Turd Furguson

Did FEMA and the gov't take care of you 100%?

is Bush bad for not insisting you get out?

How dare you be self sufficient. You're making our gub'ment obsolete. I hope you at least took a free boat ride with Sean Penn and his photographer.

Chevy

Funny, I never saw it as gov'ts resposnibility to get anyone out.

A mere $10 a week set aside = $520/year. Considering the need for evacuation may occur every 10 years ... That's $5200 lying in wait to get you and your family out.

Add to that $5200 another $4400 ($2000 initial FEMA, another $2400 supplemental FEMA - both of which I received with 60 days) and you now have $9600. That covers an $800/month apartment.

Plus, everyone who was dislocated qualified for food stamps (~$150/month), State and Federal rent assistance (how does 1 year rent/utilities paid sound to you?).

So, really, all you need is to ensure that you can cover the cost of leaving and can house/feed yourself for 2 months.

Personal reliability/responsibility ... It's a lost art here in America.

Patters

Chevy, I'm glad your okay, but think your decision to wait out the storm was risky. Who would have rescued you and your friends if things played out differently?

Chevy

My main concern was standing guard over my business - looters, you know. Fortunately, we didn't have that problem in Metairie ...

Beyond that, I really wan't concerned. Yes, I'll admit it got pretty damn hairy here, but I was confident in being able to tough it out.

Now, had the storm come straight at us ... well, that's another story, isn't it .. :grin:

Besides ... Since the 29th of August I've lost almost 20 pounds and have gone a long way to adapting to the Louisiana heat (no ac will do that to you).

Turd Furguson

WHO WOULD HAVE TAKEN CARE OF YOU????


Without people like Patters' ilk, the government and politicians making promises would be out of business.


When will people wake up and realize that other than National Security and infrastructure, we do not NEED the government?

Patters

It seems to be part of the human condition that people gravitate towards family, then tribes, then villages, then states, and so forth. Other than that, National Security and infrastructure are such big words, I could agree with you even though I favor bigger government. My belief is that big government works when it is transparent and fails when it is secret and protected (as is the case under Bush).

Turd Furguson

Thats a delusion you've labored under then as big government NEVER works, is ALWAYS inefficient and the one solution to every problem they have is to throw more money at it.

Patters

No, Turd, your mistake is that you mistake openness for failure. Because parts of our government are open, it's very easy to see what it does wrong. Special interest groups, the media, and politicians all seize on any opportunity to expose a scandal or example of incompetence. It's good news.

Private business and individuals are not nearly as exposed as government, so people like you think they're cleaner. Yet, that's fairly illogical. The likelihood of a government employee being caught is far greater than the the likelihood of someone in private business. In addition, there's no reason to think that the humans who make up the government are any less representative of all of us than those who make up the private sphere.

If you compared government to private business, they both work about as well. Businesses are as likely to pollute, shortchange their employees, not pay their taxes, and go bankrupt as government is as likely to be overly bureaucratic, inefficient, etc. So, why is one so much worse than the other?

I suppose if you're obsessed about wasting money, I can see your point, but I think there are several issues more important than wasting money.

Chevy

Less federal governemnt, with very specific powers, is far better than more. Let the state's run their affairs - they are better suited to it.

Patters

The states get less scrutiny and thus are more easily corrupted. Look at Lousiana for proof! I think the key to government is openness and a free press. In this regard, I agree with groups like the ACLU.