Posted on 11/07/2012 9:05:30 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I expect that by the time you read this, President Obama will have been re-elected. Get ready for four more years of Big Bloated Government.
Hurricane Sandy didn't help.
The New York Times declared "a big storm requires big government," and my liberal neighbors agreed.
My science-challenged mayor, Michael Bloomberg, said the storm makes it imperative that America do something about climate change. He said this even though hurricanes have not increased and little evidence exists that man has much effect on climate. With Obama's re-election, we now will spend billions more on "green" strategies. But the Earth won't notice.
Other politicians say Sandy proves we need a powerful federal emergency management agency. So I invited the man who should be president, Rep. Ron Paul, to come on my show to give a sensible perspective.
Paul said, "We handled floods and disasters for 204 years before we had FEMA, and states and volunteers and local communities did quite well."
Paul's congressional district is on the Gulf Coast, so he knows what he's talking about.
"What we should have is real insurance," he said.
Real insurance means private companies make bets about floods with their own money. But America has little of that.
I know this first-hand. I built a beach house because government encouraged me to take the risk. Private insurance companies wouldn't insure most of us who built on the edges of oceans, and those that did charged high prices. "Too high," said Congress, "so government must insure everyone!" They said they'd price it so taxpayers wouldn't lose -- but as usual, they were wrong. Even before Sandy, federal flood insurance was $18 billion in the red.
And worse, cheap insurance encouraged more people to build on the beach. This is an absurd subsidy that should immediately be abolished.
But I fear I won't have much success convincing people. In "No, They Can't: Why Government Fails -- But Individuals Succeed", I explain how instinct leads us to assume that experts in Washington have the best tools to manage big risks. Most Americans believe that. Even Fox News anchors told me that "flood insurance is a role for the federal government!"
Viewers were angrier. One civil comment: "Libertarian is good on paper, but not in real life. Why would the Govt. turns its back when its people suffer?"
Because government causes suffering.
As Paul put it, "Rich people get insurance subsidized by poor people, build on beaches. ... Their houses get washed away, and poor people pay to rebuild. ... It's a reason we're totally bankrupt."
Yes, it is. My house eventually washed away, and you paid. That's wrong.
Federal emergency management fails, too. After Hurricane Hugo, Sen. Ernest Hollins called FEMA "bureaucratic jackasses that should just get the hell out of the way."
So politicians promised they'd improve FEMA. But three years later, after Hurricane Andrew, Sen. Barbara Mikulski said, "Government's response to Andrew was seen by many hurricane victims as a disaster itself."
Again, the bureaucrats said they'd fix it. Then came Katrina. Almost 2,000 people died.
FEMA even got in the way of rescue efforts. Wal-Mart offered flood victims three trailer trucks filled with water. FEMA turned them away. It prevented the Coast Guard from delivering fuel. It shipped 91,000 tons of ice for Louisiana hurricane victims to Maine and Arizona.
FEMA got better reviews this month, but the jury is still out. Let's see what reporters reveal in the coming weeks. Even brilliant government bureaucracies become incompetent over time, because everyone must follow the mind-numbing rules.
Economist Steven Horwitz researched prior disasters and says, "Firms like Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Marriott and McDonald's were major forces for good in getting resources to people in very desperate times, (but) FEMA was an absolute disaster. FEMA did not get into New Orleans in some cases for a week or 10 days."
No one says Wal-Mart should replace local police and firefighters. But local assistance is better. And each Wal-Mart store manager knows his neighborhood's needs. "FEMA is situated in Washington," said Horwitz. "It does not understand as well the needs of local communities."
I live in Covington LA - just outside of New Orleans. My wife’s family is from New Orleans and my father in law lost a ton. FEMA was f’d up but without it, Katrina would have been worse. My father in law and I will attest to that. Same goes for Isaac, Sandy, etc.
Saying US Gov should buy insurance is absolutely insane. Buying Excess Liability or forming a captive does nothing with respect to disaster response. You think local communities or states are prepared (regardless of blue or red)? Or Walmart - give me a break - during a disaster most Walmarts are closed!! FEMA and national guard are essential to preserving property and keeping law and order during such times. Not a Walmart Manager
Seen on another website...
The sad state of this nation is this: there are officially more “takers” than “makers” in America now. Obama’s plan was to create a nation of parasites and that what he’s done: increased the number of people so dependent on government handouts that electing any fiscally conservative voice of reason or sanity henceforth is impossible.
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: ‘From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.’” ~Alexander Fraser Tytler
This election was a tipping point and we just tipped toward tyranny. The grand pay off in America’s great embrace of Socialism now, however, is that there is one universal truth about parasites: parasites kill their host.
If you voted for Obama, congratulations: you’re a parasite.
Another 4 yrs of watching ZeeRow play golf while he occasionally breaks to do the bidding of his masters.
As Bryan Preston of PJ Media observes:
Our future looks bleak. Our debt is a mortal threat. Unless we make radical positive changes to the structure of our government, now, Obama will rack up another four to six trillion dollars in debt over the next four years.
Obama will not make the necessary changes and he will not allow them to be made as long as he is president. He has already said that he believes in raising taxes on job creators, and he will use re-election to push for that. Even though it makes no economic sense at all.
The amazing thing is, Obama told us that his economic policies weren’t based on economics before he was ever elected president. Then he kept doubling down on non-economics as “fairness.” And he kept winning.
What does this say about a majority of Americans?
I am fortunate...I grew up in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s...I saw the best of America...Since my late 20;s, I’ve seen a downward spiral in my country...It has reached proportions now that I doubt are recoverable...I weep for my children and my grandchildren. I think I will die before the end of the USA, but it isn’t very far away, I’m afraid....
What a loss for the world, this country....
“Free candy” always wins over “eat more greens” with childlike mentality. We have a public that is run by emotion.
Cloward-Piven
It works.
George Soros is grinning like a skunk eating Poo.
So is Putin, we just destroyed America for him.-—them.
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