The American Taxpayer, Insurer of Last Resort

No, I am not talking about Ted Cruz's display of heroic idiocy (even by Congressional standards), but I am referring to a more subtle, and bipartisan sellout of the American taxpayer: the potential reversal of National Flood Insurance Program reform, a program that takes in $3.6 billion in premiums but pays out $25 billion (actually the Treasury pays it, which is of course, YOU). This blog does not often link to The Weekly Standard, but this week's piece castigating members of both parties ready to undo last year's reforms is right on the money. Bloated millionaires with beach homes that have been reconstructed several times at taxpayer expense is so outrageous, the economics of it is the least offensive part. This is small potatoes compared to health care, but this is what a Tea Party insurrection should target: the most inequitable, most wasteful, and most immoral wastes of taxpayer funding. For the dismal environmentalist in me, this is not just recurring environmental insult, rebuilding expensive beach homes in sensitive habitat, it is taxpayer insurance against one of the ravages of climate change. Why should I, millionaire beach homeowner, care about climate change if YOU, American taxpayer, will bail me out? Alas, the monosyllabic wing of the Republican Party is more interested in green eggs and ham.