Centerfield

Whaddaya Call 10 Industries Booted Off the Gov't Teat?

A good start, right? Surf over to reason and read John Stossel's great article subtitled How Rich Bastards Like Me Rip Off Taxpayers for Millions of Dollars. It's a stunning chronicle of some ingrained abuses in our system:

In 1980 I built a wonderful beach house. Four bedrooms -- every room with a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

It was an absurd place to build, right on the edge of the ocean. All that stood between my house and ruin was a hundred feet of sand. My father told me: "Don’t do it; it’s too risky. No one should build so close to an ocean."

But I built anyway.

Why? As my eager-for-the-business architect said, "Why not? If the ocean destroys your house, the government will pay for a new one."

Read the whole thing, it's a fascinating chronicle of expensive government foolhardiness. The one he's talking about above is one that really frosts my cake, the government pcking up the insurance tab for people who build and rebuild in flood prone areas.

But Stossel doesn't spare the rod on corporate abuses either. Stossel is an interesting case. He won a ton of emmies reporting on corporate abuses, but when he started seeing two sides to the story, the emmies stopped. I'm thinking of giving his book a try. He seems like a smart guy.