Hurricanes may be God's way of telling folks to move, says GOP Texas congressman

[DonViejo]

Source: CNBC News




Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | @BerkeleyJr
Published 2 Hours Ago Updated 56 Mins Ago
CNBC.com

GOP Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling told CNBC on Thursday that U.S. taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for at-risk homes after two hurricanes hit the United States over the past month.

"We have these repetitive loss properties," said the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "So for example, we have one property outside of Baton Rouge [Louisiana] that has a modest home worth about $60,000 that's flooded over 40 times. The taxpayers have paid almost half a million dollars for it."

"At some point, God is telling you to move," Hensarling added in an interview on "Squawk Box."

"If all we do is force federal taxpayers to build the same home in the same fashion in the same location and expect a different result, we all know that is the classic definition of insanity," he said.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/21/rep-jeb-hensarling-hurricanes-may-be-god-way-of-telling-folks-to-move.html

[dogman]

1. I would certainly get the hell out of Texas then.

He should lead the way.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Great, idiot, then why does Trump and the GOP constantly relax building restrictions in wetlands?

Yeah, ok to make money for themselves, but all they're doing is making more flood prone properties

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Climate change is god's way of saying "Stop putting shit in the air that doesn't belong there"

... for those who believe in god(s).

[exboyfil]

4. Here is an article on point

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/08/28/right_before_harvey_trump_nixed_a_rule_designed_to_protect_cities_from_flood.html

[hueymahl]

5. Well, take the word "God" out of it, and he is right

"At some point, NATURE is telling you to move"

We have a serious public policy problem of encouraging developers to build in inappropriate areas. National flood insurance is just one aspect of it.

[dbackjon]

22. Yup

[Shrike47]

27. I agree. There should be a limit on the number of government bail outs.

[joshcryer]

42. Yup, this here is climate change.

You gotta move 100k people a day to remove coastal populations from the rising seas by 2100 (or spend trillions somehow making the coasts look like Norway).

[BeyondGeography]

6. Well then, God will surely point an alternative way forward

Or maybe nature, aka God's righty-ous instrument, will do that.

[videohead5]

7. Maybe God is Mad

Because America elected a lying pussygrabber as president.

[ExciteBike66]

8. Half of Christians say Jesus represented a break from the Old Testament Wrathful God,

while the other half thinks that God is still constantly throwing plagues our way.

[IronLionZion]

9. All part of hurricane gentrification

Encourage construction in flood prone areas
very loose zoning and building codes
make sure people can't effectively evacuate, if they have no place to go, no car, traffic congestion, or jobs that will fire them
Laugh mercilessly at the idiots who didn't leave
tell them to move
buy up those properties very cheaply
build up luxuriously gentrified properties high above any flooding risk
sell to rich bastards
lather, rinse, repeat


Actually, I'm not sure if they are building luxurious stuff in flood zones. But if people own a home and need to move because of flooding, who is going to buy it from them? Either some other poor sucker, or some blood sucking investor who wants to develop and flip it

[DBoon]

10. After you, Mr. Congressman

good luck winning an election in your new home

[Chemisse]

11. I agree (minus the 'god' reference).

Climate change will flood over these seaside settlements eventually. Rebuilding plans need to be realistic.

[Marthe48]

12. Let's build a rocket and get off this dynamic planet

that won't settle down.

[Not Ruth]

13. Swap Al Gore for God and you might be onto something

[Hekate]

18. Unlike the unpleasant god of Texas, Al Gore is just a worried man with Scientific facts in hand.

[leftofcool]

14. God hates Texas?

[Lonestarblue]

15. Yes, must be so.

Why else would we have these right-wing Republicans who wouldn’t know a good idea if it smacked them in the face every day when they look in the mirror and congratulate themselves on the number of “little people” they screwed that day!

[keithbvadu2]

30. Evangelists like Pat Robertson like to blame disasters on various sins, usually homosexuality.

Evangelists like Pat Robertson like to blame disasters on various sins, usually homosexuality.

What has Texas been up to?

