If New York Governor Andrew Cuomo requests $30 billion worth of federal aid to help New York rebuild after Hurricane Sandy, as he said he will, should Congress say yes? New York City needs reconstruction, but our current federal relief system leads people to build excessively in high-risk areas and provides little incentive for battered states to make wise decisions about which reconstruction efforts are worth the cost.
To promote a more sensible recovery, Congress should link the aid New York needs to a change in the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency operates. Specifically, FEMA should split its emergency-response functions and its insurance functions into separate entities.

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Can you imagine the stream of criticism about FEMA coming from the media if George Bush were president?
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" . . . Congress should link the aid New York needs to a change in the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency operates." Seriously? If this is your opinion, then I assume you are willing to personally go down there and tell people who have lost everything that help will not be forthcoming until Congress gets with your program. Honestly, just shaking my head in disbelief here.
OMG - "Fix Fema!"
A few weeks ago the media was howling like wild banshees at Gov.Mitt Romney for making the exact same suggestion!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Someone had a great suggestion that in the case where homes have been lost in areas which really shouldn't be rebuilt that the government flood insurance act like car insurance. If your home is totaled, the insurance pays you, but you lose your house just as you would lose your car. I am concerned that the insurance program subsidizes people to build in questionable flood areas.
Obama's Katrina, except w/out the coverage
Edward Glaeser is back again. It seems not long ago when he was complaining about the American who produced that awful Video..You know the Video that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice insisted was the cause of the Benghazi, Libya embassy attack.