President Bush’s New Deal For New Orleans…

President Bush addressing the nation last night from dry land in New Orleans…

Last night, President Bush addressed the nation on his recovery plan for New Orleans (and other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina). And, even the most cynical Bush basher had to be encouraged by his comprehensive vision. Of course it helped that his vision practically mirrored the recovery plan I prescribed (on 1 September) just days after New Orleans became a watery Pompeii.

On 29 August, when Katrina was still churning miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, I wrote that there was no cause for panic because, more than any other country in the world, America had ample resources and (post 9/11) emergency plans in place to weather even “da BIG ONE!” But I also warned that:

…how well local authorities enforce evacuation orders and how many daring fools ignore them (and go sight seeing in the eye of the storm) shall determine Katrina’s human casualties.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of casualties from this disaster were, in fact, caused just as I predicted. And President Bush admitted as much by accepting blame for the failure of government officials – at all levels – to execute evacuation orders and emergency relief procedures. (Nevertheless, it is not insignificant that the alarms about tens of thousands of people having perished seem grossly exaggerated and that the few hundred deaths recorded so far have resulted more from human neglect than from the force of Hurricane Katrina.)

Then, on 1 September, after the levees broke and destroyed the city, I wrote another article urging Bush to assure those affected, the American people and the world that he would emulate the bold initiatives taken by previous presidents in his plan to rebuild New Orleans. I cited Truman’s Marshall Plan and, more specifically, FDR’s Tennessee Valley Project as blue prints for comprehensive federal involvement in this respect. Moreover, as a life affirming feature of his initiative, I recommended enlisting all able bodied adults displaced by Katrina to be relocated from cavernous sports stadia in Texas back to temporary work sites in Louisiana to participate and earn a vested interest in the rebuilding of their city.

Therefore, I was pleased to see Bush lay-out a plan to just that! And, as for the $200 billion estimated for this project: it will probably cost twice as much. But even so, it’s better value for money than investing similar amounts to rebuild parts of Iraq one day only to have Islamic fanatics blow them up the next.

Finally, in that prophetic 29 August article, I also offered the crude prognosis that Katrina would be good for business because:

Hurricane season for Home Depot is like Christmas season for Toys R Us. And, if you think I’m being too cynical, please note how often the damage from this hurricane is expressed in terms of dollars as opposed to lives lost….

Crude, but undeniably true!

Note: I was ridiculed by some for writing in my 29 August article that:

A watery Pompeii New Orleans shall not become…for too long at any rate. The waters will recede and clean-up will be a bitch!

Well, as best as I can tell, over 2000 years later, Pompeii remains covered in ashes from mount Vesuvius; whereas, the flood waters will be gone from New Orleans within 2 weeks and the city will be cleaned up and mostly rebuilt within 2 years.

Clearly, by any objective measure, this vindicates my prescient assessment of the lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina!

News and Politics