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McCain-Feingold Gave Us the IRS Scandal
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It’s.The.Law
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Farrell’s Fallacies
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Turning on Obama
May 7, 2013 | 228 comments
Special Report
Compounding Disaster
Once nature has done its ugly work the federal goverment invariably piles on.
The ever-reliable supporters of big government at CNN offer this interesting insight: Political antagonism toward deficits may exacerbate the long-term impact of natural disasters by lessening the federal government’s ability to help.
This, like the approach to every other issue that becomes the subject of liberal cogitation, assumes that humans are too stupid to change their behavior when their environment changes.
To wit, if states know that there isn’t a free bucket of federal money awaiting should something bad happen, they will prudently build up their reserves, creating “rainy day funds” for disasters like Irene. The same goes for individuals who, whether self-insuring like states or purchasing insurance policies, will better prepare for disasters rather than relying on the forced charity of residents of other states to subsidize their bad luck or intentional risk-taking. Furthermore, the discipline imposed by self-insuring or by the provisions of a private policy will improve not only the financial preparations for disasters, but also the physical preparations for them. (How many of you have added an alarm system to your house or car to lower your insurance premiums and your own risk?)
I like the part of the story in which the Federal Emergency Management Agency, commonly known as FEMA, says it won’t immediately honor what certain Senators think are its responsibilities but are not yet funded. Here’s the relevant section of the piece:
FEMA is making its own adjustments. To make room in its budget for cleanup efforts after Irene, the agency is delaying some rebuilding projects in Joplin, Missouri, where devastating tornadoes struck this year.
“For any projects that have not come in for approval, we’re not going to be able to fund those at this point. We’re going to postpone those,” FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said at a White House briefing Monday, referring to some efforts in Joplin.
Missouri’s two U.S. senators released statements blasting the bureaucratic move.
“If FEMA can’t fulfill its promise to our state because we have other disasters, that’s unacceptable,” Republican Sen. Roy Blunt said in a statement.
The lesson here is that Missouri and other states shouldn’t rely on the federal government in the first place if their goal isn’t to make war (whether on foreign soldiers or on American entrepreneurs). After all, if the federal government can’t even do well those few non-military things it’s actually supposed to do, like immigration, why do we want or expect it to do a good job with things it was never supposed to do, like being involved in flood insurance (or health insurance for that matter)?
Like the famed blind squirrel, Ron Paul gets it right when it comes to FEMA, arguing that it completely perverts the idea of insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. Since when is it the responsibility of a Coloradoan to subsidize the risk taken by someone who doesn’t just build a beach house in a hurricane-prone coastal region, but who then uses other people’s money to rebuild it when big bad hurricane Wolf blows it down?
Sure, when private markets provide flood insurance, the price is higher than the government-issued and taxpayer-subsidized program we have now and would thus likely pressure the real estate values of homes whose owners need the insurance. But that’s life. Among the rights granted in our Constitution, one does not find the right to have others assume your risk. Such socialization of risk (as seen most famously in the TARP program, other bank bailouts, and the Obama Administration’s destruction of decades of law in the reorganizations of GM and Chrysler) is anathema to the Founders’ explicit aims. After all, the conception of the role of the state to protect “life, liberty and property” as originally drafted for the Declaration of Independence wasn’t about government making Mr. Smith protect Mr. Jones’ property. If Jones’ property is more likely to be destroyed in its particular location, then it is worth less than it otherwise would be without that risk… and it shouldn’t be Smith’s problem.
FEMA’s most famous adventure was their disastrous handling of Hurricane Katrina. While President Obama called FEMA’s response to Hurricane Irene “exemplary,” perhaps the reason it seems so is that governors along the East Coast took the lessons of Katrina to heart and did their jobs as chief executives rather than relying on Big Brother. FEMA seems like it did a good job because it was asked to do so little — so far. However, with requests for federal aid coming from states along our Atlantic Coast, FEMA will have plenty of opportunity to show whether it is still the dysfunctional bureaucracy we’ve come to know and, to put it kindly, be somewhat skeptical of. But, like a Yugo, even if it performs OK, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
And to the extent that FEMA’s role in the Irene disaster ends up being handing out checks, it inevitably drifts into another vote-buying scheme for whichever administration is in power at the time, leading bureaucrats into the irresistible temptation to make Smith feel good about the government by using Jones’ money. As Milton Friedman said, the least careful way that money is ever spent is when someone (like government) is spending another person’s money on yet another recipient. When A is spending B’s money on C, neither A nor C care how much or how wisely that money is being spent. That’s actually putting it kindly, as both A and C have the incentive to spend as much of B’s money as possible, thus adding government budget disaster to natural disaster.
