God Spare New Orleans

[TheMercenary]

There is still time to fill it all in before the next storm season starts. Really.

[classicman]

This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the Word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about Whether you want the 'politicians' spending
YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in

One of it's releases.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...

let's take a look at New Orleans ...

It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans.

Interesting number... What does it mean?

Well ... If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child) You each get $516,528.

Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

Or... If you are a family of four...Your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C HELLO!

Are all your calculators broken??

Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone20Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration T ax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Why I'm a libertarian. Why you ought to be one too.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by classicman

Or... If you are a family of four...Your family gets $2,066,012.

They'll need it, if they plan to live in a city with no infrastructure.
What does it cost to build a bridge? a sewer system? a water system? schools?

(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)

Wrong, it was taxation without representation.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Why I'm a neo-con. Why you ought to be one too.

fixed

Originally Posted by classicman

This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the Word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about Whether you want the 'politicians' spending
YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in

One of it's releases.

~ snip

A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...

let's take a look at New Orleans ...

It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans.

Interesting number... What does it mean?

~ snip

Oh man.....this is still floating around on conservative message boards?

It is from 2005 and of course is not entirely accurate about the funding request. More than hallf of that $250b was not in federal spending but in temporary tax abatements, shared leased revenue from off-shore oil facilities, etc.

I think Congress ended up apprpriating more than $100b and I would hope and expect the same for any city/region devasted by a disaster the scale of Katrina.

[classicman]

I would hope that the leadership would realize a city built below sea level wasn't a good idea in the first place and they would instead pay to move them instead. Geez how much more of a hint do they need?

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Redux

I think Congress ended up apprpriating more than $100b and I would hope and expect the same for any city/region devasted by a disaster the scale of Katrina.

WOW! Congress really did a great job of dealing with the issue didn't they? Not.

Originally Posted by classicman

I would hope that the leadership would realize a city built below sea level wasn't a good idea in the first place and they would instead pay to move them instead. Geez how much more of a hint do they need?

Should we move all the folks out of California now....before the next devastating earthquake like the San Francisco earthquake of 1906?

New Orleans has survived for 300+ years, a unique American city in many respects...and having never experienced a "perfect storm" like Katrina, with the devastation compounded by a failure of the infrastructure due, primarily to a lack of funding.

I think your solution is a bit heavy handed.

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

WOW! Congress really did a great job of dealing with the issue didn't they? Not.

IMO, the appropriations of the Republican Congress in 05 and 06 (and spread out over a period of 4+ years) were reasonable, it not a bit slow, much like the FEMA response (as well as the state/local response).

So why do you think Congress didnt do such a great job? Or is it the Democrats that you want to blame?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Redux

I think your solution is a bit heavy handed.

I'm amazed to be saying it, but I agree with classicman. There's no point relocating people who are living in perfectly good houses, but once the place goes underwater, it's is the height of foolishness to pay them to rebuild houses below sea level again. The place is a bowl surrounded by water on three sides. It relies on pumps to keep floodwater out, and when there is a storm, the electricity to those pumps is lost. It's just about the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

If people want to live in the flood zone, that's fine. It's a free country. But the government shouldn't be giving them one nickle to do it, and the insurance companies should set their rates at an appropriate level to take into account the extreme risks they are taking on.

But then I also think that people shouldn't be able to get insurance for houses on barrier islands. Or at a minimum, they should have rates that reflect the increased risk there.

California is not a good example, because construction standards can make a house able to withstand earthquake damage.

[Shawnee123]

Where are you guys proposing these 450,000 people, in the city alone, relocate to?

Are there houses in your neighborhoods in which they could reside?

We get tornados from time to time. I suppose I can live here and have insurance on my place because hey, there's a chance a tornado might miss you. I'm sure there's a table or chart somewhere pertaining to the risk I take living...well, anywhere.

edit: I just realized the insurance on my moon dome is going to be OUTRAGEOUS!

Originally Posted by glatt

....California is not a good example, because construction standards can make a house able to withstand earthquake damage.

Construction standards can make levees able to withstand massive flooding.

The difference is that it is private funding for individual housing/commercial construction and public funding for the levees.

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Where are you guys proposing these 450,000 people, in the city alone, relocate to?

If you relocate them all to Boenher's district, you could probably vote him out of office!

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

Where are you guys proposing these 450,000 people, in the city alone, relocate to?

Are there houses in your neighborhoods in which they could reside?

Yes. There are a couple houses on the market here. Room for a couple families to buy. I understand there are lots of houses for sale in Detroit and the surrounding area.

I feel for them that they lost their homes. But once you lose a home, it's gone. You can't get it back. As long as you are moving into a new home, why not a new home in a place that doesn't flood so easily?

[Shawnee123]

Yeah, I know what you're saying. I'm thinking of people who have always lived there, whose families have always lived there...it just seems like a huge uproot and undertaking, as a suggestion.

If, for some reason, Ohio wasn't "safe" anymore (I say that while laughing!) where would I go. What region of the country would best suit my needs, after being this Ohio person all my life, decended from people who were here all their lives.

Well, besides the moon or the Unabomber cabin?

[glatt]

Originally Posted by Redux

Construction standards can make levees able to withstand massive flooding.

But you still need the pumps to pump out the rainwater. And the pumps fail whenever there is a massive storm.

Also, what's the point of building a levee to protect inferior real estate locations, when there are plenty of places in the country that are above sea level? This isn't the Netherlands. We live in the US. There's lots of land. Let's live on land that doesn't flood when it rains.