Posted on 09/17/2004 6:40:38 AM PDT by Dutchgirl
Warnings for the next hurricane to hit the United States have already been issued -- for Washington, D.C. Taxpayers should keep an eye on the aftermath.
After most disasters, Congress acts like a whirlwind to rush to the aid of victims, as lawmakers should.
A few members of Congress are also quick to take advantage of the situation to tack money for their pet projects onto such bills.
"Congress simply has no shame," warned Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. "Knowing that this is most likely the last opportunity to bring home the bacon before the election, members are busy maneuvering behind the scenes to add their pet projects to the emergency supplemental (for hurricane victims). Considering the record $422 billion budget deficit this year, loading the bill with pork could be more costly than cleaning up after the three hurricanes."
And who gets blamed for such deficit spending? It's seldom Congress.
Emergency supplemental bills are not included in House and Senate caps on spending, so these bills are ideal vehicles for pork projects. Even lawmakers with the best of intentions have a hard time living down the public outrage if they vote against emergency funds for hurricane victims.
As is obvious, "looting" isn't confined to the lowly thieves taking advantage of disasters to satisfy themselves. A few members of Congress use supplemental appropriations to do it legally -- and often get praised by their constituents for bringing that money home. --------------------------------
TALLAHASSEE Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson reminded state residents today that Floridas price-gouging statute remains in effect and called on Floridians who encounter any such activity in connection with the approaching Hurricane Frances to report it at once to his department.
Price gouging is not just immoral - it is illegal, Bronson said. Anyone who attempts to exploit anothers misfortune will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.
Under state law, it is illegal to charge exorbitant or excessive prices for essential items, including shelter, gasoline, food, water, ice, generators or lumber, following the declaration of an emergency, unless the increases in the amount charged are attributable to additional costs incurred by retailers.
Governor Jeb Bush declared a state emergency in connection with Tropical Storm Charley last month - and the emergency declaration remains in effect.
Individuals or businesses that engage in price gouging face fines of up to $1,000 per violation, or up to a maximum fine of $25,000 a day.
Bronson is asking residents who have any evidence that price gouging is occurring to report it at once to his departments toll-free hotline - 1 800 HELP FLA (435-7352)
Martial law is a direct application of force, a suspension of the normal peace, used at a time when the normal neighborhood/community web is broken. The property is there, but the owners are gone or incapacitated, so military forces might move in to prevent looting and chaos. I might be excused for thinking that soldiers in such a situation, toting battle rifles and grenades, might not wish to concern themselves with the price of "C" alkalines in the corner drugstore, that is, unless they need a couple themselves.
Bottom line: government is far from being the final, best solution, or even a good one. More often, government itself is the problem. Take away their power to "protect us from folks who intend to profit from human misery", and you take their power to profit from it themselves.
Oh yeah! Make money on someone else's misery! Yeah, right! I hope all who believe this will one day meet the same fate!
That's totally different. For one thing, they were charging more than the market would bear, which is always a bad idea. For another, in that situation, there was no shortage of gasoline that needed to be remedied, and no mechanism by which high prices would attract more gasoline to aid stranded motorists.
In the case of a hurricane, prices are high because the supplies are low. The first order of business is to increase the supply of whatever is lacking. By allowing price of widgets to rise sharply in the afflicted area, you automatically attract widgets to that area. As you say, no government intervention needed. Enterprising people outside of the area will load trucks with widgets and drive them in, in hopes of making a quick buck.
If instead the price of widgets is not allowed to rise, the widget shortage will continue until the government corrects the problem it created. "The widgets will be coming any week now. But get in line: maybe we can ration you a widget or two to hold you over until they come in."
I'll bet that rhetoric goes over big when you're in the ER.
Actually, I was speaking about people such as yourself. I do not believe in your philosophy.
But the fact is that you were also talking about the doctors in the ER, whether you think you were or not. They make money--a lot of money--off of people's injuries. The more people get injured, the more money they make. I say that's beautiful; you say that's horrible. My philosophy saves more lives than yours, just as it feeds more hungry and fixes more buildings.
I do not believe in your philosophy.
It's a little thing called "capitalism". Look into it.
That's totally different. For one thing, they were charging more than the market would bear, which is always a bad idea. For another, in that situation, there was no shortage of gasoline that needed to be remedied, and no mechanism by which high prices would attract more gasoline to aid stranded motorists.
When a storm the size of Texas is about to hit the state, all lanes on evacuation routes are redirected in a direction away from the storm. Rail and airports close and planes are either flown out, hangered or tied down with a hope for the best. It would be a very hard working and death defying widget provider, possibly interfering with evacuation, who brought his product in.
In the first few days after the storm has passed, live power lines and downed trees usually result in a request from local authorities to stay off the roads and allow emergency personel the greatest opportunity to get to people in need. Priorities are set so that people who require electricity to survive are provided assistance first.
My son works as a grocery stock boy. In the days before the storm, he was stocking water. Water supplies are frequently contaminated by power failures. The grocery store, realizing that a storm was coming, ordered in extra pallets of water and other supplies. Their volume was huge and they made good profit. My son made money stocking water. Doctors in emergency rooms made money caring for patients...but as a person licensed to do business in the state of Florida, doctor's can't jack up their rates in the hopes of profiting the storm. Why should we allow congress to get away with this?
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