Like most everything else that Bush & co. have put their hands on (What's the opposite of the Midas touch?), the administration has wasted an enormous opportunity to rebuild New Orleans in a just way--to focus on economic equality and promoting good jobs--that could help bring the city out of the poverty and inequality that the hurricane so devastatingly exposed.

Unfortunately, our failure in the Gulf continues.

Read more after the fold.

According to a new report from Interfaith Worker Justice, exploitation of workers who came to New Orleans to rebuild it is rampant. "Workers experienced abuses of fundamental rights, including not receiving wages for their work and non-payment of overtime (wage theft), exposure to toxins without proper safety training or equipment, workplace injuries without workers' compensation and discrimination."

Indeed, no-bid contracts aren't just for Haliburton to get rich off on in Iraq. Contractors who were enticed to rebuild New Orleans with cost-plus and no-bid contracts have benefited from the suspension  and/or non-enforcement of labor laws in the Gulf as well.

Read more here at the AFL-CIO's blog.

Also check out the Opportunity Agenda's report on a just, fair and equitable reconstruction.