Quick Education on Disaster Relief

A good college friend of mine is the Speaker of the Vermont State House of Representatives. In helping to keep Vermonters up to date on relief efforts he posted a synopsis of coordinated functions between state and federal governments on Facebook. Anyone in need who had actually read the bulletin would probably have appreciated that the federal government was covering the lion's share of the cost to the tune of 75/25. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this sort of arrangement is not atypical.


What caught my eye was a comment on the truncated bulletin from a Vermonter which began "Don't know about a federal response, but..." Then she went on praising what a stupendous job the state crews were doing in assisting with the cleanup. I'm guessing this lady saw "ET" or "Outbreak" too many times. She must think that "federal response" is synonymous with scores of white trucks, high-wattage light banks and people in white hazmat suits under the command of a smooth talking manager with odious intentions. Or maybe she's seen too many Keystone Cops shorts and as a result thinks that federal help is going to arrive hanging on for dear life to the back bumper of a patty wagon. 


The truth is probably less engrossing and not as entertaining. Most federal help shows up in the form of a check, and not even a giant cardboard one that sits on an easel at a press conference. It's like when fires break out here in Southern California. There is no federal firefighting force that descends down and magically puts out the fires. The government sends a check to help cover the cost of using local resources 24/7 until the job is done. That way we can still afford to send the kids back to school in September. 


Yes, FEMA does show up sometimes, but that is only when the governor of the state requests FEMA assistance. And no, they do not show up hanging on for dear life to the back bumper of a patty wagon. And no, they are not all at the top of the class either, but better presidents tend to pick better managers. On the whole, when government runs well, no one seems to notice. But when government is run by people who bad-mouth government they end up running government into the ground which makes bad government a self-fullfilling prophecy. 


As for the lady praising the local response back in Vermont, I say enjoy the efficiency. Then see what you get with a President Ron Paul. 

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