NationStates Jolt Archive

Gee, what a novel idea. Do something for yourself for a change instead of waiting for the government to do it for you. Good for these people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060603/ts_nm/weather_hurricanes_housing_dc_1

Gee, what a novel idea. Do something for yourself for a change instead of waiting for the government to do it for you. Good for these people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060603/ts_nm/weather_hurricanes_housing_dc_1
So people should be forced to go against Housing Authorities to get the job done?

Do something for yourself for a change instead of waiting for the government to do it for you.

"Acting without the approval of housing authorities..."

It seems they were waiting for the government to let them do it...

So you are saying that poor people forced out of their homes due to a hurricane should not be guaranteed the government's help?

It shows that the bureacracy is to slow.

Good for the people to taking matters into their own hands.

It shows that the bureacracy is to slow.

Not necessarily. It could also show that the government simply doesn't care about their welfare, which, looking at its past record on this issue, seems quite likely.

In other words, the government isn't doing enough, forcing people to do it themselves when they shouldn't have to.

Not necessarily. It could also show that the government simply doesn't care about their welfare, which, looking at its past record on this issue, seems quite likely.

Well, there is another problem; the demand for contractors, laborers, plumbers, and similar skilled and semiskilled workers is so great that in many cases the government simply can't find sufficient workers to rebuild. It doesn't matter how much money there is if their simply aren't enough skilled workers to do the job.

Plus, the wage environment in the city often makes private contractors more attractive than public ones and the shortage of workers causes huge turnover problems...it's more economic reality than anything else.

Well, that's the way to do it. If you want something done and are not quite sure how to go about it, do it anyway, take your lumps and press on. Sure there are mistakes made, but if you don't make mistakes, then you'll never learn.

This just goes to show how great Bush Cares about his people. It also shows what a great job the U.S goverment does of taking care of Its Citzens

PLEASE:rolleyes:

Wow, didn't take long to get a anti-Bush rant inserted. This has nothing to do with Bush. The plodding bureaucrats who are taking their own sweet time were there before the current Administration and will still be holding things up well after Bush leaves office. Tis nice to see that that are saying to hell with it and trying to fix their own homes in spite of the goverment. Good for them.

Wow, didn't take long to get a anti-Bush rant inserted. This has nothing to do with Bush. The plodding bureaucrats who are taking their own sweet time were there before the current Administration and will still be holding things up well after Bush leaves office. Tis nice to see that that are saying to hell with it and trying to fix their own homes in spite of the goverment. Good for them.

Thing is they RE-ELECTED Nagin!
I could be dumbfounded, but then, Washington DC re-elected Marion Barry.

Meanwhile (http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060313/NEWS/603130330/1006/SPORTS)...
Row upon row of mobile homes sit off Jacaranda Boulevard near Interstate 75 waiting to house families displaced by natural disaster...the Jacaranda mobile homes and another 20,000 across the country will likely remain unused in lots hundreds of miles away from where Gulf Coast residents need them.

Hell, I never said they were politically adept, just that the government is slow.

It shows that the bureacracy is to slow.

Good for the people to taking matters into their own hands.
Bureacracy isn't too slow. They just didn't use the magic word - "welfare." Well, they did, just on the wrong end, so nothing is getting done.

They have been sitting on their collective butts for almost a year, now. Down in Punta Gorda after Hurricane Charley, we started cleaning up as soon as the police would let us back to our property. It was almost theraputic to start cleaning up debris, while talking to the neighbors about their plans. If the victims of Katrina would quit blaming everyone for their predicament and start trying to dig themselves out, they would be much better off in the long run.

They have been sitting on their collective butts for almost a year, now. Down in Punta Gorda after Hurricane Charley, we started cleaning up as soon as the police would let us back to our property. It was almost theraputic to start cleaning up debris, while talking to the neighbors about their plans. If the victims of Katrina would quit blaming everyone for their predicament and start trying to dig themselves out, they would be much better off in the long run.
Remember folks, all situations are exactly the same all the time.

