Can a conservative explain to me why i should be paying for Texas' disaster relief when ...

[FelixDeCat]

I wonder if they'll start robo calling people about scary immigrants with guns that will shoot them in the face if they allow them to perform repairs?

Yeah, no. That only happens during election cycles in battleground states - by both sides!

 

[fskimospy]

Texans dont go for pork. The relief for Harvey will be nearly pork free.

Haha yes, if Texans are known for one thing it's a distaste for pork, which is why they repeatedly elected Tom DeLay, who helped preside over some of the most infamously corrupt congresses in recent history.

Lol.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Yeah, no. That only happens during election cycles in battleground states - by both sides!

Only republican robo callers hit me up from that angle this last cycle. While I'm in my confession booth I must also admit that Ivanka sure sounds sexy on the telephone.

 

[HomerJS]

Only republican robo callers hit me up from that angle this last cycle. While I'm in my confession booth I must also admit that Ivanka sure sounds sexy on the telephone.

And only Republicans make robocalls warning about scary brown people. Just ask John McCain

 

[Jhhnn]

Doesn't matter if Trump gives Southeast Texas 765 billion, you won't change their mind. That's wishful thinking. You are only feeding the troll.

Whatever good you do today will be washed away by Limbaugh tomorrow morning, and then squashed by Alex Jones the next day, and then normalized by Fox&Friends shortly after that. The only way these people wake up, is when reality sinks in. We are all living in a bubble that is the US of A. The greatest and most powerful nation on the Earth, but some of us are playing with fire in favor of extreme ideas.

You go on as if the region is some mindless monolith rather than a diverse collection of human beings. And, in truth, for the govt to do nothing under the circumstances will simply alienate conservatives further. It's a great opportunity to show them that govt isn't useless but can rather be a positive force in their lives.

 

[OWR88]

Like I said, that's wishful thinking. We can agree to disagree.

 

[BoomerD]

Folks who live in flood-prone areas are expected to buy flood insurance...or not have any damage covered. Folks who live in earthquake-prone areas are expected to buy earthquake insurance...or not have any damage covered...WHY don't we expect people who live in hurricane-prone areas to have hurricane insurance to cover any damage? (aside from the flooding damages, high wind and heavy rain cause a lot of damage...and requiring specific hurricane insurance would take a lot of the costs off the flood insurance agencies...and homeowner's insurance agencies.

Same for tornado damages. Live in Tornado Alley? Pony up for tornado insurance...or don't get coverage when the next F4 rips through your neighborhood.

 

[Paratus]

Folks who live in flood-prone areas are expected to buy flood insurance...or not have any damage covered. Folks who live in earthquake-prone areas are expected to buy earthquake insurance...or not have any damage covered...WHY don't we expect people who live in hurricane-prone areas to have hurricane insurance to cover any damage? (aside from the flooding damages, high wind and heavy rain cause a lot of damage...and requiring specific hurricane insurance would take a lot of the costs off the flood insurance agencies...and homeowner's insurance agencies.

Same for tornado damages. Live in Tornado Alley? Pony up for tornado insurance...or don't get coverage when the next F4 rips through your neighborhood.

A couple of things. Hurricane Insurance isn't a thing. To be protected from a hurricane you need Windstorm Insurance which covers wind damage and wind driven water, AND Flood insurance to protect from storm surge and rain driven flooding. (If you have both and your home is damaged from wind and storm surge have fun hiring attorneys and structural engineers to prove what happened because flood ins will claim the damage is Windstorm and Windstorm will claim its flood and neither will pay out)

Windstorm in Texas coastal counties is almost entirely run by a state program. Flood is through the federal flood insurance program.

In coastal counties mortgage companies force you to have Windstorm. They do not force you to have flood if you are outside a 100year flood plain.

About half the homeowners I helped did not have flood insurance which is what Harvey required.

One guy told me he asked to buy flood but was talked out of it by his agent. "Your in a 500 year flood plain. Save yourself the $400-$500 per year cost."

Now it's their fault for not buying it. But it still sucks that insurance agents are pushing people away from it.

Flood insurance isn't really a profit center for insurance companies. It's just more work. So why do it?

