Baker’s relief bill deserves try

Baton Rouge Morning Advocate ^ | 1-29-06 | John LaPlante

[Uncle Sham]

Political Horizons for Jan. 29

Baker’s relief bill deserves try

By JOHN LAPLANTE

Published: Jan 29, 2006

Ford to City: Drop Dead,” a legendary headline screamed in 1975, when a president refused to bail out New York City from financial disaster.

Change the president and the locale, and Louisiana hurricane victims might be forgiven for thinking the same thing.

After hemming and hawing for months about U.S. Rep. Richard Baker’s home-buyout bill, and never really saying what he had against it, Bush brushed it aside last week.

Only after aides revealed his opposition did Bush grant a one-paragraph explanation. It amounted to three things: Don’t create more bureaucracy; we already gave you people lots of money; and Louisiana doesn’t have a plan.

Baker and Gov. Kathleen Blanco countered the Baker bill is so important it amounts to “the plan.”

Blanco said she only really controls $6.2 billion in recovery money that will be stretched far too thin to aid owners of 200,000 destroyed or damaged homes.

She said opposing bureaucracy is an odd argument for any federal officials to make.

What she should argue is that Baker’s bill is a plan for people, not politicians.

Yes, the bill would set up a new bureaucracy called the Louisiana Recovery Corp., but this is not an open-ended promise to hand out money to politicians or write checks to the idle.

The LRC is supposed to be a hard-nosed business proposition. It would pay willing homeowners some, but not all, of the equity in their homes.

If they have a mortgage, the agency would pay it off, giving lenders back some, but not all, of their investment.

The agency would clean up the property and, working with local interests, market it to investors for redevelopment.

The LRC should take some decisions from politicians and give them to homeowners. They could take less and get on with their lives or keep their property in hopes of working out a better deal some other way. The agency would not take land against the owners’ will.

The corporation could transform many homeowners from helpless victims to people with some hope for the future. It could block a wave of foreclosures that might wipe out tens of thousands of families’ finances.

It could help head off statewide economic stagnation and spur speedy, organized recovery for communities that must come back for the state to recover.

Baker said he’s not giving up. He sees support in both chambers of Congress and says he has passed significant legislation over Bush’s objection before. But the opposition of a president whose party controls Congress is a major setback.

In fairness to Bush, Louisiana leaders made it easy for him to so casually shrug off the bill.

Our U.S. senators tried to grab $250 billion on sympathy instead of catalogued needs. The governor and Legislature found money for political projects during the crisis and so far have done little to adjust state government to the vastly different needs. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin famously made blackness, not prosperity, his top goal.

Some Louisiana leaders also exude an air of entitlement, even arrogance, demanding Washington immediately turn over as much taxpayer money as the state demands.

The Baker bill is not another toy for Louisiana politicians to play with or a well-intentioned program for them to screw up. It should actually bypass the politicians by dealing mostly with residents and bankers and developers.

Bush would appoint the managers of the agency, with Blanco suggesting only two. The U.S. treasury secretary would have final say over how much money the agency can borrow.

The bill is founded in Baker’s long expertise in the complexities of housing finance and the federal government’s long interest in affordable homes as a big part of the American dream.

Baker’s bill also is complex and in some ways unprecedented, and who knows how wily politicians, lawyers or speculators might try to abuse it?

Baker says he is willing to compromise. He should be. Louisiana is asking the nation to take a huge risk by borrowing up to $30 billion. Limits and controls are appropriate to minimize the chance of abuse.

Risks and reservations should not sink the bill without a proper airing.

The idea is worth more than months of foot-shuffling and a sudden brush-off by the president.

The 200,000 families that might directly benefit from it, and the 4.5 million Louisiana residents affected by their state’s continued crisis, deserve a hearing.

John LaPlante is Capitol bureau editor for The Advocate.

[CyberSpartacus]

I have a plan for you. Move to higher ground. I am sick of paying taxes throgh the nose so that morons can have what THEY want.

[Neville72]

"This plan had wide-spread Congressional support before the holidays but was held up by the Bush Administration"

Horse puckey!

It did not have wide support. From my perspective as a soon-to-be ex-Lousyana resident the so-called "leaders" of this state have done zilch in giving the taxpayers in the rest of the country any reason to funnel billions more into the political, economic and educational BLACK F'N HOLE.

