[CD]

I am getting more and more frustrated over the sense of entitlement in today's society. I was speaking with someone who's relatives live in Houston. Their house survived undamaged and they were back into it within a few days after the hurricane. They were frustrated that they had no utilities and that FEMA hadn't got their utilities back on line. The own a generator, had cell service, water supplies and food was stocked. But... why isn't FEMA Johhny on the spot??? I spoke with him again on Monday and he said their utilities were back and now get this.... THEY ARE SUBMITTING A CLAIM TO FEMA FOR THE GAS THEY BURNED IN THE GENERATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTFO?? Good @#@$##$%$% grief no wonder we are going bust! It aint just the rich and the Gov. it is every mother humpin' scum bag that thinks we (citizens) owe them squat because they had to burn gas to keep warm and fuzzy....

I guess it's just LBJ's legacy... Wasn't he a Texan also?

[cowboy]

Yes LBJ was A texan , But it's not just that one person doing the crying I taled to A Gal I know single left town with us , just had her fence & power down for a few days , she was bitchen about not being able to get food stamps & how she was going to file on everybody to get all she deserves , My Daughter & son-in-law lost the home pretty much can't even live in it & not one word about trying to get all they can for nothing they both said thats why we have insurence , Thers a Dem congresswomen trying to sue the power companys if someone gets sicks or dies because of no power in the home & the list goes on forever

[AFNurse]

THAT is the society that has been developed over time. The ME, ME, ME attitude/welfare, I derserve everthing for free from the government without earning it..... I can see applying for funds if it makes sense, but for loss of power for a bit....hmmmmmm wonder if I can apply for funds....I was deployed to the desert, and a building code mandated GFC overloaded and popped..... needless to say, 1/4 beef and 3/4 of a deer rotted in the freezer before discovery..... not going to mention that I probably should not have had my little beer frige and an upright freezer plugged into the GFC...... I am going to chalk it up to learning and bite the expense! Hope I can find somplace to replace that deer this year!!!

[voodoo1]

On one side ya got "We deserve it" and resent those that do have anything and have worked to get there. The leaches do not wanna do anything but leach off of others taxes and sit on their butts.
What may have been a good idea and was meant to be helpful for some in dire straights has now become a way of living for many. BRAINwashed by their own "party"GIMME-GIMME-GIMME
Then we have on the other side, "By the people for the share holder" mentality. What may have been good intentions turned into a life support system for blood suckers that do not wanna own to their own responsibility.
I know people that have were relocated to my hometown from Katrina. They got jobs(not real good ones but were working) and went home when they could. I know some groups of good people that volunteered to go there and help ....while they were down there cleaning up and rebuilding the people(owners) sat in the yard and watched. It gave the volunteers a very bad taste, but ya know what they are now down helping out on their own "time and dime" with the latest mess.
I do NOT think all involved in the storms were dead beats,theives, at all. Alot of good people have lost everything. I do think the ones that expect a HANDOUT FROM ANYONE are taking for granted the kindness and caring of those in this GREAT COUNTRY!! If ya don't think getting power on a in week or so is pretty darn good,then move to where they do not even have roads or power for most of the year after a storm LIFE ain't fair, life ain't free handouts and America ain't supposed to be about taking advantage of fellow Americans but it is that way on both sides of the aisle.
Heck we had power outages here from the wind and alot of our crews were in the south helping out and had to return home to get things underway here. Over 250k without power all but a few pockets of people were on in a week. The longest was 8 days.Alot of bad meat and all but that hurt the wallet even more but never heard anyone ask for a hand out. People brought stuff into work to give to others that needed..batteries etc...

One nation........oh yeah and For the people by the people..Man I gotta stop before I snap and go punch a tree hugger and a day-trading hack.
Later
Voo1

[chillybrr59]

While I don't believe it's a "Southern Thing", I moved from Texas after 26 years just after Katrina to South Dakota where I grew up to take care of my elderly father. That winter, the central part of the state was hit with a huge blizzard having high winds that blew down power lines for miles. Power was out to farmers and ranchers for 2-4 weeks. They took care of themselves and their livestock through the Grace of God, neighbors, generators and linemen volunteering their services. FEMA didn't show up, no checks given out, none were asked for. I was very proud of the people of our state. Yes, it's crappy the way our society has gotten into this "I'm a victim" state of mind that happens every time someone breaks a nail but I guess the only way you can change it is to live your own life differently and to teach your children the same thing. You'll get no argument from me that people need to accept responsibility for their own actions.

[FLHTbiker]

If I could get the wife to move I would head straight for Spearfish South Dakota. The people there were the friendliest and nicest people I have ever meant. Spearfish is a great little town and the housing prices are still not bad.

As for GFCI and fridges and freezers plugged into them I see it all the time in my business and continually try and educate people of the dangers of having them plugged into them. Most newer homes now have a dedicated outlet in the garage for them.

As for whiners, I try and stay away from them and surround myself anymore with positive people. They should take all of those whining little a holes and make them earn it.