Instead of complaining about the limitations of the federal government when it comes to disaster relief, the obvious lesson of Hurricane Irene is that even for storms that ravage a half dozen states in a weekend, local response and responsibility is preferable to relying on a federal organization. FEMA, like all federal bureaucracies and despite what I assume to be the best intentions of most of its employees, is run by people who are unlikely to understand local subtleties in any given disaster area. And, as we’re seeing now, disaster response by a federal agency allows federal politics to interfere in what are truly the most localized problems where localized knowledge and incentive to help one’s friends and neighbors should be of great benefit.
For example — and understanding that the scale of the disasters was different and that New Orleans had more than its share of problems prior to Hurricane Katrina — four years after Katrina, New Orleans was still waiting for the federal government to take care of its lingering school problems. In a way, Katrina did the educational system in that city a favor, “wash[ing] away the old, failed system of public education.” Yet the public school system there, despite the mostly beneficial addition of many charter schools, is still far behind schedule and over budget on rebuilding as they live in a world where fiscal responsibility is deadened by the opiate of OPM (other people’s money.)
In Joplin, Missouri, on the other hand, where fully a third of the city was erased by a tornado in May, schools opened on time just three months later, including a high school that the city creatively fashioned from what used to be a department store. As a commenter on the left-leaning Huffington Post website opined, “I agree those in Joplin helped each other out after the devastating tornadoes. They did not wait for FEMA or the federal government to intervene. They got to work. I do feel for those people in Irene’s path. But self reliance and common sense go a long way too.”
About the Author
Ross Kaminsky is a self-employed trader and investor and is a senior fellow of the Heartland Institute. He is the host of The Ross Kaminsky Show on Denver’s NewsRadio 850 KOA at 11 AM on most Sundays. You can reach Ross by e-mail at rossputin(at)rossputin(dot)com.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.31.11 @ 6:25AM
Ten years after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles there was a 10 year follow up by a national news channel. One of the funniest parts of the show was when they interviewed a black guy standing on the corner in a still devastated area where many boarded up stores could be observed.
When he was asked what he had been up to he stated, "I'm waiting for the government to come in and fix things." This was 10 years after the riots.
On another level though, you could make the same distinction about Social Security and Medicare that you make about FEMA Flood Insurance.
Why should someone who exists in the work place pony up to pay for someone else's health care or old age supplement?
The entire federal government exists off redistribution of wealth, from overpaid bureaucrats to ill planned programs which don't achieve much.
I personally found it embarrassing for all those government blowhards who obviously relished the microphones and just as obviously had little concept of what they were discussing. Most of the chatter was about the weather and you could have found all that out at the Weather Channel.
albert constantine jr.| 8.31.11 @ 8:02AM
With respect to '
"When he was asked what he had been up to he stated, 'I'm waiting for the government to come in and fix things.' This was 10 years after the riots.", I thought the 1992 rioters were protesting AGAINST the government (aka "the MAN, aka "the PO-lice", etc.).
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 8.31.11 @ 8:45AM
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/s.....20429.html
Ten years after Los Angeles was shaken by some of the worst riots in U.S. history, President George Bush went to the California city with proposals for economic development in hand.
South Central L.A. is still marked by burned out and boarded up buildings, although officials say most of the $1 billion in damage caused by four days of rioting has been repaired.
The poverty stricken neighbourhood exploded on April 29, 1992, following the acquittals of four white police officers caught on videotape beating Rodney King, a black motorist pulled over on an L.A. road.
By the time calm returned, 55 people had been killed, 2,000 more had been hurt, and entire city blocks with hundreds of buildings had been reduced to ash.
Lasting images from the mayhem include live footage of a white trucker, Reginald Denny, being pulled from the cab of his truck by a group of black men who beat him and left him bleeding in the street.
Bill| 8.31.11 @ 1:46PM
Speaking of rebuilding South Central L.A. after the Rodney King riots, I remember that the companies that were looking to rebuild that part of the city were being harassed for not having a large enough percentage of black workers in their workforce, and, as a result, pulled out of the effort. What indeed HAS happened to the rebuilding of South Central L.A. since then? Anything?
Bill| 8.31.11 @ 1:48PM
On Reginald Denny, one rather chilling memory I have is of the person throwing the rock or half-brick as hard as he could at Mr. Denny's head, and hitting him, then dancing about as if he had scored a basket or something, while Mr. Denny slumped to the ground.
Bill| 8.31.11 @ 1:56PM
Damien Williams, the Eight-Tray Gangster Crip.
Apt first name.
