Assuming a $200 billion aid package, what this means is a grateful Nation will be providing each and every person in the effected area, roughly 1 million or so, $200,000. Each. Each man. Each woman. Each child.
I can understand providing SOME aid for these people... but where does their personal responsibility come in? And what about the idea of rebuilding N.O. where it once stood? What kind of idiocy is THAT? How many $200 BILLION aid packages are we capable of providing?
What is Louisiana's responsibility in all this? What about the insurance companies? How STUPID is it to rebuild in the SAME location, facing the SAME problems... problems that NO amount of money can fix?
It is bad enough that the Federal government takes on the responsibility for the decisions made in state after state; in flood plain after flood plain, in hurricane alley after hurricane alley, people insist on rebuilding in the same locations... and we insist on covering their costs.
I'm a believer in the science of "compassionate conservatism," but THIS is ridiculous. Of the approximately 125 million people working here... what is the per-person individual bill to pay for the President's generosity?
How can we rebuild a city in a location next to the ocean that averages 16 feet below sea-level? Isn't that just ASKING for trouble?
These people made poor decisions and they've resulted in inevitable disaster... disaster that will REMAIN inevitable if they rebuild in the same location.
Thursday, September 15, 2005 - Page updated at 06:38 PM
Bush says U.S. will pay most of costs to rebuild New Orleans, Gulf Coast
By Terence Hunt and Nedra Pickler
Associated Press Writers
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NEW ORLEANS — President Bush promised Thursday night the government will pay most of the costs of rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in one of the largest reconstruction projects the world has ever seen. "There is no way to imagine America without New Orleans, and this great city will rise again," the president said.
Standing in Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter, Bush acknowledged his administration had failed to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina, which killed hundreds of people across five states. The government's costs for rebuilding could reach $200 billion or beyond.
Bush described the hurricane's aftermath as "days of sorrow and outrage," and he said the nation had "witnessed the kind of desperation no citizen of this great and generous nation should ever have to know." He deplored scenes of victims calling out for food and water, criminals who had no mercy, and bodies of the dead lying uncovered in the street.
The president said he had ordered the Department of Homeland Security to undertake an immediate review of emergency plans in every major city in America.
He also said a disaster on the scale of Katrina requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces.
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3 comments:
You know what they say about an ounce of prevention, right? Had the proper fund been spent to prevent the damage, we wouldn't be in this mess. Instead, Republicans will continue to trim legitimate expenses in favor of bailing out emergencies after the fact. I'm sure it would have been cheaper to build better levees, but it's too late now.
Just think: what's the next preventable disaster that will be made worse by inadequate preparation? I shudder to think. Good thing we have lower taxes now (oh, wait -- I don't!) because I can use all that (non-existent) extra money to stock up on clean drinking water and food for when my government fails me and I have to fend for myself.
I'm sorry you're in the lowest income percentile. But then, you pay very few taxes anyway, so why are you complaining?
The idea that "spending" could have solved this problem is part and parcel of the leftist mindset. The answer to this question is not money.
It is, instead, leadership and vision.
Rebuilding N.O. in this location is a mistake, done for political reasons. The failure at the local and state level for adequate relief planning speaks for itself.
Charging every working American alive roughly $2000 is not the answer.
I think he means the schools, government buildings, etc. The stuff we already own. Not every private home and private business.
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