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What should people expect from "govt"

PonySoldier

Monkey
May 5, 2004
823
0
Woodland Park Colorado
DRB said:
Bought a house lately? Flood plains and flood insurance requirements are spelled out in great detail.....I can't speak to wildfires, ......

Since I live in the Front Range Red Zone for wildfires I receive a discount on my homeowners insurance since I have metal roofs on both house and detached garage..I also have a flood certification for the house/property I am not in a FEMA designated flood zone so I do not need the additional flood insurance that Splat speaks of...I believe you cannot currently get a mortgage without the flood certification.
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
PonySoldier said:
I believe you cannot cuurently get a mortgage without the flood certification.
The flood cert is just a determination of what flood zone you are in, if any. That's something the lender will run, or they won't be able to sell the loan into the secondary market.
 

PonySoldier

Monkey
May 5, 2004
823
0
Woodland Park Colorado
Silver said:
The flood cert is just a determination of what flood zone you are in, if any. That's something the lender will run, or they won't be able to sell the loan into the secondary market.

I briefly did determinations for G.E. Capital in the mid 90's mostly on huge bank real estate portfolios since at that point some legislation had been passed that made the lienholder liable for this..I believe it was related to the massive flooding in the Midwest in '93 that used up huge amounts of FEMA's money because the flood zone insurance requirement wasn't being enforced...
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
The problem is that you can cancel flood insurance after you've got your mortgage. I haven't heard of mortgage being called due for lack of flood insurance. Big ole' loophole there.
 

splat

Nam I am
Silver said:
The problem is that you can cancel flood insurance after you've got your mortgage. I haven't heard of mortgage being called due for lack of flood insurance. Big ole' loophole there.

I tried that !! The Federal Insurance people just contacted my Mortgage Company direct after I didn't pay them :) The the Mortgage co. Paid for it and passed the cost along to me.
 

Archslater

Monkey
Mar 6, 2003
154
0
Indianapolis
splat said:
I tried that !! The Federal Insurance people just contacted my Mortgage Company direct after I didn't pay them :) The the Mortgage co. Paid for it and passed the cost along to me.
I have a hunch that much of this discussion is moot, because many of the real victims in this debacle, rent homes/apartments instead of owning. Renters insurance is not required, nor is it spelled out that clearly when you sign a lease.
 

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
Archslater said:
I have a hunch that much of this discussion is moot, because many of the real victims in this debacle, rent homes/apartments instead of owning. Renters insurance is not required, nor is it spelled out that clearly when you sign a lease.

Or because....

Arguing on the internet is like........


We will not solve anything or change anyone's mind, but at least we can help make the work day go by faster
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Damn True said:
You mean to tell me that you think that people who are smart enough to earn enough to own a home in the outer banks (90% of which are second vacation homes) or on the cliffs of Malibu are not smart enough to know that those are high risk areas?
.
There are two multimillion dollar homes in incline village placed sqarely upon one of the more active fault lines in the tahoe basin. Half of each home has migrated in the 5 years I've lived here. There are half a dozen or so rather large, usually vacant (ie 2nd homes) that are placed within the natural flood zone of blackwood creek (tahoe westshore) built on backfill which redirected the creek and I have pictures of multiple high water years flooding every one of them.

Come up here in the winter and watch with me how many H2s you see in ditches because the drivers are clueless with regards to the beasts they are trying to control on slippery roads.

So the answer to your question is yes, that's what I mean to tell you.

Money don't make no smarts. Financial prowess doesn't mean squat in any other realm of congitive awareness. And not everyone with money earned it......regardless of the deep seated republican propaganda that that saturates you.

Your entire reason for starting this thread is deplorable. You stand high and mighty with your current adminstration wasting bizillions of YOUR TAX DOLLARS on useless wars, unprecedented coporate hand-outs, some of the greatest violations of human rights as well as liberties of our own citizens this country has ever seen in recent history and then try to act horrified that the government might actually use some money to help rebuild its OWN infrastructure and restart the lives of its OWN citizens.

Everything is all fine and dandy when the feds want to overturn state supreme court decisions regarding a STATE MATTER of a brain dead woman, but nooooooo....when thousands befall tragedy, the government should keep its nose out?

Well you can rest easy that these folks in charge will certainly not raise your taxes to accomplish this. They may cut back veterans benefits, reduce equiment and meals that soldiers fighting your war have access to.....but they most certainly not raise your taxes.

