Posted on 03/05/2006 7:38:06 PM PST by BenjaminHackett
The city of Houston is facing a Post-Katrina strain on public goods.
The piece, entitled, Katrina's Latest Damage, shows the results of the charitable natures of Houston's people.
Crime is up. Schools are overcrowded. Hospitals are jammed. Houston welcomed a flood of hurricane evacuees with open arms. But now the city is suffering from a case of 'compassion fatigue.Most people are unaware of this, but Houston, after sheltering them and taking care of over 150,000 evacuees, then decided to "usher evacuees into more-permanent housing, offering them generous vouchers that covered rent and utilities for a year."
Their reward?
Public services are overwhelmed, city finances are strained and violent crime is on the rise.
And now, officials in New Orleans, perhaps worried about reelection, or perhaps seeking an opportunity to get rid of people they do not want to return, took steps to ensure that the "less desirable evacueees" do not return to New Orleans:
When city leaders in New Orleans made comments two weeks ago suggesting that they wanted only hardworking evacuees to return, some Houston city-council members erupted in protest—fearing that politicians in the Big Easy were trying to stick Houston with theirundesirables. "We extended an open hand to all kinds of people," says Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. "If they want to return home, it's their right." And if they want to stay, she adds, they "need to stand up, get on their feet and get jobs."To boot, crime is up.
Of 189 murders in the six months after the hurricane, 33 involved Katrina evacuees as either suspects or victims, according to Police Chief Harold Hurtt. Initially, the killings resulted from clashes among rival New Orleans gangs, says Hurtt. More recently, they've stemmed from robberies or narcotics, he says.This all stems from the outgrowth of an entitlement society. Never having the impetus to prepare themselves for danger, or even life in general, pre-Katrina, the developments in New Orleans are really no surprise.
Like I've said before, the floodwaters of Katrina washed out the city's dirty little secret: Entitlement liberalism leads to the ruin of a community, not to its betterment.
--no good deed going unpunished--
"Entitlement liberalism leads to the ruin of a community, not to its betterment."
Well said!
New Orleans protected itself against a return influx of welfare loafers and criminals when it used two magic words: "hardworking evacuees".
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