myiW Current Conditions and Forecasts Community Forums Buy and Sell Services
 
Hi guest · myAccount · Log in
 SearchSearch   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   RegisterRegister 
Flood Control, the Mississippi River, and Government
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Politics, Off-Topic, Opinions
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17742
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2011 1:56 pm    Post subject: Flood Control, the Mississippi River, and Government Reply with quote

We haven’t heard much from the libertarians about the Mississippi River during this flood. The Federal government has been funding flood control and navigation along the river since before the Civil War. Over 92% of the world’s agricultural exports are produced by the river basin, and shipping those products and other materials is an industry worth over $12 billion each year. Should we be doing this, or should we reduce the size of the Federal government in this particular arena?

Flood control on the Mississippi has critics on the environmental side who argue that flood control efforts are bound to fail at some point, and the illusion of flood control exposes more people to risk. The Congressional rules that governs funding by the Corps of Engineers requires economic benefits that exceed the investment, but critics on the conservative side say that is not enough to assure that investment goes to the most worthwhile economic activities. Yet 12 million people live in the 125 counties along the river, and the Corps of Engineers has invested billions in both navigation and flood control, and has built 3500 miles of levees that seem to have protected most of the more developed areas.

Here from Greg O’brien’s history of flood control efforts is a pithy Mark Twain quote:

Quote:
“The military engineers of the Commission have taken upon their shoulders the job of making the Mississippi over again — a job transcended in size by only the original job of creating it.”
Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi, 1874


I couldn’t find any real journalism that investigated the total cost of flood control efforts to date, or what savings they might have brought about in the current flood. One interesting paper from Tulane talks about only the lower Mississippi, (http://www.tulane.edu/~mrbc/2001/MISSIS~1/FLOODS~1.HTM) and compares that project’s cost, $9 billion plus, with an expected $200 billion in savings.

So all you who want to shrink government and sometimes never think about what it is actually doing, how do you react to the Mississippi flooding?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
windoggi



Joined: 22 Feb 2002
Posts: 2743

PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2011 2:19 pm    Post subject: Re: Flood Control, the Mississippi River, and Government Reply with quote

mac wrote:

So all you who want to shrink government and sometimes never think about what it is actually doing, how do you react to the Mississippi flooding?

Mac, you know it depends on how Obama feels about Mississippi flooding.

_________________
/w\
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2011 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm waiting until Obama gets blamed for the flooding, and particularly how the government responded to it. Someone from the right is trying to find that wrinkle right now, to include any way to capitalize on it.

As an aside, one wonders whether rabid anti-government forces really understand what the government has invested in technology and product to view, interpret, and characterize weather and its impacts. I'm sure that such details are somehow lost in the "government is the problem" paradigm.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mrgybe



Joined: 01 Jul 2008
Posts: 5180

PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2011 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's pathetic that the three of you would attempt to score political points out of this tragedy. You should all be ashamed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
windoggi



Joined: 22 Feb 2002
Posts: 2743

PostPosted: Tue May 24, 2011 11:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

gimmie a fuckin break
_________________
/w\
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17742
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2011 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

its pathetic that you don't have a coherent perspective. I asked a few questions. How sad.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2011 2:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Score points?

No, like I said earlier, I'm just waiting for the blame game. Somehow Obama has to be the root of all our problems.

Come on mrgybe, you're slacking.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2011 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mrgybe wrote:
You should all be ashamed.


LOL.

That was a joke, right?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
boggsman1



Joined: 24 Jun 2002
Posts: 9118
Location: at a computer

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2011 9:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mrgybe wrote:
It's pathetic that the three of you would attempt to score political points out of this tragedy. You should all be ashamed.



Dont tell that to Eric Cantor, one of the real gems inside the beltway.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), however, said that before Congress approved federal funds for disaster relief, it had to offset the spending with cuts to other programs. The Washington Times reports:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said Monday that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help Missouri’s tornado victims, the extra money will have to be cut from somewhere else.

“If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental,” Mr. Cantor, Virginia Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. The term “pay-fors” is used by lawmakers to signal cuts or tax increases used to pay for new spending.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
windoggi



Joined: 22 Feb 2002
Posts: 2743

PostPosted: Wed May 25, 2011 10:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The GOP needs a nice return on their charity. Sympathy ain't free, pal.
_________________
/w\
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Politics, Off-Topic, Opinions All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You cannot download files in this forum

myiW | Weather | Community | Membership | Support | Log in
like us on facebook
© Copyright 1999-2007 WeatherFlow, Inc Contact Us Ad Marketplace

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group