Daily Kos

WH: Katrina effect to be limited

by jrooth

Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:37:42 AM PDT

Another trip into cognitive dissonance land with the Bush White house:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina is likely to have only a modest impact on the U.S. economy, White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. "As long as we find that the energy impact is only temporary and there's not permanent damage to the infrastructure, my guess is that the effects on the overall economy will be fairly modest," Bernanke told CNBC television.

OK, excuse me, but haven't this WH and its supporters been blaming years of recession, job loss and eventual anemic recovery on 9/11? So how can this far larger event have only "modest" effect?

The truth is, they may be right about this. But will anyone in the SCLM note the inconsistancy of this statement with their prior claims? I think not.

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Permalink | 18 comments

  •  Well they are telling the truth (4.00 / 3)

    Lets face it Katrina won't bring the added cost of a 300 billion dollar war.....thats why 9/11 had more economic impact(snark)

    www.DowningStreetMemo.com

    by Mikecan1978 on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:42:08 AM PDT

  •  Oh, So Glad To Hear It. (4.00 / 2)

    Just like 9/11, the first thing these bastards do is pat their wallets, call their brokers, and waste resources figuring out what the GDP effect will be.

    Nevermind people still trapped in the wreckage.
    And even more galling somehow, they so clearly feel this way that they go right ahead and talk about these greenback issues first, as if no one else would or should have other forefront concerns.

    by NewDirection on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:42:31 AM PDT

  •  absurd (4.00 / 3)

    The Port of New Orleans is effectively closed for a month, and they're claiming "modest" economic impact? Good grief.

    by Expo on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:43:10 AM PDT

    •  WTOP reporting possibility of gas shortages (4.00 / 2)

      And they aren't the fear mongering types.  They had some talking head on who said it might be like 1979 with gas lines until we can get the refineries and pipelines back to 100 percent.

      Annie

      by akeitz on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:54:17 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  yeah (none / 1)

        I just read Drudge's rumor that Bush is considering going on TV encouraging Carter-style energy conservation - if that happens it means that Bush et al must have gotten very sobering energy and short-term economic reports.

        by Expo on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:59:58 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

    •  A lot is going to be closed for a while ... (4.00 / 2)

      This industry assesment yesterday has some pretty sobering stuff:
      The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday that all ports on the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, La., to the Gulf of Mexico remain shut to ship traffic following Hurricane Katrina. Ports along the Intercoastal Waterway from New Orleans to Panama City, Fla., also were down a day after the storm ripped through. "We're well aware of the need to assess the waterways and get them open. But it's impossible to give a timeline on when that might happen. Right now, search and rescue are our top priorities, and they're taking almost all of our resources," said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Rob Wyman. The vast dock and storage facilities along the lower Mississippi handle more cargo by volume than any other port in the United States. Other key ports along the Gulf Coast still shut by the storm include Biloxi, Gulfport and Pascagoula, Miss., among the hardest-hit by the storm. Meanwhile, offshore-drilling contractors reported several semisubmersible rigs broke their moorings during the storm and were adrift in the Gulf, adding to flotsam of navigational hazards clogging the sea lanes off Louisiana and Mississippi. Among rigs adrift were the Deepwater Nautilus, belonging to Transocean Inc. and Offshore Drilling Inc.'s Ocean Voyager.

      "There's no idea so asinine that this administration won't give it serious consideration" - Homeland Security Undersecretary Jay Cohen

      by jrooth on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:56:01 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

    •  Total Bullshit (4.00 / 2)

      Did anybody remember WH announcing...hurricane in Florida has 'limited impact'?

      So, clearly they are spinning. the question is for what?

      PS. incidentally, nobody in wallstreet is buying, since 33% of domestic oil supply is in the path and 50% of refinery is shut down.

      gas price future sky rockets.

      Use Tor and PGP on the net. (google it)

      by fugue on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 09:04:50 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  "as long as... there's not permanent damage (4.00 / 2)

    to the infrastructure..." and as long as you clap, Tinkerbell will live.  This sounds like the kind of blather they say to keep the markets from correcting all at once.

    "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." Sun Tzu

    Please support Barack Obama.

    by DaveV on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:44:40 AM PDT

  •  Well, no shit, with logic like that! (4.00 / 2)

    It's like saying: "Well, as long as the people don't get pissed off and start rioting, the chances of civil unrest will be modest."  

    I hate these fuckers.  

    When do we take up arms?

    by Billy Shears on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:50:13 AM PDT

  •  This statement is a political mistake (none / 1)

    Firstly, the White House has no business counting beans today, when they needed to be mobilizing a massive relief effort yesterday.

    Secondly, from years of Bush administration mismanagement, the chickens are due to come home to roost.  Now they will not be able to use Katrina as an excuse when that happens.  

    Aloha!

    by wetzel on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 08:58:13 AM PDT

  •  Another Samson moment (none / 1)

    Being slain with the jawbone of an ass.

    -6.00/-7.18

    by TarheelDem on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 09:01:04 AM PDT

  •  We are leaderless (none / 1)

    "my guess is that the effects on the overall economy will be fairly modest," Bernanke told CNBC television.

    This is one of the president's economic advisers. The mind reels.

    by enaud on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 09:04:27 AM PDT

  •  Fact is... (none / 0)

    In the long term, Katrina might even have a positive effect on the economy. As rebuilding starts and the huge areas affected are rebuilt, massive influx of money will create new construction jobs and growth in all industries related to adding/fixing the infrastructure.

    Look at Florida and the USVI after hurricanes the last 20 years for comparison.

    I am not playing down the harm and grief that exists now, nor am I a supporter of the WH, nor do I think that this public statement from them is well-timed. But in the end they are probably right. But it will most likely take 3-5 years before it is true.

    ___
    To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought.
    ~Tom Robbins

    Conlige suspectos semper habitos

    by Marcus Junius Brutus on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 09:11:20 AM PDT

    •  Yes But (none / 0)

      Where is the funding going to come from?  The government is already cash-strapped thanks to our adventures in the gulf.  Heck, NYC is still waiting for federal money that was promised after 9/11.  

      Pass the Employee Free Choice Act!

      by PaulVA on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 09:27:28 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  •  They were saying that if the Mississippi River (none / 0)

    isn't cleared to the Gulf by Harvest time there could be economic armageddon in the heartland as Farmers have no way to get their export crops to market.  Should be fun.

    All you read and wear or see and hear on TV is a product begging for your fatass dirty dollar -Tool

    by Blood Clot on Wed Aug 31, 2005 at 09:18:10 AM PDT

Permalink | 18 comments