The victims of Katrina...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we're hearing lots about how much funding came from the federal government to the city of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana designed to improve and strengthen the city's defense system against hurricanes and flooding.

What you won't hear from the socialist, liberal media is the notion that the funding needed to protect and defend the State of Louisiana ought to originate in the State of Louisiana.

The United States are just that, united by the bonds between the People, the States, and the federal government as outlined in the Constitution. Nowhere in there does it refer to any provision which permits or empowers the federal government to take money from one State to give it to another State or the people thereof for any particular purpose.

In this case, the left is claiming that New Orleans didn't get funds because federal taxes were diverted to other projects from the War in Iraq, to highway spending pork, to whatver else. Of course, since the federal government feels free to debt finance itself, it could also be said that the funding for New Orleans was lacking because Congress didn't take a big enough loan from the Federal Reserve or the Chinese to pay for it.

In reality, each state is supposed to be self sufficient for its own survival and the well-being of its people. In this case, the people of New Orleans and Louisiana were derelict in their duty to protect themselves. The responsibility for acquiring and dispersing the funds lies with the local and State politicians. If they are unwilling or unable to do so, why does the responsibility shift to the people in every other State?

If I don't wish to pay my own insurance premium on my homeowner policy, does the insurance company send a bill to my neighbor? No, the policy is cancelled and I am left to fend for myself because of my own choices.

Clearly, New Orleans is a microcosm of all the ills of a welfare state. Crime rates are 10 times the national average, and the number of "poor" people is higher there than most other places in America. As a result, when the welfare state and law enforcement broke down, the inevitable happened. People were unable to take care of themselves, and criminal behavior skyrocketed as a result. Those who were used to robbing their neighbors through entitlement programs now find themselves robbing their neighbors directly by burglarizing their homes and businesses.

And the downward spiral continues. The State of Louisiana didn't have the money and other resources in place to defend itself against Katrina because it spent too much time and energy encouraging the vote buying scams of corrupt politicians while subsidizing the lazy and those unwilling to assume control of their own lives.

As usual, the media and race mongers like Al Sharpton are trying to paint the blacks of New Orleans as victims. They are victims alright, but not victims of capitalism or George Bush. They are victims of the very systems put in place by Democrats which supposedly provide equal opportunity for those to whom it is not otherwise available. These welfare programs have taught people for generations that somebody else is obligated to take care of their every whim and desire. In the end, when the caregivers fled, the sheep were ravaged by the wolves amongst themselves, also products of the same entitlement programs.