Build Your House Upon Sand

You Paid to Rebuild John Stossel’s House—Three Times!

Stossel, an opponent of government-sponsored irresponsibility, explains...

Real insurance means private companies make bets about floods with their own money. But America has little of that.

I know this first-hand. I built a beach house because government encouraged me to take the risk. Private insurance companies wouldn't insure most of us who built on the edges of oceans, and those that did charged high prices. "Too high," said Congress, "so government must insure everyone!" They said they'd price it so taxpayers wouldn't lose—but as usual, they were wrong. Even before Sandy, federal flood insurance was $18 billion in the red.

And worse, cheap insurance encouraged more people to build on the beach. This is an absurd subsidy that should immediately be abolished.

As Paul put it, "Rich people get insurance subsidized by poor people, build on beaches.... Their houses get washed away, and poor people pay to rebuild.... It's a reason we're totally bankrupt."

Yes, it is. My house eventually washed away, and you paid. That's wrong. (Natural Disasters and Big Government)

The federal government has encouraged all of us to build our houses upon the sand. People with common sense will understand this analogy. Big government statists will not.

See Also, from the left:  We Need to Retreat from the Beach