The Speech 

The Speech

Between listening on the radio and watching TV I caught most of the president’s speech on reconstructing New Orleans last night. Still trying to digest a lot of it. It seems to have caused quite a bit of consternation from conservatives who see it as another big government project and of course most liberals who if Bush announced the sun were going to rise tomorrow would call him a liar. At first blush it does seem like a huge government project because, well it is. Sometimes we let ideology get in the way of the facts. The fact is that this is an unprecedented modern day natural disaster in this country. The federal government cannot simply say“ Hope it works out for you. Best of luck.” There is a role for government. The announcements of tax breaks, enterprise zones, waiving of some rules and the like are conservative ways of helping. Giving priority to locals when it comes to jobs and contracts down there is the smart way of doing it. Keep the money there. Help the displaced who want to return to get on their feet. At the same time assistance is being given to those who don’t want to return but rather start over someplace else. His direction that the feds will be providing most of the funds and that local government will be the ones responsible for reconstruction is part of the conservative philosophy of limited federal government. Of course the down side is that Louisiana and New Orleans has proven itself previously to be a cesspool of ignorance and corruption. Certainly there will be abuse and misuse of aide. It will happen and the federal government should have oversight and perhaps pass special legislation enacting laws carrying draconian punishments for the inevitable graft that will happen. Of course Alabama and Mississippi are part of this as well. People keep forgetting about them.

We are already hearing stories about the disaster relief debit cards turning up a strip clubs and the like. There are many reasons for poverty. A large one is stupid decision making. If someone is given a 2000$ card and they spend it at a strip club then tough for them. They were probably the same people making stupid decisions before the hurricane. I believe though that most people will use the aid properly and it is a better alternative than creating a bureaucracy to try to distribute every essential need.

Showing that every cloud does have its silver lining this has gotten Cindy Sheehan out of the news although today she is trying to get attention by calling for the military to get out of “occupied New Orleans and Iraq.” Please, go away, my head hurts.