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- #21
Would this proposal mean that the federal gov't could not declare certain areas as disasters, and no federal support could be provided? Floods , fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, we couldn't help those specific affected people?
I can see a very very limited role for FEMA using taxpayer dollars. Certainly the government should have ability to dispatch a Coast Guard chopper to pull people off a sinking ship or for other such immediate humanitarian emergencies. I can see the federal government furnishing trucks and other equipment to help clear roads or otherwise open up emergency routes after a major disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake. When state and local facilities are overwhelmed, certainly set up emergency field hospitals or whatever could be absolutely essential for human life.
But as for compensating those who suffer loss and providing on going maintenance during the rebuilding process or conducting rebuilding of anything that the federal government didn't put there in the first place, that should not be a function of the federal government. They can declare the emergency and, if practical, can even receive and distribute donations for the relief effort, but that should be the limit.