Call Your Government?

Many areas of Florida experienced a good deal of flooding as a result of Tropical Storm Faye. Congresswoman Corrine Brown (D) who has a residence in Jacksonville, called the Mayor's office to request assistance in protecting her home from the flooding. Adam Hollingsworth, chief of staff for Mayor John Payton, ordered city crews to Brown's home. Jacksonville residence are outraged that Brown got this kind of special treatment. However, she was not the only one. Hollingsworth also ordered city crews to city Councilwoman Denise Lee's home, although she had not asked for assistance.

Regarding this incident, Brown said that she had to "call, and call, and call just like anybody else." She also said, "Anytime a citizen needs help, they should call their government."

A few weeks back there was a very heavy rain where I live. My gutters could not handle the large volume of water. The water flowed across my driveway, through my flower bed, and into the window well of my basement. Needless to say, my basement flooded. I had to stay up half the night dealing with the water and the mess. The next day I did a little terraforming in order to insure that it would never happen again. I never once thought of calling my government for assistance. Why not? Because, as a conservative, I believe that Ronald Reagan was right when he said that the nine scariest words in the English language are, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."