Posted on 02/14/2006 6:52:58 PM PST by Uncle Sham
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Local officials say $85 billlion aid figure is misleading
By Bill Walsh Washington bureau
WASHINGTON — When pressed about what his administration is doing to help the victims of last year’s hurricanes, President Bush has recently taken to pointing to an eye-catching number on the bottom line.
Typical is his statement during a Jan. 26 White House press conference: “The Congress has appropriated $85 billion to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. ... I want to remind people in that part of the world, $85 billion is a lot.”
Some Louisiana lawmakers do not dispute the heft of that number, but they do question whether it accurately reflects reality on the ground, where long-term housing and infrastructure repair has become a priority.
For starters, no one can say with any precision how much of that total has actually been spent so far. The finest point the administration can put on the figure is “more than half.”
The bulk of the money has so far gone to the most immediate relief efforts — paying for such things as debris removal, “blue roof” coverings for damaged homes and temporary housing and travel trailers — not to rebuilding the decimated region and its economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Maybe you better be asking yourself where all those billions we gave you for levees, disaster perparadness etc. went. You all got it so "tough" yet you have more then enough time to log onto websites and call talk radio shows and whine about how you aren't getting what you deserve.
I'm not whining about anything. None of this is for me. I'm just spreading a little truth about what is really going on down here so perhaps you can make an informed opinion.
Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars EACH.
I'm so thankful Republicans are in control in Washington.
Not to sound heartless, but the people in Louisiana who still need help, probably needed help before the hurricane, and will need help long after the hurricane.
It is nearly impossible to help people who cannot help themselves.
Nice simpleton math. As this article explains, a large chunk of this "aid" is paying for administration, another large chunk is for flood insurance to pay those who actually had flood insurance, and another large chunk is for debris removal. Those overpriced matchbox trailers are also a huge chunk of the pie. There really hasn't been much of this "aid" hitting the street where it is really needed.
I'm no expert on these matters, but I think you could raise Atlantis for $85 billion.
Let's see ... someone takes a figure ... let's say $85 billion to be consistent ... divide that dollar amount by the number of people it's supposed help for Katrina "recovery" and we come up with a dollar amount per person.
"Simpleton math" is exactly right. Teach third graders about exponents and dealing with a bunch of zeros and they could do it.
Which is more than I can say for President Bush and the rest of the big-spending RINO's in Washington.
Ban me, call me a troll, call me the worst name in the book, but I will NEVER forget that is OUR money they are spending. I have a problem with that.
Can you tell me just exactly "who" is getting this money? It's certainly not those who are the ones this money is supposedly intended to help. As stated in the article, most of what has been spent so far can hardly be classified as "aid".
Most of that $250,000 each is going to out of state contractors who are well connected.
Don't believe everything you see on tv.
The price that they are paying for those trailers could honestly build modest Habitat houses. Indiana has hit a windfall.
The cost of those tarps are about the same as just fixing the damn roof. Those trailers are selling to FEMA for as high as $75,000.00. These are only $19,000.00 trailers. They've got a lot of nerve talking about how Louisiana politicians steal money. FEMA has Edwards and co. beat by a mile. At least we put Edwards in prison.
We've already seen 100 mil for 'levees' go for casinos and $2500 debit cards go for Voutoun purses.
The levees performed exactly as advertised. They stood up to a Cat 3 storm.
What hasn't performed as advertised is LA government. They've managed to steal hundreds of millions of dollars of US taxpayer money.
There's absolutely no reason to think they won't go right on stealing if they're given more.
The people who bought flood insurance should get checks. The people who didn't should get nothing more than they have gotten already.
I guess the hundreds of millions in clean up costs being borne by the US taxpayer shouldn't count because those funds aren't being disbursed in the form of checks. What a crock. The US military has been there for months, and that costs big money.
I'm not in favor of giving Blanco, Nagin, and Landreau one more dime of US taxpayer money. They're thieves and liars who've demonstrated time and time again they can't be trusted with anything.
If they think the Feds are being stingy, f 'em. Call out the LA Guard and let them handle the clean up...
L
Our national debt is over 8 trillion dollars. I guess that means that your family just got a check for $120,000 (typical family of four). You got this money and you didn't even have to lose everything you owned to get it. How selfish of you.
This money isn't even getting to them in order for them to have the opportunity to steal it. FEMA is doing a good enough job of losing it on their own. You've heard of FEMA, the agency run by Bush and company.
***Not to sound heartless, but the people in Louisiana who still need help, probably needed help before the hurricane***
Funny! I was down there THIS WEEKEND and was thinking the same thing! Beyond the lack of trees, New Orleans looks pretty much like it did last summer, BEFORE the Hurricane!! (It was a dump BEFORE the storm, folks.....)
Just don't cut it for us.
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