OBAMARAMA

This morning’s papers are full of Sen. Obama’s remarks at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee “field hearing” in New Orleans yesterday. Just before taking a bus tour of the Lower 9th Ward with other committee members, Sen. Obama took the opportunity to criticize the snail’s pace at which reconstruction — specifically, promised federal funding of reconstruction — has occurred:

“There is not a sense of urgency in this administration to get this done,” said the senator from Illinois. “You get a sense that will has been lacking in the last
several months.”…The session follows criticism of Bush for not including any mention of the New Orleans recovery effort in last week’s State of the Union address. Obama echoed that criticism, noting that Bush had traveled to the city shortly after the disaster and promised to do “what it takes . . . as long as it takes” to rebuild New Orleans.

But “17 months later, we heard not a single word, not one word in President Bush’s State of the Union address,” Obama said. “Those of us who are concerned all across the country wonder if we’re in danger of forgetting about New Orleans, and that’s shameful.”

The Sun-Times ran this AP photo with the caption below:

“Senator Barack Obama D-Ill., left, and Sen. Joe Lieberman ID-Conn. listen as Sen. Mary Landrieu D-La., talks during a briefing at Jackson Barracks after a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Katrina and Rita recovery in New Orleans.”