So there......you win.....
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
splat said:
I tried that !! The Federal Insurance people just contacted my Mortgage Company direct after I didn't pay them :) The the Mortgage co. Paid for it and passed the cost along to me.
Your taxes and insurance are impounded, right?
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Here ya go

Operation Offset

Among cuts are medicaid, education funding, Global AIDS initiative funding, national parks/heritage programs, aternative energy research incentives, wastewater infrastructure programs (wtf??), ready for this...Eliminate Funding for Penile Implants Under Medicare...okay, that one's cool.

Goal is to reduce spending (to be kept as "savings") totalling 500 billion to help pay.

Here's 200
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
So, that $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa, which was tied to programs that disapproved of condom use in favor of abstinence, is gone?

Perversely, that may be a good thing.

Here is a little snippet from a recent Economist story about Uganda:

In the 1990s, western donor governments lauded Uganda for setting the standard in the continent's fight against AIDS. Mr Museveni talked openly about the disease, when many of his peers remained silent. He also pioneered the now famous “Abstain—Be faithful—use a Condom” (ABC) campaign that showed Ugandans how best to protect themselves. Partly as a result, infection rates fell from 18% in the 1980s to 6% in 2003.

But the AIDS problem is worsening again. A Ugandan health-ministry survey suggests that the infection rate is going back up to 7% for men and 9% for women. And just as Mr Museveni basked in the praise during the good times, now he—and particularly his wife Janet—are taking the blame as things go sour. For they have been accused of promoting the A at the expense of the C, partly under American pressure. As a result, the disease is spreading once again—a charge repeated last week by the UN's special envoy to Africa on AIDS. The government denies any change in policy, but critics point to several interlocking trends.

Since Mr Museveni made a speech strongly attacking condoms last year, say campaigners, primary-school children are no longer taught about condoms, which are no longer prominent in public advertisements. This chimes with the campaigning of the president's wife, a vocal evangelical Christian and condom-basher, who funds pro-abstinence and pro-fidelity posters and radio spots, and has called for a census of virgins in the country.


Now, I know it says "Partly under American pressure." It's still disgusting.
 

Damn True

Monkey Pimp
Sep 10, 2001
4,015
3
Between a rock and a hard place.
kidwoo said:
There are two multimillion dollar homes in incline village placed sqarely upon one of the more active fault lines in the tahoe basin. Half of each home has migrated in the 5 years I've lived here. There are half a dozen or so rather large, usually vacant (ie 2nd homes) that are placed within the natural flood zone of blackwood creek (tahoe westshore) built on backfill which redirected the creek and I have pictures of multiple high water years flooding every one of them.

Come up here in the winter and watch with me how many H2s you see in ditches because the drivers are clueless with regards to the beasts they are trying to control on slippery roads.

So the answer to your question is yes, that's what I mean to tell you.

Money don't make no smarts. Financial prowess doesn't mean squat in any other realm of congitive awareness. And not everyone with money earned it......regardless of the deep seated republican propaganda that that saturates you.

Your entire reason for starting this thread is deplorable. You stand high and mighty with your current adminstration wasting bizillions of YOUR TAX DOLLARS on useless wars, unprecedented coporate hand-outs, some of the greatest violations of human rights as well as liberties of our own citizens this country has ever seen in recent history and then try to act horrified that the government might actually use some money to help rebuild its OWN infrastructure and restart the lives of its OWN citizens.

Everything is all fine and dandy when the feds want to overturn state supreme court decisions regarding a STATE MATTER of a brain dead woman, but nooooooo....when thousands befall tragedy, the government should keep its nose out?

Well you can rest easy that these folks in charge will certainly not raise your taxes to accomplish this. They may cut back veterans benefits, reduce equiment and meals that soldiers fighting your war have access to.....but they most certainly not raise your taxes.

So there......you win.....

Wow, you expended a tremendous amount of time and effort putting words in my mouth there. Bravo!

To your first point, RE: dip$hits in Incline Villiage etc:

Those people know exactly what they have and what they are getting into with those homes. When they purchase them that info, by law, must be disclosed. The thing is that they have F.U. money. When you have F.U. money you can rest easy on the knowledge that your insurance, with all appropriate riders, will cover darn near anything and what isn't covered, in the case of something sincerely catostrophic such as wildfires, cataclysmic floods etc will be covered by FEMA and such.

As for my reasons for starting the thread, you are totally off base. I clearly stated that if people are not of the means to help themselves (ie renters, those at or below poverty etc) then by all means they should be helped. Those who have appropriate insurance should be made to use that rescource. And, that those with gaps between their coverage and the total rebuilding cost should be given the normal assistance from FEMA not to exceed $200k.

