The Sun Herald | 12/15/2005 | EDITORIAL: Why is it so hard to get the facts out about our situation?

The Sun Herald | 12/15/2005 | EDITORIAL: Why is it so hard to get the facts out about our situation?
Posted on Thu, Dec. 15, 2005
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL: Why is it so hard to get the facts out about our situation?

"Just as it seemed Congress was inching toward providing more federal relief for areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, The Washington Post published an editorial on Thursday declaring that not only was New Orleans the nation's "top priority" but that Congress should: "Drop the plan to pay for flood insurance for those who don't have it, since that will discourage others elsewhere from taking out flood insurance. Eliminate the projects that aren't essential. Spend the money where it is most urgently needed: on restoring the levees and on studying how to improve them."

Is there no limit to the misinformation - and the disinformation - about Hurricane Katrina?

For the benefit of our colleagues at the Post - and especially for those members of Congress who read that newspaper's editorials - let us inform/remind them that the reason the federal government is obligated to help thousands of our homeowners is because the federal government told them that they did not need flood insurance. And not only would fulfilling that obligation not discourage participation in the federal flood insurance program, it would - under Rep. Gene Taylor's proposal - require long-term participation in it by those who would benefit from the proposed extension of flood insurance coverage.

If The Washington Post or Congress or the president choose to oppose additional assistance for Mississippi during this catastrophic crisis, they ought to at least do so for reasons that make sense - if they can find any."