FEMA burns taxpayers

Regarding proposals for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help fight forest fires: Be careful what you ask for.

Let’s look at FEMA’s track record. Remember the $2 billion taxpayers paid for those 145,000 trailers for Hurricane Katrina victims? That was mismanagement and waste of billions of taxpayer money for people who choose to live six-and-one-half feet to 10 feet below sea level in New Orleans.

The taxpayers in Washington, Idaho and Montana are still paying that bill in increased flood policy rates that are FEMA-controlled. Flood premiums have gone up 278 percent in five years; from $600 a year to more than $3,000 for a single-family home. Look at the FEMA waste and fraud the Sandy Hurricane victims are going through (“60 Minutes,” March 1). Sandy caused $85 billion in damages. Wait until those costs get passed along to us taxpayers.

Those costs should be paid by the property owners (individual or corporate) who chose to live on their own property in these high-risk areas. There isn’t enough taxpayer money to pay for every one of Mother Nature’s disaster. FEMA firefighting would cost all us more than we can afford.

Doug Titus

Coeur d’Alene