And so, what’s a county to do?
It seems that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) doesn’t deem Louisa County worthy of any assistance for the earthquake that shook the Washington Monument so hard they had to get special crews to rappel down its sides to assess damage. There’s no doubt that Louisa suffered severe damage from the quake. Hundreds of buildings were damaged, schools were closed while school administrators tried to figure out where the students might find a classroom, and yet here we are with another winning decision from FEMA.
Why even have such an agency if everything it does reeks of no? How could it be that so many structures in the DC area had issues and buildings were closed, and people were sent home, and all kinds of havoc ensued in the metropolitan area, but down in lowly little Louisa, the epicenter of the quake and probably the area most devastated, the people get nothing? Nada. Zip. You would think the least they could do is transfer some left over trailers from New Orleans to the area, at least then the kids would have a place to go to school.
And why don’t they get any assistance? Because FEMA policy states that the emergency has to be overwhelming, and that this incident doesn’t meet that standard, since the repairs amount to a mere $15 million, which FEMA says the local and state governments can withstand without outside Federal aid.
Perhaps we ought to take a page from Libya. Just yesterday, Hillary Clinton stopped by for a visit to meet and greet the new government there. She told them that the United States was concerned about their well being and that she, and by extension us, hoped that they would soon “capture or kill Moamar Gaddafi” and thereby stop having to fear him. She then said that the US would be more than pleased to drop another $15 million in aid to the country where we have already dropped over $120 million in support of the new government.
Given our track record in supporting Mideast upstart governments, it would seem that money could be better spent right here in the good old US of A. Say perhaps in Louisa County. I would take a wild guess and say that $15 million spent in Louisa County would do more to support Democracy and freedom than the $15 million sent to Libya, which may or may not work its way down to the people. But more than likely the free funds will be so diluted by graft and corruption that the people will likely see none of it.
Of course, we have to take into account the cost of running a government, and especially a fledgling government. After all, they have to purchase new photocopiers, computers, desks, and probably a building or two to house the new government. It’s not like those things grow on trees, you know. In fact, $15 million would barely cover it, I mean once the accountants take over, and the new ruling party gets its cut.
But at least then we can feel good about ourselves. We will be promoting Democracy in another country that doesn’t give a darn about Democracy, unless, of course, we pay them to say they give a darn about Democracy, at which point the purse strings seemingly untie themselves and money flows out like some new version of a Jobs bill. Ahhhhh, the places you’ll go. And left up to them, the places you’ll go won’t be very heavenly, if you know what I mean.
Meanwhile, back in Louisa, at least our own politicians are trying to help out. The small amounts donated by Eric Cantor and Gov. Bob McDonnell may not amount to much, but they are miles ahead of our Federal government. To the Feds, $15 million may not seem so much, but to a county like Louisa it’s a staggering amount of money. It seems that FEMA isn’t taking into account the depressed economy and the individual needs of small municipalities like Louisa. God help us all if we ever need FEMA’s help.
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