Katrina: Two Years Removed

Hurricane Katrina has two years of history to look upon. Many of her victims lie in graves along the gulf coast while many others have picked up their sodden belongings and relocated to cities all across America. Unfortunately, two years after Katrina slammed into coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi, many people of New Orleans are still playing the victim. And, it wears like a very dirty shirt.

John Hawkins today in Townhall spells it out.

Nobody is owed a living for the rest of his life because he had a bad break two years ago. Yet, we still have people affected by Katrina who have FEMA paying their rent. How sad and pathetic is it that these shiftless people are still leaching off their fellow citizens? Since when is being in the path of a hurricane supposed to give you a permanent "Get Out of Work Free" card?

Is that just too honest for some people? Is it just “too mean?" Well, if your house burns down tomorrow and you're still living on the dole two years from now, are your real friends going to pat you on the back and tell you that you should keep suckling at the government teat for as long as you can or are they going to give you a kick in the behind and tell you to get a job? A real friend would be honest enough to tell you the truth and more people should do the same for Katrina victims.

Can I add one more thing? If some people of New Orleans are misguided enough to rebuild within the flooded areas of that city they should never be able to get federally guaranteed property insurance because they choose to do so at their own peril. If they are misguided enough to build a home in a floodplain that will certainly flood again, they alone should bear the burden of their stupidity. If an insurance provider chooses to provide insurance for anyone building a home or business on the floodplain, it should only do so at the risk of their own money--not taxpayer guaranteed money.

There are times when cold intellect should trump emotional hand wringing. Could this be one of them?