National Disaster Plan - more contributions to the small business owners insurance premium

Here's another example of "proactive" government in action. According to a post entitled "What Florida really wants - other peoples money" in one of my favorite blogs, RiskProf, John McCain, the nominee for the republican nomination for President, does not support a national catastrophe plan, while the democratic nominee for President, Barrack Obama, and some governors do. Of course what this really means is that those of you not living near a coastal area could still end up subsidizing those of you that choose to. The main thrust of the disaster plan would be to create an emergency cash reserve set up for states to access in the case of future natural disasters, such as Hurrican Katrina or rampant wildfires. This fund would be federally managed, always a cause for concern, with funds contributed by private insurance companies. Obviously the governors that are vocally backing this plan happen to preside in coastal areas. As Mr. McCain stated, this would expand the role of the federal government into the private insurance market. The problem as I see it is that we already have a federally supervised flood program in place. Some states, such as Florida, already have their own disaster funds. It seems that while the populist message of their governor, laying high insurance costs at the feet of insurance companies, and adding more state regulation to said companies, isn't enough. It looks like the funds are lacking should a large scale disaster hit them, so what better way than to support a national fund to help backstop their fiscally faltering local initiatives. Either way, more government involvement will add up to higher premiums for small business owners and the public in general.

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