Dear John: Like a lot of people, I am grateful that I survived Hurricane Sandy. I had minimal damage in my home on Staten Island. But I know of many who lost everything they owned: their homes, cars and personal effects.
But not one of them is blaming President Obama. Unlike the residents of New Orleans and the liberal politicians and pundits, they realize that no one man can solve all their problems. And no man can stop Mother Nature.
But what I find truly amazing is that the people I know who lost everything aren’t demanding money like the citizens of New Orleans. They just want help — in the form of a safe warm place to sleep and something to eat.
And believe me, if and when they are issued government credit cards, like the citizens of New Orleans were, they won’t use them in strip clubs or liquor stores. C.H.
Dear C.H. Really, what good does it do comparing one natural disaster with another? And like when someone dies, people grieve over natural disasters in their own way.
And, maybe — just maybe — the folks up here were better insured than the people in New Orleans were. And maybe federal and state authorities learned from their mistakes in New Orleans, and that made the situation better in New York.
Of course nobody blamed President Obama. Does he have a hurricane switch in his office that could have been turned to the “off” position? Of course not.
What I observed during Hurricane Sandy was a lot of people helping, or willing to help, others in need.
That was great stuff. If no other good came out of this hurricane, then let that be it.
Dear John: Duh, Bush’s term started it! Only idiots are ignorant of that, and hey, don’t all the idiots vote Democratic? D.J.
Dear D.J. Even though this is a rudely short, sarcastic and condescending note from you, I’m going to give you the truthful and long answer about what started our economic problems.
This whole thing began because Americans lost track of the old adage: If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it. We forgot that keeping up with the Joneses meant getting a job and earning a salary commensurate with the Joneses’.
When did this happen? Probably over a generation or two, when credit and credit cards became too available.
The Democrats helped people forget that adage during the Clinton administration, when the White House came up with the brilliant idea that it would be nice if everyone owned a house. Go back and look it up. Widespread homeownership was the goal.
Alan Greenspan, who as head of the Federal Reserve was busy making politicians happy, kept interest rates low and the stock market high (even as he warned of “irrational exuberance”). So people bought houses and other things they couldn’t afford.
Then the World Trade Center fell, and it was the Bush administration’s time to make foolish mistakes. Not only did it spend an excessive amount of tax revenue fighting wars that may — or may not — have been necessary, but it also urged Greenspan (an economic evildoer, in my book) to keep interest rates excessively low.
More homebuying by people who shouldn’t have been. More speculation in the financial markets. And blooey, the whole thing came tumbling down.
So before you go assigning blame for our current mess, realize that the list of those responsible is much longer than —duh — you’d think.
Send your questions to Dear John, The NY Post, 1211 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10036, or john.crudele@nypost.com.