Bill| 8.31.11 @ 2:02PM
Williams was sentenced in 1993 for his attempted murder of Reginald Denny. He was released from prison four years later, in 1997.
But don't worry TOO much; Williams later was tried for trying to kill someone else in 2003 and got 42 years in prison for that one. I don't suppose he'll get parole much before 2012 or so.
Occam's Tool| 8.31.11 @ 4:32PM
The LA riots was one of my major reasons for leaving LA. After them, I could NOT imagine starting a family there.
albert constantine jr.| 8.31.11 @ 8:02AM
With respect to '
"When he was asked what he had been up to he stated, 'I'm waiting for the government to come in and fix things.' This was 10 years after the riots.", I thought the 1992 rioters were protesting AGAINST the government (aka "the MAN, aka "the PO-lice", etc.).
Bill| 8.31.11 @ 2:09PM
They were protesting against the white power structure giving the cops who beat Rodney King a pass. I note that when a jury gave O.J. Simpson a pass, no one rioted over that one.
Skippy| 8.31.11 @ 3:32PM
That's because white people don't riot.
The cops who righteously beat King deserved medals.
Black Americans seem to love to riot and destroy anything that represents the "white power structure".
Time for reparations is over; time for law and order to reign.
The true heroes of the King riots are the shopkeepers who I saw stand on the roof of their businesses and empty 12 gauge rounds onto the heads of the rioters.
America; take a cue.
Occam's Tool| 8.31.11 @ 4:41PM
Actually, speaking as a psychiatrist for LA county at the time of the riots, there was no reason the cops couldn't have 6 packed him. (Arms behind back---handcuffs applied. Put ankle cuffs on.
Conect ankle cuffs to wrist cuffs. Six pack results, and one can carry person that way if necessary.)
I saw it numerous times working at Olive View Medical Center with the patients the cops 5150'ed, many of whom were more agitated than Rodney by report. Control the situation first.
I did a lot of work with LAPD and LASD.
Rodney King was an idiot. But there was no reason he had to be hit out in the open. Six packed and in the back of the squad car he could have been dealt with off film.
But the shopkeepers were the true heroes. On that I agree. Stupid dumbass Liberal scum coddlers.
Dustoff| 8.31.11 @ 10:04AM
I guess he forgot one very imporant part. THEY burn it down.
Yet expect us to fix it...
Jack in Wi.| 9.1.11 @ 1:30AM
I want to commend Ross for what I think is a very thoughtful and well written article. I think his links were very good as wll.
Jack in Wi.| 9.1.11 @ 1:40AM
I want to take my compliment back. Mr. Kaminsky had a nasty cheap shot. [ Which I missed the first time I read it. ] against the next President ot the USA Ron Paul. Who is the one who brought this whole issue forward. He is the one who has been on national TV for the last week attacking FEMA and what a mess it is. and saying it should be abolished. Ross is just a nasty neocon who can't stand that we are done with all these wars and warmongers. We want the troops home with their families and not spread out all over the world.
The Bishop| 8.31.11 @ 6:45AM
The idea of the socialization of risk is at the root of all of our social ills. Individual responsibility has been abdicated under the sponsorship of the boys and girls in DC and the stupid turds refuse to acknowledge how disastrous their imbecility is going to be - soon.
The Big E| 8.31.11 @ 11:56AM
"The idea of the socialization of risk is at the root of all of our social ills."
Bingo. The whole mess, from natural disasters to man-made economic ones sewed up in one, all-encompassing and absolutely true statement. Absolutely brilliant
Mike D.| 8.31.11 @ 7:25AM
Katrina, the self-responsibility crowd was long gone before the thing hit new Orleans and then of course we had the government save us crowd with their hands in the air waiting for the Feds to come in and save them. Sad sight to see. Nothing like a disaster to illustrate the two halfs this country has become. Lesson: never ever, EVER, rely on the government to save your @ss and never put said @ss in the government's sling. Always be prepared to go it alone no matter what.
Bill| 8.31.11 @ 1:50PM
I had mixed feelings for the people waving their hands from the tops of supermarket and mall ceilings at the helicopters. I was sympathetic to their desperation, and I have to admit that I felt a bit as if their failure to evacuate when told to do so was pathetically stupid.
Nancy in NC| 8.31.11 @ 7:32AM
We survived Irene, but instead of running to the store for the last loaf of bread and more batteries, we stay prepared. Because of an out of control government we've joined the crazies and actually have food, water and batteries on hand at all times. We made sure our cell phones were charged, and we had plenty of things to read and gas for the generator. We brought all the outside furniture in, and removed all "flying objects".
