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• Saturday, July 1, 2006 10:09 PM

  Backwards Thinking

  I don't think that is an issue at all that the country or the government does not "care" enough about the plight of these people. I think it is more of an issue of limited resources and (in the case of New Orleans) a reluctance to commit money until the levee and property situations are sorted out. No one wants to throw money down a rat hole - and sorry - but history proves this to be true - there are way too many rat holes (mostly of local political organizations) in this area that always seem to make money disappear instead of being spent where it should.

  There is not an infinite supply of repair crews, construction agencies and similar types of personnel in teh US. Since (obviously) some repair is being made in the area - the crews are being rationed by price. Or more likely - being rationed because there is no open checkbook to rebuild the areas. It would be interesting to document the reasons why insurance companies are not paying - agaist the assertion that "they offer too little". Sorry - there have been too many "eating dead people" stories in the news for me to believe much of similar nebulous assertions from this area.

  For the New Orleans case - the question is - "what is the plan?" You have a city that is below the river level - and you had a clear admission by the Corp of Engineers that the levee design in the area failed because the existing design simply did not cover the stress levels at the base of the drainage canals. Who in their right mind would want to build in such an area until the base problems are fixed. And you better ask the NO Levee Board what THEY are doing about it - since they control the pursestrings. You also have all the damaged areas inside the city with wreckage that can't be cleared due to threat of lawsuits. If this is not a case for Kelo - what is? Seize all the property, demolish it and open the area up for the highest bidder. Maybe then you would get some takers.

  But fundamentally, you need someone in charge - and that, in my book, does not mean Washington - it means people from the state with firm plans and a LOT of oversight. When the LA congressional group made their plea for all the billions after Katrina and Rita hit - no one listened because it was just a "throw money at it plan" - much like the one with all the fraud by FEMA. Who wants that to happen again?

  Feeling sorry for people makes you feel good - but rarely gets things done. You need to thing where you want the place to be - then think backwards on how to get there for a while. When you get the plan written - call us - then we can talk money.

  —Ironclad Read Ironclad's other letters
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