Posted on 09/12/2005 2:57:08 AM PDT by Lokibob
KATRINA THOUGHTS
Involved in a political discussion tonight, one of the other folks did a quick estimate of how much hurricane Katrina is going to cost each tax payer. Using 100 million tax payers, and 60 billion dollars, it comes to $600 each tax payer. Admittedly, his figures are not accurate, just a quick guess, but a couple of things jumped out to me.
First, it is amazing at how marvelous this country is. That we as a country can absorb this kind of devastation and it not bite deeply into our gross national product tells of the economic strength of this country. A third world country would be in deep swamp water (pun intended) with something like this.
Second, this is the reason why we pay taxes. Implied with our annual tax bill is a contract to spend the money wisely. The government builds highways, schools, and Armys. They can damn well take care of their citizens with the tax money they collect.
Third, I guess a tax cut is out of the question now, however, in a round about way, are we not getting back some of the money we have trusted to the federal government? You could think of the disaster relief as a form of tax refunding. $600/taxpayer is twice what President Bush gave us as a tax refund. Conversely, lets not make Katrina an opportunity to RAISE taxes.
Fourth, since hurricane Katrina hit the gulf states and the flooding of New Orleans, the stock market has performed fairly well. Thinking about it, I realized that the stock market gurus know the money is going to be spent in Wal Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and the many different furniture stores. This will push up employment, home construction, industrial capacity, and really upgrade an area of this country that needs upgrading.
Fifth, while we are in a spending mood, why not spend a little more in infrastructure and upgrade the refining capacity of the oil industry in Louisiana? This may be an opportunity to become more self sustaining.
I’m not trying to turn Katrina into a silk purse. She is, and will forever be a sows ear.
That is a unique perspective. I'm glad my taxes won't go up more than $50/month. However, I would prefer my government trust me enough to decide how much I can "donate", without them appropriating the money first.
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