John Stossel: “I built a house on the edge of the ocean. People weigh the costs and benefits of building in risky places like that. Without government’s encouragement, I would have just built someplace else. But because politicians decided that government should be in the flood insurance business, and then other politicians decided that government’s insurance business should offer cheap rates, I did build on the beach. Even though my property was obviously a high flood risk, my insurance premiums never exceeded $400 a year. Ten years later, my house washed away, and government’s insurance plan reimbursed my costs. Today, the federal flood insurance program is $40 billion in the red. In other words, you helped pay for my beach house. Thanks! I never invited you there, but you paid anyway. I actually felt entitled to the money. It had been promised by a government program! But it was wrong, and I won’t collect again. I don’t want to be a parasite. But it’s tough, because government keeps making offers. Government handouts make parasites out of many of us.”