Editorial: Rebuilding The Gulf Coast Doesn’t Have To Break The Bank

Though it isn’t The Greatest Story Ever Told, it should rank second. USA Today published on October 10 a story titled “The little company that could.” It tells how Mississippi Power was able to restore power to its 195,000 consumers in just 12 days.

This story should be hardbound and delivered to every corporation in America as well as to all government officials. It tells how a job gets done when workers put their minds to it.

One key to the company’s success is that Mississippi Power has deep pockets and could pay the bills. Second, the company gave authority down the line to get the job done. The man in charge of getting tents to house thousands of workers had the authority to say “ship.” At one point the company had more than 11,000 repairmen from 24 states and Canada. It had only 1,150 of its own.

Mississippi Power employees did not waste money. They avoided price gougers. When one potential supplier asked a price that was obviously sky high, the man in charge of showers decided that the company could build its own. It did.

Mississippi Power employed ingenuity. When fuel and power were hard to come by, the firm bartered. It restored power to a refinery in exchange for fuel for its thousands of trucks.

Are we now in the midst of writing the worst story ever told? We could be. President Bush seems to be promising everything. He said last week that the government should support recovery but not set the rules. Why not? There are complaints from both sides of the political spectrum that government is not keeping tight rein on the money. Others argue the reins are too tight. Is it sensible to offer so much under loose rein to New Orleans when New England is in distress, Pakistan is getting our aid after the earthquake and Mississippi and Alabama have vast areas of total devastation? We can’t overlook that we are still fighting a war in Iraq.

FEMA, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have already awarded contracts totaling billions. Reports indicate some no-bid contracts have been withdrawn and bid solicitations issued. Taxpayers for Common Sense last week listed companies receiving contracts and agencies that awarded them. There were at least four topping $500 million. A few hundred million here, a few hundred billion there, and we’re talking big money! (Maybe they could find a few billion to modernize the river system infrastructure.)

From where will the money come? The administration has promised no new taxes. Even if taxing were appropriate under this spate of natural disasters, doing so would be tough on the GOP politically. We question whether lawmakers will be willing to sacrifice pork in order to meet these crucial needs.

Lawsuits have been filed to determine if insurance companies are going to have to pay for storm surge damage. If they do not, does that mean that the federal government is going to foot the bill? What about future disasters? Will we set a precedent that permits people to live in questionable areas and sock us with the bill?

Some have advocated that infrastructure vital to the city, state and nation be rebuilt with federal support, and private losses be accommodated with low-interest federal loans, a reasonable amount of which could be forgiven. That plan has been used successfully before.

We always boast of what a moneymaking machine our nation is. And it is! But can it withstand anything? Already critics are saying we could break the bank.

If anything, the federal government must be a good steward of the taxpayers’ money.

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