GASBAG BLANK-O whines and bitches which is apparently all that's she competant to do rather than lead. The Chocolate Man Ray Nagin further embarrasses the state on an almost daily basis. Vitter, the formerly sane Senator, signs on to Moon's baby girl's attempt to rape the U.S. Treasury of $250 BILLION.

And you wonder why people look on Lousyana with disgust? Really?

I'mm outa here.

[Libloather]

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin famously made blackness, not prosperity, his top goal.

Nagin says Vegas-style casino gambling could jump-start ravaged city
10/08/2005

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Mayor C. Ray Nagin hopes to attract tourists and their cash back to his ravaged city with an "out-of-the-box" plan to install Las Vegas-style gambling in the city's biggest hotels.

Nagin put forth the casino proposal Friday as a way to jump-start New Orleans' economy and help its people get back to work in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The plan calls for a large-scale gambling area in the city's central business district, stretching from Interstate 10 on the west to the Mississippi River on the east.

"Now is the time for us to think out of the box. Now is the time for some bold leadership, some decisive leadership," Nagin said.

Nagin said gambling should be allowed in hotels that have more than 500 rooms, the majority of which are near the city's famed Canal Street. The plan would require legislative approval.

Gambling is already allowed using video machines in roughly half of Louisiana's 64 parishes, but there's only one full-scale, land-based casino, operated by Harrah's Entertainment Inc., in New Orleans.

Harrah's downtown casino has been closed since shortly before Katrina hit and the company has not given a timetable for possibly reopening the gambling hall.

Also, three dockside riverboat casinos operate in the New Orleans area.

Nagin made his proposal after Katrina virtually destroyed all 13 dockside casinos on the nearby Mississippi Gulf Coast. A bill to allow operators to rebuild land casinos close to shore has been passed by both the Mississippi House and Senate. Gov. Haley Barbour has said he will sign the measure.

There are currently nine hotels in New Orleans with more than 500 rooms; Nagin said he thought five or six hotels would add casinos.

Nagin would not speculate what would be involved in getting his casino plan passed, but said he hoped Gov. Kathleen Blanco -- who has campaigned against additional gambling in Louisiana -- would include it in a recently announced special session that's scheduled for November.

"Right now we're a cash-strapped city," Nagin said.

Nagin said he is not fond of gambling, and that he wished he had another solution, "but I know of no other way."

He said Harrah's would have to agree to give up its exclusive rights and acknowledged he did not think the company would "do it for free."

Harrah's spokesman Alberto Lopez declined to comment on the proposal.

Dan King, general manager of the city's Sheraton hotel, did not discount the proposal.

"I can't speak for my company. I guess all ideas are worth investigating. I don't really have a comment because I haven't studied it," he said.

Nagin said he sent a letter to Blanco earlier this week asking for a 50 percent income tax credit for any worker in the city. Nagin also asked the governor to eliminate the tax on manufacturers' debt in the city and for an income-tax-free zone for manufacturers in the city.

[mewzilla]

Stupidity does not cause corruption.

[WatchOutForSnakes]

Huh? I think you just made my point but I'm not sure.

[jospehm20]

Just because Nagin and Blanco stand up and say they do have a plan does not make it so either, unless you include the famous "Chocolate City" plan. I believe President Bush on this and trust him more than the La. politicians.

[Uncle Sham]

"So Blanco and company have a plan for buying up this real estate. But the political pathologies that magnified the scale of this disaster are still in place."

The locals weren't prepared and did a crappy job of anything imediately after the storm when the enormity of the devastation was just sinking in. We've had five months now for the Feds to get their act together on this and it still isn't taking place. Surely, you can't blame the locals for this. This attitude says every state for themselves. Is that what you want for this nation?

[txoilman]

The only plan Louisiana has is by Gov. Blanco to rennovate her offices ($500,0000).

[OrioleFan]

Nagin's economic development plan is to entice Hershey to move from Pennsylvania to New Orleans - make a "chocolate" city.

[Boanarges]

"Personally, I'm wondering how much more the taxpayers are supposed to pick up to pay for Louisiana. As for me, I'm sick and tired of it. It's time for these people to pull up their bootstraps, and figure out how to take care of their own problems."

