Louisiana Proves Government Can Screw Up Anything

Is the state of Louisiana incredible or what? First you've got a mayor who mobilized a bunch of busses to evacuate the needy, then tabled the idea until the busses were literally under water. Then you've got a governor who honestly told the national guard to wait an extra day before sending them in to help the victims of the biggest hurricane in New Orleans history. And now, the state legislature has suspended funding rebuilding projects because of the excessive amount of pork projects attached to the bill.

If you click on the link above, you can read the story from the Times-Picayune that tells about some of the frivilous projects attached to the rebuilding bill. Things like a horse park, picnic shelters, and other idiotic spending that might cost them federal dollars. Think of it like this, would you give your teenager $100 if they spent the first $100 on a tatoo that says "I Love Enrique?" No. So you see the point.

It's just like the mobilization of the guard in the days after Katrina hit. The help is there, but the leadership is so corrupt and idiotic, they can't get out of their own way to let help come in. Now they've screwed up this reconstruction process with projects that should be put on hold. If they other parrishes and townships can't handle that, tough.

It would be naive to think this only happens in Louisiana. Fortunately, most states will never suffer the catastrophic circumstances that has led to such a harsh spotlight on the government there. But pork barrelling is much older than you or I. It's part of the political process, and that process is fundamentally flawed in that regard. So who suffers? I'll give you a hint. It's not the politicians. The people of New Orleans are suffering now. It could just as easily have been me, you, or any other American citizen.

We pay higher taxes for projects like these that get buried in bills that actually matter. And we're partially to blame, because if our area doesn't get our fair share of the projects, our representative won't be reelected. This is why I'm a conservative folks. I believe in less government, less pork, less taxes, less, less, less. New Orleans is now seeing what more gets you.