Forunately (and thankfully) we suffered no damage and power was restored on Sunday. Not everyone we know has been so lucky. Many folks have roof and structual damage to their homes and still don't have power. We didn't have much flooding here, but other counties didn't fare as well. The wind was the culprit here.
Even though the governor (a Dem) couldn't wait to declare ours a disaster area and call for FEMA, communities and individuals are banding together and cleaning up the mess. A few people did lose their life, but most was due to stupid behavior (like going outside in the storm and getting hit by a falling tree, driving in deep water, etc.).
I am still unsure what FEMA's purpose in all this. I always assumed that homeowners had insurance to cover life's disasters. My house is paid for but I carry insurance with a large deductible, but if FEMA were to show up, I would say no thanks.
For heaven's sakes, this isn't Japan. We didn't suffer a major earthquake or tsunami. Mother Nature just did what she does every few years. If you live near the coast you should expect these things to happen, just like a tornado in the Midwest should not come as a huge surprise.
I wonder what Americans did a hundred years ago before FEMA, the weather channel, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
Conservative View| 8.31.11 @ 8:14AM
They took out their own saws and axes, cleaned up the mess, used the downed trees for firewood, and went out back to see if their garden survived the storm. Gee, do you suppose that self relience was "in", along with personal responsibility back then?
TexasMom2012| 9.1.11 @ 9:02AM
FYI, after Ike we discovered that if you are responsible because you have the proper coverage with a high deductible, you cannot get help ( a loan from FEMA) to cover that deductible. After we discovered that FEMA contacted us for months offering a loan even though responsible homeowners are not eligible. Chaps my hide.
JimH| 8.31.11 @ 8:27AM
I nice article marred by an inaccurate and unnecessary cheap shot at Ron Paul. Regardless of what you think of his foreign policy positions, quite irrelevant to the subject at hand, I think most conservative and libertarian readers at this site regard his analysis and recommendations for domestic policy as quite sound. Others besides Dr. Paul have been calling for the elimination of FEMA. Jerry Pournelle has written repeatedly on this, calling for it’s elimination and replacing it with the return of local Civil Defense. http://jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/
Mick Hawk| 8.31.11 @ 9:27AM
Rube Paul is a cheap shot. His kook minions are worse.
Dustoff| 8.31.11 @ 10:09AM
Ron Paul is right on FEMA. Yet he's wrong on so many others.
DaveS| 8.31.11 @ 1:25PM
The Founding Fathers, and noble Americans right through the 1960s, always appreciated FEMA: cornerstone of American b d luck and stupid decision management!
Occam's Tool| 8.31.11 @ 4:44PM
Paul is right on a lot of domestic issues that deal with financial issues, or at least plays in the normal human ballpark. His problem is that he spreads his cheeks for Jihadists, as do his minions. His support is now 6%, and is going down faster than St Rachel Corrie of IHOP on a Jihadist.
Clint| 8.31.11 @ 6:37PM
Gallup poll: Ron Paul in 3rd place at 13%, Michele Bachmann in 4th at 10%
Ron Paul has a solid grip on 3rd place nationally while Michele Bachmann has slipped since winning the Ames straw poll on August 13th.
Gallup poll:
Rick Perry – 29%
Mitt Romney – 17%
Ron Paul – 13%
Michele Bachmann – 10%
Hermain Cain – 4%
Newt Gingrich – 4%
Rick Santorum– 3%
Jon Huntsman – 1%
The Big E| 8.31.11 @ 11:59AM
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. Doesn't mean I want to keep my schedule by it.
Redstateboy| 8.31.11 @ 8:44AM
Is it simply just human nature that societies devolve and collapse through a natural inclination for covetousness? "I don't have what my neighbor has, I want it and if we get enough of us "wanters" together; we can "elect" to... redistribute it."
Nina| 8.31.11 @ 10:08AM
I live in MA and we were lucky to have dodged a bullet. However, I saw where Obama had already declared a state of emergency for our state before it hit. Unfortunately, VT has suffered huge losses but will rebuild, not due to FEMA but due to good Yankee ingenuity and self reliance unlike NO and Katrina. The people who live on the coastal shores of hurricane regions should have insurance to rebuild, I can't afford a house on the shore. And if you live in an area hit by hurricanes, why are not prepared? I see people buying sheets of plywood, generators, etc...why do not have these things on hand already? First thing I would do if I moved south, visit Home Depot! . It's a hurricane, it's common on the east coast, deal with it. Someone stated above about the tornados, always puzzled me as to why people live in house trailors in tornado alley. Also, being prepared helped a huge amount of people thanks to the governors actually doing their jobs!
