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No Comments Katrina, Floods, Massive Fires – Feds to the Rescue!!
Yes, the current forest fires in California are a disaster that is never welcome nor should be disparaged. If it is arson, the hopefully the person(s) responsible will be caught and prosecuted if possible. Similarly, Hurricane Katrina and all past and future devastating hurricanes are natural disasters worthy of sympathy and assistance to help people get back on their feet. The same thing goes for all other disasters out of the control of people.
However, we also get numerous stories of how the Federal Government will come to the rescue!! They will solve all the woes; provide funding for those in need, support the banks at all cost, and so on and so forth. What I will not delve into much is a little detail known as the 10th Amendment to the Constitution and the US Constitution. Quite simply put, the Feds have no place legally by the Constitution to spend the taxpayers’ money on non-governmental operation issues. The 10th Amendment shifts anything not in the US Constitution or Amendments to the States and the people where is should be for really basic reasons.
Once again, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has declared it is coming to the rescue and will do a better job than last time. And the Federal Housing Authority has declared that it will cover all of the mortgages. Wow, how nice, thoughtful and considerate they are. Just a few minor details are getting in the way.
First, for the Federal Housing Authority there is this silly thing called homeowners’ insurance that homeowners carry often by state mandates. So who is the FHA really helping out? Those who didn’t take the responsibility to have themselves covered? Or are they helping out the bankers by transferring taxpayer money to make certain the banks do not get hit hard by non-payments or fights with insurance companies? What provision of the US Constitution permits them to do either?
Then we come to the grand assistance of FEMA. The same Constitutional question holds for even the existence of FEMA. But a common sense (or dare I say Dilbert sense) issue comes up immediately. The words Federal Government and management are more often an oxymoron than something to inspire confidence. In my experience and that of many others, management is usually the level of employees concerned with status and politics not so much who they serve. The employees more often than not just do their job function (hopefully), collect their paycheck and go home. Employees have little vested reason to care. They are not the owners. In terms of FEMA, they are executing a job as employees and managers. That is oh so comforting. Let us not even comment on FEMA using FEMA employees to double as “independent reporters.”
Who should be responsible for disaster relief? For legal, efficiency and a litany of other reasons, the federal government is NOT the answer. If not them, then who should be? People at the local level, American Red Cross and other such organizations that exist to help others are the answer. Why? Because they care, it is not just a job to them. It is helping out their family, their friends, their neighbors or it is what they have a passion to do. What about the funding? Close FEMA and transfer the money back to the taxpayers to fund it privately. After all, who has ever accused the Fed level of responsible money management, sound accounting math, and sticking to a budget?
As something to chew on, please compare today’s Dilbert dialogue with the name of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
