Spending money like water in New Orleans


Adding thirty billion to the price tag
Padding the bill, in the best Federal style.

The price tag for the Baker plan is also preposterously high. Data from the Federal Office on Gulf Coast Rebuilding indicate that of the 200,000 houses destroyed by the flooding, only half are owner-occupied homes and 60,000 of the remaining homes already have insurance. This means there are only 36,000 uninsured homeowners who truly need aid.

The money already allocated is more than enough to make them whole. Uncle Sam has sent $24.5 billion for housing aid to New Orleans (not counting Mr. Bush's latest $18 billion request). Residents will also receive $27.2 billion in private insurance. And speaking of insurance, the Baker bill would bail out the banks that lent money to residents without the flood insurance that was required of residents who live in the flood plain. This is rewarding businesses for irresponsible behavior.

The LRC is also designed to avoid both Congressional oversight and the annual Appropriations process. Once the President sets funding levels, up to $30 billion each year, that number would automatically be spent. And while it's true he could set that figure at $1 if he wanted, any President would surely be lobbied publicly and privately by the seven-member LRC board that would include three members from a list provided by Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco. The Big Easy's politicians probably sense that the rest of the country will only write so many big checks, and so this automatic spending process is intended to avoid having to compete with other national priorities for funds.

In any case, the idea that rebuilding is impossible without the guiding hand of a federal planning czar is historically inaccurate. After the great Chicago fire and the San Francisco earthquake, these cities were at least as desperate as New Orleans is today. But both were well on their way to restored glory within three to five years with little federal money and no central planning agency. We'd rather trust private homeowners and developers to make rational decisions about where re-investment in New Orleans should occur and--just as important in areas highly susceptible to future flooding--where it shouldn't.

The money that is being funneled to New Orleans is not being spent well. We know that. So what is the solution that almost everyone instantly accepts without question?

Spend more money.

This is how governments get bigger. No one questions results, but everyone is more than willing to fork over the cash as long as they don't believe it is coming from their pocket.

You want to stop the addiction, stop the cash flow.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - February 13, 2006 at 04:34 AM  Tag


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