I look at it this way. I'd like to think I'm a self sufficient person. Other than a couple hundred bucks when I was in college I've never gotten money directly from the government in my life. I've never been on public assistance. I've never been unemployed in my adult life. Some of it is luck but most of the credit goes to myself and my family.
Having said that, one of few times I can think of where I'd ever want the government in my life is when the **** hits the fan like it did here in NJ last Monday. I don't care if you're the average guy or some wacko doomsday prepper, people just don't have the resources to sustain themselves for a long period of time if things around them start falling apart.
FEMA has proven time and again, that when it's run right, it's run well. The people against it are the people who are against any type of government. And this private sector talk is ******** not to mention offensive. To introduce a profit motive into a person's suffering through no fault of their own is obscene. To me, this is why I pay my taxes.
I'm an extreme libertarian and I don't apologize for it. That's doesn't mean I'm against anything government. Private sector doesn't equal commercial enterprise. All things happen as a result of some sort of motive. I certainly don't think profit motive is evil while other forms of motivation (such as power and control) are pure goodness.
That said, I don't know enough about the way FEMA works to get into the nitty gritty of this issue. Is FEMA what's ruining this country? I'd say no, not by a long shot. Is FEMA what's keeping us from falling into third world status? I'd say no, not by a long shot.
I don't want anyone to suffer. Ever. However, taking the approach that we all must pay any price to prevent suffering is simply naive. Life does not exist without risk, suffering and ultimately death. Easy enough to say that FEMA is a force to ease the suffering of our fellow citizens. That doesn't mean that it's the best way to do that, nor is it enough to say that FEMA is justified.
Again, I don't have a specific beef with FEMA. I don't have an alternative. I don't think FEMA makes the top 100 list of things that need to be fixed in the federal government. I just don't get why this is even a big deal. Can the President unilaterally kill FEMA? Again, I plead ignorance, but my guess is no.
Remember, we're talking about electing the President, not Emperor of the united states and Commander-in-Chief of the economy. As Obama has so clearly demonstrated, there are limits to what a President can do.
