We were told that if only federal officials had invested in strengthening the levees around New Orleans, the disaster could have been averted. But as The Washington Post has reported, Louisiana has actually received more money over the past five years for Army Corps of Engineers projects than any other state, about $1.9 billion. California, with a population seven times larger, received $1.4 billion.
Katrina was a monster, and the misery she caused was heartbreaking. But the instant analysis was beyond tendentious. We were told that poor people died or suffered because they had no means of escaping the storm and were offered none by local, state or federal officials (most of the press reserved its severest scorn for the federal response). But according to a careful examination of actual storm victims conducted by The New York Times, most of those who stayed behind either owned cars or were offered rides by others and chose, for a variety of reasons (some good, some stupid), to remain behind.
Now comes the next deluge: the deluge of cash that will rain down on New Orleans and the surrounding area. Louisiana lawmakers have demanded $250 billion in aid. Karl Zinsmeister estimates that this is the equivalent of handing each Louisianan a check for $56,000. This is on top of whatever insurance reimbursements and charitable contributions hurricane victims receive. In the last days before Christmas, Congress was working on legislation to spend $29 billion on levee repair, new pumping stations, and a variety of other services to Louisiana residents. Sen. David Vitter called it a "down payment."
All of this spending will go to the most corrupt state in the nation, and will doubtless be disbursed primarily to the good friends of politicians. And this miscarriage of public policy will be due entirely to myths.