New Slant on Old News

On Monday of this week the cover story of USA TODAY "exposed" the fact that the guvmint "pays a few small airlines $110 million a year" to subsidize flights in and out of small markets. Many of these are short flights, yet the guvmint pays a fortune of our money so that folks in those small towns can ride mostly empty airline flights instead of driving for a couple of hours. What else is new? This has been happening for 30 years and I guess most of us on the "inside" knew this was going on, even if we had long since forgotten. Old news it may be, but it is also part of a general trend that scares me to death. Our guvmint seems to have decided that anyone can live anywhere they wish. That’s okay with me. But the guvmint also seems convinced that if people choose to live in places with certain inconveniences, the rest of us should pay to eliminate those inconveniences. Many people chose to live in New Orleans. No problem. Then Katrina hit, so the rest of us paid a purple kajillion to rescue those people. Then it was decided that we should also support them until they got "back on their feet." What does that mean? Many of them were never on their feet to start with. Now we are helping rebuild that city so they can move back. Hey, if they choose to move back, that damned sure should be their choice and their risk and at their cost—not mine. Cities get too large. Then the guvmint uses our money to build more infrastructure to keep those people comfortable. So even more people move in and it starts all over. Hey, why should we pay to entice people to places that have too many people already? It is a much-publicized fact that building houses too close to shoreline is bad for the ecology. It is also so risky that real insurance companies won’t cover those houses for flood loss. So, our guvmint steps in and provides "insurance" for those uninsurable houses. Why in the world should the guvmint—we the people—help people build where they shouldn’t be anyway? Did you know that the guvmint lost billions on that "insurance" program on just two hurricanes? BTW, very wealthy people own many of those "cabins" on the beach. Who else can afford it? That’s fine with me, but why should they do it on my money? You want guvmint support? Just go live somewhere unsuitable. We’d love to post your comments. Please click the comment tap at the top.