This is an old argument, but never successfully prosecuted. In times of natural disasters, how much responsibility does the federal government have to me?
August 29, 2005, my property sustains just short of $30,000 in damages. Now granted, substantially less than Titus, as I did not flood, but allow me to continue. My insured compensation is a touch over $15,000. Dispensing available capital on priority repairs, my roof is fixed by Christmas, the majority of debris is removed by Christmas as well, various repairs inside (drywall, flooring, cosmetic) are still ongoing, as is landscaping. That is a pay as you go operation and slow.
Far more catastrophic for both Titus and I was the loss of our employer for a combined thirty years.
Titus bitches loudly and justifiably that aid has been slow, if at all. And what aid we received, meaningful aid, came from volunteer organizations, church groups, (and trust me, to hear me say "God Bless Bay Vista Baptist Church" and mean it is something, the cantankerous Catholic that I am.) and other grass roots organizations. But FEMA money? Red Cross? No.
Two years down the pipe and what could have been done differently? What do I miss the most, what most could have been fixed right then and there and made life better right away? Putting my casino on the right side of Highway 90.
There's a gubernatorial race getting ugly here in Mississippi. John Eaves says Haley Barbour (Rep. incumbent) funnelled money to Hard Rock to get it open, instead of giving the money to individuals like Titus. Other casinos, Harrahs, Beau Rivage and IP to name a few, also make the list of recipients of federal money dispersed through the state.
Is that bad? Where should the money have gone?
I wanted to stay. I had nowhere to go. And to keep from losing everything I did a variety of jobs, including K-Mart and Wal-Mart, before the Beau reopened August 29, 2006. I would have given ANYTHING to have my old job at my old place. Now granted, I never received a dime of FEMA money, but even then, if given a choice, big FEMA money or your old job back six months from the time of the storm, I'm taking old job.
That being said, what responsibility does the federal government have to the individual when it comes to storm relief?
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2 comments:
Well it's late and I'm not sure how well this is going to go over, I'm guessing like a lead balloon.
I don't beleive the Federal Government has any responsibility to the individual. To the states if they ask for assistance yes but to Joe Blow none at all. I think of it like a military chain of command. Feds to state, state to county, county to city and so on and so forth. If I recall correctly alot of the fema trailers that were rotting in Arkansas were supposed to go to parishes in Louisiana but because the parish presidents didn't fill out the paperwork and tell the feds where they were supposed to go they didn't get there (that being one of many examples).
Did Haley give up money to get the Hard Rock open...I have no idea but it is the states responsibility to get the people to work and keep the tax money coming in so if he gave them a little incentive to get open so be it.
I was one of the lucky ones, my house made it through with minimal damage in comparison to most, I got an immediate transfer to The Mirage and my wife went to work for the insurance companies and when that was over she got a transfer to the vegas also. We are out of money and living pay check to pay check for the first time since I can remember but this too will pass.
We came home 1 year after the storm, completed repairs and reworked the drainage on the property so we wouldn't wash out again and made improvements where we could. Our insurance company didn't cover all of the damge to the house and none of the damage to our property and we were lucky and received an SBA loan to do the work on the property and make it do what it was supposed to do. We took assistance where we could get it and only when we needed it and I pray that some day we will be able to return the favor.
Oh ya, 401k..forget about it, thats all gone too. So I suppose retirement has gotten extended 10 years or so. We all got hurt and some more than others but something I learned from my first marriage...Time heals and I beleive that. I wish Ryan and Titus didn't have to move away, I know Jambo misses you guys and that is the biggest tragedy of all. We can replace buildings and jobs and rebuild our homes but when family and friends get split up due to those circumstances in my opinion that has to hurt the most.
once again just one mans opinion, I'm sure I'm in for a bashing. LOL
No “bashing” is coming… like I said, I was ranting and James was responding.
To be honest, I am largely in agreement about your summation of the State’s responsibility to disaster victims and FEMA’s responsibility to the States… if that were the way it was designed to work. However, its not designed to work that way… and it needs to be re-designed.
What really gets me, and I didn’t say this in my rant, is that every single person that lived through Katrina, or any other national disaster (like the So Cal fires right now), KNOWS a baker’s dozen neighbors, friends, or acquaintances who DID receive all the assistance they requested… and perhaps didn’t have the damage or the need that others did.
My neighbors received an initial $5,500 in FEMA grants, followed by a trailer, an MDA grant for $65,000 AND the $40,000 SBA loan, but they had maybe 25% of the damage I had. I don’t begrudge them their “good fortune”… and I’m not being shitty, they are good people and I loved them to death… because they were able to get the work done FAST and RIGHT and sell the house while the market for livable housing on the Coast was still a mile high.
I (and Baddboy, it seems) had to come out of our pockets for the majority of expenses and repairs… meaning the $57,000 in my retirement account was all I had after my $38k insurance settlement, and it took twice as long to repair the house, so I watched my asking price dwindle and dwindle until it was barely enough to cover what I owed by the time it closed in Jan of ‘07.
My former “boss” (no names, please) got no flooding, didn’t lose a shingle, and barely a leaf stirred on his trees… but he ALSO got a trailer, 10 months of living allowance from FEMA, all the grant money and assistance from FEMA and the State that he applied for… and I don’t know this, but I’d be wiling to bet HIS retirement savings are still perfectly intact. He may have ended up as much as $80k to the good, when its all said and done.
Good for him, bad for me. I really DON’T care who got money… I only care that money was available, and I didn’t “qualify” while so many of my Jackson County neighbors with the same damage (or less) did. That kind of arbitrary assistance practices piss me off to no end.
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