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Sept. 26, 2005 Faced with a city in ruins and a desire to rebuild we roll up our sleeves and with good ol' fashioned American ingenuity and know how we'll get the city back on its feet. Oh wait, I was going back to the time before Americans had been tamed by the great society and we still posessed those qualities. Instead we whine for federal money, and the party that is supposed to embody fiscal restraint is only too happy to help. Hundreds of billions of dollars is going to be poured into reconstruction of New Orleans and other areas destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. The Army Corps of Engineers will recieve a great deal of the pork and will be commissioned with rebuilding the city. The Democrats are only too happy to go along, because they love nothing more than spending someone elses money, and because (to them) it validates the worth of big government. The GOP... well that's a bit harder to explain. Many in the "party of the right" have gotten so used to congressional power that they now believe that the nation needs to be governed from Washington, and will spend any amount of money to stay there. That or they're gutless wimps who don't know how to say no to anyone. It's probably both. Here's how we rebuild the city. Rather than emptying out the treasury and choking New Orleans in Red Tape let someone else pay for it. The last time I looked on the map New Orleans was entirely in the state of Louisiana and was not a federal city. So step number one, let them pay for it. Now, this isn't just the cheapskate in me coming out. It will really help the rebuilding process. Too many people think of the federal treasury as a big rainy day fund. We put our money in, and when we need it we take it out. That's not even close to being right. Federal money goes to things of federal concern. At least that is the way it is supposed to work. In truth, we think that some vague general welfare clause allows us to use federal money for state and local pork projects. Back to my point. Let Louisiana pay. Yes, it will be expensive, but that's a good thing. Louisiana will have a hard time paying for it. This would mean Louisiana would have to put a bit of oversight into how the money is spent. Something that is sorely lacking whenever Government starts throwing money at the problem. Secondly, let private enterprise help rebuild. Call me a capitalist pig, but I trust a construction company far more than I trust the Army corps of Engineers. They can rebuild homes and businesses faster and cheaper than raiding taxpayers wallets. Heck, Habitat for Humanity would do a better job of rebuilding homes than getting the federal government involved. Lastly, tell the Corps of Engineers to get lost. Now it's true they built the levee system and warned about their vulnerability to a strong hurricane, and everyone ignored them. Still the corps knows how to waste money and build things that do more harm than good. Get someone else to build and maintain the levees. Any private firm could do it cheaper and since they would have a profit at stake would make sure they were built well and maintained. I know it sounds harsh to the victims of such brutality, but this will work better. A correction: In my last article I mistakenly called Hillary Clintons main challenger in 2006 Janet Pirro, her name is Jeanine Pirro. My mistake. ------------ About the author: Craig Chamberlain has written more than 100 articles for Useless-Knowledge.com. Email: craig_chamberlain@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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