My point is that Gov. Blanco is essentially asking for a blank check from you and I and is all but demanding that that the Federal Govt. maintain little to no oversight as to how that money is spent. Now in a state such as Louisiana that is rather infamous in terms of political corruption I have little confidence that said money will be used properly. My fear is that the money might be distributed at the very least in an inequitable fasion. There has been no mention as yet how the money might be used. Who will get it, or what the terms of distribution might be. If someone is in a $123k house then that should be what they wind up with when all is said and done. My fear is that we will be funding what is essentially a federally funded upgrade for all involved. Which was the point of the question I initially asked: "What should people expect from the Govt?"

Now in all of your bloviating and attacking you never addressed that point, so why don't you go ahead and do that now.
 

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,351
2,462
Pōneke
Damn True said:
My point is that Gov. Blanco is essentially asking for a blank check from you and I and is all but demanding that that the Federal Govt. maintain little to no oversight as to how that money is spent. Now in a state such as Louisiana that is rather infamous in terms of political corruption I have little confidence that said money will be used properly. My fear is that the money might be distributed at the very least in an inequitable fasion. There has been no mention as yet how the money might be used. Who will get it, or what the terms of distribution might be.
DT, This is exactly what is happening in Iraq, except Iraq is worse. But that's OK? :monkey:
 

Damn True

Monkey Pimp
Sep 10, 2001
4,015
3
Between a rock and a hard place.
No, no it isn't. Right or wrong, in the case of Iraq the federal govt has complete oversight of how the funds are being spent by virtue of the various appropriations comittees charged with funding the military. That oversight is provided by elected officals who either vote for or against various expenditures.

In the case of Louisiana, Blanco is asking for a fat federal check of over $200b and has publicly stated that she wants the decisions regarding distribution of funds to be made entirely within Louisiana govt. w/o input or oversight from the officials elected by the people who actually provided the money.
 

Changleen

Paranoid Member
Jan 9, 2004
14,351
2,462
Pōneke
Oversight only goes so far. Once the money disapeers into the coiffers of Halliburton, do you really think congressional oversight means sh1t? If this is the case, why are many agencies complaining about the huge gap between pledged money and money being actually spent in Iraq? Where is this money going? "It'll be spent whent he situation calms down" isn't cutting the mustard either. Second and third generation are being passed on whilst a significant percentage of first generation money and projects have fallen from the radar.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Damn True said:
Wow, you expended a tremendous amount of time and effort putting words in my mouth there. Bravo!
The title post of yours and a few subsequent were actually very civil and seemed genuine.

But then here's what has come out of your mouth......and mostly what I'm responding to.

Damn True said:
This whole thing absolutely terrifies me in terms of how much money might be tossed at that place.
Is that what you were thinking when you were taking donations? "This is cool and all but I sure hope no money gets sent their way to help rebuild" It's kind of hard to tell. Maybe I misread you.

Damn True said:
Dude, if your supposed "average citizen" chooses to live in a place with an ocean on one side, a lake on the other, with a river running through the middle of it and the whole thing protected by an aging levee system AND they are on average 6' below sea level and dosen't realize that the aforementioned is a recipe for soggy carpet then frankly, that person is probably a democrat..
(not too many of those in incline village)

Plus.....that's just a really goofy thing to say. And if you honestly think like that, your programming is going quite well.

Damn True said:
We have a government that encourages absurd levels of pork.
Yup H-A-L-I-B-U-R-T-O-N Now specializing in lowland real estate development!! Don't worry though, money is being saved through repeal of the davis bacon act just to make sure we don't actually pay any of the new hires in the area too much.

Can I get a complaint about that variety of pork from you?

Damn True said:
Our Federal legislature and that of the state of Louisiana is the group that should be carrying the most blame in this whole deal. It infuriates me that while Pelozi, Schumer, Kennedy and the rest of those dipwads were bloviating about who should be blamed (instead of worrying about saving people who needed help) that nobody and I MEAN NOBODY brought up this simple fact: It is the legislative branch of government (state and federal) that is charged with appropriating funds for public works projects. Instead they funded a myriad of self serving pork projects.
I swear this almost a verbatim transcript from several of Sean Hannity's radio shows lately. Is that where you heard it too? The new orleans mayor flailed, I do believe this but your man bush and his horse judging appointee in FEMA did what for 4-5 days instead of "worrying about saving people who needed help"? Had no problem getting florida resources organized when the same storm hit that state. Blanco's request to the white house for a state of emergency was august 27th.

So moot point. Flailing all around, not just on the side you don't like.


