Levees are critical, and a good deal.....

This Op Ed in the New York Times contains a few relative cost statistics which truly offer some perspective.

"The price tag for protection against a Category 5 hurricane, which would involve not just stronger and higher levees but also new drainage canals and environmental restoration, would very likely run to well over $32 billion. That is a lot of money. But that starting point represents just 1.2 percent of this year's estimated $2.6 trillion in federal spending, which actually overstates the case, since the cost would be spread over many years. And it is barely one-third the cost of the $95 billion in tax cuts passed just last week by the House of Representatives.
Total allocations for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror have topped $300 billion."

It makes the delay in the Federal commitment necessary to give confidence to the private market seem far more eggregious.

Bush's Marie Antoinette response.....

From NOLA.com: "Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, said that her legislation, co-sponsored by Vitter and Landrieu, for bridge loans to help small businesses reopen after the hurricane was stymied because of opposition from the White House, which indicated the program would be too expensive. Such loans, Snowe said, are critical to New Orleans' recovery. "

Liquidity, in the form of bridge loans, grants, loan restructuring, tax credits or whatever, is one of the most valuable contributions the Federal Govt. could make to help New Orleans' recovery. The City and State have little or reduced revenues and little savings; business owners have to survive for 6-12 months with no income just to return to their shops. Liquidity provides the avenues to recovery; the details of the long-term financial solution can be worked out later.

As usual, this "business-friendly" administration doesn't understand rudimentary business principles and the "compassionate" conservatives don't trust the small business-person enough to want to rebuild their lives, to make the loan.

resistance

i believe that i shall begin to resist ideological kleptocracies.

BigT

censorship: one thing we need to avoid...

This article on the BBC NEWS site about the death of Zhao Ziyang (Tienanmen Square incident) includes the quote

"China's government has issued just a brief statement, confirming Zhao's death. But the official Xinhua news agency instructed domestic radio and television not to carry the item.

There have been many grieving postings on internet bulletin boards. 'Time will vindicate him,' said one. 'We will miss you forever,' said another.

All were deleted speedily by chatroom monitors, our Beijing correspondent says. "

I had to wonder how different, really, our own situation is. The censorship is, perhaps, less overt government censorship than economic/plutocratic control of state.

I do worry.

Definition of an Ideologue, by David Brooks

If you read this rubbish in The New York Times from David Brooks he does actually define the choice in this election:

Modern Head of State or Ideologue

Here are Brooks' closing comments:

"Republicans and Democrats have different conceptions of the presidency. Republicans admire a president who is elevated above his executive branch colleagues. It is impossible to imagine George W. Bush or Reagan as a cabinet secretary. Instead, they are set apart by virtue of exceptional moral qualities. Relying on their core values, they set broad goals and remain resolute in times of crisis.

Democrats see the presidency as a much more ministerial job. They admire presidents who engage in constant deliberative conversations. Democrats from Carter through Mondale, Dukakis, Clinton, Gore and Kerry have all been well versed in the inner workings of government. "

To claim exceptional morality for the Republicans is idiotic, just ask Jimmy Carter. As is their claim to broad vision or resolution in crises. The truth, really, is that in addition to those qualities of strength, Democrats improve their lot with a thoughtful understanding of our place in the Global theater and a vision of the entire planet that extends far into the future.

The difference is whether your strength and resolve are guided by blindness and ignorance or informed thought.

Do Not Despair

As Bush's "Bounce" magically disappears, The Kerry surge has begun already.

2004: Referendum on Democracy

BigT thinks Bush and the GOP are dangerously undermining our democratic institutions with the goal of the U.S. becoming a one-party state. As a cat, BigT can't always articulate his thoughts that well, but he thinks Will Saletan of Slate has done a pretty good job:

But the important thing isn't the falsity of the charges, which Republicans continue to repeat despite press reports debunking them. The important thing is that the GOP is trying to quash criticism of the president simply because it's criticism of the president. The election is becoming a referendum on democracy.

In a democracy, the commander in chief works for you. You hire him when you elect him. You watch him do the job. If he makes good decisions and serves your interests, you rehire him. If he doesn't, you fire him by voting for his opponent in the next election.

Not every country works this way. In some countries, the commander in chief builds a propaganda apparatus that equates him with the military and the nation. If you object that he's making bad decisions and disserving the national interest, you're accused of weakening the nation, undermining its security, sabotaging the commander in chief, and serving a foreign power—the very charges Miller leveled tonight against Bush's critics.

Are you prepared to become one of those countries?

Are you?

NEOCONS OUT OF CONTROL

I think BigT would want you to read this post by Juan Cole. It provides the context for understanding the recent stories about someone in the pentagon spying for Israel. It is complicated but a must read, showing how out-of-control foreign policy has become under this administration.