Five Bailout Lessons From Katrina

Five Bailout Lessons From Katrina, from: CommonDreams.org
Published on Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Five Bailout Lessons From Katrina

by Bill Quigley

The U.S. has committed nearly three trillion dollars to the financial bailout so far. The Federal Reserve has made more than $2 trillion in emergency loans and another $700 million has been pledged through Congressional action. Much more money is coming.

Things better for your community? I didn't think so.

Welcome to Katrina world. Despite pledges of a hundred billion dollars we are still in deep pain along the Gulf Coast. What happened?

Unless citizens are vigilant and demanding, the entire U.S. will be subjected to the same forces that swept through the Gulf Coast after Katrina -- spending huge amounts of money and leaving a second disaster behind.

Despite promises of buckets of bucks, New Orleans still has sixty thousand abandoned homes. Media reports say that 75% of the abandoned buildings have homeless people sleeping in them. Public healthcare and public education and public housing are all less available and being thoroughly privatized. Crime is sky high though we still have 100 National Guard members patrolling our streets.

So what lessons can be learned from Katrina world that apply to the financial bailout?

... read rest of post at: Five Bailout Lessons From Katrina CommonDreams.org

Posted by Chuck Bell at 6:27 AM