Louisiana is beginning to figure it out! There is a new plan being discussed - a plan to levy a tax (4%) against major Oil and Gas producers in Louisiana, something akin to a land use tax on the thousands of miles of pipeline getting the gas and oil out of Lousiana to other parts of the country. These majors would have no choice other than to pay it. They would then turn around and pass that tax on to consumers at pumps across America. It would generate BILLIONS for the State of Louisiana. Americans will helf fund the Lousiana recovery every time they fuel their vehicles whether they like it or not. Rest assured, Lousiana is getting dangerously close to getting "it" figured out. Some politicians in Lousiana aren't as stupid as some want to protray them. In a sense, because of their abundance of Natural Resources on land and off their coast, Louisiana has the Nation and Americans at their mercy and the State is just beginning to wake up to that fact. Time will tell how all this shakes out. Stay tuned!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Bingo. Why should I pay someone to live in a hole ?

[GregoryFul]

Nagin has admitted to the fraud. He explained that the pretense of having more cops on the force was to deter the criminals. He said that the payroll money was used for other good purposes - such as buying radios and equipment. (I guess it was federal aid earmarked to hire more cops).

[dirtboy]

Surely, you can't blame the locals for this.

Yes, I can. Your pols came to the American taxpayer asking for $250 billion dollars. That one act curdled all the goodwill taxpayers in other states had.

Now, Louisiana wants federal taxpayers to pay for destroyed properties. So far, so good. But then all those properties will be re-bundled for re-development. And I'm sure the corrupt Louisiana pols will figure out how to get their share from that.

And that is the problem all this keeps returning to - you are asking us to send tens of billions of dollars to the same hacks who helped create this mess in the first place.

And what is the point of re-developing land that is now so prone to getting wiped off the map by a hurricane? We're supposed to have at least two more decades of this up-cycle.

[Loyal Buckeye]

Not to be argumentative, but why is GWB holding up funding (assuming he is the one doing so)? Are you suggesting he is ill-informed, being disingenuous or something else? I would suggest that there is a solid reason for him to be against that proposed legislation and/or an immediate commitment to huge funding. Also, I stand by my comment that he is not the only one not out in front on a funding proposal; Congress is not being vocal about it, unless I have missed it.

[Galveston Grl]

LA is in deep trouble politically. Denying responsibility and blaming the Republicans, race baiting, lying...was not a great strategy for building credibility and trust. In addition, greed and corruption...

It requires political capital for elected officials to take on the expenses to rebuild NO and a great risk of looking like they wasted money on LA official corruption. Especially since LA officials will blame any problems they create on Republicans. It is a costly no win situation.

It felt good for Chocolate Nagin and drugged Blank-o in the moment, to go on a campaign of shriking responsibility with national Democrats and the Media Party; doesn't feel so good anymore. Who will forget that witch Mary Landreu (sp!) threating to beat up the President if he mentioned anything about flooded school buses.

They succeeded in hurting the President's image in the US and abroad with their lies and hysteria. Let's see how it serves them now. And I agree, George and Laura should go no where near LA. The slime will probably kill them.

[toddlintown]

Maybe we do things different up here, but if you have a mortgage, you also have to have homeowners insurance.

Why do LA homeowners need a government handout?

[Getsmart64]

Seems to me the LA plan is to let us tax payers take care of it via the federal government. I personally don't like that plan. I hope the feds learned something after Andrew hit Dade Co. South Metro Dade turned into a cesspool because of all the federal dollars that poured in. I'm thinking nobody wants all of that rift raft to come back and if they delay long enough...they won't and big business is going to move in and scarf it all up saving us tax payers some money.

[jospehm20]

Best plan I have seen advanced. I do not see the point of rebuilding New Orleans or any other area prone to flooding or being wiped out by hurricanes. If people want to live there they should buy good insurance, if they can't afford it, they should move.

[Boanarges]

"And that is the problem all this keeps returning to - you are asking us to send tens of billions of dollars to the same hacks who helped create this mess in the first place."

The "mess" you refer to was created by and large by the Corp of Engineers who built shoddy levy protection and turned around and told the good citizens "it's okay to build here, you are protected." The entire Metro area was high and dry shortly after Katrina had passed......then the water burst through.

[dirtboy]

The "mess" you refer to was created by and large by the Corp of Engineers who built shoddy levy protection and turned around and told the good citizens "it's okay to build here, you are protected."

Last I recall, a corrupt Levee Commission was in charge of the levees, and was more interested in building casinos than improving levees.

And had NOLA suffered a direct hit from Katrina instead of a glancing blow from the weaker side of the storm, it would be moot anyway.