Reason's Tim Cavanaugh says it is time to remove the pork from the transportation bill to help rebuild New Orleans and other areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"The situation is simple. There is no more money in the federal budget to rebuild Louisiana and Mississippi. The federal government is running a $413-billion annual deficit, and the national debt is heading north of $8 trillion. In these circumstances, House Speaker Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) hastily retracted claim that rebuilding New Orleans doesn't 'make sense' sounds less like hardheaded realism than political necessity. The feds don't have the money to put up a toolshed, let alone a 'fantastic Gulf Coast.'
But hold on a minute. Just this month, the federal government managed to find $286.4 billion for a highway bill that provides countless Washington D.C. giveaways to states that don't need the help. Among the celebrated goodies: a dust control project for Arkansas roads and a warehouse on the Erie Canal."
Thanks to Reason Alert
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