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As I watch the news, here, in Australia, my thought go to all those people that have lost their houses and possessions (and some indeed their lives or loved ones lives) in California those past days.
I was disturbed by also being forced to watch President Bush promise (another promisee, another lie) those Californians that they will not be forgotten in Washington and that help was forthcoming.
Assuming that President Bush was not lying, a big ask, I understand, what would make those Californians different from the many from New Orleans that are still waiting, regardless of even the international support and donations that that catastrophe generated?
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I've got some exciting news for you, your contributions are welcome here:
Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund
I'm happy that you're contributing. As far as feds ignoring people in need of Katrina relief, first time in history that spending $127 billion amounts to ignoring disaster victems plight.
The Big Easy’s Billion Dollar Boondoggle
Here’s a pop quiz: How much money has Uncle Sam spent on New Orleans and the Gulf region since Hurricane Katrina ripped the place apart?
I’ll give you the answer because you’ll never guess it. The grand total is $127 billion (including tax relief).
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Perhaps all this money should’ve been directly deposited in the bank accounts of the 300,000 people living in New Orleans. All divvied up, that $127 billion would come to $425,000 per person! After thanking Uncle Sam for their sudden windfall, residents could head to Southern California and buy homes that are now on sale thanks to the sub-prime mortgage crisis and bid up the sagging house prices in the state.
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And yet there are still areas in New Orleans that look like Katrina just hit yesterday.
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Which is the point of the article more or less. With all the government money spent in the recovery from Katrina in New Orleans the place isn't even close to being rebuilt. Kudlow says this:
So the billion-dollar question becomes: Where did the rest of that money go?
Meanwhile, according to an article by Nicole Gelinas at the Manhattan Institute, New Orleans has earned the distinct honor of becoming the murder capital of the world. The murder rate is 40 percent higher than before Katrina, and twice as high as other dangerous cities like Detroit, Newark, and Washington, D.C.
Think of this: The idea of using federal money to rebuild cities is the quintessential liberal vision. And given the dreadful results in New Orleans, we can say that the government’s $127 billion check represents the quintessential failure of that liberal vision. ...
Remember President Reagan’s line during the 1980 campaign about how LBJ fought a big-government spending war against poverty, and poverty won? Well think of all this Katrina spending as the Great Society Redux. And it failed. I suppose the current Bush administration would like to label this “compassionate conservatism.” But guess what? That failed, too.
Right from the start, New Orleans should have been turned into a tax-free enterprise zone. No income taxes, no corporate taxes, no capital-gains taxes......