The "80/20 Rule" strikes again.

[TahitiNut]

In MBA-dom (or is that MBA-dumb?), a well-known rule-of-thumb is that you get 80% of the result with 20% of the spending, and the remaining 20% of the result costs 80% of the spending. Unfortunately, this is also a widely-misunderstood rule-of-thumb. Quite often, that expensive 20% is foundational - a prerequisite for the cheap-and-easy 80%. Nonetheless, simpleton 'generalists' often slash budgets and expect the savings to be greater than the amount of results sacrificed.

Mayor Nagin stretched an 80%-complete (IEM) Disaster Plan and achieved an "80% result" -- evacuating 80% of the residents of the New Orleans metropolitan area, For the people who slashed Army Corps of Engineers budgets and used FEMA funding as a pork barrel, that remaining 20% -- the poor, the black, the elderly, the inform -- just wasn't worth 80% of the spending. That savings and pork cost lives.

They were and are expendable. Domestic cannon fodder in the political economics of pork and wealth.

Not only that, but a political savings of a few paltry billion is now going to cost the nation over $100 billion, and maybe over $200 billion.

But they're really on top of things. Their immediate concern is that workers might get paid 'too much' if they're paid a prevailing wage - in a region of the country with the lowest prevailing wage in the country already. There has been no evidence of concern for profiteering, however ... unless they worry in private meetings that there won't be enough.

[NVMojo]

1. best argument to explain what happened in NOLA with feds

that I've read ...

[lostinacause]

2. Perhaps that is the "let someone else deal with it" syndrome.

[bobbieinok]

3. kick

[DELUSIONAL]

4. There is a whole lot of ANGER -- about what happened

not just from us.

Tonight I was talking friends who generally aren't that interested in politics. I guess you'd say they are blue collar workers. Good people -- and they are ANGRY at what happened to the people in New Orleans.

They are ANGRY that bushie stayed on his vacation and Cheney couldn't be bothered to stop his vacation either -- meanwhile people were suffering and dying. They also know about the photo ops that bushie engaged in when he did bother to set foot in the region.

I have NEVER heard such ANGERin people's voices before. Also bushie got called some names I've not heard before -- truck drives can certainly swear!

Yes the are also angry about the lowering of wages for the people of New Orleans and other hurricane Katrina areas -- while the free loading contractors will get big government hand outs.

[TahitiNut]

5. It's still not enough. People should be overdosed with outrage. I am.

This cabal of criminals performed EXACTLY as I thought they would. They seem to believe they can do 20% and "market" the other 80% - cover it with pretense and blame-shifting. There's no way they'll be able to cover-up the $100+ billion it'll cost taxpayers.

[NYC]

6. Why do you think they even care about covering up the

$100+ billion it will cost taxpayers?

The taxpayers pay for the restoration, and the elite prosper when they own the taxpayer cleaned up land. That's my view. The rich people aren't going to buy the land (eminent domain), clean it up, and then profit on it. Rich people will buy, taxpayers will clean, rich people will profit enormously. Mission accomplished. Just one more Bush transfer of wealth.

[DELUSIONAL]

7. Well if it helps -- the people I've been talking to

have never expressed any real anger toward bushie ever before -- but now these people are red hot ANGRY and they are inventing new names to call the shallow frat boy.

The reason they never said anything about bushie was that they believed that everyone should support him post September 11.

Now they have seen a man who has had nearly everything HIS way -- screw up and have a public melt down.

He stayed on vacation for four days -- showed no real interest in what was happening in New Orleans until FOUR days later.

And everyone I've talked to knows that it was four days of uncaring by the President while people were dying.

I also believe that ALL incumbents are in big trouble.