Posted on 09/07/2005 9:06:21 AM PDT by cgk
I don't get the 27 BR remark. But if I have to explain what it takes to set up a simple two BR apartment. WELL..........
my mistake, should've been 2
Oh, well just buying cooking utensils, food and linens will empty that ATM card FAST.
Forgive me if I am incorrect, but won't the charities be passing out these donated items? Or did all that cooking equipment I and I know others donated go to other uses? Or maybe elsewhere?
Isn't this just to get them out of the Dome as quickly as they can (read that rent money) to get them out of the public eye? Or am I just too cynical of late?
Is this in addition to food stamps?
Is this in addition to food stamps?
The smart ones will use the card to put first, last, and security on an apartment in whatever town they're in. Then go looking for a job.
Voila! Quick recovery.
It's more than just the people from New Orleans that will be getting these cards. Don't forget all the people in Mississippi who were wiped out because of the hurricane.
They'll be getting the cards, too.
How stupid. Then we can give them our cars.
Why are we donating if the gov is going to give out money and everything else to them. I understand helping people who are down but why should they make a profit and let the politicians fall where they may.
I want one too!!
You could take a little off the edge. But, I think a whole new world is going to open up to these survivors. And the Dum plantation they have been living on will not be a happy memory.
Congressman Tancredo: Block Katrina Aid to Louisiana Politicians
Sept. 7, 2005 | Steve Sabludowsky
WASHINGTON, DC. - Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) wrote a letter to Speaker Hastert, urging him to direct federal hurricane relief aid through channels other than Louisiana public officials. Citing incompetence and a history of corruption, Tancredo said a bipartisan select committee of the House should administer the aid and provide accountability for the $52 billion requested. The letter is reprinted below:
Dear Mr. Speaker,
Given the abysmal failure of state and local officials in Louisiana to plan adequately for or respond to the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the city of New Orleans, and given the long history of public corruption in Louisiana, I hope the House will refrain from directly appropriating any funds from the public treasury to either the state of Louisiana or the city of New Orleans. Instead, reconstruction and relief funds dedicated to the people of New Orleans should be administered by a private organization or a select committee similar to the historic Truman Commission.
Public corruption is a well known problem in Louisiana. The head of the FBI in New Orleans just this past year described the state´s public corruption as "epidemic, endemic, and entrenched. No branch of government is exempt." Over the last thirty years, a long list of Louisiana politicians have been convicted of crimes; the list includes a governor, an attorney general, an elections commissioner, an agriculture commissioner, three successive insurance commissioners, a congressman, a federal judge, a State Senate president, six other state legislators, and a host of appointed officials, local sheriffs, city councilmen, and parish police jurors. Given the documented public corruption in the state, I am not confident that Louisiana officials can be trusted to administer federal relief aid.
Clearly the federal response from FEMA in the aftermath of the hurricane was hampered by bureaucratic ineptitude. Making matters worse, the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisiana have demonstrated mind-boggling incompetence in their lack of planning for and response to this disaster. According to one recent media report, "A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan...[but] did not take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these problems were not corrected."
The city of New York, by comparison, had no advance warning of 9/11. Yet Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki displayed tremendous leadership in managing a chaotic situation in the city. Their leadership inspired confidence in their ability to manage the emergency and coordinate federal aid In contrast, despite knowing days in advance about the coming hurricane, Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin seem to have done little beyond encouraging residents to leave the city or gather at the Superdome. City school and transit buses could have carried 12,000 persons per run out of the city, yet they sat idle in parking lots under water - while both the Mayor and Governor criticized the federal response.
In the coming days, tens of billions of dollars will likely flood Louisiana to address the costs of rescue, clean up, and rebuilding. The question is not whether Congress should provide for those in need, but whether state and local officials who have been derelict in their duty should be trusted with that money. Their record during Hurricane Katrina and the long history of public corruption in Louisiana convinces me that that they should not.
Sincerely,
Tom Tancredo
Your source for that other than they are black and make less than you?
How 'bout because they didn't have two dimes to rub together when it was time to prepare for the coming storm. No car, no gas, no food, no water. No family, friends, or acquaintance who lived outside the flooded area. If you're that destitute, chances are you're on the gubmint teat. I'm wondering how some of these people tie their shoes in the morning, and you're assuming most of them were gainfully employed?
hurricane blew me all the way to California... I 'm going back NO... :P
<< I agree that ALL aid should be recipient based and judged by those who are doing the paying. >>
I agree.
I have no problem with the shelters but I was wondering why they didn't do this to begin with. Instead of "providing" why not just give a debit card and a plane ride to the city of their choice. These are adults. They could find housing and start over without help. Many times, in the work my husband used to be in, we would drive to a town, get a hotel and find an apartment in a day or two.
My husband came home and told me he heard the following on the radio tonight on the way home from work:
A spokeswoman from the Red Cross for the Tri-Cities area was on the local radio today made an announcement that all the people in the are have to stop calling to offer shelter or sponsor the hurricane victims immediately. They are tying up the lines for people that are trying to call in to offer "aid".
My children also heard the same announcement. One heard it on the radio. The other was told at school.
How 'bout that sports fans? The don't want you to shelter these people and help get them out of the astrodome. They want your money.
BTW, The Tri-Cities area included Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport, TN
OK, I look the fool I am. The kids and my husband were all telling me what they heard and what other people were saying. I believed it, became furious, and posted here.
After doing some research as I should have done first, the Red Cross set up 3 shelters in the area expecting 450 people. As of tonight, we have only had 150 people agree to come.
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