Great article. The government has no right to give away what it has already stolen.
I agree totally. While this earthquake and the following is a horrible tragedy, and I realize that help is definitely needed, I still bristle at the fact that my tax money is going for yet more aid that will be taken and then the US will be trashed. It is already happening and what does the government do - up the ante. Damn!
I agree that the government that governs least is that which governs best, however, when nature rises up and slams millions of people back into the stoneage, somebody has to step up to the plate. I would much rather see my tax dollars addressing a natural distaster in Thailand than a man made one in South Central LA(you fill in the blank). Many of us would love to help out personally, but we don't have the ability to charter an Carrier or battle group to deliver the goods. In this situation, the only one who can deliver the help is Uncle Sam.
Now if you want to argue that these people are not totally blameless for choosing to develop on the banks of an Ocean, on barrier reefs, etc., like we do here in the US, then I really can't argue with you. But these mis-placed development values are prevalent throughout the world. The only way to stop them in the US is to cut off Fed. flood insurance and rezone. But then we have to admit that people who can afford to self insure on the barrier islands on the east coast should be allowed to do so.
So we get back to the same result, this disaster is a combined man-made/natural disaster. God made the earthquake/tidal wave and man in his eternal stupidity built right in its path. But somebody's got to help those people, just like someone has to defeat terrorism and that somebody is us. There is no one else on the planet who is willing to step up to the plate and do what needs to be done. Don't bother calling Kofi, he's too busy skiing.