angle to the New Orleans angle is undeniable. ...

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Do you ever think before you speak? Of ****ing course infrastrucutre is better in the sub-urbs. Why? Because you aren't trying to build around cramped citites that were built during the time of the horse and buggy. you want to start knocking down 100+ year old buildings and what not to expans streets and such then push for it but that won't fly, now will it?

Have you ever been to the inner city of Chicago? WTF are you going to tear down to improve infrastrucutre, Profressor?

There's a difference between logistical difficulties and old fashioned neglect.

Inner city infrastructure suffers from both, in spades.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

There's a difference between logistical difficulties and old fashioned neglect.

Inner city infrastructure suffers from both, in spades.

Reported.

[LOCOChief]

Obama's fake southern draw is sickening. What an embarrassing douche we have in the Whitehouse.