Well, ol' George has now been around the block. He knows how to fix that. He's going to spend money - as soon as his Treasury (our treasury) gets it printed up - in quantities the likes of which the world has never known.
U.S. to pick up rebuilding tab
By Joseph Curl, The Washington Times$200 billion.
President Bush last night said the federal government will pay most of the estimated $200 billion to rebuild the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in what he called "one of the largest reconstruction projects the world has ever seen."
All of New Orleans wasn't worth $200 billion.
That's past tense, of course.
But George ain't stoppin' there. He's going to right wrongs too. The systemic kind. He's going to end poverty. And put FDR, LBJ, The New Deal, and The Great Society to shame by comparison.
[Mr. Bush] said his administration will not turn a blind eye to the "persistent poverty" in the region that has led to a "legacy of inequality."
Addressing the hundreds of thousands of evacuees forced from their homes by the hurricane, the president said, "You need to know that our whole nation cares about you -- and in the journey ahead you are not alone."
"Tonight, I also offer this pledge to the American people: Throughout the area hit by the hurricane, we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.Meanwhile back here where Hurricane Appalachia has devastated the landscape from north Georgia to western Tennessee through the mountains of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia, people continue to abandon their homes and move their families north to find work. Our politicians make the front page of newspapers and get their pictures taken shaking hands with local officials after having brought in enough government relief to spruce up a park or they announce with great emotion that they've been able to keep a post office from being closed. They fund riding trails. Hiking paths. The creation of a job here and another there.
$200 billion.
President Bush is getting high praise this morning - especially from The New York Times, which speaks volumes - for offering up a bold initiative to end poverty. In New Orleans.
In the meantime, while the government begins construction on Taj Mahal Big Easy, the Bland Ministry is beginning its Christmas clothing and gift drive. It won't be long, I'll motor past their meager facility down in Bland and will have to slow my car because the line of Americans who will be there to receive Christmas gifts for their children and grandchildren will stretch down the sidewalk and out along Route 52. A line that will perhaps be a bit shorter this year as Hurricane Appalachia continues to wreak its inexorable destruction. More people have packed their bags and moved north in search of employment.
But it'll get no notice from CBS News. We won't expect a visit from Jesse Jackson. As long as there are no bodies in the streets and there are no slave traders (my term for those who have gotten rich marketing the problems black Americans face today) shouting about white folks hating black folks, the devastation will continue to be ignored. The Americans at Ethan Allen over in Dublin, Virginia are the latest to fall victim to the wrath of Hurricane Appalachia. The latest in a long and tragic line of victims at too many plants and businesses to count.
On the bright side, it won't be long we'll see the dump trucks full of sweet potatoes drop their loads in the abandoned car dealership parking lot in Bland for the citizenry to come and shovel and bag and take home to their children. That's always a festive occasion; one in which neighbors get together and, while gathering up the evening meal, they'll talk over the latest news regarding the cattle market and the price of milk, the new Bibles over at the Methodist church and the bargain on sun glasses at the Dollar General.
And about that $200 billion being offered up to Americans down in New Orleans.
I wonder how many sweet potatoes that would buy? Heck, I'll bet it would even pay for a new shovel.
