Cost of Recovery Surges

Courtneyjo · #1 Sep 9, '05, 5:07 am

"The demand for money comes from many directions. Louisiana lawmakers plan to push for billions of dollars to upgrade the levees around New Orleans, rebuild highways, lure back business and shore up the city's sinking foundation. The devastated areas of Mississippi and Alabama will need similar infusions of cash."

" 'I'm fearful that this will open the floodgates for money,' said Chris Edwards, a budget analyst at the Cato Institute, a research group that supports reduced government spending. 'If they spend $1 billion a day for relief, that's fine. But down the road, state and local governments traditionally issue bonds for infrastructure when they need to build.' "

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/na...QRWBsT3hI5Pn5Q

Courtneyjo · #2 Sep 9, '05, 5:52 pm

Sept. 11 loans went to places far from Ground Zero.

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/...r_loans001.cfm

Courtneyjo · #3 Sep 16, '05, 7:54 am

G.O.P. Split Over Big Plans For Storm Spending

"One fiscal conservative, Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, said Thursday, 'I don't believe that everything that should happen in Louisiana should be paid for by the rest of the country. I believe there are certain responsibilities that are due the people of Louisiana.' "

".....many Republicans are increasingly edgy about the White House's push for a potentially open-ended recovery budget, worried that the president - in trying to regroup politically - was making expensive promises they would have to keep."

"As for paying for the recovery, Ms. Pelosi raised the possibility of 50-year bonds tied to the reconstruction."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/po...gewanted=print

Courtneyjo · #4 Sep 17, '05, 9:04 am

Corruption a Worry as Katrina Aid Flows

" 'If we don't do this properly, we're going to see the second looting of areas impacted by this horrible storm,' said Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy."

"FEMA officials said the state could not show that grant dollars given to parishes between 1997 and 2002 to buy out properties or elevate flood-prone houses were spent properly."

'LeBlanc said Louisiana's legislative auditor and inspector general are watching the cash now rather than waiting until after the money is spent, and he said changes were made to the state's accounting system to more closely track spending."

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationwo...orld-headlines