Disaster relief: When is it the government's responsiblity?

[linazelle]

911 and the Tsunami set precedents which I am afraid are becoming all too common: private citizens digging into their pockets to aid disaster victims. Today, the local Clear Channel station announced they are starting a relief fund. I was shocked.

In the past, hurricane damage and the like have been taken care of by the government.

My heart goes out to those suffering in MS and LA and I want to help. However, I also want to refrain from enabling a misadministration which already shirks most of its reponsibility for Americans.

What do you think about this?

[Pallas180]

1. I think the taxpayer will pay for it anyway, when Cheney sends Halliburton

in ---

[linazelle]

5. I know, that's my point. We already pay for it but BushCo is

diverting the money elsewhere. And people are paying AGAIN. I think that's wrong. Bush should pay.

[chomskysright]

2. "I feel your pain" was expressed by a Dem president....

"I feel your pain" was expressed by a Dem president.

Many citizens of Asheville have valued Nor'lens:City of the Saints. Does the current administration value one of the most unique cities in the US---a city of exceptional cuisine, beignets, and hot nights of watching the tug boats on the Mississippi?

By all indications, they do not. Moreover, Democratic states are punished and Republican states are treated extravagantly. FL, under Governor Jeb Bush received massive funding for hurricane relief in 2004, prior to the presidential election.

Contrarily, in Louisiana, requests for flood mitigation funds were rejected by FEMA this summer. The levee that had a two-block wide hole that allowed Lake Ponchatrain to flow into the city was a high priority project.

North Carolina also has a Democratic governor. It also is a state (remember the dam that busted above Asheville that affected Canton, in particular) that is regularly threatened by hurricanes and floods. FEMA recently refused the state's request to buy backup generators for emergency support facilities. And the budget cuts have halved the funding for a mitigation program that saved an estimated $8.8 million in recovery costs in three eastern North Carolina communities alone after 1999's Hurricane Floyd.

Money for the war, means less money for the people back home.

Asheville, NC


REFERENCE: FOR THE EDITOR: http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2004-09-28/cov ...

[tjdee]

3. Well, when our tax dollars are going for an invasion....

I was thinking about that today. Don't we pay taxes for this very reason?

But I guess when billions of dollars are going to the buildings we blew up for no reason....there's no extra money.

:(

[linazelle]

11. The local Clear Channel station is sponsoring relief contributions

What a surprise. :eyes: When I heard that today, I was livid.

It's not up to us individually to contribute--we really need to insist that Bushco spends our tax dollars the way they were meant to be spent.

[Kenroy]

4. I don't know

that the government has always handled disasters. Charities have a long history of doing so.

The fact is, this is so god-awful it's gonna need all of us - government, charities, volunteers...

We also need to really push the corporations, especially the insurance companies, to do their part. It's gonna take all of us, and if we had a REAL leader, he would've already given a speech explaining that.

[Lori Price CLG]

6. Why, helping Halliburton and ExxonMobil. n/t

[silverweb]

7. It's government's responsibility.

In the old feudal days, it was the responsibility of the lord of the manor (theoretically) to care for his people, who in return would work for and defend his lands.

Our government was formed "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."

If disaster preparedness and relief are not included here, maybe someone can explain to me why they are not.

[HadItUpToHere]

8. Those houses on stilts on the outer banks of the carolinas-

the Govt. should NOT insure those people for hurricane damage- let the owners get their own insurance, or pay for rebuilding themselves if nobody will insure them.

[linazelle]

9. Those may be the exceptions. I'm talking about the general

rebuilding of the entire area/region. I think Bush should pay (our tax dollars that is.) This would be a good lesson for the Freeprs who think taxes are a waste.

[HadItUpToHere]

15. since they are red states, who voted for * and his policies-

they should get to experience the smaller role of government that THEY VOTED FOR.

[Coastie for Truth]

10. Another thing - who is the "insurer of last resort"

The private insurance companies have bailed out of flood insurance and earthquake insurance -- now the government (state for earthquake, feds for flood) is, ultimately, the "insurer of last resort."

The private insurance companies have been trying to unload hurricane insurance to the feds for years. I think Katrina may be the final push (especially if one or two major carriers go belly up - or if enough small carriers go belly up).

[rumpel]

12. There also seems to be a lot of promises initially after a disaster. As

for the landslide victims in California, FEMA "determined" the cause was not from the extraordinary winter rains and declined assistance.
Was just in the LA Times this past Sunday. Homeowners stuck with worthless non salvagable homes, can no longer even file bankruptcy it said.

But first things first, the National Guard belong here and not in Iraq, and save as many as possible.

[Cleita]

13. Always.

This is what public works is supposed to be about besides looking after sewage, water works and roads. When a disaster happens, the people's government is supposed to come in at the petition of the local government, first to state and then to federal to pour funds and assistance into the area that needs it. This is where our tax money is supposed to go.

Of course, when you have a monarchy, that doesn't happen. It's every person for themselves and when the king arrives to say he's sorry something happened to you, you bow down.

[SoCalDem]

14. It's what "privatization" does

It takes community welfare (in the general sense) and sells it to the lowest bidder. Outsiders are paid to administer what we really all pay taxes for.. The government should provide for the general wellbeing of ALL citizens and do for them with the common money collected, those things they cannot do individually..


protection from foreign aggression (on our shores)
roads
energy regulation (elec,gas, home heating oil)
healthcare system
telecommunications system
banking system
educational system
disaster assistance
transportation (air, rail, bus)
regulation of interstate commerce
food safety
pharmaceutical regulation

Congress/the government OWES its citizens their allegiance...not their lobbyist pals.

We all pool our taxes in a central government so that when WE need something FROM the government, we will get help, just as OUR money goes to help others whom we will never meet..

We deserve no less..