If they rebuild it, will it be worth it?
Like the people who rebuild their homes in flood-prone areas, it seems that the Pres is saying that we should rebuild New Orleans right where it got devastated....right where it gets smashed in the mouth every half-dozen years or so. We could do it. But would it be a good use of the money?
The estimated price tag on massive efforts has a way of being overrun by a factor of ten to twenty percent, at least, and frequently more. But let's assume that the two hundred billion dollar price tag is correct. Is it worth it to rebuild New Orleans? With the Iraq war leeching money (and blood), and with the economy still on the fragile side (would it surprise you to wake up tomorrow and find that as a result of some catastrophe, the price of gas had doubled and the Dow Index had halved?), to take this on at the same time smacks of hubris.
I'm not suggesting that we leave NO alone. I am suggesting that we rethink the idea of a major port city in a climatologically intense area. I am suggesting that if we are going to rebuild any of it, we do so in a thoughtful, restrained, financially responsible manner. We rebuild smaller, smarter. If lower Manhattan were devastated, do you think they'd insist on rebuilding all the cute little streets, right down to the cobblestones? If your house was destroyed by a hurricane, would your insurance company pay for complete replacement of every last widget and gadget?
Our stash of cash is, despite George's frat boy enthusiasm, not bottomless. And some desirable things simply aren't worth the cost.
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Additional : From an article in today's CNN web site:
"In the end, we can work this out. It is $200 billion in spending for a $12 trillion economy," said Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wachovia Corp. "It's just a matter of how we finance it, not whether or not we can afford to do it."
So anything that can be financed can be done. An interesting philosophy.
5 comments:
In 1814, the British burned Buffalo. This was a terrible crime. In 1816, the Americans re-built it. Compounding the crime.
It would be kinda neat to see New Orleans downtown re-built. The Urban Sprawl moved somewhere else though. This probably won't happen.
The British burned Buffalo? I didn't know that. Don't think harshly of them -- given the climate, its possible that it was just an attempt to stay warm.
I hear that Mr. Bush was questioned on the topic of Roe VS Wade. He answered that he really didn't care how residents got out of New Orleans...
Oh its just a joke.....
Sheesh!
I was blog surfing and found a very strong, very opinionated blog which postulated that the entire New Orleans disaster was orchestrated...that they were just waiting for a good hurricane to blow the levies, and flood out all the black neighbourhoods and get rid of them!
Sounded pretty cold and rude, but I remember an old fellow saying on CNN "Its always about the quarter, savein' the damned quarter! There's lots more here besides the damned quarter".
And of course, why save the flood plain anyway? Too many people, too much low lying area. Why re-build on environmentally sensitive land anyway?
I think that fellow on that blog wanted to start some sort of race riot, but there is no smoke without sparks...
URGENT ALERT
This morning .. from a cave somewhere in Pakistan ...Taliban Minister of
Migration, Mohammed Omar, warned the United States that if military action
against Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America's supply of
convenience store managers.
If this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next.
It's getting ugly.
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