Commerce Department: $3.4M "Disaster Recovery" Grant to School for Chefs

    The Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration announced on Monday the awarding of $7.8 million in grants to "Support Disaster Recovery" in several states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Acting Secretary Rebecca Blank said the money was for:

...economic recovery in Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, New York, and the U.S. Virgin Islands following natural disasters in 2011.
“The Obama administration is committed to helping communities impacted by natural disasters rebound and rebuild stronger than ever,” said Acting Secretary Blank. “The EDA grants announced today will strengthen local capacities in Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, New York, and the U.S. Virgin Islands by rebuilding their infrastructure, supporting local industry, creating jobs, and enhancing their ability to respond to future disasters.”

    Some of the projects included the rehabilitation of a pumping station in Stamford, CT; a new wastewater treatment plant in Savannah, IL; and a $2 million revolving loan fund for small to medium enterprises in the U.S. Virgin Islands.  However, more than one-third of the money is being directed to a school for chefs in Hyde Park, NY.  The press release explains:

In New York, a $3.4 million EDA grant to the Culinary Institute of America in  Hyde Park, New York, will support the Hudson Valley Food and Beverage Alliance, which will operate a new training facility for agribusinesses located in the Hudson Valley. The region’s agriculture-based economy suffered severe damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011. According to grantee estimates, the new facility will generate up to $5.1 million in new revenue in the Hudson Valley and will support 32 full-time jobs.

    The grant is reminiscent of the projects funded by the 2009 stimulus bill from the president's first term, but the Commerce Department notes that funds are "part of a $200 million appropriation made by Congress to EDA to help communities that received a major disaster designation in fiscal year 2011 with long-term economic recovery and infrastructure support."  The press release did not indicate if the $5.1 million in revenue is an annual estimate, nor did it indicate how long those 32 full-time jobs would be supported.  However, for the northeast region of the country still reeling from monster storm Sandy's hit in October 2012, a $3.4 million grant to a culinary school (tuition is about $27,000/year) might seem better directed towards more concrete infrastructure restoration.

Governmental Creep

     While the title of this post might suggest to some that I have certain elected officials in mind, I'm actually using "creep" in the sense of "spreading" - like a fungus or a rash.  The point I am trying to make is that even a good and useful function of government can devolve into a boondoogle if left unchecked, and "unchecked" seems to be the default these days.

    With that premise, consider the following.  When the word "disaster" comes to mind, the photos from the recent Hurricane Sandy certain seem to fit the bill:

Source: http://www.examiner.com/

    More specifically, when we think of a "drought disaster," we might think of this:

    Or this:

    But when the folks at the USDA of the United States federal government think "drought disaster", they see this:

    Nearly 2,200 of the 3,000 or so counties in the United States have "Drought Disaster Incidents" as of 11/7/12.  More than 70% of the United States is a disaster area. Now I am not belittling the seriousness of the dry conditions in some places in our country.  There is doubtless suffering and need.  But is it any wonder we have 47,000,000 on food stamps and over 14,000,000 on social security disability?
Is it any wonder that unless contraceptives are freely available to all (and when I say "freely", I mean "plentifully and at no cost whatsoever",) we have a "health care crisis" on our hands?

    This governmental tendency towards hyperbole results in policies that are costly and intrusive, but in addition it masks the true crises: the national debt, for one. But according to economists like Paul Krugman, the debt is nothing compared to the crisis we'd create by cutting government spending now.  How about the Social Security/Medicare crisis of impending bankruptcy?  No, we must fulfill the social contract lest our politicians (mostly Republican ones) begin shoving aging citizens over cliffs.

    The attraction is that faux crises are so much easier to "solve" than real ones.  Just a little more of someone else's money and we can "help" whoever needs it more.  But unless we can face the hard truth that sometimes someone will fall and the federal government won't necessarily be there to catch him before he hits the ground, we will soon all be on the ground getting tangled up in what is left of the rotting strands of a "safety net" that is no longer catching anyone.