DaveS| 8.31.11 @ 1:23PM
Who cares what Obama thinks, says or does or where he appears?
Westie| 8.31.11 @ 10:20AM
JimH, I noticed the RP cheap shot also...it appears to be a concerted effort against RP here and all around the Right Sided news-o-sphere!
Gary| 8.31.11 @ 10:31AM
As a former Louisianian I know that the locals, especially the governor and mayor of NO screwed up big time, not just "Brownie." I also agree with the general point of your article but for the failure of the levees, the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers, a disaster would have been avoided, so the feds did have an obligation to come across with dough. I do agree, however, that the states are way over dependent on the feds and hence avoid their responsibilities on disasters, roads, you name it waiting for the string laden federal funds crack cocaine.
Louis Jenkins| 8.31.11 @ 11:14AM
Okay, off topic here but the goods needs to be spread. Melson, acting director of the ATF, stepped down yestereday over Fast and Furious, a topic of last Friday's reports. He has been moved to another dept. so that he can keep his retirement up. (Of course) CBS news stated they broke the story on Fast and Furious back in March, and deserve the credit, but they were superceded by a couple of blogs by four months.
Now if only a few more agencies can be tied to the act, maybe we can begin to see the light of day. Now back to our scheduled programing.
Wayne | 8.31.11 @ 11:32AM
Let us NOT FORGET that it was Bush who insisted on rebuilding New Orleans, though it is BELOW sea level.
DaveS| 8.31.11 @ 1:21PM
..though a few in his administration spoke otherwise and got pounded for their reasonableness and lack of sensitivity. Only one portion of NO is above sea level: the original settlement. It's eally ANO: Artificial New Orleans.
Skippy| 8.31.11 @ 3:39PM
Let's pause and imagine the response had GWB said, "Forget New Orleans. It will be a small town after we bulldoze the debris and remove the levees. It has been a bad idea to have a city here for a long time. Now Mother Nature has made the decision for us. We will not rebuild; we will adapt to circumstances beyond our control, and will correct a long-overdue mistake."
Now let's imagine Congress' reaction to that hard truth.
But, of course, in the end, everything is Bush's fault.
NYMPH| 8.31.11 @ 11:45AM
I live in "Tornato Alley" and in 2007 a torando tore through my small town, destroying about 1/3 of it. The path destroyed the high school, middle school and elemetary schools. I was fortunate and suffered no damage as the tornado hit on the southwest end and headed northeast, I live on the northwest end. It hit about about 10:30 pm. The very next morning, the National Guard was already on scene along with the RedCross and other emergency releif agencies. The response was truly amazing. Everyone pitched in to help their neighbors and strangers alike and nobody asked for a handout. Most of the homes that were destroyed had basements which saved those peoples lives. In comes FEMA. We'll help you rebuild, here's your free money. Just one catch. If you rebuild your destroyed home, you have to fill in your basement and can't have one. Their reasoning was because most of those homes are in the 100 year flood plain and even though those basements likely saved their lives, too bad. Even if you didn't receive one dime of Government "free Cheese" and your own insurance covered your loss, still, too bad, no basement. "We're from the government and we're here to help" save you from those dreaded floods......Ironically enough, the 3 trailor parks in town were untouched. Go figure.
cicero| 8.31.11 @ 11:45AM
The basic purpose of FEMA and the national flood insurance program is to make everybody pay for the foolishness of the few. I could see helping to pay for an unforseen disaster. But to rebuild the same houses time after time in flood plains, coastal areas, and the like is, by definition, idiocy.
How many times do you have to rebuild the mansions on the California coast, Outer Bamks, Long Island Shore, Hurricane Alley, etc, before you tell the wealthy to build somewhere else, or stand their own risk? How many times do you have to rebuild the houses along the shores of the Mississippi before you tell those folks the same thing. During the last river flood, the news carried a story of one woman who was bound and determined to rebuild the family home - for the 10th time.
Last year, the Feds redid the elevation maps so that more property would be considered in the flood plains, so that more people would have to buy flood insurance, and help pay for the few who actually do. When will it stop?
DaveS| 8.31.11 @ 1:27PM
...and, in doing so, put artificially over-valued properties and undervalued lives at risk all the time.
Mike D.| 8.31.11 @ 2:11PM
Yes, and we were a victim of it until we payed off our house 5 years early. Flood insurance is a racket. Really simple, create an historic risk map and charge those who want to live in those zones triple or quadruple insurance. They moved up our flood level by over two feet to screw more people farther inland in my area. There is no way the water on lake Erie will ever reach anywhere near that level and they know it. Its collectivism once again. You take from some and give to others so they can live in risky areas and keep redoing the same stupid thing over and over. Our government at work, subsidizing stupidity.
