Katrina Tax Cuts

The only thing the Republicans seem to know how to do (and their universal panacea) is tax cuts. The budget is in surplus, cut taxes. The economy is in recession, cut taxes. The U.S. is attacked, cut taxes. A major American city is under water, cut taxes. This logic is flawed. What the survivors of Hurricane Katrina need is government assistance and government programs to help them get back on their feet, either returning to New Orleans or moving somewhere else. While giving money to the survivors is important to help them survive until they can find a job and a new place to live, a more important move would be to suspend the bankruptcy bill that was passed earlier this year and is scheduled to go into effect on October 19th. Providing federal housing grants and other anti-poverty measures would help the (largely poor) survivors of the hurricane that are displaced and relying on Red Cross assistance. Not only would social programs to help the Katrina survivors and especially the poor provide current relief, it would help in the future to increase the proportion of the population with the means to evacuate in the face of another natural disasters.