Thing is they RE-ELECTED Nagin!
I could be dumbfounded, but then, Washington DC re-elected Marion Barry.
Yeah, but there wasn't a good opponent to pick. The 'republican' candidate was nothing of the sort.

They have been sitting on their collective butts for almost a year, now. Down in Punta Gorda after Hurricane Charley, we started cleaning up as soon as the police would let us back to our property. It was almost theraputic to start cleaning up debris, while talking to the neighbors about their plans. If the victims of Katrina would quit blaming everyone for their predicament and start trying to dig themselves out, they would be much better off in the long run.


Right. Because all the citizens of New Orleans have to clean up is a little "debris" and everything will be right back to normal. I mean, it's not as if the place was flooded and waterlogged or that large portions of the poorer areas were populated by renters rather than homeowners who have fewer rights as far as access or legal rights to begin to rebuild.

And why the hell would people wait around for the government to help out or give approval to plans anyway? What - did they think they paid taxes in some expectation of receiving services in return?

As they should. Sometimes you gotta do stuff for yourself.

Right. Because all the citizens of New Orleans have to clean up is a little "debris" and everything will be right back to normal. I mean, it's not as if the place was flooded and waterlogged or that large portions of the poorer areas were populated by renters rather than homeowners who have fewer rights as far as access or legal rights to begin to rebuild.

And why the hell would people wait around for the government to help out or give approval to plans anyway? What - did they think they paid taxes in some expectation of receiving services in return?
Not a damned thing kept those renters from volunteering to help with clean ups, nor from hiring on as laborers in the clean up and rebuild efforts except laziness and a history of dependence on the government. They didn't need to sit in voucher funded hotel rooms for a year, while they waited for someone else to make things right for them.

Not a damned thing kept those renters from volunteering to help with clean ups, nor from hiring on as laborers in the clean up and rebuild efforts except laziness and a history of dependence on the government. They didn't need to sit in voucher funded hotel rooms for a year, while they waited for someone else to make things right for them.

So, your suggestion is that the best way for poor families to help out is to bring their families back to a place with no jobs, no housing, no schools for the kids, and take care of their families by volunteering to clean up housing that they don't own, will never own, and where the owner might just object to strangers of unknown skill-sets attempting to do repairs to their structures while they are going through an insurance claim process? And to do this instead of - how did you put it? - "Getting off their lazy asses" by maybe WORKING to support their families?


Oh yeah - that would work................

Many homeowners in less damaged areas DID go back and pitch in in their neighborhoods as you suggested. It's the big, poor, largely rental areas like the 9th ward where the situation just doesn't lend itself to that happening - and so it hasn't.

So, your suggestion is that the best way for poor families to help out is to bring their families back to a place with no jobs, no housing, no schools for the kids, and take care of their families by volunteering to clean up housing that they don't own, will never own, and where the owner might just object to strangers of unknown skill-sets attempting to do repairs to their structures while they are going through an insurance claim process? And to do this instead of - how did you put it? - "Getting off their lazy asses" by maybe WORKING to support their families?


Oh yeah - that would work................

Many homeowners in less damaged areas DID go back and pitch in in their neighborhoods as you suggested. It's the big, poor, largely rental areas like the 9th ward where the situation just doesn't lend itself to that happening - and so it hasn't.
Not many of the ones that are dependent on government were working. But I'm starting to see your point. There are people that truly cannot take care of themselves or their families without government help. There's an answer for that.

Take these unfortunate ones and put them altogether in one place. We have some military bases that are being closed down, those would be good. They would have meals provided on a regular basis, there would be housing, and they wouldn't have a care in the world. We could even sneak some motivational education into the mix and maybe a few of them would want to leave and become self-sufficient. In the meantime, the ones that don't can just stay and do whatever their hearts desire, as long as they make it back for dinner. We wouldn't want them to miss a meal, after all.

Not many of the ones that are dependent on government were working. But I'm starting to see your point. There are people that truly cannot take care of themselves or their families without government help. There's an answer for that.