[TheBlackAdder]

16. Another pious Christian exceeding his mortal being, while attempting to explain God's motives.

[Hekate]

17. Well, you heartless *hole, both Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are being scoured as we speak...

...by not one but a series of "500 year" storms all in one season. As we are talking about American citizens, they have the right to move to the Mainland, don't they? How's your district fixed for receiving our first onslaught of global climate change refugees?

[B2G]

19. I've seen plenty of DUers post the exact same sentiment.

Repeatedly.

[dbackjon]

21. Not that it is God's doing though.

[Judi Lynn]

32. Not the same sentiment at all, if they don't invoke Gawd. Not by a long shot. n/t

[dbackjon]

20. Hey fuckstick - it's not God telling them to move - it's REALITY

Science and stuff.


OTOH, I agree with the conclusion. Taxpayers help ONCE. Then you are on your own.

[packman]

23. I hate to agree with anything Repuke - but, the guy has a point

I grew up living beside the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania. Our house was on a hill, so we were safe from the all-to-often flooding of that river. However, there were (and still is) many little towns along the river that gets hit, dries out and gets hit again with a great deal of frequency. Insurance claims were ridiculous , as pointed out by Hensarling - houses worth a few tens of thousands being flooded, gutted and then rebuilt. A simple move a few hundred yards beyond the bank would have solved many of the problems.
Of course there is a myriad of reasons for their location - once cheap land, houses already paid for, poor or non-existent zoning laws, local indifference, etc. I suppose that as long as one continues to pay their flood insurance policy ever increasing premiums, the problem will remain.

[Hieronymus]

24. Has any evangelist preacher ..

come forward to say who God is punishing and why?

[Grins]

25. Maybe the government should have just bought the house?

So, the feds paid half a million dollars over property worth $60K. Maybe they should have just bought the house? Why don't you suggest that, Congressman?

The problem is that that is all deeded legal property, and to forbid re-building is, basically, a "taking" by the government that would have to reimburse the property owners, something that came up in NJ and NY after Hurricane Sandy. Care to buy-out every property owner between Maine and Texas to a depth of 1-2 miles, Congressman? What could that cost?

[colorado_ufo]

29. We have a winner!

So these people should just move,and no one should live there? Then to whom should they sell their house? Where are they going to get the money to BUY another house - anywhere?

Typical Repub thinking. They do not stop for a moment to consider that most people have invested the majority of their livelihood into their home and have no other means to buy another residence. Next the Repubs will suggest that they borrow from their vast 401Ks!

Right!

[Loge23]

26. ...and republicans are

God's way of telling me to move out of this country.

[Shrike47]

28. If you build on a seaside sand dune, you should self-insure. Ocean is coming.

[keithbvadu2]

31. This is socialism that republicans love instead of the free market.

This is socialism that republicans love instead of the free market.

You control both Houses of Congress and the WH.

Fix it?

[Judi Lynn]

33. Another right-wing God Interpreter for the masses of us heathens.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling



"Speak, O Lord, Thy Servant Heareth"

[niyad]

34. hey, your "god" is really a psychopath, isn't he?

[xxqqqzme]

35. God has a

realtor's license now?

[MindPilot]

36. Another example of an extremely out-of-touch politician.

"a modest home worth about $60,000"

[raccoon]

37. I'd agree with this, if you view God as reality or God's will as reality.

(Arthur C. Clarke said something like that.)

I agree that at a certain point rebuilding is foolish.

[BlueIdaho]

38. Maybe they are a way of telling republicans

To stop being such a bunch of dick heads.

[OldHippieChick]

39. The government doesn't exactly pay for the houses to be rebuilt.

Homeowners are offered low-interest loans to rebuild. Their losses should be covered by insurance. If an insurance company continues to insure property, you can hardly blame the homeowner for rebuilding. The gov't losses are from defaults. Renters are given $10,000 personal property loans and many of these default because they move and leave no forwarding address. The feds won't give a homeowner a low-interest loan to rebuild unless they rebuild on the same piece of property. It's a vicious cycle.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

40. Republicans may be God's way of telling folks....

.......that we have not yet evolved far along enough to be trusted with any shelter beyond a cave or a lean-to in the forest.

[roamer65]

41. I thought it was because God hates "titty bars".

[truthisfreedom]

43. Uhh, maybe it's reality telling you to move?

Because reality tends to be what surrounds us?