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Subscribe via RSSWhy the Levee Broke: The Cost of the Iraq War Gets Uglier
Like most Americans, I am horrified by the Hurricane Katrina disaster and its follow on challenges of health and downright survival issues. It’s heartbreaking, the magnitude of the human suffering; and, for me, it comes “home” also because my father was a proud native of New Orleans, and I spent a bit of time there as a child.
How could this happen in such a great American city? Well, here’s one explanation: With the cost of the Iraq war and the Bush tax cuts, something had to give. Apparently, Federal funding for Louisiana flood control projects was one of those things. Read the AlterNet explanation
Would completion of the funding for the Louisiana flood control projects that were under way for years have been enough to shore up the sagging levees and completely prevent the disaster on top of disaster that we are now witnessing? We’ll never know. Certainly that would have helped.
What was it that grandma used to say? “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Or as the NY Times’ Paul Krugman says in his 9/2 column, we have “A Can’t-Do Government.” To quote him, “This time we need accountability.” Recommended reading.
Tags: politics
