Govenment's Responsibility

[tkcomer]

My friends and I were sitting around and thinking of the 200 billion-dollar price tag for the Katrina disaster and we got to thinking. How much should the government do in a disaster like this? If a tornado destroyed my place, I would have to rebuild it totally on my own. What insurance didn’t cover would come out of my pocket. No insurance? Tough luck. The government would have to fix the road if it got messed up but the utility company has to bear the brunt of replacing downed electrical lines. If a storm destroyed a community, the government might offer low interest loans that we would have to pay back. Plus provide security from looters. But is it right for the government to step in and give money to rebuild private property? What’s to stop people from rebuilding in disaster prone areas if the government keeps bailing them out? It’s been said many times that if it weren’t for federal dollars, a lot of people wouldn’t keep rebuilding in Florida. That they couldn’t afford the true cost of insurance on their house if it wasn’t for the government bailing them out every time there was a disaster. So what do you think is the government’s responsibility is in a disaster like this?

[kdown]

TK that is an extremely difficult question to answer.
Its a " heart or head " question.
If one thinks with their heart then the answer is provide whatever assistance is needed by anyone.
If one thinks with their head then the answer gets more complicated. Obviously not everyone needs federal help.
People with resources, insurance, etc shouldn't get Federal help. The poor, elderly, etc who have no resources or insurance probably should get help from the government.
Trying to sort this out would be a hugh, hugh, problem.

[MichaelB]

All very good points. People who truly need help should get it when they live in the most prosperous society the world has ever seen. However, many people will take advantage of the situation if it's a blanket policy that covers all victims. The government is prohibited by law from discriminating between deserving and undeserving individuals. Come to think of it though I'm not sure I want someone at the government level to make that descision. There doesn't appear to be many Solomon like people involved in government and certainly not politics. We'll do the right thing as best we can.

[tkcomer]

That’s just it. We are no longer a prosperous nation. We are the largest debtor nation in the world. It’s hard to turn your backs on the poor. Most owned very little. But it’s harder to see so many tax dollars going to an area that will get (Already hit) hit again. If the government would say that they will fix the infrastructure, but you have to fix your own place, maybe people might think twice about rebuilding in a hurricane zone. When we become so dependent on government to buy our way out of the mistakes we make, that’s a recipe for disaster also.

[kdown]

I'm old enough to remember Maysville before the floodwall.
What did people do ?
What should they have done, move downtown Maysville ?
Get flooded out and rebuild in the same spot.
Its gonna always be that way. Home is home.
Michael can speak about the same thing in Augusta

[tkcomer]

And they did it without massive federal aid. It was their responsibility. No one else’s. And if the government were in debt back in the 50s like today, that floodwall would have never been built. Plus, if that river came up like it did in ’37 every 4 or 5 years, downtown would have been abandoned. Insurance companies would stop insuring people in a flood plain, and people could not afford to fix their own house that often.

[MichaelB]

I'm all for people paying their own way but the question is what do you do when they can't? I read somewhere that 70% of the nations population lives within 50 miles of a coastline. That's alot of people and I'm sure many of them have limited resources so insurance is only a partial answer. Also, insurance for flood related damages is somewhat subjective as to what they actually pay for and how much. I would suggest that since this issue affects so many people, it is a national concern. I'm not promoting a strategy that is based upon monetary solutions only but one that includes addressing the issues of insurance legislation, rebuilding in vulnerable venues, and other "common sense" related solutions.

[tkcomer]

Let me put this another way. We work 5 months out of the year just to hand over to the government taxes in one form or another. And it ain’t enough for the government. They’re still sinking into insolvency. Which means, in the near future, you may have to work another month to pay your taxes. Which is less for your family. Things your family may need, but now can’t afford due to the high tax rate. So when you’re buying power gets smaller and smaller, you begin to think, “Why should I pay to rebuild someone else’s personal property?” More than once. I’m not against taxes either. They’re a necessary evil. But when it’s doled out for bad decisions, I start to get upset.

[kdown]

Must be something in the water around Lewisburg that gets us Lewisburg guys " cranked "

[tkcomer]

There is no water in Lewisburg. We’re in a drought. Maybe that’s why I’m mad. They’re keeping all that water to themselves.

[kdown]

Oh, there's water in Lewisbrug. Dad worked his tail off for months in the early 60s getting a petition signed to bring running water to Lewisburg. Then donated the space for the original water tower at the entrance to Eastern Hills.

