From MSNBC

[VroomBroom]

'The people of New Orleans beleive that there should be a compensation for this......the same way the 9/11 victims were........that this was such an act of God that they should be compensated and then they believe to some extent that because of gonvenmet incompitence, the way to levee's failed.....that they should be compensated.......'

[Gareth]

OY!!
Someone's always looking to make a buck somewhere.

[BeachWitch]

This is a tough one. I was just reading an article this morning in the Times that did a very good job of breaking down the problem.

Short term political impact is where money is spent. Levees are not short term projects, but reinforcing an interstate for a Senator, that is where the political punch lies.

So, the bottom line is, the politicians chose where to spend the money in New Orleans. The people of New Orleans voted these politicians into office.

I'm going to get flamed for saying this, but they voted them in, they need to live with the long term consequences of their short term vision.

[Exloration_La]

I think partially it was a natural disaster etc, but with supposedly the government being so benevolent of other countries and helped other victims such as 9/11 it would be VERY INCONRUENT of them not to help New Orleans (AMERICAN CITISENS!!) in this situation so in that case would seem wrong to me.

[Incendia]

You should have made that a "Heeelll NOOOO!" category. ;) I feel for their suffering, but I'm not paying extra for victims of a NATURAL disaster...sorry. :geez:

[VroomBroom]

:p Thats the generalized 'other' catagory!

[Incendia]

:p Thats the generalized 'other' catagory!

:D

[Shanti]

Then we would have to pay everyone that falls to a act of nature! Yeah, right.
I dont think so. They need help to get back o n their feet, yes.
Pay for going through it...no.
We had 24 tornadoes about 2 weeks ago...they should all get paid for that too.

Getting more for bad things happening is ridiculous to say the least!

[Jenne]

this is a good question--and bears answering, because precedent HAS been set, to some degree, about "national tragedies" through 9/11...for better or for worse.

I'd like to see a stimulus package for the region, to get people on their feet, and to stimulate growth where there previously was none. I read the financial reports about that region before all this, and they were excited about some new opportunities vis a vis Hollywood filming and whatnot happening over there. Maybe tax breaks and other incentives for companies investing in the community?

Anyway, as for the citizens themselves, it sounds to me like the government is going to do most of what they can do (meaning physically and fiscally) to get these citizens back to where they belong with their social security and government aid checks (read: welfare) in place...from what I heard on the radio anyway. So it is probably moot to debate this in the end. I shudder to think what this is going to cost us as a nation...with war, oil, and now relief aid coming into the mix...2005 is going to be an expensive year.

[lynn271]

'The people of New Orleans beleive that there should be a compensation for this......the same way the 9/11 victims were........that this was such an act of God that they should be compensated and then they believe to some extent that because of gonvenmet incompitence, the way to levee's failed.....that they should be compensated.......'

Sigh. We all had to know that the government paying off individuals for 9/11 was going to lead to this. It shouldn't have been done then, and it shouldn't be done now.

[lynn271]

Short term political impact is where money is spent. Levees are not short term projects, but reinforcing an interstate for a Senator, that is where the political punch lies.

So, the bottom line is, the politicians chose where to spend the money in New Orleans. The people of New Orleans voted these politicians into office.

I'm going to get flamed for saying this, but they voted them in, they need to live with the long term consequences of their short term vision.

Of course, that's pretty rotten for the minority who voted the other way. Not to mention that most people have lives and can't spend all their time following every little bit of legislation. Heck, the Representatives and Senator don't read the bills they vote on, because "they don't have time," and it's their full-time job. And, at the state and especially at the federal level, it's not as if New Orleans' politicians are the only ones that get to vote on spending bills.

However, it's still a bad idea to compensate individuals. There's just no way the government can compensate everyone who suffers as a result of their incompetence. It's just something we have to live with, and protect ourselves against as well as we can.

[Darakash]

Hmm, well, I don't think there should be any "punitive" damages paid to the survivors (for the bad levee system, etc.); however, the fact is, that FEMA does pay individuals for lost property. If that person is insured, they are expected to pay back the funds out of their insurance settlement. (and YES, FEMA does pursue such paybacks, it is happening as we speak here in my county).

If a person is a renter, for instance, and has no renter's insurance, then fema evaluates the scene (if possible), asks for a list of property lost, destroyed, etc...and then calculates a payment to that person. They generally give funds for clothing, furniture, appliances/electronics, even toys. This is part of the reason that their budget is as large as it is, in addition to immediate supplies, etc. they help people get back on their feet. Since N.O. is so completely buried, it will be difficult to avoid fraud in this instance, I would imagine, because, it is hardly like the fema rep can survey the damage of each person's home, as they did here in my county.

[narleymarley03]

I don't think the people of New Orleans should be compensated for the hurricaine. I also, don't think the 9/11 survivors should have been compensated either.