Take these unfortunate ones and put them altogether in one place. We have some military bases that are being closed down, those would be good. They would have meals provided on a regular basis, there would be housing, and they wouldn't have a care in the world. We could even sneak some motivational education into the mix and maybe a few of them would want to leave and become self-sufficient. In the meantime, the ones that don't can just stay and do whatever their hearts desire, as long as they make it back for dinner. We wouldn't want them to miss a meal, after all.


Your fatuous equating of people who have been waiting and expecting the services for which they pay taxes to be provided by the government regarding help rebuilding the city (which is what this thread is about) and lazy bums on welfare is duly noted.

It's irrelvent and rather revealing about your noxious mindset about poverty.

But in the end, it is still irrelevant to the actual subject.

Like a camp of sorts where all the people similar to one another will stay under government watch..

Not necessarily. It could also show that the government simply doesn't care about their welfare, which, looking at its past record on this issue, seems quite likely.

In other words, the government isn't doing enough, forcing people to do it themselves when they shouldn't have to.


Of course the government dfoes not care and nor should it - at least - not as much as the people themselves should. The person who is most responsible and cares most about you is.... YOU! duh!

Taking care of yourself is not 'forced' on you by anyone - and is certainly NOT the jusristiction of government. These people can clean up their own damn mess just like the rest of us.

Well, there is another problem; the demand for contractors, laborers, plumbers, and similar skilled and semiskilled workers is so great that in many cases the government simply can't find sufficient workers to rebuild. It doesn't matter how much money there is if their simply aren't enough skilled workers to do the job.

Plus, the wage environment in the city often makes private contractors more attractive than public ones and the shortage of workers causes huge turnover problems...it's more economic reality than anything else.

umm, you are half - right. There is a nationwide shortage of labor - both skilled and unskilled, particularly in hurricane damaged areas. (which begs the question - where are all of the 'unemployed' of Louisiana???)

Your comment of wage disparity between public and private work is, however, enormously wrong. Private contractors working for public agencies made off like bandits in my area.

This just goes to show how great Bush Cares about his people. It also shows what a great job the U.S goverment does of taking care of Its Citzens

PLEASE:rolleyes:


ROFLMAO!!!! What a boob you are. Maybe you'd like for him to come to your house to brush your teeth and wipe your ass for you?

Like a camp of sorts where all the people similar to one another will stay under government watch..
Tell me if I'm wrong. There are a number of people that only wish to have their basic needs met. This group insists that the rest of the nation's population do that, by giving up a portion of their property to the government to distribute as it decides.

I'm only suggesting that we make it easier on the first group by providing all the care they need in one place. Why should they have to figure out bus schedules and office hours in order to get what they want?

Of course the government dfoes not care and nor should it - at least - not as much as the people themselves should. The person who is most responsible and cares most about you is.... YOU! duh!

Taking care of yourself is not 'forced' on you by anyone - and is certainly NOT the jusristiction of government. These people can clean up their own damn mess just like the rest of us.


Except, as the article notes, these are renters who do not own the properties they are cleaning up, and that the owner (a GOVERNMENTAL agency) has stated that they are barred from entering until they finish their inspections.

These renters are risking legal repercussions such as trespass by helping clean up an area owned by the government where the government has failed in it's duty to get cracking on doing the work and has told the renters to stay away from their belongings for over nine months now.

So clearly this is not an expectation of the government to fix up the property of others. IT is an expectation of the government to fix up their OWN property as they are mandated to do, and for which renters have paid for this expected service through rent and taxes.

They have been sitting on their collective butts for almost a year, now. Down in Punta Gorda after Hurricane Charley, we started cleaning up as soon as the police would let us back to our property. It was almost theraputic to start cleaning up debris, while talking to the neighbors about their plans. If the victims of Katrina would quit blaming everyone for their predicament and start trying to dig themselves out, they would be much better off in the long run.

Yup - in Punta Gorda they got it right. Let the people fix it first - and if they don't - THEN the city government gets involved;

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=11205C7B41E759A6&p_docnum=3

...Why should they have to figure out bus schedules and office hours in order to get what they want?

