New Orleans: A Tale of Two Cities...and Parties

October 4th, 2005 8:43 PM

The following two reports from CNN (videos to follow) give us an amazing contrast between the efficiency of business in America, and the inefficiency of government. 

Today, the city of New Orleans announced that it is laying off 3,000 government employees, or 40 percent of the city's payroll, due to budget constraints.  By contrast, in the same city hit by the same hurricanes, small and large businesses have a diametrically opposite problem – they can’t find enough people to work FOR them, and are at times willing to pay any sum to achieve such a goal.

To a large extent, this perfectly represents the disparate views being offered by America’s major political parties concerning the reconstruction of this region:

  • The Democrats want the federal government to finance assistance programs to help the people in this area 
  • The Republicans want to create tax incentives and enterprise zones to encourage business development that spurs economic growth and hiring in the region

Based upon the following segments produced by the same news network, which do you think America’s taxpayers should fund?

New Orleans Lays Off 3000 Video

Labor Shortage Plagues New Orleans Video