Mark Alan Hughes asks who has the power to decide on rebuilding plans for New Orleans: former or returning residents, federal policymakers, local officials, or all taxpayers?
"...the plans for rebuilding the Gulf Coast beg the question, who decides? Who pays is also important. And so is who gets paid."
....But does it matter to the rest of us? Why does an ex-resident have a say in the rebuilding when we don't even know if that resident plans to return?
Shouldn't they have to demonstrate an intention to return in order to claim a vote? Otherwise they've become just another new resident of Houston or Phoenix, and have moved away from decision-making in New Orleans....
Wait a minute. How did "we" and "us" get into this debate? Is it because the $50 billion already authorized and the $200 billion already suggested is coming from the national treasury?
Does our money nationalize the decision-making here? Have we bailed out New Orleans, or bought it? Doesn't this whole unfolding set of decisions really amount to eminent domain as imagined in the Supreme Court's recent Kelo decision?"
Thanks to Margy Waller
FULL STORY: A NAGGING NEW ORLEANS QUESTION
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