Of course, a little financial responsibility and the money would have been there anyway. You can have my tax cut.
With all due respect, Keith, I don't think the tax cut was the reason the levies weren't built better. I think that point has been made by other posters better than I could make it. I can only add that every serious economist predicts, and every example tried, shows that tax cuts lead to increased revenues. This has been proven multiple times here in the US as well as overseas in Iceland, Ireland, Estonia (I think; one of the Baltic republics has surged ahead in their economic development by lower taxes, establishing strong rules of law regarding business and getting the government out of business.)
Who expected a levee to fail? Only anybody who had paid attention, those predictions were not exactly secret.
And who would have been responsible for correcting the deficiencies? Would one not start with the mayor and govenor? Our federalist structure should have called for that as the starting point. If these levies were not sufficient for a Cat. 4 or above storm, which seems to be what everyone says, then wouldn't you, as mayor or govenor, be fighting, lobbying, yelling, politicing for the funds to get them built to a safer level? And wouldn't you fight to get the funds at the state and federal level? I'm positive you would done such.
David
H20
