Interesting Article on Hurricane George...

[zoeb]

As if the damage from Hurricane Katrina was not bad enough, Hurricane George Bush has been gathering strength over the Potomac, and is now a category five monster headed straight for your portfolio. Likening his planned $200+ billion boondoggle to the “Marshal Plan” after the Second World War, Bush is ignoring a simple, but enormous distinction. In 1945, we had the savings necessary to tackle the World's problems; in 2005 we do not have adequate savings to pay for our own.

In my recent commentary “Nothing Saved for a Rainy Day,” I pointed out that Americans, who have indulged their every whim while the sun shinned, have saved nothing for a “rainy” day. As a result, Hurricane Katrina struck the economy at a particularly vulnerable time. If we can not pay to rebuild the lost infrastructure out of accumulated savings, the only legitimate method is to reduce current consumption. Therefore, if President Bush wants to divert scarce resources to rebuild the Gulf Coast, he either needs to raise taxes or reduce other expenditures to pay for it. However, the President wants to pretend that the Gulf Coast can be rebuilt without anyone sacrificing anything, and without any adverse consequences for the over-all economy.

The rest of the story:
http://www.financialsense.com/fsu/editorials/schiff/2005/0922.html

Enjoy

[enid602]

1. spending

It is not just the continuing cost of Iraq and Katrina damage that we have to pay for. Bush's decision to forgo LA levee spending was just one of many infrastructure investments that was postponed; we're five years behind in infrastructure development that cannot be ignored indefinitely. These costs must compete with the insane array of pork barrel projects.

[zoeb]

2. It's been the same storm for the last five years! eom