Yes, why should they have to do anyting to get what they want. :eek:

Right. Because all the citizens of New Orleans have to clean up is a little "debris" and everything will be right back to normal. I mean, it's not as if the place was flooded and waterlogged or that large portions of the poorer areas were populated by renters rather than homeowners who have fewer rights as far as access or legal rights to begin to rebuild.

And why the hell would people wait around for the government to help out or give approval to plans anyway? What - did they think they paid taxes in some expectation of receiving services in return?

umm - the poor don't pay taxes.

Yup - in Punta Gorda they got it right. Let the people fix it first - and if they don't - THEN the city government gets involved;

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=11205C7B41E759A6&p_docnum=3


a) your link doesn't work.

b) In punta Gorda, was this the policy for government-owned buildings and did they also bar the tenants from having access to the properties for nine months too?

umm, you are half - right. There is a nationwide shortage of labor - both skilled and unskilled, particularly in hurricane damaged areas. (which begs the question - where are all of the 'unemployed' of Louisiana???)

Well, 14.3 percent of the displaced are unemployed; they probably aren't going to come back or will only after the cleanup is done...they might even be getting a better deal by staying unemployed in Texas or other states than by actually returning to New Orleans.

Of that number, only 6.5% of the people who returned are unemployed while 24.9% of the people out of state are unemployed. That's 104,000 viable workers that could be put to use in the cleanup; it's a mystery why the government isn't making an effort to recruit them for labor or placing them with private contractors via a temp agency.


Your comment of wage disparity between public and private work is, however, enormously wrong. Private contractors working for public agencies made off like bandits in my area.

In a normal market, yes. However, in New Orleans there are individuals and companies willing to pay many, many times more than comparable rates in other regions for contractor work and that amount is often a lot more than anything the government is offering. Perhaps once New Orleans' market returns to a more equilibrium setting the gap will close but right now the government is simply unable to compete with the private sector for contractors.

umm - the poor don't pay taxes.

Bull.

"Poor" does not equate to "welfare case", nor do even the poorest manage to escape sales taxes and other tarrifs built in to the price of products and services that they consume.

Your fatuous equating of people who have been waiting and expecting the services for which they pay taxes to be provided by the government regarding help rebuilding the city (which is what this thread is about) and lazy bums on welfare is duly noted.

It's irrelvent and rather revealing about your noxious mindset about poverty.

But in the end, it is still irrelevant to the actual subject.

Wow are you misinformed and confused - first - the poor don't pay taxes; second - either there are jobs or there are no jobs - you can;t have it both ways. Since most here havea greed that there is a shortage of laborers then it is safe to say that you are also wrong about that. You also presume that each of them has a family which I am certain is not 100% applicable, and finally you make the comment that housing is rare which - for once - you got right.

So your whole argument is null except for "where should they live while they are working?"

Tell me if I'm wrong. There are a number of people that only wish to have their basic needs met. This group insists that the rest of the nation's population do that, by giving up a portion of their property to the government to distribute as it decides.

I'm only suggesting that we make it easier on the first group by providing all the care they need in one place. Why should they have to figure out bus schedules and office hours in order to get what they want?

We have such a place - it is called 'College'.

We have such a place - it is called 'College'.
I didn't go to college quite the same way. I worked and rented an apartment. It was more like purgatory before I got my first job.

Wow are you misinformed and confused - first - the poor don't pay taxes; second - either there are jobs or there are no jobs - you can;t have it both ways. Since most here havea greed that there is a shortage of laborers then it is safe to say that you are also wrong about that. You also presume that each of them has a family which I am certain is not 100% applicable, and finally you make the comment that housing is rare which - for once - you got right.

So your whole argument is null except for "where should they live while they are working?"


You didn't even read the article did you?

Except, as the article notes, these are renters who do not own the properties they are cleaning up, and that the owner (a GOVERNMENTAL agency) has stated that they are barred from entering until they finish their inspections.

