NYT/Krugman: “Miserable by Design” – Bad aid policies for Katrina evacuees

[Nothing Without Hope]

In this important editorial, Paul Krugman explains why the Administration is forcing Katrina evacuees into trailer parks – which will probably become quasi-permanent tenements and are widely believed to be an clearly inferior choice compared to rent vouchers – and also opposes Medicaid coverage for Katrina evacuees. Basically, it’s because the Administration doesn’t want any toehold established for public health care or rent vouchers for ANYONE, despite the fact that they are cost-effective and WORK. Indeed, the fact that such programs would work better than the lousy housing and health “solutions” being forced by the Administration is something they especially want to avoid demonstrating.

It’s ideology, the opposition by neocons to ALL social programs, no matter how badly they are needed and how effective they are. As Paul Krugman says, it’s “misery by design.”

http://select.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/opinion/03krugman.html?th&emc=th
New York Times OP-ED COLUMNIST

Miserable by Design

By PAUL KRUGMAN



Published: October 3, 2005

Federal aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina is already faltering on two crucial fronts: health care and housing. Incompetence is part of the problem, but deeper political issues also play a crucial role.

(snip)

What's going on here? The crucial point is that President Bush has been forced by events into short-term actions that conflict with his long-term goals. His mission in office is to dismantle or at least shrink the federal social safety net, yet he must, as a matter of political necessity, provide aid to Katrina's victims. His problem is how to do that without legitimizing the very role of government he opposes.

This dilemma explains the administration's opposition to Medicaid coverage for all Katrina refugees. How can it provide that coverage without undermining its ongoing efforts to reduce the Medicaid rolls? More broadly, if it accepts the principle that all hurricane victims are entitled to medical care, people might start asking why the same isn't true of all American citizens - a line of thought that points toward a system of universal health insurance, which is anathema to conservatives.

(snip)

So here's the key to understanding post-Katrina policy: Mr. Bush can't avoid helping Katrina's victims, but he doesn't want to legitimize institutions that help the needy, like the housing voucher program. As a result, his administration refuses to use those institutions, even when they are the best way to provide victims with aid. More generally, the administration is trying to treat Katrina's victims as harshly as the political realities allow, so as not to create a precedent for other aid efforts.

(snip)

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. I don't have a free link for you now, but the article may appear here:

http://www.johntabin.com/neverpayretail

This article has also been posted in the Editorals forum:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x161590

[Nothing Without Hope]

2. kick n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. Thank you for posting this! Here is a link so the whole article can

be read. Truthout has it.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/100305N.shtml

[Lindsay]

4. Thanks for the Truthout link.

If I had any disposable income, it would not go to support the NYT.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. Same here. Perhaps people might send donations to Truthout.

They serve us way better than the NYT ever has.

[leftchick]

5. thank you

very sad. :(

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. The Truthout link for the entire text of the Krugman article was put up at

the Never Pay Retail site rather quickly. That's a good place to go for getting links to the full articles when they are posted online. Its main page is here:
http://www.johntabin.com/neverpayretail/

This is a good place to check a day or two after a Times Select article has been published. Krugman's article is up now, and so are some other important ones.