MS vs LA Grant programs on da po blog

Da po’ blog has an interesting post comparing homeowner grant programs. Praise has been heaped upon MS for being so efficient in comparision to LA. Mississippi’s governor seems to love nothing more than to heap praise his on state’s programs while heaping scorn on “whiny” Louisiana. There is little doubt that LA’s program has been poorly managed. But as da po boy points out, the picture is hardly so simple. Louisiana’s program is larger, more complex, and underfunded.

A lot of partisan hacks seem to think that because we complain, that somehow we aren’t doing the hard work of rebuilding and point to Mississippi as an example. Well not only are we doing the hard work with or without deserved government assistance, but we are complaining about broken government promises. You can do both at the same time! Furthermore, just because our state and local officials suck, doesn’t mean that the federal governent is doing us right. And Mississippi’s apparent success does not represent comparative proof.

I sometimes work with people from outside the state and was told that the perception out there is that, “well we sent all this money down there and why hasn’t anything been done.” At the same time, there is the perception of fraud and waste. So much of administering the various programs is making absolutely certain that no federal rules have been broken and that effort is slowing down everything. That and the fact that we have been “grossly underfunded” in the first place. The point I’m trying to make is the picture is more complex that it may seem. People are spoon-fed this oversimplified picture of what’s going on here and the picture is slanted to prop up someone’s partisan agenda. This isn’t a republican vs democrat issue. This isn’t a local vs feds issue. They all have done and continue to us wrong at every step and at every layer. There was nothing natural about what caused the flooding in New Orleans and there is nothing natural about the incompetence and stupidity that threatens to finish the job.

Update: Sunday’s T-P had a long article that gives a detailed picture of the current state of the Road Home program

Update 2: More from da po blog on the real truth about Mississippi’s programs. Who do you believe, Haley Barbour or the people who are actually living this day to day reality?


Scott Harney

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