Helping Katrina Victims

The LA times had an interesting article yesterday about the federal government's programs to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Is it enough to say that Newt Gingrich opposes at least one of these programs? He feels that putting people in trailer parks creates "ghettos with no jobs, no community, no future". Plus, it looks like the trailer parks will cost us a lot more than the existing HUD emergency voucher system.

The concept of not using existing systems is the basic theme of the article. The authors claim - and I think they're correct - that the administration is afraid of permanently expanding existing programs, although such an expansion did not occur with previous disasters, such as the Northridge earthquake.

I suppose that some may call the administration's stance standing up for principle. But, principles should be questioned when the result is that people suffer longer than they need to at a cost greater than it should be.