Damn True said:
To your first point, RE: dip$hits in Incline Villiage etc:

Those people know exactly what they have and what they are getting into with those homes. When they purchase them that info, by law, must be disclosed.
Not in nevada until recently but anyway, thanks for the elaboration with the FU money. So you're griping about poor people getting "upgrades" right? I, like you have not heard anything about proportional allocation yet of government funds......but this sounds like the kind of crap reagan used to spew about rich welfare moms having more kids to get more money driving nice cars, and a recent talking point.......let's wait and see eh?

Damn True said:
As for my reasons for starting the thread, you are totally off base.
You might be completely right about that. It was the other little tidbits that made me think otherwise however.

Damn True said:
My point is that Gov. Blanco is essentially asking for a blank check from you and I and is all but demanding that that the Federal Govt. maintain little to no oversight as to how that money is spent.
And the reason for that is because of who the bulk of the money is going to for reconstruction so far and how it is NOT actually going to local construction firms who will be getting competive wages....regardless of bushies little speech. My personal guess is that a lot of what was destroyed is going to become upscale, higher market housing, more profitable to the firms who build it and exclusive from the residents displaced. Maybe this is Blanco's concern as well.

Like I said, my beef was with the subsequent posts, not the title thread......which I though was legit. It was the morphing that I thought I saw that made me suspect the motives.
 

Damn True

Monkey Pimp
Sep 10, 2001
4,015
3
Between a rock and a hard place.
Is that what you were thinking when you were taking donations? "This is cool and all but I sure hope no money gets sent their way to help rebuild" It's kind of hard to tell. Maybe I misread you.
Indeed you did. Again, no problem helping those who need it. I just don't want to see money go to places and people who already have their bases covered.

Plus.....that's just a really goofy thing to say. And if you honestly think like that, your programming is going quite well.
The democrat part was as I'm sure you noticed, but chose to ignore a joke based on the political landscape of Louisiana since like....forever. The point I was making was that there is no way on earth that the people of Louisiana didn't know this could happen. Their own newspaper (Times Picuyane) printed a series of articles after Ivan hit last year - dig the link - http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001051313 and it's not as if this thing has come as a surprise to anyone
http://www.publichealth.hurricane.lsu.edu/convert to tables/Would New Orleans Really Floodtf.htm the point was, if you live.....like in North America, you know New Orleans is surrounded by water and in constant danger of flood and hurricane damage.

Yup H-A-L-I-B-U-R-T-O-N Now specializing in lowland real estate development!! Don't worry though, money is being saved through repeal of the davis bacon act just to make sure we don't actually pay any of the new hires in the area too much.
LOL, oh that's right. Bush invented this sort of thing right? Newsflash, political pork has been crippling this country for ages. Sen. Robert (KKK) Byrd is the best at it, but Louisiana, Alabama and a number of other states (including my own) are trying real hard to catch up.

That is precisely the point I made (maybe in another thread) that the real blame for the lack of $$ not spent on the levee system does not lay on GW's desk (remember, the executive branch does not make laws or write appropriations bills, it approves or veto's them. it is the legislative branch that failed to send the money where it belonged) it rests upon the desks of every congressperson and senator in Washington. Particularly on those from the State of Louisiana who are charged with protecting the interests of their constituancy.

I swear this almost a verbatim transcript from several of Sean Hannity's radio shows lately. Is that where you heard it too? The new orleans mayor flailed, I do believe this but your man bush and his horse judging appointee in FEMA did what for 4-5 days instead of "worrying about saving people who needed help"? Had no problem getting florida resources organized when the same storm hit that state. Blanco's request to the white house for a state of emergency was august 27th.
Actually, I don't listen to his show. No time for it as I am working when he is on the air. But to your point about what GW apparently didn't do. Did you see the big orange and white helicopters? The big grey helicopters? The big OD green helicopters? Those belong to the Coast Guard, Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force....all FEDERAL agencies. Blanco bitched about her guard forces being "overseas in Iraq". Well, the fact is that less than 1/3 of the Louisiana National Guard is actually deployed. She failed however to put the remaining forces to work (again, civics...that is HER responsibility and it cannot be usurped by the POTUS unless it is a matter of National Security). The CG alone flew 1,507 flight hours (in eleven years of flying in the Coast Guard I ammased 1,583 hours flying about 6 hrs per week) rescued 6,740 people. People that should not have needed rescue. People that should have left town. People that weren't for some reason told to leave. People that should have been bussed, or trained out of town.

And by contrast, you saw little of this sort of thing in Mississippi, or Texas last week, or Florida last year when they got 4 in a month or when Hurricane Andrew hit years ago. Why? Because those state and local governments don't have their heads up their collective keisters.

