A little article I wrote that is going to be published in a Las Vegas newspaper on Friday.
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Now, its not very often that I get publicly involved in politics, which is what talk of hurricane reconstruction is, but I heard something on TV that made me start thinking.

It was only a small blurb, one that I caught while flipping news channels on my satellite dish to hear the latest on Hurricane Rita before it smashed ashore along the Texas, Louisiana border. It went something like this... It is illegal for the government to take taxpayer dollars and provide it to individuals.

What??? Did I hear that right? I Tivo’ed it to played it again and sure enough, I did hear it right. That’s when the wheels started churning inside my head because, although I am sympathetic to the people effected by the hurricanes, I don’t think that I should have to pay to rebuild their life. After all, I’ve got my own to worry about.

At this point, I’m sure that I have got a lot of readers thinking I’m the Anti-Christ because I would even say
something like this - in public anyway. But I’m sure there are many people around that feel the same way. I’m also sure many of you want to know why I would say taxpayer money
should not be spent on hurricane relief - or any disaster relief for that matter, so here’s why:

Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution
says “The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the
United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.”

What that means is the government can’t take my money or yours, via taxes, and give to someone else. So far the government has spent $60 billion on hurricane relief and the governor of Louisiana is asking for another $32 billion to rebuild the state.

First of all, I’d like to know how you spend $60 billion in taxpayer money in a couple of weeks, and secondly I’d like to know why I should pay to rebuild anything but my own domain.

A better question is how did FEMA wind up with the authority to provide billions of dollars in federal aid annually to individuals in the first place, despite the fact that the US Constitution says tax money has to be spent uniformly across the land?

Don’t think that I am looking to abolish FEMA, I just want it to stay within legal boundaries and provide disaster preparedness and mitigation assistance on an equal basis across the country - like they’re supposed to.

I don’t want them to provide free “emergency housing” (which lasts up to 18 months), I don’t want them to provide cash (the debit cards they gave to Katrina victims), I don’t want them to provide free clothing or pay any part of rebuilding someones private property. I also don’t want FEMA
to give money to private “not-for-profit” companies like the American Red Cross or Salvation Army, so they can
do it either. That’s what insurance and having money in the bank is for.

Every time FEMA gives someone a trailer to live in as temporary housing for up to 18 months, taxpayers are
paying whatever the company that provided the trailer says is due for the trailer. When FEMA gives someone clothes, they don’t give them perfectly good clothes that have been
donated, FEMA gives them brand new clothes purchased from the vendor of their choice. Its the same with food and water and/or medical care.

Seems like it’s pretty easy to transfer public wealth (i.e. the money collected from you in the form of taxes) to a few approved vendors of FEMA, the Red Cross or Salvation Army. So easy in fact, it sounds like I should become an approved vendor to get in on the gravy train!

I call on government to stop illegally spending taxpayer money to bail out individuals who choose to live in areas
prone to disaster or fail to buy insurance to protect them from losses.

If you want to kick in your “fair share,” feel free to donate money to reputable charities. But hey, if you really want to help, I’m sure there is some swampland in Louisiana you can buy. You know, the swamp somebody built on in the first place and tried to use walls and pumps to keep the water out.