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#61
08-31-2007, 11:15 AM
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maybe i wasn't clear about what i mean in my earlier post. the govt doesn't build cities, or re-build them. if business and industry wants to stay there, they will IF they have people there to employ. People will want to stay, as not everyone is ready to throw in the towel any time you have a disaster. after all, if we all automatically hit the road after any and every disaster, there would be nowhere left to live. between floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and blizzards, there is no safe place left. but it's not the govt who will ultimately decide if, when, or how much of new orleans rebuilds. it's the people--they need jobs, and companies will come if they have a viable workforce. you can't have either one of those without the other. the govt helps by providing small business loans, low interest rate loans for those who had no flood insurance, etc. after all, who would WANT the govt to be in charge of the rebuilding? all they know is low bid gets the job--which explains why the levees failed to begin with!!
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Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln 
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#62
08-31-2007, 01:50 PM
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Of course, rebuilding might go a bit faster if the Bush Administration would have used some common sense and waived the requirement that the local governments must put up matching funds in order to receive rebuilding money. Seeing as how those local communities have been washed away, where is the matching money supposed to come from? They have no businesses and no workers to generate any. Over half the rebuilding money is currently sitting around, waiting for some magical thing to happen to these poor neighborhoods.
But take heart- Alabama took full advantage of investment tax breaks, meant to spur regrowth in the Katrina area, to build luxury condominiums near University of Alabama's football stadium. Which is a couple of hundred miles away from the ocean. That'll help a lot. Thinking about some of the earlier posts, about "Just move and get a job"- I strongly, strongly recommend Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed" which is about her experiences attempting to get by in several parts of the US on a minimum-wage job (as a single person, with no kids). She does exactly what is suggested- moves to a new area, and attempts to get work and housing with no savings. Very interesting read.
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Gentlemen! We're burning daylight! Riders up! -Bill Murray
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#63
09-01-2007, 07:10 PM
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Article by Greg Palast
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