A lawmaker who headed a Katrina task force says a Democratic-controlled House would look into insurance industry practices criticized for shifting the financial burden of Hurricane Katrina claims onto the taxpayer.WTVM
Congressman Gene Taylor of Mississippi says the Democratic task force is recommending a repeal of the federal antitrust exemption as it relates to price-fixing in the property insurance market. They also will recommend the creation of government-backed all-perils disaster insurance to close current gaps, particularly from flood damage.
Taylor, who lost his own southern Mississippi home in the 2005 storm, says the biggest Katrina fraud of them all was the insurance industry practice of declaring that hurricane damage was due to flooding - a federal government responsibility - rather than wind, covered by private insurance.
AP story
Biloxi Sun Herald
The insurance industry is opposed to most of the task force's recommendations.-
Gene Taylor was the sanest voice I heard come out of Katrina, and he's still making eminent sense, and taking principled rational stands for his constituency. He was on C-SPAN today.
One of his indisputable points is that if there ever is one of these "inevitable" terrorist attacks the fearlords are threatening everybody with - and justifying the suspension of rights to combat - it will be pretty much a note-for-note replay of Katrina in terms of disaster preparedness.
He made some graphic illustrations of how the mess in Iraq has drained the US of its disaster-relief capability - financially and logistically - we're missing manpower, equipment, and co-ordination.
John Tester, running for the Senate from Montana, is another guy that I hesitate to impugn with praise from this odd corner of things-as-they-are, but he's inspiring, the way Taylor is, because they're doing what a good man does in those circumstances - cut through the horseshit and defend what needs defending.
