North Carolina Congresswoman Virginia Foxx obviously doesn’t get it. Somebody pull her aside and explain to the nice lady that accountability over spending has no place in the passage of an emergency relief bill. Foxx was among 11 members of the House of Representatives who had the gall to wonder how the nearly $52-billion aid package approved by her colleagues will be spent. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wasted no time in saying the 5th District Republican had abandoned fellow Americans with her impertinence. When will bean counters like Foxx learn accountability over federal spending is a Washington no-no, especially when there is political advantage to be seized.
Maybe Foxx is worried that money earmarked for victims of Hurricane Katrina will go the way of the $5-billion dollar loan fund that was set up to help businesses in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. The list of beneficiaries from that effort includes a radio station in South Dakota, a perfume shop in the Virgin Islands, and a pet store in Utah.
All told, less than 11% of the more than 19,000 loans that were approved went to companies in the New York and Washington metropolitan areas. Some of the recipients have had the good grace to be embarrassed about the source of their loans. Curiously, or not, not a single red face has been found among the bureaucrats who doled out the money, your money, and it’s not likely that anyone will fess up when money dedicated to helping storm survivors falls into hands that stayed both dry and sheltered.
Maybe Foxx has realized that the only thing more toxic than the stew flowing through New Orleans is the atmosphere in the nation’s capital. The aftermath of Katrina certainly showed man at his worst, particularly when that man (or woman) was a political partisan. The rush to assign blame is about the only thing more offensive than the sight of thugs preying on the weakness of others in the days following the storm. At least the lowlifes on the Gulf Coast didn’t pretend to be something they’re not.
To be sure, a healthy aid package is a must, and the one pushed through last week includes money for housing, food, unemployment insurance, and the like. Meanwhile, a big chunk will go to state and local governments, and the federal spider web of agencies will benefit, including FEMA, the one organization even less effective than Louisiana’s Governor and the Mayor of New Orleans. Small wonder Foxx is skeptical.
Her stance gains more credibility as the Congresswoman’s brethren jockey to forward their pet agendas. Republicans want to expand the school voucher program; Democrats want to extend the reach of Medicaid. The President got into the act, quietly sweeping aside a Depression-era law that requires federal contractors to pay workers the prevailing local wage. Likewise, Democrats see an opportunity to stall tax cuts, including a proposal that would permanently repeal the estate tax.
Few things have the same bipartisan appeal as a national emergency, when a public is too distracted by its own empathy to watch Pandora’s Box being flung open to any number of legislative schemes that would never survive the light of public debate. Maybe that has Foxx and the 10 other naysayers in the House on edge. Maybe they see through the well-intentioned purposes of this funding, mostly because they know it will take billions more to see the Gulf Coast through. Maybe the idea of a federal blank check for rebuilding roads, bridges, and other infrastructure has them a bit concerned, especially given the history of budget-busting public works projects at all levels of government. Just look at Fayetteville where Festival Park project had to be tweaked to fit under the fiscal ceiling set for it.
It is not insensitive to wonder, as some have, if all of New Orleans should be restored to its pre-storm past. It’s easy to say now that building homes below sea level was an invitation to disaster, but knowing what we do, does it make sense to tempt fate – and nature – again? And as Virginia Foxx is asking, does it make sense to spend without a clear idea of what is being bought?
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About The Author
Alex Lekas is VP / Corporate Communications of a hosting company but occasionally breaks out of his cubicle to think deep thoughts and stand proudly atop his soapbox, dispensing opinions with equal parts conviction and humility.
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This article was posted on September 22, 2005
