Wednesday, March 01, 2006

 

Truth

This time its the real truth...really!! Bush lied or something like that, again.

This time there is videotape to prove it. Check it out here.

Umm...yeah, even Led Zeppelin understood the issue with the levee:

If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break,
When the levee breaks I’ll have no place to stay.
Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Lord, mean old levee taught me to weep and moan,
Got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home,
Oh, well, oh, well, oh, well.
Don’t it make you feel bad
When you’re tryin’ to find your way home,
You don’t know which way to go?
If you’re goin’ down south
They go no work to do,
If you don’t know about chicago.
Cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
Now, cryin’ won’t help you, prayin’ won’t do you no good,
When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
All last night sat on the levee and moaned,
Thinkin’ ’bout me baby and my happy home.
Going, go’n’ to chicago,
Go’n’ to chicago,
Sorry but I can’t take you.
Going down, going down now, going down.


Natural disasters are not the fault of the government and to expect assistance for a "clean-up" or whatever you wanna call it, only gives a false sense of hope and security -- which is the real tragedy. There's more to the story, but I think I am just preaching to the choir.

Comments:
This isn't going to work out to well for Bush. Here's a Washington Post article on it.
 
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
 
Here's a potential counter argument using something similar to Block's argument's posted earlier...

Well, one can argue now, fter the fact, that the government should not be a part of natural disaster management.

But at the time the government did claim to have that responcibility. That has consequences for the extent to which private interests would respond.

For example, a private contstruction company might think (in the absense of intervention) that a nice profit could be earned by selling its services in hurricane affected areas. But with the government micromanaging relief efforts and capping prices the contractor might decide it's not worth the trouble.

It would seem that once the government claimed they would handle the relief efforts, they formed an "implicit contract" with the private companies/individuals/organizationsthat could have potentially conducted relief efforts.

It woul be like Block's example of swimming to save a drowning person and then changing your mind half way out.

And since it was the government's obligation to fulfill that implicit contract, the fact that it couldn't keep it's end of the bargin because of a negligent lack of preparedness (inspite of advanced warnings, etc.) makes those individuals in decision making positions partially responcible for the deaths that resulted from delayed relief efforts.
 
Very nicely put Dallas!
I think you make a very valid point.

Two things:

1. The risk associated with the levee has been known for decades(I think Army of Engineers stated something in 1964), and although by their contract for relief they dropped the ball, the state and local governments might be at significant fault for initially putting the individuals at risk, while reassuring them and giving them this false hope.

What I am getting at is: How much fault is due when there exists continued deceptive actions by the local and state governments? It might very well be a moral hazard issue (increasing risky behavior), making that contract invalid.

2. What authority does the federal government have to make those sorts of promises? Like during most natural disasters, there are expectations of assistance and promised help, but is it a valid contract? Since these are services offered using coerced/stolen funds, what authority do they have to make an implicit contract? Aren't contracts invalid when they involve stolen items?

I know...the courts don't consider tax dollars stolen, but it is a thought.
 
I've nothing worthwhile to say about the actual substance of your post. However, I'd just like to thank you for the flair with which you did it.

There's not enough Zeppelin in everyday life.
 
So... returning to block, who gave up the responsibility of risk for the levees to the government? Who naturally owns the risk?

More interesting... who did they blame?

Normally, when an act of God destroys things people question God. They wonder, "How could a loving gracious God allow such suffering?" We didn't hear much of this rhetoric after Katrina though. What we did hear was, "How could a benficient government allow something like this to happen to us?" So the question is, who is your god?

I'm not saying that everyone should be Christian or anything like that, but I am saying that the government is not a good candidate for worship.
 
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