[RANT]: Gov't-Subsidized Development on the Gulf Coast

[Sir Humpsalot]

The government took down the levy in New Orleans on purpose to flood out the poor. When I went down there to volunteer after Katrina, I saw the break in the levy that flooded the Ninth Ward. It was obviously planned so that the poor area was flooded by breaking the levy at the correct height above sea level. When I stood on top of a building (Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School) I could see where the waterline stopped; just before the French Quarter Chateaues.

Just in case you really believe that crap, allow me to explain it in simple terms....

The first settlers to the area built the oldest houses on the highest land. Every area is like that. Chicago, LA, NYC, you name it. The people who got there first built on the highest, safest land. That's not a government conspiracy, it's just common sense. Or, at least it was common sense 100 years ago. Maybe it seems "suspicious" to you now when you just walk in and buy a house or rent an apartment without looking at flood plane maps, but back in the day, people were actually smart enough to take these things into consideration and take them seriously. If you were coming into a new and uncharted land, maybe you would be smart enough to build on high ground too (I bet you would).

As a result, the French Quarter, and other older areas were built on higher ground, areas that weren't as reliant on the levees because, back when those areas were built up, the levees didn't exist. Then, some years later, came the poor people and the servant class (to use an exaggerated term) who built up where they could. For this cheap labor, the levees were built.

Now, from this situation, you can choose your side. Either the poor came there to make the rich richer and therefore we should subsidize their housing because there was nowhere else they could go and they were effectively taken advantage of, by having them live in a high-risk area while not paying them enough to adequately account for that risk. Or... you can say they knew or should have known what they were getting into and we have no obligation to them because it's their own fault.

Personally, I see both sides of that argument. Of course, that just means that both sides will be thrilled to tell me I'm wrong. Sometimes it sucks to be a moderate..

 

[finchlake]

Also we need to keep in mind that New Orleans is the third largest port in the nation.

Think back to the days right after Katrina hit, there were temporary shortages of all kinds of imported materials. Gasoline being high on that list. This went on until they could get the shipping lanes open again and get materials moving.

Remember this went both ways, farmers were worried how they would get grain down the Mississippi and out to the world.

Guess What ! Ships can’t unload themselves. That’s where the “servant class” comes in.

“Where are we going to build their housing?” The only land left is below sea level.

 

[EdWort]

The government took down the levy in New Orleans on purpose to flood out the poor. .

yeah, and 911 was an inside job, Bush caused Hurrican Katrina, and AlGore is the second coming.

/sarc off.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

Also we need to keep in mind that New Orleans is the third largest port in the nation.

Think back to the days right after Katrina hit, there were temporary shortages of all kinds of imported materials. Gasoline being high on that list. This went on until they could get the shipping lanes open again and get materials moving.

Remember this went both ways, farmers were worried how they would get grain down the Mississippi and out to the world.

Guess What ! Ships can’t unload themselves. That’s where the “servant class” comes in.

“Where are we going to build their housing?” The only land left is below sea level.

Modern shipping is done with container ships. Don't need a city of stevedores anymore.

 

[finchlake]

Yea Doc your are right, and that was part of another problem before Katrina hit. Mechanization had created a lot of unemployment. There was an imbalance there.

Of course shipping isn't the only economy in the area. You have the trickel down effect from shipping, ground transportation, oil, refining, seafood, tourism which employes a lot of people. Then there are the business that support those people, and the business that support those people and so on,and so on.

I guess my point I was making is, it will be back. The Mississippi river outlet and the Gulf coast are important to our national economy.

 

[Bourdon]

That levy could have easily held back the water during the hurricane. Katrina was not the worst storm that port has seen. Something other than water pressure had to have broken it. For a structure like that to be built, its FOS (factor of safety) is usually greater than 2 (for a poorly designed, underbuilt one). This means that the structure is designed to hold more than double the maximum water pressure it could face in a storm.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

Yea Doc your are right, and that was part of another problem before Katrina hit. Mechanization had created a lot of unemployment. There was an imbalance there.

Of course shipping isn't the only economy in the area. You have the trickel down effect from shipping, ground transportation, oil, refining, seafood, tourism which employes a lot of people. Then there are the business that support those people, and the business that support those people and so on,and so on.

I guess my point I was making is, it will be back. The Mississippi river outlet and the Gulf coast are important to our national economy.

Yep you are correct it will be back, may take awhile but it is a vital passage way for the USA.

 

[fatboy570]

Instead of taxpayer subsidised rebuilding for Katrina victims ( this seems to be the overriding theme to this topic), I would be in favor of a relocation program. Move them to California and other states that rely heavily on an illegal immigrant population to work in the agriculture industry. Send the illegals back to where they came from, and give American citizens those jobs. Illegals dont pay taxes, and they send a lot of money via wire transfer to their home countries to bring more of their people here to work for low wages, not paying taxes to send to their home countries to bring even more of these non tax payers to this country. If relocated citizens are given these jobs, at least some of the taxes can be regained. Most taxpayer money right now goes to finance George Bush's war in Iraq. Insurance companies are a big scam anyway. You pay and pay, only to be told you cannot have the insurance money when you really need it. I pay the minimum amount necessary to keep the insurance the state requires, the rest going into savings for times when the insurance company screws me out of MY money

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

Instead of taxpayer subsidised rebuilding for Katrina victims ( this seems to be the overriding theme to this topic), I would be in favor of a relocation program. Move them to California and other states that rely heavily on an illegal immigrant population to work in the agriculture industry. Send the illegals back to where they came from, and give American citizens those jobs. Illegals dont pay taxes, and they send a lot of money via wire transfer to their home countries to bring more of their people here to work for low wages, not paying taxes to send to their home countries to bring even more of these non tax payers to this country. If relocated citizens are given these jobs, at least some of the taxes can be regained. Most taxpayer money right now goes to finance George Bush's war in Iraq. Insurance companies are a big scam anyway. You pay and pay, only to be told you cannot have the insurance money when you really need it. I pay the minimum amount necessary to keep the insurance the state requires, the rest going into savings for times when the insurance company screws me out of MY money

While I agree with you, however most tax money isnt going to Iraq its going to social programs.

PS My grandfater fought in FDRs war in the 40s and my dad in JFK Vietnam war in the 60's, both proudly and never mentioned who had sent them. No need to denigrate the troops with political slander.

My 2 cents