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Tuesday, August 29, 2006
More Transparency on Katrina?
A year ago today, of course, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I don't have much to add to all that's been said so far, except for that we don't really know how the federal government has been spending the money it allocated for the relief and recovery effort.
Amy Liu, a researcher for the Brookings Institute who's been tracking the recovery for the last year, should know what the federal government has been spending the money on. But as she said on the Tavis Smiley show in July, nobody really does.
Tavis Smiley: So, let me ask whether or not Brookings or anybody else, to your knowledge, has any idea of how much of that 100 billion the government did not allocate back to itself, but really does have a chance of landing and being used on the ground in the rebuilding effort in New Orleans.
Liu: Tavis, I wish I could answer that question, but it’s so hard to track that money. But I will have to say that I think we’re only now beginning to see money being spent on the actual rebuilding effort. A lot of that money, I have to say, has gone to the emergency response right after the storm. And only now are we seeing money go into infrastructure building, into housing, and into job creation. And again, I hope that that money can be seen hitting the ground very soon. But I agree with you. The recovery and the evidence on the ground is still very thin.
By almost all accounts, the recovery has not been going well. More transparency on how the money's been spent would help the public hold public officials accountable for what they've done wrong. And maybe more pressure on the administration would speed the recovery, once the anniversary is over and the media spotlight shifts back other matters of national importance.
Posted by Matt Lewis
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