As tropical storm Isaac heads toward land at near-hurricane force on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the nation is in better shape to deal with the disasters it may create.
With Katrina in mind, the Obama administration proposed and Congress approved a new system. Money would be appropriated for disaster relief in advance. It would then be available when it was needed. There would be no competition between disaster relief and other budget needs.
Call it the rainy day approach. Because of it, there is now $1.5 billion in the emergency kitty. Already, the states of Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and Louisiana have declared states of emergency, knowing full well Isaac is going to create untold hazard.
But the new plan wasn’t adopted without opposition. Paul Ryan voted no. It would be much better, he said, to make Congress find the money needed to help stricken areas after the fact by cutting other programs. Disasters then would become another opportunity to trim the federal budget rather than an additional burden.
Ryan, perhaps, had recalled that earlier in the year efforts to beef up disaster fund balances drew strong opposition from tea party House Republicans who demanded that appropriations be at least partly paid for by cutting programs favored by the administration.
Before federal spending to repair New Orleans and help Katrina’s victims recover was completed, that disaster cost the nation about $60 billion. Needless to say, Congress couldn’t find savings of that magnitude to pay for the next Katrina disaster.
Planning ahead — appropriating ahead — is a prudent approach.
That said, let it also be noted that Rep. Ryan will be vice president of the United States if Mitt Romney wins the election in November. He can be depended upon to be a determined advocate for his budget and his priorities.
The fact that he was chosen for the No. 2 spot is also a forecast that a President Romney will support the Ryan budget fundamentals.
In November, the nation will have a choice on how to deal with natural disasters: plan ahead or wait till it happens and play it by ear.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
