Posted on 09/18/2005 5:35:24 AM PDT by DogBarkTree
The federal government's mishandling of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe is only the latest bungling in a national disaster response system that for years has been fraught with waste and fraud.
A South Florida Sun-Sentinel investigation has found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency in five years poured at least $330 million into communities that were spared the devastating effects of fires, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes.
In the country's poorest, inner city neighborhoods, disaster assistance is considered an entitlement. Taxpayer money meant to help victims recover from catastrophes instead has gone to thousands of people who suffered little or no damage, including:
$5.2 million to Los Angeles area residents for the 2003 wildfires that burned more than 25 miles away.
$168.5 million to Detroit residents for a 2000 rainstorm that the then-mayor doesn't even remember.
$21.6 million in clothing losses alone to Cleveland-area residents for a 2003 storm that brought less than an inch and a half of rain.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
I lived in downtown Memphis for quite some time ... I know who the panhandlers and bums are ...
When I walked through last night, two of them had New Orleans Saints shirts on and were asking for money to help them since all was lost. One lady gave a guy $20!? Just sickening ...
Let's face it - if you turn these people down you end up with the MSM putting a microphone in the face of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton so they can scream racism - the rich are getting funds and the poor are being turned down. The race baiters have created this problem and the MSM has willingly helped them along.
No actually this kind of story needs to be told again and again until the government "gets it"!
Will the story be any different with Katrina? With all the programs for the poor the President has proposed? Nope it will be business as usual.
And taxpayers will pay as usual and life will gone on. Not once wondering when will all this giving force some taxpayers into bankruptcy and go from taxpayer to be one of the poor.
This is only ONE story that kills the will to give. My kids wanted to do something nice for the nursing home one year. We asked who needed a care package and was given a woman to shop for. When we arrived, we found out the woman was near comatose so of course didn't need nor could use the items. The staff was dividing the things between themselves before we left the woman's room. Learned our lesson. Never again. Basically a slap in the face to the kids.
BTW, don't give to those angel trees in malls. Prisoners here send in their names and their families overload the trees so they're not only double dipping but hauling it out by the bucketfulls. If you know someone personally, give it directly to the person so you know it's actually going to the needy and actually getting to them rather than into someone's pocket.
Unfortunately, this waste and fraud will reach new highs in the aftermath of Katrina. The Gov't is expanding it's role from just providing emergency assistance to being the insurer of every loss and 'Rebuilding' entire sections of the Country. I see no end in this spiral towards fiscal disaster.
"It's so disturbing because we have urgent needs to help individuals who truly are the victims of disasters," said .S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "I think it erodes public support for disaster assistance when there is a pattern of wasteful and abusive spending."
Well... duh!
I wonder how much of that was setup to be paid in Clintons admin
Maybe. In the long run having some credibility ought to be a positive. My congressman, Scott Garrett, voted against the big billion dollar relief bill because of stuff like this. Why shouldn't the will to give be stifled if the recipients can't be trusted? Should we still be giving to Oil for Food? Seems we have a lot of cleaning up to do in our own back yard. I wonder if anyone in the governing party has the stomach for it.
The rules of the "game" must change. FEMA is required to give "service" when requested, to anyone. Who does the checking and how is it done. The Reverend’s Jackson and Sharpton make loud claims that can be heard across the MSM and MSP, that the poor are not getting their fair share of aid. So rather than take the bad publicity time and time again, FEMA becomes the victim as well as the American tax payer.
More reasons why I never give a penny to "general" charities. I give funds to specific charities who serve a limited function, such as buying 3D ultrasound machines for crisis pregnancy centers. Giving to the Red Cross is like flushing cash down the toilet.
Who do you think you are kidding?
You never had any "will to give".
All you and the rest of these CRY BABIES want to do is piss and moan and play "POOR ME!"
You have no power over what's going on because of your distrustful attitudes. You have exactly what you wished for.
Points well taken! The Salvation Army gives about 98% of their gifts to the needy. The Red Cross has huge overhead and gives about 48% to the needy and that goes for most organizations "devoted" to citizens in need.
All three examples you cite were "minority majority" communities. It is electoral payola.
I say we turn the aid effort over to the private sector - say 2 or 3 of the largest banks in the region. They in turn can schedule appointments with people who live in the region - let people meet with the bank and show proof of citizenship and two years tax returns. then the banks cut them a check that goes into an account in the bank. The people are then given a debit card to be used for food and clothing AND an account number. The account number would be provided to contractors. The individuals can hire contractors to do the work and then bill the bank under that account number.
The bank then pays the contractor and logs the invoice and the work puported to be done. Then the IRS along with FEMA can audit the work neighborhood by neighborhood - if the contractor has inflated the work or not done it at all - that person is arrested for Federal Fraud.
The banks are given a set amount and territory to serve. They are then paid 20% of all funds not spent, as well as 6% fees for all monies paid out. This gives the bank incentives ot hire people, gives them incentives to ensure the money goes to the right place, allows the expenditures of federal monies by both individuals and contractors to be audited and tracked, and ensures that the fraud is prosecuted.
I guarantee you that people, aka criminals, are more likely to try to con the government out of money than they are a private bank. The banks look like the heroes, employ a number of people and provide a quality service to the community and to the tax-payers.
And when people scream "big brother" becuase the banks are reviewing how people spent their money, the answer is simple. You have a job - any income you make from that can be spent on all the goodies you need, but the money the taxpayers gives you is to be spent on food, clothes, medicine, and building back your property.
Get the money out of federal hands and let the private sector distribute the money - 95% of the money will go to the right place instead of 30% like under most federal programs.
"If you know someone personally, give it directly to the person so you know it's actually going to the needy and actually getting to them rather than into someone's pocket."
You are exactly right.
I never give to organizations of any kind, but I did just finished putting a student through 5 years of college paying for her tuition, books, and anything else she needed. And this is just one personal cause.
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