Not in nevada until recently but anyway, thanks for the elaboration with the FU money. So you're griping about poor people getting "upgrades" right? I, like you have not heard anything about proportional allocation yet of government funds......but this sounds like the kind of crap reagan used to spew about rich welfare moms having more kids to get more money driving nice cars, and a recent talking point.......let's wait and see eh?
I don't give two $hits who it is. I don't want anyone getting a $200k upgrade. Dosen't matter if it's the dude that owns 1/2 of the French Quarter real estate or a dishwasher at a taco stand. My point is that Blanco is asking for the money and all but refuses to give any sort of information as to her process for using it. I don't want to wait and see. I want a plan BEFORE the checks start flying, and I want craploads of oversight. I'd rather not look back 2 years from now and say, "Wow, what a shame that all that money got sent there, and so many people who needed it didn't get it." Or find out that the guy who owned a $250k house now has a $400k house. etc.

And the reason for that is because of who the bulk of the money is going to for reconstruction so far and how it is NOT actually going to local construction firms who will be getting competive wages....regardless of bushies little speech. My personal guess is that a lot of what was destroyed is going to become upscale, higher market housing, more profitable to the firms who build it and exclusive from the residents displaced. Maybe this is Blanco's concern as well.
That is precicely my point. Especially in light of the Kelo case. I fear that average to below-average home owners will lose their property to "renewal" and that developers, unions, and in turn politicians will be the ones that wind up smelling like a rose while the people who are supposed to be getting helped out get the shaft. I sincerely doubt, given the political history of Louisiana, that members of it's government have their consitiuants best interests in mind.

Case in point: http://abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1123495&page=1
 

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
24
SF, CA
So could we have avoided roughly 4 pages of hatred and drivel by simply agreeing that there should be oversight to how the federal aid is allocated?

Geeesh. Why didn't you just post that to begin with?
 

Damn True

Monkey Pimp
Sep 10, 2001
4,015
3
Between a rock and a hard place.
ohio said:
So could we have avoided roughly 4 pages of hatred and drivel by simply agreeing that there should be oversight to how the federal aid is allocated?

Geeesh. Why didn't you just post that to begin with?

Well you and I agreed on that point in like the first four posts. The rest of the rubbish came later.
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
I know bush didn't invent pork barreling. I learned the term in high school. But you have to admit, he's brought the concept to some pretty amazing heights. If you pretend to not know what I'm talking about, you're lying. Yet you refuse to point the finger at anyone but the people on the other side of your team.

About the helicopters.......Unfortunately I don't have cable which where I live means I don't have television. But by all means.....tell me WHEN all these hours were logged, because it's entirely relevant. And correct me if I'm wrong, but under the official "state of emergency" declaration, no federal agency can deploy the national guard? I.e FEMA? Remember...letter submitted the 27th. I personally can excuse an after the storm hit lack of communacation between officials in the state.

I can't tell you how many hurricanes almost hit where I lived and guess what.......lot's of people don't evacuate......lots more in New Orleans didn't evacuate for whatever reason, but the fact of the matter is, the federal goverment failed right after the local ones did. One had electricity, the other didn't. The ones who could act after the fact did not do so in a timely manner. Pure negligence. I can say that to some degree about both sides. You apparently can't.

I don't give two $hits who it is. I don't want anyone getting a $200k upgrade. Dosen't matter if it's the dude that owns 1/2 of the French Quarter real estate or a dishwasher at a taco stand. My point is that Blanco is asking for the money and all but refuses to give any sort of information as to her process for using it.
Why are you so angry about this? The fact is you don't know. The fact is that Haliburton subsidiaries are so far the only ones getting money out of this, these guys are on your team.

I can tell you from having grown up in florida and watching hurricanes destroy communities (andrew in homestead, hugo in savannah) THIS NEVER HAPPENS. There was nothing over 6 feet tall standing in homestead or florida city after andrew. That place still never recovered to pre storm conditions. Miami on the other hand while not in the same path, is doing fine. So let's follow that model if it makes you feel any better..poor people = screwed, metro money = just fine. Just like before the storm. No upgrades.

But if you really truly had an ounce of genuine copassion in you, you would say this....
I don't want to wait and see. I want a plan BEFORE the checks start flying, and I want craploads of oversight. I'd rather not look back 2 years from now and say, "Wow, what a shame that all that money got sent there, and so many people who needed it didn't get it."
.......About IRAQ, because it's happening, and not some theoretical misuse that has yet to be substantiated.

Again, you sound like one of reagan's disciples. Whining about something with little basis in fact because that's what the cheeleaders on your team are chanting. What are you going to do if you don't see this kind of documentation from the federal govenment before any checks are signed....NOT follow your leader? I can only wish you were capable of that.