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ksmithJohn Tierney wrote this, so I responded with this.
Mr. Tierney--
In response to your column of this morning entitled "Ben Franklin Had the Right Idea for New Orleans," I would like to ask how you justify dumping the entire responsibility to maintain the levees on the state of Louisiana and the residents of the area? The flood insurance issue is not a primary point in the case of New Orleans, and I think it's a leap to go from 'buy your own unsubsidized insurance' to 'take care of the levees yourself.' This isn't a town or suburban development built on a flood plain that sees flooding every spring as the snows melt and the spring rains swell the rivers. This is the largest seaport in the US, the through-point for a substantial amount of oil, food (both imported and exported), and wares used throughout the country. You most likely own something, a piece of clothing or a household item, that was unloaded from a ship by someone who over the last few days has required aid, and whose home may require rebuilding. New Orleans is also a major tourist destination and a place of historical interest. If you ever visited that city, your hotel room was cleaned by someone who lives in the area, who has probably lost everything, and who I doubt was able to afford flood insurance.
Do you drive? Have your local gas prices increased?
I don't believe that we as citizens can say to some of our own, 'we will continue to take what you provide, but as to the rest of it, you're on your own.' As a city, a point of entry, an issue of security, New Orleans was and is our responsibility. The new New Orleans will no doubt have to be redesigned, I hope without the current set of insufficiencies. When it is, we will still all be partly responsible for it, because we all benefit from it.
As an aside, I personally would rather pay for a New Orleans resident's subsidized flood insurance that pick up the slack for companies that shelter hundreds of millions in taxable income overseas until Congress grants them a tax amnesty and lets them off the hook for pennies on the dollar, but that's an argument for another letter.
Regards,
Kristine Smith
I just hope it's lucid.
I'm not sure I want to hear any arguments, either. I get touchy when I see mothers holding dying babies. What![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
scott_lynch said about Mighty Hurricane Warriors. Cubed.
Mr. Tierney--
In response to your column of this morning entitled "Ben Franklin Had the Right Idea for New Orleans," I would like to ask how you justify dumping the entire responsibility to maintain the levees on the state of Louisiana and the residents of the area? The flood insurance issue is not a primary point in the case of New Orleans, and I think it's a leap to go from 'buy your own unsubsidized insurance' to 'take care of the levees yourself.' This isn't a town or suburban development built on a flood plain that sees flooding every spring as the snows melt and the spring rains swell the rivers. This is the largest seaport in the US, the through-point for a substantial amount of oil, food (both imported and exported), and wares used throughout the country. You most likely own something, a piece of clothing or a household item, that was unloaded from a ship by someone who over the last few days has required aid, and whose home may require rebuilding. New Orleans is also a major tourist destination and a place of historical interest. If you ever visited that city, your hotel room was cleaned by someone who lives in the area, who has probably lost everything, and who I doubt was able to afford flood insurance.
Do you drive? Have your local gas prices increased?
I don't believe that we as citizens can say to some of our own, 'we will continue to take what you provide, but as to the rest of it, you're on your own.' As a city, a point of entry, an issue of security, New Orleans was and is our responsibility. The new New Orleans will no doubt have to be redesigned, I hope without the current set of insufficiencies. When it is, we will still all be partly responsible for it, because we all benefit from it.
As an aside, I personally would rather pay for a New Orleans resident's subsidized flood insurance that pick up the slack for companies that shelter hundreds of millions in taxable income overseas until Congress grants them a tax amnesty and lets them off the hook for pennies on the dollar, but that's an argument for another letter.
Regards,
Kristine Smith
I just hope it's lucid.
I'm not sure I want to hear any arguments, either. I get touchy when I see mothers holding dying babies. What
scott_lynch said about Mighty Hurricane Warriors. Cubed.
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no subject
Date: 2005-09-03 02:41 pm (UTC)You know it's bad when the *best case* scenario is that the world's largest grain exporter has their export ports flooded right before harvest. Worst case scenario is we have to rebuild.