 

[dainthomas]

You go on as if the region is some mindless monolith rather than a diverse collection of human beings. And, in truth, for the govt to do nothing under the circumstances will simply alienate conservatives further. It's a great opportunity to show them that govt isn't useless but can rather be a positive force in their lives.

It will never work. They will use whatever mental contortions are required to convince themselves it's not a handout. They'll still hate libruhls, brown people, immigrants etc and convince themselves that all their problems are caused by those people.

 

[zinfamous]

It will never work. They will use whatever mental contortions are required to convince themselves it's not a handout. They'll still hate libruhls, brown people, immigrants etc and convince themselves that all their problems are caused by those people.

They'll continue to hate Obamacare but love the ACA. They'll get angry when the government gets involved in their medicare or medicaid, etc.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Yeah, no. That only happens during election cycles in battleground states - by both sides!

I assume you mean "Both sides of the republican party"
Since the democrats are generally the opposite of anti-minority / anti-immigrant.

You remind me of the lady at the bar here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZfUnCK5qk

 

[Puffnstuff]

Well here we go again and a debt limit hike is being attached to Harvey aid.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/debt-limit-hike-expected-be-added-harvey-aid-bill-n798796

 

[FelixDeCat]

I assume you mean "Both sides of the republican party"

You remind me of the lady at the bar here.

Okay, one point for you today for making me laugh and making a point.

 

[BoomerD]

A couple of things. Hurricane Insurance isn't a thing. To be protected from a hurricane you need Windstorm Insurance which covers wind damage and wind driven water, AND Flood insurance to protect from storm surge and rain driven flooding. (If you have both and your home is damaged from wind and storm surge have fun hiring attorneys and structural engineers to prove what happened because flood ins will claim the damage is Windstorm and Windstorm will claim its flood and neither will pay out)

Windstorm in Texas coastal counties is almost entirely run by a state program. Flood is through the federal flood insurance program.

In coastal counties mortgage companies force you to have Windstorm. They do not force you to have flood if you are outside a 100year flood plain.

About half the homeowners I helped did not have flood insurance which is what Harvey required.

One guy told me he asked to buy flood but was talked out of it by his agent. "Your in a 500 year flood plain. Save yourself the $400-$500 per year cost."

Now it's their fault for not buying it. But it still sucks that insurance agents are pushing people away from it.

Flood insurance isn't really a profit center for insurance companies. It's just more work. So why do it?

See? That's my point. Flood insurance wasn't a thing...until it was. Same with windstorm insurance. Why not mandate hurricane/tornado insurance for the people who live in areas that historically get hurricanes/tornados?

As for the people who opted to not have flood insurance? Then they're just fucked. The government made a policy available for them...they chose not to get it...why should the government bail them out after the fact?

 

[OWR88]

What he meant to say is that people are not willing to pay premium for insurance to cover hurricane damage. If enough people pay enough premium, there will be plenty of insurance companies asking to insure their properties. Let the market decide right? Or has the state of Texas forbidden hurricane insurance?

Like I said, the so called fiscal conservatives are often just cheap people disguised as conservatives. The real fiscal conservatives don't legislate the way Republicans do.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Why not mandate hurricane/tornado insurance for the people who live in areas that historically get hurricanes/tornados?

They did that for FL residents forcing everyone to pay a premium for storm victims. I agree that there should be a windstorm specific rider on policies issued in tornado alley states to help cover the increased cost associated with living in that area.

 

[agent00f]

whip out dat checkbook for H-town

The Republicans claim to be small business and fiscally conservative. Reality is the current Republicans party are not fiscally responsible, they are just cheap. Too cheap to pay for preventative maintenance. People call on them to conserve the environment, they bitch. People call on them to conserve our resources, they bitch and make stupid YouTube videos with black exhaust.

I have seen enough of the destruction this ultra right wing movement has taken. My country is free falling and I am genuinely worried. Hopefully the right side of history prevails again. I don't know if there will be another civil war, but it is broiling fast.

Don't worry, democrats love to write blank checks, no matter how lost the cause. Frankly it was a missed opportunity for trumpsters to not recast their wall as disaster relief for poor miserable klansmen.

Thank you to @Jhhnn and @fskimospy for being able to distinguish between the tragedy of Trump and human tragedy.

Thank god, Trumpsters wouldn't be able to coast to political victories without help of their democratic allies.

