Is Congress going overboard on hurricane aid?
September 12th, 2005Some Republicans in the House think so. Eleven of them voted against the $51.8 billion spending bill, which brings to $62.3 billion the amount allocated so far. More is expected to come.
Emotional reactions and external pressure make it easy to spend excessively, according to Tom Tancredo, who voted against the bill.
What do you think? Is $62.3 billion in federal aid too much, or is it money that needs to be spent?
I don’t know. Once financial figures go over the $13 billion mark, my head starts to spin!
: )
How much is too much? How much is needed? How can mere mortals even conceive of how much $62.3 billion actually is? How much would that be if this were 1978 (adjusted for inflation, deflation, etc.)?
How does this figure compare to money spent for other disaster relief efforts? How much compared to the War against Weapons of Mass Destruction?
Most importantly: How does this affect ME next April 15?
Just wondering … and now my head is REALLY spinning …
I heard someone in Louisiana say last week that you haven’t seen the real looting yet. I’m sure that the people in the effected areas fwill only see a small fraction of that money. The majority of it will be siphoned off to fund various pork barrell projects. Also, it is politcal suicide to vote against sending money when the networks are showing images of the devastation 24 hours a day. We need to have an emergency spending bill but then give ourselves some time to think long term about what we want the new Gulf Coast to look like. THis is a huge opportunity. I hope we make the most of it.
I also wonder how much $$ is going where. As Joel pointed out, networks have been showing the damage nonstop, but most of the coverage I have seen has come from New Orleans — which, obviously, has some serious flooding problems and the potential for more.
I know this topic was touched on previously, but what about the question of “rebuilding” New Orleans? Yes, I believe the city should and will be rebuilt … but there has to be some kind of master plan. And, hopefully, someone competent will be put in charge.
On a much smaller scale: During the Mississippi River flooding late last century (!!!), the entire town of Valmeyer, Illinois, was actually RELOCATED because so much of it had been destroyed by floodwaters. Granted, we’re talking about a town of 900 vs. a city of 484,674, but it can be done.
http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/freshstart/case/valmeyer.htm