A little known fact most people don't remember or didn't ever know.

[tkcomer]

They tore that tower down! My water has been off 3 times since Thursday. But I’m on the high-pressure line that runs to Flemingsburg. It breaks a lot. I feel sorry for those workers that have to come in all weather and keep fixing it.

[MichaelB]

Sounds like a good project for a federal community block grant (cdbg)! Maybe we could get back some of your tax money to fix your water problem.

[tkcomer]

I’m not sure if Maysville Water Works gets grants or loans. I can remember when they raised water rates to pay for added capacity. My neighbor across the road always has water. Thanks Mr. Downing, and yes I’m jealous! It’s part of the old Lewisburg system. I think they tied that system into Washington years ago when Maysville took over both systems. It’s a government system, but still mainly a pay as you go system.

[mark]

.................the gov't should fix the infrastructure of N.O. & that's all. Levees, roads, & anything else that tax dollars were spent on originally. Gov't shouldn't rebuild personal homes, businesses, etc......otherwise, just where would it stop??

What about those that were hit by Rita??
What about Andrew in 1992??
What about the Missisippi floods of 1997??
How about the World Series earthquake in S.F. in 1989??

I could go on & on but the point should be made here. Fix the infrastructure & no more....................see ya mark

[stinkerbelle]

we have entered into a weird and scary time..the government has bled the treasury down.. we are fighting a war with asian dollars..the current administration is bound and determined to destroy the last vestiges of colective barganing..we owe china money we cant repay..new orleans resulted in a mini civil war..we are hated by the world..the war in iraq is a losers proposition..we need to take care of our own..we need to do this for national pride..we are america!..the greatest nation the world has ever seen!.."healer heal thy self"..

[MichaelB]

How about Tom Delay being indicted? It appears to be another politically motivated "Witch Hunt". I am totally opposed to the squandering of our tax dollars for political gain and this is not partisan as both parties do it. We waste enough money on such prosecutions annually to pay for all of the hurricane damage plus. Can't we find a way to stop this non-sense?

[tkcomer]

For one, it’s not federal dollars, it’s the state’s money. Two, they all scream that it is a politically motivated scheme. Until the guilty pleas start coming in. Just look at the governors in Ohio and Kentucky. They both said the “other” side was out to get them. Right up until the convictions started.

[kdown]

Term limits from the White House to the dog catcher.
No soft money. No contributions over $2,000.
NO NO Corporate contributions.
End of problem

[tkcomer]

Sadly, the courts ruled political contributions as a freedom of speech thing. But I bet they could change the law so they are not tax deductible. That would slow a lot of corporations down. That and you can’t take donations from outside your home state. There just seems to be this rush to throw an enormous sum of money into an area that should be fixing itself up.

[Chuck]

1st problem I see is you said "Responsible" and then went and ruined it by adding the "Government" word.

Since we voted them in I think we surely must agree with there action and the spending of our cash.

There is no way to stop them now, they have the power. They won't vote to hurt there personal influx of cash or to restrict the way or from where they can get it.

So I guess we just get to continue to pay and complain about how they have to raise our taxes.

The only way around it is to stop voting for them. (I sound like an echo...) we will never trust our neighbor to run the country. Until we do we'll will continue to vote in career politicians that abuse us.

[tkcomer]

Dang Chuck. There’s not enough of “us” to get rid of “them”. How do you educate a nation?

[mark]

Term limits from the White House to the dog catcher.
No soft money. No contributions over $2,000.
NO NO Corporate contributions.
End of problem

......I couldn't agree more!!! ...............see ya mark

[stoney]

I have mixed feelings on this issue. While I don't believe we should turn our back on the poor and indigent I do believe that if your accepting govt. benefits the govt namely housing and/or welfare the govt should be able to relocate you and your family to where the job market may be better or natural disasters are "less likely" to occur. I have long believed that our government should behave as a business as far as financial concerns. The govt has plenty of land and has bailed out many business' and could easily operate as a business. Think about it if the govt contributed to the GNP they wouldn't need to tax us as much. Take folks on welfare and make them employees of the govt.

Just some random thoughts

[MichaelB]

Now that the some of the details of the plan are coming out, it is clear that some of the appropriations requested are "pork barrell" at best. I'm with Mark on the general scope of the project. It should be limited to roads, utility infrastucture, levee's etc. When the federal government takes too sharp a focus things really deteriorate quickly. The state and local levels are much more suited to dealing with the finer details of such a rescontruction project.

