[Hoot Gibson]

So we used tax payers money to build levees so people can live in New Orleans? A earthquake and Tornado proof house?

The flooding that did most of the damage in New Orleans took place immediately after Hurricane Katrina when large pumps failed and levees were breached. Much of the worst flooding came from Lake Ponchartrain, not the rains from the hurricane. Federal funds that were approved for raising the height of the levees were spent on other projects over the years at the request of state and local politicians. Had the levees been enhanced before Katrina, much of the worst flood damage would not have occurred.

That is why the state and federal governments deserved more blame in the case of Katrina than in most other cases. As for bailing out people all along the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts for the Katrina damage, I was opposed to it.

As for houses that are earthquake and tornado proof (or at least highly resistant), they do exist. Houses based on the geodesic dome design can withstand winds exceeding 300 mph. If California did not have very strict building codes, structural damage from earthquakes would make large areas uninhabitable. Unfortunately, California allows people to build in areas unsuitable for construction such as areas prone to mudslides and forest fires and not a year goes by that taxpayers are not stuck with a large tab as a result.

People need to either build houses that can withstand the worst that Mother Nature can throw at them or maintain insurance to provide gap coverage.

I do not want my government acting as an insurance company and as federal income taxes rise and other benefits decline, an increasing number of people will agree with me. When the federal government starts printing more money to pay its bills because it can no longer borrow or tax people enough, who will bail us out?