TexasMom2012| 9.1.11 @ 9:10AM
Our neighborhood was reclassified to be in the 100 year flood plain, hogwash. We already had flood insurance because you never know when a pump will fail... But it is bull that we are in the flood plain. The levee behind our home, between us and the Brazos River has never gotten wet. The river has never gotten within a hundred yards of reaching the levee in the over 20 years we have lived here. The flood plain was adjusted to force more mortgage payers to contribute to the pool without contributing to the flood risk.
DaveS| 8.31.11 @ 1:18PM
Joplin got it right. There is bad luck out there, which can be remedied by the appropriate private insurance policy. Otherwise, I am insuring the uninsured and underinsured. Wait! Sounds like Romneycare and its big brother Obamacare!
Bill| 8.31.11 @ 1:40PM
The article asks, "Since when is it the responsibility of a Coloradoan to subsidize the risk taken by someone who doesn't just build a beach house in a hurricane-prone coastal region, but who then uses other people's money to rebuild it when big bad hurricane Wolf blows it down?"
The same question might be asked about the huge expense of building ongoing engineeering projects to protect New Orleans, and rebuilding the damage from Hurricane Katrina? I recently read that a large percentage of those who left New Orleans after Katrina have not returned; why would they? They're living in an obvious flooding zone.
Why is rebuilding New Orleans on anybody's agenda? Why is rebuilding New Orleans being passed off to the rest of us who live above sea level as some sort of exercise in the nobility of the human spirit instead of the epitome of human foolishness?
TexasMom2012| 9.1.11 @ 9:14AM
Better yet, why is Texas forced to subsidize those slackers from New Orleans who are the 3rd generation to NOt work? I say send them back now if they refuse to contribute to society.... Rebuild their public housing there. Do not provide for them here at our taxpayers expense. Not our problem although they have polluted Sharpstown with crime since Katrina.
Ross Kaminsky | 8.31.11 @ 2:04PM
A few comments to the commenters:
Of course the issue of socializing the losses applies to many government activities, not just to flood insurance. If I were to get into all the other relevant areas, the article would have lost focus and been much too long. But of course all of you who point out analogous situations are right.
By the way, that Milton Friedman video I linked to is a great use of 3 minutes of your time. Really great.
As for the "cheap shot" at Ron Paul, I didn't think it was cheap, and I don't really care if his supporters think it was. My point was exactly right: Ron Paul is right about FEMA but so disastrously wrong on key foreign policy issues that he is unfit to be president, and I say that as someone who believes the US does far too much as the world's policeman. Also, I realize that many Ron Paul supporters are conspiracy theorists, so let me say once and for all: there is no coordination, and certainly none involving me, to criticize your man. No coordination is necessary because so many of us who recognize his strength's on many domestic issues also recognize his lunacy on other issues. We don't need to "coordinate" to each think (and write) that the guy shouldn't be president.
This article is not about Ron Paul, though, and we've spent far too long talking about him, so let's move on...
Occam's Tool| 8.31.11 @ 4:46PM
Good job, Ross. As usual.
Ross Kaminsky | 8.31.11 @ 8:54PM
As usual? Didn't you (rhetorically) beat the hell out of me on my last article, or maybe the one before that? ;-)
Boar Hunter| 8.31.11 @ 8:18PM
The inclusion of the Milton Friedman clip was a fantastic use of the space and complimented your article very nicely.
It is always funny to me when the author of the lead article enters into the debate. It has the feeling of the teacher returning to a classroom of unruly children.
Your comments on Ron Paul are correct, we have all spent way, way too much time talking about Ron Paul. Not just here...but everywhere. I assure you "teacher" most of us are way done with Ron Paul.
Ross Kaminsky | 8.31.11 @ 8:55PM
Hunter:
A serious question for you: Do you like or dislike that I participate in the comments? Do you think it adds value here or am I wasting my time?
Boar Hunter| 9.1.11 @ 12:32AM
I strangely find myself at a loss for words. Yes, Mr. Kaminsky, I very much "like" and appreciate your participation in the comments. I have noticed that you have done so on a few other occasions recently and I think it speaks highly to your good character.
As to it's "value," for whatever it's worth, I believe it demonstrates you are not just writing for the sake of it or out of obligation, you believe in what you have written and have the strength of character to defend it. That may not be valuable to everyone, but it's valuable to me.
TexasMom2012| 9.1.11 @ 9:17AM
+++1000!