 

[Jhhnn]

It will never work. They will use whatever mental contortions are required to convince themselves it's not a handout. They'll still hate libruhls, brown people, immigrants etc and convince themselves that all their problems are caused by those people.

It's not a handout. It's a payout for having paid taxes, kinda like an insurance policy. It's just not fully funded so as to leave room for insurance companies. It also rarely makes homeowners whole like federal flood insurance but rather just pays for part of the expense. It'll often help fix the house but won't replace the contents, for example. Some people even receive payouts on the basis that they won't rebuild in particularly vulnerable places, part of managing future damages.

Sometimes it's pretty sad-

http://www.npr.org/2015/08/03/42784...-haunt-new-orleans-shattered-lower-ninth-ward

 

[BurnItDwn]

They did that for FL residents forcing everyone to pay a premium for storm victims. I agree that there should be a windstorm specific rider on policies issued in tornado alley states to help cover the increased cost associated with living in that area.

Hurricanes cause a LOT more damage than tornado's in the USA.
The biggest tornados in history have caused between about 2-3 billion. With total damage for tornados and other large overland storms usually under 10 billion any given year.


Katrina's cost was over 100 Billion, and that's just one hurricane.
Harvey likely will cost even more than that.

Overall, hurricanes cause an order of magnitude more damage than tornado's.

Also ... Florida has the most tornado's per square mile of land, because hurricanes also often include tornados
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_Alley

 

[agent00f]

A couple of things. Hurricane Insurance isn't a thing. To be protected from a hurricane you need Windstorm Insurance which covers wind damage and wind driven water, AND Flood insurance to protect from storm surge and rain driven flooding. (If you have both and your home is damaged from wind and storm surge have fun hiring attorneys and structural engineers to prove what happened because flood ins will claim the damage is Windstorm and Windstorm will claim its flood and neither will pay out)

Windstorm in Texas coastal counties is almost entirely run by a state program. Flood is through the federal flood insurance program.

In coastal counties mortgage companies force you to have Windstorm. They do not force you to have flood if you are outside a 100year flood plain.

About half the homeowners I helped did not have flood insurance which is what Harvey required.

One guy told me he asked to buy flood but was talked out of it by his agent. "Your in a 500 year flood plain. Save yourself the $400-$500 per year cost."

Now it's their fault for not buying it. But it still sucks that insurance agents are pushing people away from it.

Flood insurance isn't really a profit center for insurance companies. It's just more work. So why do it?

The other black comedy of this affair is that scientists have been predicting more extreme weather events due to climate change, and something like 90% of fossil fuel extraction in this country is in red areas which is their incentive to deny science and thereby solutions.

Given limited resources in the real world, the country has better things to do than fixate on all the problems ultimately stemming from backward degenerates.

 

[dainthomas]

It's not a handout. It's a payout for having paid taxes, kinda like an insurance policy.

Can we assume then, that the payment will be based on whether the individual has paid any taxes? Wouldn't want to accidently redistribute any wealth.

 

[Jhhnn]

Can we assume then, that the payment will be based on whether the individual has paid any taxes? Wouldn't want to accidently redistribute any wealth.

It's based on the premise that a person has paid or will pay taxes in the future. Homeowners are generally taxpayers, I think.

 

[Jhhnn]

Well here we go again and a debt limit hike is being attached to Harvey aid.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/debt-limit-hike-expected-be-added-harvey-aid-bill-n798796

The Repub leadership realizes that shutting down the govt is bad Ju-ju & this lets them get around Teahadis taking the country hostage to their whims over the debt ceiling. It would be smart for Repubs if they can swing it because the Teahadists can't vote against Relief for Harvey.

 

[Puffnstuff]

The Repub leadership realizes that shutting down the govt is bad Ju-ju & this lets them get around Teahadis taking the country hostage to their whims over the debt ceiling. It would be smart for Repubs if they can swing it because the Teahadists can't vote against Relief for Harvey.

Would Sarah Palin be the "teahadists" poster child? That chick has turned all bizarre and the last speech I heard excerpts from was just over the top stupid.

 

[Jhhnn]

Would Sarah Palin be the "teahadists" poster child? That chick has turned all bizarre and the last speak I heard excerpts from was just over the top stupid.

I honestly think her medicine cabinet probably looks a lot like Elvis' before he died. I think she's in trouble.