mysteryman wrote:Quote:At home, New OrLeans is still a basket case even after Bush made his famous speech from Jackson Square one evening when he said this will be America's biggest reconstruction project in our country. It only resulted in fraud and wasted funds.
Thats right,it did.
But,you seem to ignore the fact that the STATE AND LOCAL GOVTS are the ones controlling who gets the money and how much.
Any fraud and wasted funds can be laid at their feet,they control the purse strings.
Any time the government starts passing out money or any other kinds of benefits, you can count on the 'needy' coming out of the woodwork to get it.
I think it is high time for the government to start telling the people to insure their property and belongings and don't put them in harm's way any more than necessary. When you're warned of an impending danger and told to stock up on food and water, do that. If you're told to evacuate, go. Don't expect the federal government to support you if you fail to protect and provide for yourself. What state governments choose to do is their own business. FEMA should be called in only if the state emergency services are incapacitated or overwhelmed by a MAJOR disaster and FEMA should never be expected to be the early response team for anything.
Federal Government policy should be to help out with shoring up defenses and help restore vital infrastructure in MAJOR disasters but not every time it hails in Texas or there is a heavy snow in North Dakota or a river overflows its banks somehwere.
If enough of us stand up on our hind legs and say enough is enough, we can demand a reform of the whole system in which people are expected to do what they can for their own protection and safety. If we don't do that, there is likely to be a cruel backlash from the taxpayers or we will be disastered to death and driven further into national insolvency.