Bureaucratic rulemaking

Bardes et al.(425) tell us, "bureaucrats and politicians and policymakers." And how.

From the Washington Post:

Wait Ends On Rules For Katrina Rebuilding
$2.5 Billion More for Levees Also Proposed

By Peter Whoriskey and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 13, 2006; Page A01

The Bush administration proposed spending an additional $2.5 billion for New Orleans levee construction yesterday as it issued long-awaited construction guidelines for the flood-prone region that would require rebuilding many heavily damaged houses at least three feet above ground.

With tens of thousands of houses awaiting reconstruction, the move could resolve an impasse over how to rebuild the low-lying metropolis. Uncertainty over the levees has left homeowners unsure about whether to rebuild and about how high houses should stand to avoid future flooding.

What's not clear in the early part of the Post article is in the New York Times' headline: Lenient Rule Set for Rebuilding in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, April 12 — Federal officials issued unexpectedly lenient guidelines on Wednesday for rebuilding the flood-damaged homes of New Orleans, potentially allowing tens of thousands of homeowners to return to their neighborhoods at costs far less than they had feared.

Under the guidelines issued here by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, huge swaths of homes might still have to be rebuilt at least three feet off the ground, or risk getting no federal reconstruction money or insurance.

But the announcement, anxiously anticipated as a critical step in rebuilding this still-ravaged city, was nonetheless greeted with some relief by local officials and residents. They had feared that, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic flooding, the government would demand that some houses be raised as much as 10 feet, at enormous expense.

Where's the politics?

The announcement dovetails with a political climate in New Orleans in which the idea of not rebuilding damaged neighborhoods has been taboo. In a heated mayor's race that is now reaching its conclusion, no candidate has been willing to say some areas should not be rebuilt because of flood danger.