This wasn’t a nice thing to say to people stranded in a hurricane. But it’s true. If you defy government instructions and don’t take basic precautions, you aren’t just risking your life. You’re making the rest of us bail you out. That’s not fair.

What’s odd about Christie and other Republican governors is that they recognize this principle only when a hurricane hits. When it comes to injury or disease, which we know will strike everyone on this planet, the Republican governors defend your right to ride it out. They oppose any requirement to buy health insurance. If you get sick, the rest of us will shell out to rescue you.

A year ago, Christie mocked Obamacare, the federal law that subsidizes and requires the purchase of health insurance. “I have philosophical problems with the individual mandate,” Christie said. “What’s next? I am mandated to eat broccoli? What happens if Congress decides there is a crisis in the broccoli industry and mandates us to eat broccoli? … I don’t think my government should tell me, besides taxation, how to spend my money.”

Christie refused to prepare for the law’s implementation. He hoped the Supreme Court would strike down the individual mandate.