The 'compassion' racket (FreeRepublic pulls article by noted conservative Thomas Sowell)

Townhall.Com ^ | 8 September, 2004 | Thomas Sowell

[Admin Moderator]

My apologies. ordinarily a thread pulled as a duplicate says so, and includes a link to the original thread.

Apologies accepted.

It was pulled and linked in that manner. There have been reports of a glitch in the system, where in some cases, reasons for pulls aren't showing.

[xzins]

This is not breaking news. This is opinion/editorial.

If it was posted in breaking news yesterday, then no wonder it was pulled.

It wasn't breaking news yesterday either.

[cyborg]

I have a mind boggling problem on occasion, easily fixed with chocolate and also coffee (the same substitutes for a boyfriend I might add).

[Servant of the 9]

How about the "dumb" that build on or near the fault lines in CA????? There is no correct answer, no good answer.

Caveat Emptor says it all. They bought stupid and they can suffer for it, no government bailout.

Government bailouts ought to be restricted to the truly unpredictable, like a major meteor strike in your area.

So9

[Mamzelle]

"What used to be"--is also a function of high development and vastly increased population. Yesterday I read that even folks in small towns are starting to be driven crazy by road traffic. I can attest the truth of this--and the larger towns and nearby cities, too...in short, there're a lot more people in Fla than there used to be. Shall we move them all out?

Much of what I see on TV that is damaged is not necessarily ocean-front.

Sowell makes a good point. But like many points that libertarians make "on principal" it is ultimately not very helpful--we still have to deal with realities.

[mabelkitty]

I resent the fact that Federal funds keep going for disasters in Florida.
Perhaps it's high time that instituted a state tax to pay for their own costs of living in an area with unstable weather patterns.

[Darksheare]

I'm always boggled, glitch or no glitch.
*chuckle*

[mabelkitty]

Not unlike to Mississippi River residents.

[cynicom]

Meteor strike???? Why did you have to mention that? Now I have something else to worry about. You don't have any inside information do you????

[Servant of the 9]

What used to be"--is also a function of high development and vastly increased population. ............ like many points that libertarians make "on principal" it is ultimately not very helpful--we still have to deal with realities.

Without government insurance, those houses would never have been rebuilt after they were first destroyed. We pay for them over and over. Anyone can find out where it is safe to build and then take their chances.
No one built expensive homes in vulnerable areas unless tey could afford to lose them. Now they not only build them, they count on Federal money to remodel and modernize them every few years when a storm comes through.

SO9

[garyhope]

Why do they allow "mobile homes" or manufactured housing in a place like Florida? Why aren't the building codes stronger and more realistic? At least in California they've passed stronger earthquake codes for housing.

[Bon mots]

My foreign born wife wonders why people build homes out of wood in coastal areas. In Europe, wooden houses are a curiousity and an oddity.

If these houses were built of mortar concrete and brick with ceramic or metal roofing, all one would need to do is close up the shudders and the house would still be standing when it all blew by. Of course the odd tree may fall on one or some such, but wind would not blow off the roof and destroy it if it were built right.

[proust]

[Wolfie]

I certainly can't think of any reason why the Federal gov't, under any adminstration, would continue to kiss Florida's backside. Nope, none at all.

[billbears]

I have no objection to government help for the unexpected, hurricaines in California or earthquakes in Florida fall into that category

You don't? You should if you're a conservative. Providing relief for acts of God or anything else (i.e fires, disasters, etc.) is not covered in the Constitution? Nor is a 'moral obligation' to provide for the elderly covered either. Of course I learned from our President it must be because he has stated that it is....

just more government waste

[Darksheare]

Hey, I thought you said you weren't going to post here anymore after Burkeman1 and JohnGalt got the zot.
Or did LP kick you off?

[Chemist_Geek]

Government bailouts ought to be restricted to the truly unpredictable, like a major meteor strike in your area.

Heh. Meteor strikes are actually more predictable - it's only Kepler's Laws - than any other natural disaster.

Now, the question of disaster relief. The "let-them-eat-cake" FReepers say that the gubmint cain't spend none of their tax dollars on relief. Well, justifications exist in the preamble, "We the people of the United States, in order to...promote the general welfare"; Article 1, section 8, "The Congress shall have power to...provide for the...general welfare of the United States". Merely because the exact words "disaster relief" do not appear within the text of the Constitution does not mean that it is prohibited. For example, the Constitution only contains a vague reference to "executive departments"...does this mean that the Cabinet is un-Constituitional, because it's not specifically mentioned?

[Mamzelle]

Houses in Bermuda are made of masonry--their *roofs*, too! The concrete roofs are cleaned carefully, painted with non-toxic paint, and the water drains off the roof into cisterns. Bermuda has scarce sources of water.

The fact that there are government bailouts is just part of the problem. Private insurance is a form of cost-shifting not too dissimilar from taxation. Of coursem, you can choose to go without insurance for some things, but many times we are much constrained against doing without (licensing of cars, home mtgs--requires insurance).

While you worry about how fed funds are not being used accding to good libertarian principals, I worry more about the increase in premiums I'm going to have to face.

[jigsaw]

Your mind boggles too easily. It was pulled as a duplicate.

Are you sure the first version wasn't a Flip and the second a Flop?

[mcg1969]

I have no objection to government help for the unexpected, hurricaines in California or earthquakes in Florida fall into that category.

Earthquakes in California are not unexpected. Hurricanes in Florida are not unexpected. Their timing may be unexpected, but not their occurrence. Which means that you can, and should, plan for them.

As a California resident, I pay $$$ on earthquake insurance, which is flat-out required if you expect to get a mortgage on your house. If you pay cash, well, it is assumed you have the means to deal with it yourself.