Liberals Scared of Rove in New Orleans
Liberal bloggers, usenet posters, and politicos are scared to death of the idea of Karl Rove heading rebuilding efforts in Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast, but mostly of what he could do in New Orleans.
The mainstream media hasn't picked up on the little noticed paragraph in one of Bush's recent statements, but it evidently got the bloggers revved up.
Why are they upset, other than it's Rove? First, to anyone on the left he is the devil. But they are mostly upset because he gets results, and they know it, it's the reason they smear him so often and so harshly. He's been kicking their asses all over DC and in election strategy for five years, and now he's set to take them on in an arena that will be very public.
The real reason for the dismay is that New Orleans has little chance of coming back with a 67% poverty rate. Bush's proposals for enterprise zones, and land donations for private home building to the needy scare them. If the city comes back with concentrations of businesses other than service industry, chances are there will be more middle class, more homeowners, and more people with a stake in the city.
Forty years of "Great Society" programs couldn't fix New Orlean's poverty, crime and education problems. If three years of Karl Rove suddenly produces a vibrant, productive city that is more than Mardi Gras, it will show that conservative policies can work.
The truth is he won't deserve as much credit as he'll take, but any credit will be too much for the liberals. The majority of the poor, who owned nothing in the city probably won't come back right away, there won't be anything to support them for quite some time, so they'll probably end up somewhere else. Just the nature of the storm and rebuilding will cause some of New Orleans reshaping, but if Rove succeeds in any way, it will be too much an indictment of the last 40 years of social programs.
The mainstream media hasn't picked up on the little noticed paragraph in one of Bush's recent statements, but it evidently got the bloggers revved up.
Why are they upset, other than it's Rove? First, to anyone on the left he is the devil. But they are mostly upset because he gets results, and they know it, it's the reason they smear him so often and so harshly. He's been kicking their asses all over DC and in election strategy for five years, and now he's set to take them on in an arena that will be very public.
The real reason for the dismay is that New Orleans has little chance of coming back with a 67% poverty rate. Bush's proposals for enterprise zones, and land donations for private home building to the needy scare them. If the city comes back with concentrations of businesses other than service industry, chances are there will be more middle class, more homeowners, and more people with a stake in the city.
Forty years of "Great Society" programs couldn't fix New Orlean's poverty, crime and education problems. If three years of Karl Rove suddenly produces a vibrant, productive city that is more than Mardi Gras, it will show that conservative policies can work.
The truth is he won't deserve as much credit as he'll take, but any credit will be too much for the liberals. The majority of the poor, who owned nothing in the city probably won't come back right away, there won't be anything to support them for quite some time, so they'll probably end up somewhere else. Just the nature of the storm and rebuilding will cause some of New Orleans reshaping, but if Rove succeeds in any way, it will be too much an indictment of the last 40 years of social programs.
posted by Crazy Politico at 8:21 AM
1Comments:
Got to you via misc.writing. House prices along the Coast are already zooming upwards. Those new investors won't be so friendly to business as usual. If Rove gets his chance, this may be an historic opportunity. When before has a city been scraped clean of its entire population, with people only needing to come back if they have a real incentive? Suppose they rebuild, but only let you come back if you a) own property or b) have a job waiting. Might turn out not so bad.
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