"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
When the budget for improving the levees was cut by the Feds, New
Orleans tried over and over again to get the money reinstated as a basic
safety measure for the city. Bringing the issue to a vote in the city
would have done nothing to free up the federal funds, which is where the
money had to come from.

What would have happened if the citizens of N.O. had raised funds to
reinforce their levees themselves?

*Gasp!* Imagine!

I imagine the citizens of the Midwest would then be getting a free ride.
Most of the grain exported from the central U. S. goes out through the
port of New Orleans, and much of the crude oil and other commodities
necessary to grow that grain come in the same way.


I suppose transport fees, paid by the shipper to the port authority and
passed to their customers, would be out of the question.

Are we all so inured to subsidies that we can't see past tomorrow?