The political race is now on to see who can offer the most spending to help rebuild the Gulf Coast.
The Democrats are tripping over each other to offer as many new programs as possible. The Congressional Black Caucus proposes huge new spending programs that go beyond the immediate crisis. They seek to expand anti-poverty spending with federal grants touching a variety of areas that are already part of entitlement programming. They also want to stop all of the efforts to suspend regulations and provide tax relief for the area, such as the recent easing of environmental laws in the gulf region.
Other Democrats are calling for a new Marshall Plan. This plan seems to be big on spending, but offers little detail. It is clearly going to be based on government leading the way to rebuild the area not just with money, but with bureaucrats deciding how to spend that money.
President Bush's plan has some elements to it that have proven to work in other parts of the world suffering from economic distress. He recognizes the importance of entrepreneurial economic development as the key to long-term success and growth in rebuilding the region. He is also committing to rebuild the infrastructure of the region. Bush goes beyond this, however, and also offers expansion of governmental programs related to traditional entitlements.
The race is on to see who can appear the most compassionate. We all feel the pain of people in the Gulf Coast region and want to do things to help in their recovery. Unfortunately, sound public policy decisions that rely on entrepreneurial economic development may get swamped by rising tides of big government spending programs being proposed by both sides.
