Not My Idea, But......

Hunter1

With deference to Don's post, what do you think of the idea of just cutting a check to each victim/family of Katrina for $200K and let them put their own lives back together? $200 billion divided by one million people affected is $200K, each, and if you limit it to one or two individuals per family, you'll still have enough left over to rebuild the public infrastructure for the number of people who decide to return to New Orleans and surrounding area. Make certain that each recipient proves their loss of living/business/job, but let them decide whether to go back or get a start someplace else.

System

Well, there you have it Hunter1. But you'll have to cut that figure to one fourth at least to form and support the government group that oversees the disbursement and certification process. That process should take mere months; probably up an walking by March.

System

Well, I'm afraid the government will forever be in the loop. Since it's federally funded, the subcontractor receiving the funds must report to a government person. A newly formed federal agency will be set up to disburse the money and monitor the success of the program. Like a good government entity, it should have an acronym: Lead Assistance Unit Giving Help to Ousted Uninhabitable Territories and the League Of Underwater Damage.

National Guard

Too funny. I wish I was half as smart as you SAM!

Hunter1

Coming from someone who spent a career in government, I don't know whether to say you know what you're talking about, or to say that apparently even far sighted individuals like the three of us can work for 'the government'.
It's a clear course of action; give them the money and set them on their way. Of course there would be second-guessers, once some of them blew the money in Vegas and wanted to go on the dole. 'You didn't give them a chance, they had no education about money, etc.' And I say, put their names on a national registery and they don't get any more public funds for the next ten years.

From our experience in WI, I don't know who I'd trust to administer the funds. That's the biggest problem with the idea. It seems like even if you give the money to private organizations, someone finds a way to get their fingers in the pot, big time.

Whatever

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-27-05 AT 10:42AM (CST)[/font][br][br]When it came time to distribute the funds to people who lost loved ones in 9/11, it was amazing the rifts that occurred (my husband was more valuable than your husband...my husband would have been more valuable than your husband if he had been a bond trader instead of teacher...you may have been married to A, but I am the one they really loved and therefore I should get the money...my house is worth more than your house...my expenses are higher than yours (I drive a hummer, you drive a hybrid) (I have a full-time nanny, you use day care). I can't conceive that the people with million dollar homes would accept the same as people with $100,000 homes..greed is powerful.