[chucktx]

Originally Posted by CD

I am getting more and more frustrated over the sense of entitlement in today's society. I was speaking with someone who's relatives live in Houston. Their house survived undamaged and they were back into it within a few days after the hurricane. They were frustrated that they had no utilities and that FEMA hadn't got their utilities back on line. The own a generator, had cell service, water supplies and food was stocked. But... why isn't FEMA Johhny on the spot??? I spoke with him again on Monday and he said their utilities were back and now get this.... THEY ARE SUBMITTING A CLAIM TO FEMA FOR THE GAS THEY BURNED IN THE GENERATOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTFO?? Good @#@$##$%$% grief no wonder we are going bust! It aint just the rich and the Gov. it is every mother humpin' scum bag that thinks we (citizens) owe them squat because they had to burn gas to keep warm and fuzzy....

I guess it's just LBJ's legacy... Wasn't he a Texan also?

if ya check a bit deeper, the "gimmie" folks are probably refugees from katrina...........

[usahellas]

Originally Posted by chucktx

if ya check a bit deeper, the "gimmie" folks are probably refugees from katrina...........

SAD but probably TRUE!

[CD]

I think that it is where it finally came to light. Before that it was never really covered that much so we didn't really pay attention. Then Nagle brought it up as did the governor and we finally saw it for what it is. It seems that a significant part of our population believes we owe them any time sh!t happens. Get in a wreck? sue. Have just about any medical procedure done? sue. Stub your toe on a display in a store? sue. I have never heard a news story about a couple standing outside their tornado ravaged farm complaining about where's the money?

We are a welfare state..... Broke and still we want free medical care, disaster relief, lower taxes, cheaper gas.... ARRGGGGHH

[voodoo1]

Good to know thereare people still willing to hang tough. I did make it through today (so far) and did not punch a tree hugger or a daytrader(the two extremities from me.
(SPearfish)Know right where that is!!!!! I lived and was also stationed out near there in Service. I have been all over the southern/northwestern side of that state and been on many dirt roads. (Red Owl pop-10)
And my wife grew up part of her life out there. (She is part-Military brat).

I always told myself I would take up in live a little town called Vale. Population 40. Maybe even run for Mayor(joke) . Not too late to move....might have to anyways sooner than I want to. (job) But if I can get this kid through a couple more schoolin' years here then I am gone like yesterday!!!!!.
Later
Voo1

[Art_NJr]

Originally Posted by CD

We are a welfare state..... Broke and still we want free medical care, disaster relief, lower taxes, cheaper gas.... ARRGGGGHH

You can thank the media for a lot of that mentality too. You can take a good hard objective look @ just about any "news" broadcast or newspaper story & discern the "victim" mentality they're selling. Notice also lawyer ads, which talk about "getting what you deserve" from this or that gov't. agency. If the country followed the Constitution (which was buried 140 years ago), agencies like FEMA wouldn't even exist as there's no authority for them to.

The public has been sold the socialist welfare state mentality for so long they think they have a "Constitutional right" to all these "entitlements". No we don't. And, the media has talked about "government money" for so long that people think the Gov't. has money it can give out - Gov't. doesn't have a dime of it's own, it only spends what it takes from the public & what the Fed creates out of thin air. In the end the public ends up paying for what they expect Gov't. to give them & with their tax dollars running thru a myriad of agencies, they pay a lot more than they would if they had provided those services for themselves.

Just consider flood insurance, which hardly anyone buys because it's so expensive & they figure the Gov't. will step in if they get flooded out. Then they find out that they should have had the insurance & that it would have cost them a lot less if they did. In some areas you can't even buy flood insurance & that alone should be enough to say you don't want to build here unless you're rich enough to rebuild on your own. There's nothing in the Constitution which says the Gov't. is obliged to step in & rescue us when something bad happens. What the liberals (read socialists) do is take the "general welfare clause" in the Constitution's Preamble out of context:

WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

It says "promote" the general welfare, not "provide for". In other words, establish a condition where the people can make a better life for themselves than they could under the King's rule. All the Constitution did was create a new central Gov't. to serve the States, which had been organized by the Articles of Confederation as 13 independent states. The Bill of Rights recognized those which already existed, but it didn't create any & actually there's no such thing as a "Constitutional right". There are just rights which the Constitution officially recognizes & promises the Gov't. will protect - but it's up to the public whether they exercise them or not.

If you don't want a hurricane to blow your house down, then don't live where hurricanes are likely to hit !! And as others have well said, those who live in areas where severe weather is a good possibility & plan ahead for what they'll do when it comes, get along just fine when it does. And if there was no such thing as FEMA, social security, Medicare, et al, they'd still get along just fine - actually better 'cause they wouldn't have to pay for all that & would have more of their own $$$ to be prepared for bad situations when they arise.

[Panthera]

A few years back a natural gas pipeline that serves our city burst, and the city was without natural gas for 5 days, in the middle of a January cold snap, night time temps dropping to -25F. They opened up the Nat. Guard Armory as a shelter, but closed it after the first night because nobody showed up. They all found ways to keep warm and survive. The city was worried about house fires due to electric space heaters, but there was only one small fire, in the house of a guy who had recently ran for and lost the mayors race (sometimes elections work). We did not get any state or federal aid, and people helped each other out.

Hurricanes are a much bigger disaster though, and it will take a while for folks rebuild, but they need to take the effort to do so themselves. FEMA is there to find temporary shelters, and the help get the infrastructure back to work, not rebuild everyone's lives. Life is a bitch sometimes, suck it up, work it out, and carry on.

On the other hand, the government could and should go after insurance companies that do not want to pay out. They took the premiums, pay the claims.