These renters are risking legal repercussions such as trespass by helping clean up an area owned by the government where the government has failed in it's duty to get cracking on doing the work and has told the renters to stay away from their belongings for over nine months now.

So clearly this is not an expectation of the government to fix up the property of others. IT is an expectation of the government to fix up their OWN property as they are mandated to do, and for which renters have paid for this expected service through rent and taxes.

First - you are wrong - the government may own the property but it does not reside there.

Second - for the most part I agree with you. The government is a piss poor landlord and only a fool would want to be dependant on it. A bigger fool would want to make MORE people MORE dependant on it.

Third - they paid subsidized rent - not the same as regular rent. They also pay no tax.

Good for the people to taking matters into their own hands.
Until they die from deadly mould infections.

Of that number, only 6.5% of the people who returned are unemployed while 24.9% of the people out of state are unemployed. That's 104,000 viable workers that could be put to use in the cleanup; it's a mystery why the government isn't making an effort to recruit them for labor or placing them with private contractors via a temp agency.


Recruit or place them? Hell, FEMA is even going so far as to make it harder for volunteers to come help out.... (http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-7/114879229681440.xml&coll=1)


Thursday is the start of the new hurricane season. It also is the day the Federal Emergency Management Agency begins dismantling camps that have housed and fed 40,000 volunteers who came to Louisiana to help salvage the blighted areas in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

...

We are firmly committed to shutting down the camps by June 1," Fredenburg said. "Demand has diminished to the point we feel we can do that. State and local entities can take up whatever needs remain."

While FEMA will continue to fund housing assistance programs and public rebuilding projects, local officials and charities say closing the camps now threatens the region's recovery by taking away the only conveniences the depressed areas can offer volunteers: a place to stay and decent meals.

"Without volunteers, we're out of business," said Col. David Dysart, a Marine reservist in charge of the recovery project in St. Bernard Parish, a county of 67,000 people on the border of New Orleans ravaged by the hurricanes.

Added Plaquemines Parish President Benny Rousselle: "We'll have to find alternate housing for any volunteers to come down now -- and that will be a difficult task because we don't have anything here."

Recruit or place them? Hell, FEMA is even going so far as to make it harder for volunteers to come help out.... (http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-7/114879229681440.xml&coll=1)
Beside the point. Why weren't more displaced first among those volunteers for the last year? Answer, because they were getting vouchers to live in Red Roof Inns for the last year. Why bother, when someone else will do the job.

a) your link doesn't work.


crappy - shitty local paper. The essence of the article is that properties that have not yet been cleaned up will soon be either boarded up or demolished by the city.


b) In punta Gorda, was this the policy for government-owned buildings and did they also bar the tenants from having access to the properties for nine months too?
The poor and displaced were provided mobile homes by FEMA (as noted in another link on this thread) with subsidized rent. IT is a pity that these cannot be sent to Louisiana (and believe me - we want them gone) Most people were allowed into condemned buildings to recover salvageable property. There was also a considerable amount of clothing/appliaces/toyes etc. brought in by charity. The local physicians also set up a free clinic near the FEMA village headed by - I am proud to say - a friend of mine who is a physician.

Yes, Punta Gorda citizens and city government handled (and continue to handle) the aftermath far better than the city of New Orleans has - and without all of the media attention or sob stories as well. But believe me - it was FAR from perfect. I could rant on and on about many of the problems faced by everyone in town - and not just the poor. (In fact in many cases they got off much easier than the wealthy - who had it much better than the middle class- who got shafted the hardest.)

In a normal market, yes. However, in New Orleans there are individuals and companies willing to pay many, many times more than comparable rates in other regions for contractor work and that amount is often a lot more than anything the government is offering. Perhaps once New Orleans' market returns to a more equilibrium setting the gap will close but right now the government is simply unable to compete with the private sector for contractors.
I need to see evidence of that... Most of the private contracts are insurance related and - believe me - the insurance companies are WAY more stingy than Uncle Sam when it comes to paying. You'll have to provide a link to demosntrate that one.

Bull.

