In the wake of Hurricane Charley President Bush is visiting the devastation, lending support to the victims of the disaster.
And promising them our money.
CNN published a report citing the commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Guy Tunnel (whose name I wanted to mention mostly so I can point out that it sounds like a gay bar). Tunnel recalled the devastation, the lives lost from the hurricane, the massive undertaking that’s required to survey the damage. So it’s no wonder that President Bush stated the federal government is on its way to help pick up the tab estimated to be as much as $11 billion.
Correct me if I’m wrong but Florida isn’t known for its hurricanes? In fact, didn’t a little thing called Hurricane Andrew come through twelve years ago? In fact, don’t hurricanes occur in that area every year at around the same time? I believe there’s a whole season named after them. It’s called hurricane season.
The point is the victims of the tragedy shouldn’t make everyone else in the country pay for the flaws of their real estate. Hurricanes are a real, proven threat to the area; inhabitants should just buy insurance. If they can’t afford it, they should move. Everyone can’t live any where.
Monday, August 16, 2004
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2 comments:
It seems to me that if the likelihood of hurricanes in a certain area is lower, then the insurance premiums in that area should be lower.
A question for both of you: which is worse, that we pay for them to rebuild, or leave them homeless and pay for the government services they receive that way? David, you can probably quote prices for each. You tend to know that type of stuff.
Careful Ron and ask yourself the tough questions: what would the market set the interest rate at? And if it's a loan, not a gift, why can't the banks do pull these loans off themselves? After all, they had plenty of time to free up the assets. I agree, it's far better than a gift (aka a subsidy for stupidity) but don't think there's no welfare involved.
The real interesting question is if the Florida government allow out-of-state contractors to help fix the damages. I seem to remember in the aftermath of another hurricane, Florida construction interest groups made it illegal for "outsiders" to help repair the damages. My memory's a little shaky on the details but I seem to recall people loading up their trucks from all over the East Coast only to be denied business when they got down to the disaster site.
As for Mike's question, I don't know. Not yet, anyway. I do know that as they rebuild, they are homeless so we are really doing both (as least for a few months).
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