more on disaster relief

Go read this article by Herman Cain over at Fox News. He lays out how the private sector, especially much-maligned large corporations, have taken the lead in the Katrina recovery and are responsible for the lion's share of the good work going on down there. The private sector was prepared and able to respond quickly while the powers that be in all levels of government focused on blaming everyone but themselves. Okay, kids, who wants to rely on the government in a crisis? Anyone?

Some of Mr. Cain's good punch lines:

...we are once again witnessing that the most effective compassion comes from the private sector.
...
Without a free economic market, the companies that can help the most wouldn’t have the incentive to hurry to the scene. They know their products and services will be needed – so they’re doing all they can to assist those who want to begin the rebuilding process.
...
But will the media recognize that corporate profits are used for corporate charity? It’s doubtful. They don’t want to admit that America’s marketplace encourages success, which in turn allows the successful to be charitable. It’s times like these when that truth is most obvious.

The obvious connection here is that a free market implies minimal government interference. The more the feds or anyone else tries to jump in and control things, the more confusion they cause and the slower the recovery process will be. The best thing FEMA and its minions can do is stop wasting our money trying to "coordinate" and let private folks and companies handle the relief effort. They've been doing a good job so far with no government assistance, or better put, because of no government assistance.