Obama comes to NJ, surveys the Hurricane Disaster for a campaign photo opportunity. Gov. Christy was put in a bind, but was it really worth it?Things are worse in New Jersey since Obama has come and gone.
Disasters Create Bigger, Not Better, Government - Bloomberg
by Amity Shlaes Nov 1, 2012
Whew. That was the general reaction when President Barack Obama told waterlogged New Jersey that “we are here for you.” After all, these days, a president is expected to “be here.”
Federal rescue is the American Way. Being there starts with helping to clear the flooded metropolitan-area tunnels between New Jersey and New York. But the concept extends to bridges, roads and all the other infrastructure challenges up and down the Atlantic coast after Hurricane Sandy.
Such rescue seems like a no-brainer during crises.
Yet the misty deification of Washington as exclusive rescuer isn’t necessarily warranted. In fact, the U.S. suffers from a collective and politically induced amnesia that obscures the reality: There are many American ways to build infrastructure and manage it in emergencies. In the past, state and regional governments often managed disasters. Even businesses ran big domestic rescues.
A good example of this can be found in the history of one tunnel flooded this week, the Holland Tunnel, between New York and New Jersey.
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