Monday, September 15, 2008

Coastal Caucus

Let me start this by saying my thoughts and prayers are with those in Texas suffering through the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. I am certain that those people in Galveston and Houston are going to do whatever is necessary to put their lives back together. As soon as I get a link related to the rebuilding I will post it. I worry that our friends in Lafitte and Acadiana are being ignored.

While I watched some of the coverage on the news an idea came to mind. Those of you in Louisiana can attest to the destructive nature of Rita, Katrina, and our newest unwanted guests Gustav and Ike. Texas has recently been battered by Gustav and southern Texas has been hit by numerous storms. Florida residents, have come to expect hurricanes or related storms a few times a year. Add in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi and you have the members of my group. Dear reader(s), (I think I'm up to 3 a day) I'm not trying to reform the Confederacy, I'm trying to see if a group of legislators can work together for coastal protection and wetlands renewal.

The folks over at levees.org are on the right track. I'm thinking a bit smaller scale though. I've already seen a canned food drive, and a clothing drive for victims of Hurricane Ike. Unfortunately, that's not enough. If the Congressional delegations agree to support each other in regard to issues concerning hurricanes then it will be much easier to get the needed support in the future. If twenty five percent of the states are already on board that makes it much easier to get any number of issues passed in an hour of need.

I am certain that beach erosion is a big issue in almost all of these states. Well, someone in this group should put forward a bill that funds wetlands renewal. Maybe Senator Landrieu's office could move forward with full funding for the Corps of Engineer's projects to finish the necessary drainage improvements in New Orleans. I'm certain there are projects concerning homeowners insurance that all of the residents in these states might have in common. I don't see why these states can't form a caucus to work to the communal benefit of their populations.

If these states are all on board, is the Congressman from Houston going to be harassed by questions about whether we should really rebuild Houston? Is the evacuee from Galveston going to hear, from a former First Lady, that she and her two kids are really better off in Oklahoma anyway? If these states work together are the people in Lake Charles going to wonder if the Federal government will support them like the city of New York after September 11th 2001? To all of these questions I can answer no.

There is enough popular strength and legislative muscle in this group of states that together they can get the needed support from the federal government. People in Homestead, and Houston, Brownsville and Biloxi deserve the same support from Washington that Manhattan got seven years ago. Unfortunately, if the delegations in the gulf coastal states don't start working together the folks at FEMA will continue to divide and conquer, as their forefathers did 143 years ago.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very thought-provoking! Now, how do you get the message to the people who can do something about it?

12:31 AM  

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