Jeff Perren | 9.1.11 @ 11:06AM
Ditto. After reading your article, I always scan the comments for your replies.
TexasMom2012| 9.1.11 @ 9:15AM
Amen. Paul has some good points yet he is a loon on foreign affairs. So no, he cannot be president. Besides, at 77, he is much much too old, really!
2Anglico| 8.31.11 @ 3:35PM
How did the "Bride of Frankenstein" become the Director of Homeland "Security"???
Trinacria| 8.31.11 @ 4:01PM
I think that Napolitano fella is doing a bang up job - you folks should get off his back.
Steve A| 8.31.11 @ 4:12PM
Is it just me or does Napolitano not look a bit like Janet Reno's long lost brother.
Mike Hawk| 8.31.11 @ 5:30PM
She could be Chaz Bono's brother.
Chaz Bono| 8.31.11 @ 7:36PM
I think he's hot!
shipley130| 8.31.11 @ 4:13PM
Well, DHS isn't one of those organizations that suffer from discriminating against the Ugly.
shipley130| 8.31.11 @ 4:14PM
Is Stupid the new Smart?
Lord Karth| 9.1.11 @ 5:46AM
Probably.
Your servant,
Lord Karth
Pat| 8.31.11 @ 4:14PM
Both the Democratic National Committee and the mainstream media were very disappointed with Hurricane Irene. The DNC was anticipating Obama, in shirt sleeves, rushing from his plush vacation hideaway to the scene of the disaster, wandering about with his bodyguards in tow, getting in everyone’s face and asking what your government can do for you. He certainly needed to play the hero on a white horse what with his recent polling results. For the mainstream news outlets, folks playfully acting the fool for the camera, making funny faces and dancing around in the wind quickly took that “impending doom” feeling away from those “on the spot” news reporters and their brave camera crews.
Natural disasters have political consequences - actually what doesn’t have political consequences in these latter days of the Republic? So, the necessity for the government to rush aid in the form of supplies and money to every major disaster is no longer “nice”, it’s a Constitutional requirement.
Just ask those citizens of Los Angeles why they continue to build homes over the most unstable fault lines in the country – geologists agree that if we set out to determine the most dangerous place to build a home in America, the L. A. basin would win hands down. So, when the Big One eventually hits, FEMA will be there after the shaking stops and with God’s help and your money, Angelenos will fight their way back and re-build directly over those very same faults – ain’t this a great country?
shipley130| 8.31.11 @ 4:26PM
I didn't see Obama doing anything special. He was sitting at a table. BFD.
Delta Zelda| 8.31.11 @ 5:00PM
When NOLA floods again, I can guarantee you that other states will not accept refugees. Violent crime rates have increased everywhere a significant number of said refugees relocated. The city and its leaders paid no attention until the dragon was in their face, and then wanted everyone to rescue them. For the record, Katrina’s eye did not come ashore at NOLA; it came ashore at Waveland, MS, destroying the place. Over the years, the Corps of Army Engineers had given money to New Orleans to maintain the levees in good repair. The city leaders had used the money to fund other things, including some social functions. It is time to quit blaming Katrina for destroying New Orleans, and put the blame where it belongs: on the shoulders of each fool who chose to live below sea level and refused to heed the ample warning they had to leave the city.
Mike D.| 8.31.11 @ 5:14PM
We are watching the death of individual common sense and the birth of terminal stupidity.
TexasMom2012| 9.1.11 @ 9:22AM
True. Refugees from New Orleans after Katrina caused a spike in crime in the areas they settled here in Houston. A friend owns an apartment complex here and said that nearly two years after Katrina some residents were still having their rent paid by the Feds. Fortunately, Texas does not have liberal welfare laws and most no longer were eligible for benefits. So they were forced to work even though they hadn't for generations in New Orleans or they were forced to return to Louisiana...
Alice Wolf| 8.31.11 @ 5:29PM
We need to reinstate the Glass Steagall standard by passing the RETURN TO PRUDENT ACT introduced by Marcy Kaptur D Ohio which is awaiting debate and passage in the House of
Representatives. This would separate the gambling bankster debts from the legitimate commercial banking debts, and place the too big to fail banks into bankruptcy protection.
At that point, the US could open up a new National Federal Bank through which to issue credit, under the mandate of our US Constitution, which decrees a Credit System not the Monetary System under which we currently held captive.
The Monetary System is the one that we fought the War of Independence to get away from. It is the system of Empire and is notoriously for it's success at imposing genocide and fascism.
Alexander Hamilton who was responsible for figuring out the American Credit System and incorporating it into the Constitution envisioned that our Sovreign Republic of the United States of American would not be beholden to any bank or foreign power or bank for our currency.
