Quote:
Originally posted by kddani
With the hurricanes and the damage they have done (8 inches of rain in some parts of my area, severe flooding, 1000's of homes and businesses ruined) it seems that a lot of people are up in arms about the small amount of federal relief being offered. Many seem upset that billions of dollars are going overseas while the only relief being offered to them is maybe a 5,000 grant and 25,000 in a low interest loan. In a swing state like my own, I really wonder how this will have an affect on the voting.
Here's a story about the flood victim's views: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04268/384571.stm
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$5000 x 3 million people affected = $15 billion . . . and that's a conservative estimate.
Add in the up-front cost of no- or low-interest loans . . . jesus, that's a lot of money.
I'm pretty sure everyone on the planet is pro-disaster relief, but it's hard for me to jive with these xenophobic, "BILLIONS OF OUR DOLLARS GO OVERSEES"-type sentiments, b/c they implicitly ignore the fact that billions of dollars are going right here, to hurricane and flood victims. It's always worse when it affects people personally.
That said - will it affect the election? Probably. Should it? Probably not, in this man's opinion - a ton of money is being thrown at the problem. I don't really get why this sort of damage is a federal problem, to start, but I feel like there is an enormous amount of cash going in, even if it seems small on an individual level.
Quick question for dani, since I'm far from the area - how much do people think would be satisfactory? How much is enough money?