Solution or land grab?

By R. Neal / January 10, 2006

Posted by R. Neal

According to this New York Times article, Congressman Richard Baker from Baton Rouge has proposed an $80 billion federal buyout that would pay willing owners and lenders 60 cents on the dollar for property destroyed by Katrina and sell it to developers. The program would be funded by bonds that would be paid off with proceeds from sales to developers.

Unfortunately, that might be the best offer some (most?) of these folks will get. But I'm not so sure about selling it to developers. For some reason I'm always suspicious whenever developers are involved. It could be the most massive land grab in history. Not counting the Pilgrims or the westward expansion, I suppose.

What do you think of the proposal?

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