Our Congress has the power to reinstate the Glass Steagall Standard, to shut down the illegal bailouts of banks here and abroad, and to start uttering credit based on the real economy, which would have to be hot wired to start up immediately.
The credit we would have at our disposal would be good for getting the bankrupt states back on their feet again, and then getting huge infrastruture platform projects underway like NAWAPA, which has been on the back burner since the 1960's.
The North American Water and Power Alliance, NAWAPA, would entail the mobilization of five or six million people, to go back to work and get this massive project going. If you are interested in checking this out there is a page on larouchepac.com that sets out the possibilities in very deep detail.
There is also a lot of stuff on that site that sets out the reason why catastrophic events like Irene, volcanos and earthquakes etc. are likely to become more frequent and heavy than usual and what steps need to be taken to make certain that we as a species, that is mankind, are better prepared and equipped to deal with them.
The idea that we should be more careful and save up for things like Irene is not without merit, but in actuality the magnitude of the problems we are facing require the use of instruments and the scientific research that leads to the manufacture of these insturments to be funded.
We need to reinstate NASA as a science driver and send more satelites up into the heavens to monitor conditions in our Galaxy to get ready for what the universe is able to send out way.
We have the capability as a unique species of life on this planet to impose our will on our environment and to come with creative ideas to ensure our continued existence.
Austerity and fascism are not the answer.
Money cannot do anything by itself either.
We need to increase the real economy, to increase the productive power per head per square kilometer is the only way to go. We need to increase out energy production, we need nuclear power. We need better transportation systems and mag lev railway systems are the way of the future. Education is imperative, and the NAWAPA will mean that our youth can be trained for jobs working on this for two generations time or more, and they can be trained by the skilled workers we have that may be old by now, but still have the knowledge required for a project of this magnitude.
We have to provide a future for our children and their children, we have to give them something to do that they will be proud of, like the Hoover Dam, the Tennessee Valley Water Authority and the manned mission to the Moon. We have to allow them to express themselves as creative beings and fulfill their human potential.
Saving up for a rainy day is like a day late and a dollar short.
TexasMom2012| 9.1.11 @ 9:24AM
Rod Sterling is looking for you
POST American| 8.31.11 @ 11:49PM
-------------------BOTTOM LINE-----------------------
Globalist/ Rockefellow media bury the Fukishima
world nuclear disaster and DEPOP OP --with over
the top coverage of routine weather events
elsewhere.
------------YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE
Dan Mathewson| 9.1.11 @ 4:56PM
No it's not. You're making it up.
POST American| 9.2.11 @ 4:25AM
----------------BOTTOMLESS LINE------------------
David Rockefeller himself called publicly for
RAPID and MASSIVE depopulation just last
November.
The KEY role GE's design flaws and placement
has played in this halocaust is ON RECORD.
The capabillities of HAARP technology are
also ON RECORD, even bragged about by
Zbigniev Brzinski decades ago.
The Globalist RED China world TREASON and EUGENICS OP
is uttely beyond dispute.
Three of the greatest militaries on the planet
are in close proximity and standing down on this, the eve of Global government and 'co-operative brotherhood'.
Radiation monitoring which, via satellites, is
pervasive for the planet is now massively
censored and 'adjusted' ---likewise national
monitoring sites online.
------------------This is INTENTIONAL.
--------------------------CASE CLOSED------------------
lrgon| 9.3.11 @ 2:30PM
Let's give Ron Paul this one , albeit, begrudgenly.
"Like the famed blind squirrel, Ron Paul gets it right when it comes to FEMA."
Oh, really!
The squirrely move by the writer is to take a swipe at the only guy in Congress who consistently knocks them out of the ball park with his no votes to fund another boondoggle fed program.
Kaminsky would do well to read Paul's play book and learn how to win games. He needs to throw away the neocon playbook which calls on the pitcher (Spkr. of the House) to gaze off into the blue yonder while the libs are stealing all the bases.
The 900 and 3/4 lb gorilla is selling peanuts and beer to an ever shrinking crowd of paying fans due to the neo's lousy playing style!
Moe1138| 9.4.11 @ 11:07AM
Remember, "The Anointed One", upon speaking to a Latino organization, referred to the Right as "enemies".
FEMA tells Texas "no" for firefighting assistance, November 2010.
NLRB takes on Boeing to open a "new" manufacturing plant in North Carolina, a right to work state.
Are not these 2 states Republican held?
2012 can not get here soon enough.
ahmad | 9.6.11 @ 9:40PM
Is Stupid the new Smart?