Director, Welfare Rights Organization
Director of the Welfare Rights Organization and a staff member of the People's Hurricane Relief Fund
PROFILE
Viola Francois Washington
Guest
FROM Viola Francois Washington
To the Point
Promises and Realities Two Years after Katrina For presidential candidates of both political parties, New Orleans has become a regular stop on the campaign trail. Despite the sullied reputation of FEMA , President Bush tonight starts his thirteenth visit since Hurricane Katrina struck land two years ago tomorrow. But despite two years of promises, crime is up along with rents and taxes. Healthcare and other services are still in decline. Levee repair is still under way, but coastal restoration hasn't even been started. A major city was struck by a disaster predicted well in advance. Can America summon the will and resources for long-term protection?
To the Point
Life in New Orleans One Year Later Mayor Ray Nagin wants half of New Orleans to come back home, and today President Bush got a look at what they would find when they got there. A year after Katrina, there's no central plan, and some neighborhoods are as full of debris as they were when the waters receded. Today, Nagin said that things "would have been different" if "rich people were struggling in New Orleans." Will disaster be a catalyst for reconciling issues of race and class? We hear about the desperate lack of affordable housing as 73 separate neighborhoods try to decide what to do. What about jobs, schools and businesses to keep the economy going?
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To the Point
White House budget proposal slashes and burns President Trump's first budget request is considered dead on arrival in Congress — a familiar development in Capitol Hill. We hear what it reveals about the priorities of the new administration. What's likely to die… and what might survive?
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.