Wherever it is MRMEAN lives, I'm sure the area where he lives has never received any benefit whatsoever from any oil, natural gas or products shipped into any port along the portion of the gulf coast affected by Katrina. Any petroleum based product, steel, produce, etc...never, ever has his area received any benefit.
Let's see, New Orleans is the 5th largest port in the world if I'm not mistaken which even if MRMEAN has never actually used any product to come through the port, he also has never benefitted financially from the impact of the US having that port.
(Do I need to use my sarcasm tag?)
Here's the link to the Port of New Orleans website. Quite a bit of information on the impact of the Port. (In pdf format)
http://www.portno.com/
Actually its unlikely that I get much or even any petrolatum products from the Gulf area, but as to the larger point we all benefit from economic activity no matter where it is located, that is probably true. But does that mean that I am on the hook to insure against everyone's losses? No.
Let's do a little thought experiment. I live in Maine. In recent years a number of Maine shoe factories have shut down. The machinery is not junked, it is shipped overseas. No doubt some of it was shipped through New Orleans, say it went down to Mexico. The Port got its tariffs for the use of its facilities, and the International Longshoreman's Association Local 3000 got its cut for the loading of the machinery. (The local towns and the workers affected felt that they had had an economic disaster, but that doesn't show up on national TV)
Now the shoes from the Mexican factory are shipped through the Port of New Orleans. Again the Port gets its cut, and so do its workers, the longshoremen. The entire Port economy benefits. The costs of shipping through the Port will be added into the price of the shoes and when I go to the shoe store I will pay that cost in the whole price of the shoe. So I arguably received a benefit but I've paid for it, and the Port has received payment.
Now because I benefited from the purchase of that pair of shoes, you want to send me the bill to repair the whole port, plus the entire region? You and I also benefit from oil production in Venezuela (even if we don't directly use Venezuelan oil products)--are we on the hook for the reconstruction costs if a hurricane hits Venezuela?
The reality is that the Port of New Orleans and other port facilities in the area are economically important and will have little problem raising the necessary funds in capital markets to restore normal operations. And the rest of the area economy and even most of the real-estate would also rebound, without the Federal government's promise of an undefined, almost unlimited flow of money, but without the Federal money, the funds will be spent much more wisely, much more frugally.