"Poor" does not equate to "welfare case", nor do even the poorest manage to escape sales taxes and other tarrifs built in to the price of products and services that they consume.

Nope - you are misinformed. Any sales taxes or fee taxes paid by the impovershed are refunded annually through the earned income tax credit.. among others.

Sorry to burst your bubble.

First - you are wrong - the government may own the property but it does not reside there.

Second - for the most part I agree with you. The government is a piss poor landlord and only a fool would want to be dependant on it. A bigger fool would want to make MORE people MORE dependant on it.

Third - they paid subsidized rent - not the same as regular rent. They also pay no tax.


Who is asking for more people to be dependant? The is about existing tenants being sick of the inaction of their landlord to meet their obligations and provide access to their belongings.

Blowing that into something that it is not - i.e. people expecting something that would be out of the ordinary to expect from a private landlord - is silly.

Regardless of the rent these people pay or who the landlord is, this is a simple story about tenants sick of waiting for their landlord to bring their residences back up to liveable standards. The fact that they are willing to help out is admirable, but people here seem to want to shit on them for no other reason that they are poor.

And that is pretty sad.

You didn't even read the article did you?

Yes, I did - why would you ask?

I didn't go to college quite the same way. I worked and rented an apartment. It was more like purgatory before I got my first job.
heh - my experience was similar... Too bad it wasn't for others...

Who is asking for more people to be dependant? The is about existing tenants being sick of the inaction of their landlord to meet their obligations and provide access to their belongings.

Blowing that into something that it is not - i.e. people expecting something that would be out of the ordinary to expect from a private landlord - is silly.

Regardless of the rent these people pay or who the landlord is, this is a simple story about tenants sick of waiting for their landlord to bring their residences back up to liveable standards. The fact that they are willing to help out is admirable, but people here seem to want to shit on them for no other reason that they are poor.

And that is pretty sad.

Which is why the government should not run housing projects. Nobody is glad the poor (or anyone else) are suffering. The issue is the innitiative they should have displayed long before now. I promise you - it would have taken armed guards to keep me from my house. And there obviously were none in N.O. or else their busted up TVs and copper pipes would still be there.

These folks may finally be starting down the path of self dependancy - a HUGE step in the right decision. We're cheering them - not disprespecting them. We're disrespecting the government and the culture of dependancy some people keep trying to get it to propigate.

snip...That's 104,000 viable workers that could be put to use in the cleanup; it's a mystery why the government isn't making an effort to recruit them for labor or placing them with private contractors via a temp agency.


I heard a rumor that Jessie Jackson sent a bus to St. Louis several months ago to recruit people displaced by the hurricane to go to New Orleans to get jobs cleaning up. Of the three people who got on the bus, only one spoke English. Go figure.

I heard a rumor that Jessie Jackson sent a bus to St. Louis several months ago to recruit people displaced by the hurricane to go to New Orleans to get jobs cleaning up. Of the three people who got on the bus, only one spoke English. Go figure.
Was it this?
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1129098532273280.xml

Was it this?
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tporleans/index.ssf?/news/t-p/metro/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1129098532273280.xml

Probably. Thanks for the link.

Probably. Thanks for the link.
No problem.

I really just think they should just abandon the area, move the city above sea level, call it Neo Orleans. Erecting a flagpole is easier than erecting one that's split in ten pieces.

I really just think they should just abandon the area, move the city above sea level, call it Neo Orleans. Erecting a flagpole is easier than erecting one that's split in ten pieces.
Erect...

Tell me if I'm wrong. There are a number of people that only wish to have their basic needs met. This group insists that the rest of the nation's population do that, by giving up a portion of their property to the government to distribute as it decides.

I'm only suggesting that we make it easier on the first group by providing all the care they need in one place. Why should they have to figure out bus schedules and office hours in order to get what they want?
When I hear and see all these arguments, I feel less and less that between you and the "leeches," they arn't the scum.

Your fatuous equating of people who have been waiting and expecting the services for which they pay taxes to be provided by the government regarding help rebuilding the city (which is what this thread is about) and lazy bums on welfare is duly noted.

