Rick Perry asks Obama for a ‘quick turnaround’ on federal aid after explosion

[kentauros]

98. You're making one big assumption, though.

That the insurance of the company at fault here will be able to cover everything. It's a small (and likely family-run) business. I don't know who their insurance company is, but I doubt they are ready to cover an industrial accident of this magnitude. It's not like they're an oil company.

I would say, to your analogy, that if your house blew up, killed at least eleven people, and leveled four square blocks of homes, businesses, and schools, that I would expect the feds to show up and help out. Not to mention, I would expect the feds to be investigating your ass, assuming you were still alive.

Whether the state has the ability to cover such a disaster makes no difference to me. Having the federal government either offer, or just show up, is a good thing. And to reiterate, as a compassionate Liberal that helps his fellow Americans, whether they ask for it or not, is what I consider a good trait. This won't break the federal government's pocketbook. So why the big deal over this? All I'm seeing is a lack of compassion and an attitude I would expect from a bean-counting bureaucrat.