FEMA Free Grant Program Ends; Was It Fair? (More whining from Jefferson)

MSNBC ^ | 10/04/2005 | Bob Sullivan

[drt1]

'Expedited assistance' $2,000 payments to Katrina victims stopped quietly.

Is everyone getting their fair share of FEMA hurricane recovery funds?

Already, FEMA has given away a staggering amount of money to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita -- nearly $2 billion to 850,000 people, according to figures provided by Federal Emergency Management Agency's Eugene Kinerney. And much more aid is probably on the way. Victims are eligible to receive up to $26,200 based on a means test, enough for 18 months of living expenses according to government calculations, FEMA says.

With that much money being doled out, there's bound to be criticism.

[drt1]

"These monies are used for food, diapers, medicines, and other essential items. For FEMA to cut off these funds now is unacceptable," said Congressman William Jefferson, D-LA. "FEMA should reinstate the ... program immediately until all qualified individuals receive the money to which they are entitled.”

Right Bill - I know from firsthand experience that at least one of those cards found it way to Mich and part of the funds were used to buy a Louis Vuitton handbag at an upscale store. BTW, this Congressman is the same S*ithead who used precious manpower and equipment to move some of his personal documents while many in NMO were drowning for lack of rescue resources.

[frankjr]

"(More whining from Jefferson)". Jefferson?...

[xcamel]

William Jefferson, Democrat, LA, Canvasing for votes

[drt1]

LOL. Nope, this Jefferson is definitely NOT funny.

[justkillingtime]

And much more aid is probably on the way. Victims are eligible to receive up to $26,200 based on a means test, enough for 18 months of living expenses according to government calculations, FEMA says.
.
.
. would this include the people on welfare,paying section 8 rent??....good deal if true (sarcasm)

[drt1]

Let's face it, FEMA is so wounded by the orchestrated criticism that they are throwing money at anything that is demanded. They are afraid of being accused of not being 'Compassionate' or un-PC.

IMO All the more reason to keep disaster response and ensuing recovery as Local as possible with the Feds assuming a much less prominent role.

[jocko12]

Who do I write to.To get my check.

[T. P. Pole]

receive the money to which they are entitled

Let me check here . . . nope, nobody is entitled to anything. Give it all back.

[drt1]

Yep. The Libs and MSM have them well trained. Entitled my A$$.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

I'm sure that there is a ton of waste and misuse here - but granted that it is going to happen - at lease the use of ATM/Debit cards will allow for an audit trail of how the funds were used. I'd like to see an analysis of product codes, payment locations (liquor stores?, Prada shops?), along with time of day, day of week of transaction, etc. In the immigration debate the estimates all have enormous margins of error - because no one is collecting accurate data. In this example of government abuse of the taxpayer - at least we'll know where out money was wasted.

[supercat]

And much more aid is probably on the way. Victims are eligible to receive up to $26,200 based on a means test, enough for 18 months of living expenses according to government calculations, FEMA says.

IMHO, if the government really wanted to be fair, it would give disaster victims a refund of the previous year's taxes. Of course, Democrats would howl about such a proposal, but it would seem much fairer than most.

[drt1]

"At least the use of ATM/Debit cards will allow for an audit trail of how the funds were used."

Very good point. I hope they do this but I'll bet it takes a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to get the raw data released so a non-FEMA entity can compile the stats. Can't wait.