$200 billion government bribe for New Orleans

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Theben
I don't get how you reached that conclusion, when Reagan was clearly folowing Friedman's school of economic thought- as is Bush.

For all their talk against government intervention in the economy (which is followed in acts by a loss in regulation and in services to the citizens), the Bu****es/Reaganites have shelled billions upon billions of public money in the economy to help it out.

Naturally, all those billions went to the military. But today, for the first time, this strategy might finally also be aimed at a population that needs it.

[Ted Striker]

Bush said last night that the rebuilding in the Gulf Coast would be, "the greatest rebuilding project in the history of the world." Let's see if he follows through on his rhetoric.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
Bush said last night that the rebuilding in the Gulf Coast would be, "the greatest rebuilding project in the history of the world." Let's see if he follows through on his rhetoric.

Sure he will, so long as the bill becomes due on someone else's watch.

[Sikander]

It sounds like the biggest Bush boondoggle yet.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Ted Striker

"...the greatest rebuilding project in the history of the world."

Perhaps we'll be able to see it from outer space, too !

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by shawnmmcc
Uh Dinodoc - "Starve the beast" is completely a domestic policy. Are you claiming that is not a policy of what is often identified as Neocons

I believe that I've made that claim several times in this thread alone. A neocon even came by the thread and wondered why it was a contraversial point to make.

[Odin]

When I heard Bush's speach on the news I was certain that DanS's (and the other fiscal conservatives') head would explode and I was right. Geez, Bush is finally starting to act like a normal human being, they put him on some new medication or something?

[Ninot]

I'm confused, and for the first time in my life, I'm glad I'm not a voting american.

On the one hand, I think spending to build up New Orleans again is a good idea.

On the other, I have a very good inkling that, as others have said, alot of that spending is gonna be syphoned off as pork, no matter who's in charge.

I generally respect DanS and his economic views, and his turmoil makes me think that stuff is going down wrong.

But I'm Canadian, so all I care about is hockey season starting soon. FIRST HABS PRESEASON GAME ON SUNDAY

[chequita guevara]

Pork is any government spending in someone else's district. It is sound fiscal policy when it is spent in your district. Pork is also quite tasty. I have fried pork loin chops, bbq pulled pork, and some uncooked pork sirloins in my fridge right now. As Emeril says, "PORK FAT!" Mmmmm, pork. I pity my Muslim and Kosher Jewish friends who don't eat the stuff.

As for the fools who think Neo-conservatism is overrruning America, you're fools. "Neo-conservatism" is strictly a foreign policy, the idea that America should use it's might to spread liberal democracy throughout the world. It has no domestic agenda, because not all Neo-conservatives are conservatives. Thomas Friendman is a liberal (supposedly anyway, I have yet to see it). Irving Kristol is an arch conservative. Christopher Hitchens is a leftist, even if he thinks much of the left is populated by idiots (and he's not wrong). They are all Neoconservatives though.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Ninot
I'm confused, and for the first time in my life, I'm glad I'm not a voting american.

On the one hand, I think spending to build up New Orleans again is a good idea.

On the other, I have a very good inkling that, as others have said, alot of that spending is gonna be syphoned off as pork, no matter who's in charge.

I generally respect DanS and his economic views, and his turmoil makes me think that stuff is going down wrong.

But I'm Canadian, so all I care about is hockey season starting soon. FIRST HABS PRESEASON GAME ON SUNDAY

I view this as nothing more than Bush and the Republicans in the congress buying votes with my tax money. They will do anything with my tax money so that the congress stays in GOP hands come next November. The Northeast and Western US should be up in arms over this.

Here's the deal as I see it. Our society is set up so that a community pays its own way. This is good, in that they make the investments that make sense for them, in the priority that they think best, and in the magnitude that they think best. Over long periods of time, this creates a virtuous cycle where investment in large part is made in communities that have many attractive economic features and few unattractive economic features. The locals see an investment made from their hard earned money, and enjoy a long-term return.

Parts of the Gulf Coast and Florida have some unattractive economic features, such as hurricanes. In New Orleans and the coast of Mississippi, it appears that they have a catastrophic storm every 30 years or so. The people of New Orleans and some of the Gulf Coast did not build their infrastructure to withstand these storms. It's not impossible to do so, just more expensive. If it's too expensive to do without bankrupting the community, then the economic viability of building in these places is in serious question.

By the federal government spending such huge sums of money on recovery from Katrina, the federal government is offering insurance from these 30-year catastrophic storms and is therefore potentially taking away money from areas that are economically viable and putting it into areas that aren't economically viable (i.e., a big rat hole). But more than that, the federal government is short-circuiting the investment choices of the local communities. The community will not "own" the infrastructure in their communities, but rather the federal government will. Over time, that means everybody deals with a faceless Washington, D.C. bureaucracy to get stuff done in their communities, rather than looking after themselves.

This sucks.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DanS
Here's the deal as I see it. Our society is set up so that a community pays its own way.

This has not been true since before the republic was founded. Government investment built this country and is what has kept it going since the Great Depression.

Anway, you can't seriously expect the Gulf Coast to rebuild itself. You can't be stupid enough to suggest that U.S. just abandon its most important port, and several ancillary cities. It is in all our interests to see that area rebuilt. Just because you are either too greedy or too short-sighted to agree with it doesn't mean the GOP is buying votes. Hell, it's this extreme short-sightedness, not-my-problem mentality that created this disaster in the first place.

If you don't want to take part inthe duties and responsibilities of being a part of civilization, fine, but the world is short of deserted islands where you don't have to care about anyone else.

[Colon™]

It's like supporting agriculture in the Arabian desert.

[DanS]

By and large this wasn't federal money. There are exceptions, of course, such as the transcontinental railways and the Panama Canal. But those were obviously of huge benefit to almost every community in the country. Also, the federal government funds the freeways, but that is done more or less in proportion to the gasoline taxes collected by the federal government for each area.

[DanS]

Originally posted by Colon
It's like supporting agriculture in the Arabian desert.

Precisely.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Colon
It's like supporting agriculture in the Arabian desert.

Uh, no.