[Rhodes22-list] Katrina Update

[DCLewis1 at aol.com]

Brad,
 
So disabuse my sense of unreality regarding the gulf coast.  I say  they need 
help.  I say building bridges, roads, and infrastructure takes  heavy 
equipment, heavy equipment  operators, welders, I beams, thousands of  yards of 
concrete.  I say the need is for competent professional  construction workers and 
supplies.  You say “send me some  volunteers”.  Whose serious?  Volunteers 
from the Ladies Aid Society  from our local Baptist church are going to weld the 
I beams, move the earth, lay  the concrete?  I don’t think so.  Who perceives 
a problem that  requires manpower and resources.  I think it’s me.
 
Or maybe what you are not quite plainly stating is that there really is no  
problem in the gulf region.  That the remaining damage is modest and  something 
a few volunteers can handle?
 
There are very definite limits as to what well meaning volunteers can do,  
unless they happen to have specific expertise.  My experience is the  greatest 
good thing to come from volunteering is that the volunteers feel good  about 
themselves.  You want to rebuild?  Get competent professional  people and 
equipment(i.e. spend $),  they will do the job better, faster,  and to code.  There’
s a time and place for volunteering but my  understanding is that to a large 
extent the gulf rebuild is not that time  or place - I understand that 
conflicts with your ideology.
 
As to bellyaching about getting people to work on the rebuild, I think  the 
unemployment rate in Michigan and Ohio is 6 to 8%.  Try  recruiting.  
 
I promise you, one qualified heavy equipment operator will move more earth  
or trash in a day than you and I as volunteers will move in a month.   If your 
serious about the gulf coast rebuild, you’ll get off this volunteer  shtick.
 
Which brings us to how to pay for all the professional help, equipment, and  
supplies that are needed.  The money has been authorized and approved, it’s  
sitting in some account as a line item, the debit has already been marked  
against the budget, all that remains for some bureaucrat to say professional  
companies can incur costs.  Why hasn’t that bureaucrat given the go  ahead?  And 
it all comes back to Jr.
 
It’s not fair to zing Jr for every little thing that doesn’t get done by  
federal agencies, but this shortfall is truly big, we’re talking 2 states of the 
 union.  You've seen the bumper sticker "United We Stand", we'll there ought  
to be one that says "United We Rebuild", rebuilding should reasonably be a  
national priority.  The rebuild should be a major focus for this, or any,  
Administration.  Jr and/or his designated rep should be completely on top  of and 
leading the rebuild effort - but of course we know that’s not the  case.
 
Bottom line: Stop asking for volunteers, the problem is much larger than a  
gaggle of volunteers with no specific expertise can handle, hire professional  
help and get on with it.  
 
Dave