Keepin' Government Out

Last fall, our county Quorum Court decided to opt out of the National Flood Insurance Program, thus making it very difficult if not impossible to people living in flood plains to obtain flood insurance. Their reasoning (?) was "to keep government out of our lives". Morons.

Since then, they have been trying to come up with a new ordinance, which the Tea Partiers and various ignoramuses have been fighting tooth and nail. They keep coming up with ridiculous "what ifs" such as, and I quote, "What if we get back in the program and FEMA decides to redraw the flood plain map and some of us get caught up in the flood plain. What's that going to do to a weak economy when people are forced to buy flood insurance?" Never mind that FEMA hasn't revised their flood plain maps in decades.

No, the real reason they don't want to get back into the program is they just don't want people to be able to obtain flood insurance at lower rates, even though they, themselves, don't have to buy flood insurance. If you live in a flood plain, you are required to carry flood insurance, but if you don't live in a flood plain, you don't have to have it, apparently. Obviously, the people against the program are just plain mean spirited. So, they keep holding "public forums" attended by people who don't know which way is up and two or three member of the quorum court who have their own untra-conservative agendas, and there's no telling when they'll act on the new ordinance which would give citizens in flood plains some relief.

The old argument about keeping Government out of our lives is bogus, and here's why:

Fifty years ago, there was a terrible flood in our town, after which our citizens relied on Federal assistance in the form of FEMA. the Corps of Engineers and Urban Renewal just to name a few. Every since I moved here, I have heard about how Urban Renewal saved the town, and even improved it and consequently, filled the coffers of local businesses more than they could reasonably have expected in normal times.

Many of the people opposing federal assistance are presently enjoying Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and the Part D Prescription Plan. There is a long list of people cashing in on farm subsidies, many of whom don't actually own farms. I've seen the list. I know who they are.

And, now, we've had some more flooding, due to the extremely heavy rains in the last month. We have been designated a disaster area by the federal government, and will receive government funds, which we will grab with both hands. Our local mayor has decided that the city needs to hire a grant writer, so we can cash in on some of that "free" money that other towns in the area have been receiving for years. Nobody is fighting this idea, so far.

My suggestion to the Tea Party types, should anybody ask me, would be this: If you want to keep government out of your life, then you should personally opt out of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and all other entitlements that you currently enjoy. Then, just sit down and shut up and let the rest of the citizenry enjoy whatever funds help to make their lives more enjoyable.

What we really need to do is keep YOU out of our lives.

Stay tuned.