[extropy-chat] Getting AId to people in need

[Mike Lorrey]

--- The Avantguardian <avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> --- "kevinfreels.com" <kevin at kevinfreels.com> wrote:
> 
> > Are you kidding? Do syou seriously expect anyone to
> > believe this is a
> > cash-flow problem? They take out loans for this kind
> > of stuff and can borrow
> > damn near without limits.
> 
> I am not trying to convince anyone of anything. I was
> merely hypothesizing why the federal government would
> sit idly by and watch one of its oldest and most
> historic cities become a third-world-country over
> night and then let it sit that way for days before
> doing anything.

Your improper assumption was that New Orleans wasn't a third world
country before this disaster. I don't know how many times I've heard
that people like to go there specifically because it has third world
country characteristics without having to leave the US.

> My assumption was that it was a cash
> flow problem as even loans take time to process but if
> you are right and cash flow/logistic problems are not
> to blame, then I was being overly charitable to the
> government.
> 
> If the snafu was not logistical, then it was
> intentional. If the federal govern COULDN'T provide
> immediate disaster relief, that would be one thing.
> But if it COULD then apparently, it was just reluctant
> to do so and that opens a whole new can of worms.

Generally speaking the Federal Government is not the rescuer of first
resort with natural disasters on US soil, the states are. If anybody
has been laying down on the job, it is the state governments and people
of LA and MS who seem to have surrendered and can only point fingers at
this point. There are a lot more people in both states than those
living near the coast, and looking at the unemployment rates in both
states, there are a lot of people down there sitting around with
nothing to do but help with rescue efforts.

> Because then one is left with the question of why the
> federal government didn't want to? Was it because the
> victims were blacks? Was it because New Orleans voted
> democrat last time around? Or maybe all the FEMA guys
> were waiting for Bush to get back from vacation so
> that he could tell them what to do? If it was Miami,
> Dubya would have had check in Jeb's hand before the
> hurricane hit.

I will note that, from my recollections of media appearances, Jeb has
always been well prepared ahead of time for hurricanes headed toward
his state. I cannot say the same for the leadership of LA and MS.

> 
> I don't think it's a state jurisdiction issue either
> as the federal government has made it crystal clear to
> California that it will come in and step all over
> state's jurisdiction when it WANTS to. 
> 
> Lets face it. In this administration, if you live in a
> blue state (or a blue county in a red state) you might
> was well be in Somalia.

The problem with this statement is that both Louisiana and Mississippi
were red states. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/

An examination of red and blue parishes in Louisiana shows that while
Orleans and St. John the Baptist parishes are blue, all others hardest
hit by Katrina are red parishes. (Here you need to select the right
election and race: http://69.2.40.145/sosmaps/dynamicmapping.aspx

In Mississippi, the situation is similar, though the Secty of States
website seems down at the moment, possibly due to the disaster...

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
Founder, Constitution Park Foundation:
http://constitutionpark.blogspot.com
Personal/political blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com