Katrina: A Chance To Escape The Welfare Trap?
The Wall Street Journal editorializes today that President Bush has a chance to encourage a more free-market oriented approach to rebuilding the gulf coast:
The Journal goes on to note that this event may be an ideal time for Bush to put a new spin on the old “how do we best help the poor” debate:
Food for thought...
Instead of channeling more cash through the same failed bureaucracies, he should declare the entire Gulf Coast region an enterprise zone, with low tax rates for new investments and waivers for any regulatory obstacles to rebuilding.
The Journal goes on to note that this event may be an ideal time for Bush to put a new spin on the old “how do we best help the poor” debate:
Above all, he can reframe the entire debate on how to help the poor of New Orleans. The people who couldn’t flee the storm were not ignored by “small government conservatism,” as if that actually still exists outside of Hong Kong. The city’s poor have been smothered by decades of corrupt, paternal government--local, state and federal.
While Chicago and other cities leveled their public housing projects, the Big Easy has continued to run nasty places like the Lafitte homes. The city’s crime rate is 10 times the national average, even as New York and other big cities have seen their rates fall. Its public schools are as bad as any, and its city government more corrupt than most. The last thing the poor need is to be returned to such tender, loving care.
Food for thought...
Comments
#1 2005-09-15 16:13 (Reply)
Simple proposal could take advantage of New Orleans location relative to the Caribbean. How about
“No duty on sugar coming through New Orleans. No duty on ethanol made from sugar cane. Five year moratorium”
Simple. Costs nothing. Reduces dependance on Mideast Oil. Fixes multi-billion $ rebuilding problem.
JBP
#2 2005-09-16 10:05 (Reply)
Well rampant mommy-statism obviously did not work so I would hope we would be willing to try something different.
How about if we apply God’s rules to the problem and see how things work out.
Naaaa, that will never happen. What was I thinking.