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0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2009

The bank bailout, though unpopular, was necessary to stave off economic collapse. But its downside has been the rush of industries, from auto parts suppliers to life insurers, trying to get in on the action. This poses the inevitable question: Who’s next?

One potential answer is not a company or an industry, but an entire state — Florida.

While many states are in financial difficulty, Florida is in a uniquely precarious condition for another reason: its weather. Unwilling to accept the judgment of private insurers on the state’s vulnerability to hurricanes, Tallahassee has taken over much of the state’s homeowners’ insurance business, charging rates that are politically convenient rather than actuarially sound.

A single storm as bad or worse than 1992’s…