On a related note, I am totally confused about the people who say they want things put back the way they were. Who would want a significant number of your residents to return to abject poverty? These people need assistance in the form of jobs, education, etc.------things that can make them self-sufficient-------not welfare but assistance to achieve something on their own.

[kdown]

Its a nice idea Mike, but it is just not gonna happen.

Take a look at how hugh the poverty situation is in NO.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonguetyed/41154407/

[kdown]

Andrew Jackson, "Veto of Maysville Road Bill" (1830)

Although Jackson vetoed a bill in 1830 providing for a federal government subscription of stock, in the amount of $150,000, in a company that proposed to build a sixty-mile road near Maysville, Kentucky. Jacksonís veto message offered some thoughtful commentary on the question of the relationship between the federal government and the states and on the role of government in society more generally. As you read, consider how Jackson defends his veto of the Maysville Road Bill. And, think about how Jacksonís veto reflected the ideology of the Democratic Party at the time.


To the House of Representatives:

Gentlemen, I have maturely considered the bill proposing to authorize a "subscription of stock in the Maysville...Road Company," and now return the same to the House of Representatives, in which it originated, with my objections to its passage...

Such grants [of money by the federal government] have always been [passed] under the control of the general principle that the works which might be thus aided should be "of a general, not local, national, not State," character. A disregard of this distinction would of necessity lead to the subversion of the federal system.... I am not able to view [the Maysville Road Bill] in any other light than as a measure of purely local character.... It has no connection with any established system of improvements; [and] is exclusively within the limits of a State [Kentucky]....

...As great as this object [goal of internal improvements] undoubtedly is, it is not the only one which demands the fostering care of the government. The preservation and success of the republican principle rest with us. To elevate its character and its influence rank among our most important duties, and the best means to accomplish this desirable end are those which will rivet the attachment of our citizens to the Government of their choice by the comparative lightness of their public burthens [burdens] and by the attraction which the superior success of its operations will present to the admiration and respect of the world. Through the favor of an overruling and indulgent Providence our
country is blessed with a general prosperity and our citizens exempted from the pressure of taxation, which other less favored portions of the human family are obliged to bear; yet it is true that many of the taxes collected from our citizens through the medium of imposts have for a considerable period been onerous. In many particulars these taxes have borne severely upon the laboring and less prosperous classes of the community, being imposed on the necessaries of life, and this, too, in cases where the burden was not relieved by the consciousness that it would ultimately contribute to make us independent of foreign nation articles of prime necessity by the encouragement of growth and manufacture at home. They have been cheerfully borne because they were thought to be necessary to the support of government and the payments of debts unavoidably incurred in the acquisition and maintenance of our national rights and liberties. But have we a right to calculate on the same cheerful acquiescence when it is known that the necessity for their continuance would cease were it not for irregular, improvident, and unequal appropriations of public funds?...

...How gratifying the effect of presenting to the world the sublime spectacle of a Republic of more than 12,000,000 happy people, in the fifty-fourth year of her existence, after having passed through two protracted wars * one for the acquisition and the other for the aintenance of liberty * free from debt and all her immense resources unfettered! What a salutary influence would not such an exhibition exercise upon the cause of liberal principles and free government throughout the world! Would we not find ourselves in its effect an additional guarantee that our political institutions will be transmitted to the most remote posterity without decay? A course of policy destined to witness events
like these cannot be benefited by a legislation which tolerates a scramble for appropriations that have no relation to any general system of improvement, and whose good effects must of necessity be very limited...

...If different impressions are entertained in any quarter; if it is expected that the people of this country, reckless of their constitutional obligations, will prefer their local interest to the principles of the Union...indeed has the world but little to hope from the example of free government. When an honest observance of constitutional compacts cannot be obtained from communities like ours, it need not be anticipated elsewhere... and the degrading truth that man is unfit for self -government [will be] admitted. And this will be the case if expediency be made a rule of construction in interpreting the Constitution. Power in no government could desire a better shield for the insidious advances which it is ever ready to make upon the checks that are designed to restrain its action...

[kay]

I can remember after the tornado of 1968 in Dover, the town was offered many things by the government, one of which was natural gas, and much more. Dover already had water, but because one person was afraid it would become a big city, instead of the small town it was, they refused what was offered them. The only thing they accepted was street lights.
Now if any of you have been to that town in the past few years, it is so sad. So many of the nice buildings are in terrible shape and should be just torn down. It saddens me every time I go there; and to think what could have been and really look like today.