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We could be rebuilding our infastructure OR we could liberate people who don't want to be liberated.
I don't agree with the methods in which my tax dollars are being spent. Really, I don't. I can't stand that money is coming out of my pocket and is essentially being burried in the sand half a world away. It enrages me, infuriates me. I hate seeing American soldiers die for what I think was a deception, a lie. My money is going to fund a war that I don't think we can ever win in which my fellow citizens are dying.
But the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about it is not, "Gee, that blood money could be used to install power underground in Florida." There are, without a doubt, several thousand issues that the war is taking money from that are far more important in the US ahead of keeping Floridians powered at this time.
Do we rescue the world when the world does not even want to be saved - or do we advance America.
Let's see... Federal tax dollars going to bury power lines in a Southern state. Um, no? As in: that ain't where my, yours, or anyone else's federal tax money should go?
(yes, I know federal aid follwing a disaster plays a part in all of this. That's another argument, entirely.)
Sorry if I view from a larger perspective.
I think you might be viewing this from too large a perspective, not to mention that you're suggesting federal dollars go to a state problem. And your argument is so emotionally and politically charged that I can't help but think you've posted it under a hurricane thread when you really intended to put it in the political forum. You're linking the Iraq war with people losing power following a storm. Not feeding the hungry, helping the poor, assisting the jobless, improving the environment, international aid, scientific research, funding to prevent AIDs, drug rehab programs, or even promotion of a cure for cancer. You're upset that the ice cream in someone's fridge melted when a tree went down on their lines. Oh, the humanity.
It makes no sense to hang wires from poles in oceanside FL communities that will probably see a 120 MPH storm every 20+ years.
Of course it doesn't and I agree, but do you realize that the people of Florida don't agree with you? You do understand that the majority of the people here would rather see a small increase in their power bills after a storm to replace equipment that is almost garunteed to be destroyed again in less than a decade than put out a huge amount of money at once to put it underground? A massive investment to prevent losing power for ~48 hours once every 20+ years doesn't make sense to the taxpayer. I would love, love to see the infrastructure here updated to 1970s technology at some point in my lifetime. The problem is that no one wants to pay for it, regardless of the consequences.
Besides, living in Florida you kind of expect this. We all know that any year now a storm so massive could come along and completely wipe out our houses and cities -- power is often the least of our worries. We all watch the "cone of probability" with great fear, knowing that it could change any of our lives forever if we happen to be "lucky" enough to call an area home that happens to be within the path of the eye. For the smaller storms or living on the edge of one that hits, we're usually all well prepared with batteries, water, generators, etc. For those that do live here and haven't prepared, you get what's coming to you.
Really, we're all upset when the "green pinwheel of death" marches across the meterologist's map and wipes trailers, houses, and communities from the landscape. We hate losing phone service and being forced to boil water. We're frustrated and tired of seeing no gasoline available at the gas stations as we drive past on our way to evacuate up a jammed interstate. But I've never met anyone that walked, flashlight in hand, to a warm fridge in the middle of the night while clenching their teeth that said, "Goddamn that George W. Bush and his war, spoiling my milk."
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