Miserable By Design

Paul Krugman speaks (courtesy of TruthOut). You listen:

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. As the misery of the hurricane's survivors goes on, remember this: to a large extent, they are miserable by design.

As was mentioned earlier this week, New Orleans' French Quarter and Garden Districts, which survived Katrina in good shape, have enough vacant and usable housing for 70,000 people. That's over a third of those made homeless by Katrina. Housing vouchers would get those people into homes instantly, thus making things a lot better and easier for everyone. But Bush won't do that because it would show that government, if allowed to be well-run instead of being sabotaged by Grover Norquist types, really can do good.