What do government and insurance companies have in common? Well, obviously, they take a huge bite out of the working-class budget, with costs appearing to outweigh benefits by far. Any Occupier might be able to give a long string of connections by association. An example might be the complaint of Chris McClung.

Graham County decided last year to reject FEMA’s proposed floodplain maps. Now, McClung is complaining because he couldn’t get a home improvement loan because he couldn’t get flood insurance, and he couldn’t get flood insurance because the county does not participate in the federal program. The county is also expected to suffer repercussions in federal “highway, water, and sewer grants.”

The commissioners rejected the floodplain maps because they were “incomplete” and “full of errors.” Criteria used to establish the floodplain appeared arbitrary, and, in general, not much flood damage occurs in Graham County.

Only about $13,000 in flood damage claims have been recorded in several decades.