It's irrelvent and rather revealing about your noxious mindset about poverty.

But in the end, it is still irrelevant to the actual subject.

The poor do not pay federal taxes in the US. I am sorry to say that they take far more than they contribute. It would not hurt for them to help fix the homes they live in. It is completely unfair to those that do actually pay taxes.

When I hear and see all these arguments, I feel less and less that between you and the "leeches," they arn't the scum.
After you earn a couple dollars and own a little property, you might have a different view. Or you might not. But you will have some experience to back up those value judgements.

Gee, what a novel idea. Do something for yourself for a change instead of waiting for the government to do it for you. Good for these people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060603/ts_nm/weather_hurricanes_housing_dc_1

But what if some of them accidently develop a self-esteem or a work-ethic in the process?

And why the hell would people wait around for the government to help out or give approval to plans anyway? What - did they think they paid taxes in some expectation of receiving services in return?

Of course they are getting services! What do you think all those missiles pointed at Iran are if not a service? <hehehehe>

But what if some of them accidently develop a self-esteem or a work-ethic in the process?
Then life will be good, won't it.

Not a damned thing kept those renters from volunteering to help with clean ups, nor from hiring on as laborers in the clean up and rebuild efforts except laziness and a history of dependence on the government. They didn't need to sit in voucher funded hotel rooms for a year, while they waited for someone else to make things right for them.

Well the elderly and infirm might have, but the able bodied, certainly not.

Tell me if I'm wrong. There are a number of people that only wish to have their basic needs met. This group insists that the rest of the nation's population do that, by giving up a portion of their property to the government to distribute as it decides.

I'm only suggesting that we make it easier on the first group by providing all the care they need in one place. Why should they have to figure out bus schedules and office hours in order to get what they want?

What ever happened to Poor Farms and Work Houses? Man, those were the good ol' days. :p

What ever happened to Poor Farms and Work Houses? Man, those were the good ol' days. :p
They went the way of Self-Sufficiency, Independence, and Economic Freedom.

So clearly this is not an expectation of the government to fix up the property of others. IT is an expectation of the government to fix up their OWN property as they are mandated to do, and for which renters have paid for this expected service through rent and taxes.

Except that leases generally contain an agreement line that states if the building gets jacked up, both parties are released from any legal bindings of the lease. What they really needed to do was bulldose all this shit into a pile and burn it so that people wouldn't be tempted to go back in and dig through it. These folks may be in denial still, thinking that it will all be put back together and they will get their lives back. That just aint going to happen. If anything, the feds should give every one of these people a one way ticket out of there to anywhere at least 90 miles away and get'em all relocated so they can move on.

Here's another sad truth. If you sit on your butt for a year and don't do anything (like I did for a year living off a cash windfall), your muscles will atrophy to the point where you CANT do anything BUT sit on your butt.

When I went back to work I was in such bad shape I couldn't hardly function. It took 6 months to get toned enough to work on my feet all day, lift or carry anything heavier than a magazine. It was bullshit, I tell ya. I will never do that again. But that could explain why people who had been sittin on their ass BEFORE the hurricane, continued to sit on their ass AFTER the hurricane...THEY COULDN'T GET UP! :p

When I hear and see all these arguments, I feel less and less that between you and the "leeches," they arn't the scum.


-apparently can't read the sarcasm font.

Here's another sad truth. If you sit on your butt for a year and don't do anything (like I did for a year living off a cash windfall), your muscles will atrophy to the point where you CANT do anything BUT sit on your butt.

When I went back to work I was in such bad shape I couldn't hardly function. It took 6 months to get toned enough to work on my feet all day, lift or carry anything heavier than a magazine. It was bullshit, I tell ya. I will never do that again. But that could explain why people who had been sittin on their ass BEFORE the hurricane, continued to sit on their ass AFTER the hurricane...THEY COULDN'T GET UP! :p
That's great! I had a good laugh. The dogs and my wife wondered what was going on.