Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a new audit has uncovered at least $1 billion in potential fraud and waste in the disaster agency’s debit card handouts to Hurricane Katrina victims.
Among the items paid for with your tax dollars: a vacation to the Dominican Republic, diamond jewelry, a library of “Girls Gone Wild” videos and a $200 bottle of champagne from Hooters.
Let the good times roll!
Moreover, some 16 percent of the registrations were found to contain invalid information.
In one case, an inspector gave a vacant lot as an address and received $6,000 in assistance; the payments continued even after authorities were notified that the claim was suspect.
Your tax dollars at work — and it’s outrageous. Congress needs to get to the bottom of this management disaster.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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30 Comments
Congress get to the bottom of this?
Congress sets the example.
ED- You’ve got right! They’ve got the patent on pork.
I’m still trying to process Hooters serves $200 champagne.
That includes the waitress.
This is really small potatoes in contrast to the loot we’re flushing in Iraq- the human misery nowithstanding.
gster
You hit that right on the mark.
Don’t tell Nathan what I said or he’ll be ordering-up all of the Dom Perignon :-}
Skoal!!
You can get Don Perrion at Hooters
Don’t say that, that’s just what the label says.
Nowadays there is Knock-off for everything. Even “Presidents.”
“Your tax dollars at work — and it’s outrageous. Congress needs to get to the bottom of this management disaster.”
Ridiculous Randy. Congress get to the bottom of it? Congress couldn’t wait to start throwing money at Katrina victims. See what happens when that is your “plan”.
Do you suppose that it was misuse of the cards to purchase some of this stuff? But will those who misused the cards be held accountable? I seriously doubt it. More valuable to use the issue as political fodder.
Wasn’t it the press screaming at the Bush administration for not gettting tons of money to Katrina victims sooner?Another example of the press not being in the battle, just walking the battleground afterwards and shooting the wounded.
The press reported on the failure of the government right after Katrina hit, which it was.The press is now reporting on the incredible fraud and waste , again by the government, in the aftermath , which it is again. The press didn’t create this mess, they merely reported it. What’s the problem?
Please, if each of you was given a debit card with a thousand dollars, are you saying, that even in the situation the Katrina victims were in (no, espcially in the situation), you wouldn’t blow at least some of it?
Joe, isn’t that what your name refers to? ;)
RB- No, it seems my government does that bigger and faster than I could ever imagine!
Ed nailed it. Congress is going to do what? They set the benchmark for misspending, waste and fraud. The way to get to the bottom of anything having to do with fraud is start at the top. I don’t condone what happened, but what was stolen and wasted on Katrina is just a tiny drop in the bucket.
I wonder, how many cards ended up inthe hands of the one’s doing theissuing??? Or, the powerful admin.types?
(”Here, you issue these 1000 cardsand keep a couple for yourself.” HA!”Just Don’t tell nobody.” Wink-Wink.
If you combine the pork, medicare/medicade waste, “special interest” waste, subsides waste, including home and foreign, Multi-thousand dollar toilet seats,et al, one might find that if done away with, one could go along way towards balancing the budget.
It ain’t gonna happen.
Am just waiting to see some of those cards show up in the hands of congressmen..compliments of Jack Abramhoff….
Stop giving away money and it won’t happen again.
JM Walker not to forget the billions in farm subsidies.
If they had not given it they would be even more “evil racists” from the media for not handing out the “gubment” checks.
To bad the feds got nailed on this when it was the state and city that were so decrepit and mismanaged. The media so overproduced the coverage is was outrageous. The after action report by the OMB and even Pop Science magazine found there were no rapes, no murders and that FEMA was actually on the ground faster than they were at Hurricane Andrew. But once the levees were breached it was all over.
So, lets think on this – should we rebuild a city in the shape of a BOWL and put the city in the bottom. Until we as taxpayers stand up and say enough this will continue. Just as it will with the continued rebuilds of Florida every year and our insurance rates skyrocketing to pay for it. Well at least this year some insurance companies are saying no more coverage in the state of Florida. Lets see if the banks make those big loans on something that will essentially become a large mobile home.
This is your standard government program. Look out your windows at the 100 Billion dollar Farm Subsidy Program. These farms should have been allowed to go broke 40 years ago. As long as they are subsidized with such government loans they will continue. And without them about one-half of this state would join the Buffalo Commons all on their own.
Govenment waste is serious government waste. And just to think that the leftist on here want Government to still control their lives, finances, retirement, and etc. They say it is the better way to go. They can’t trust themselves, but they trust the government to manage their money and lives.
Just blows my mind.
Champagne, Hooters and dirty flix?Damned American! Hurray for Gov’t waste.Now if we could just do something about that pesty federal debt.
“Please, if each of you was given a debit card with a thousand dollars, are you saying, that even in the situation the Katrina victims were in (no, espcially in the situation), you wouldn’t blow at least some of it?”
RD-I might blow some of it but it would be on little things not tropical vacations or a lawyer or a high priced bottle of champagne.I’d probably use it for rent, clothes, groceries. I might blow a bit at wal-mart on makeup, perfume, toys for the kids but I’d make sure that the necessities were taken care of first.
mrbill..
Don’t forget the government disaster assistance for the million plus dollar homes in Malibu that slide down the hills every winter in CA.
Predictable: fires denude the hills, rains wash away the hillsides, homes fall down, FEMA pays to rebuild..on the SAME SPOT.
Yep….our taxes dollars “at work”.
Thats right, I forgot about the Malibu nonsense, and they should be left at the bottom of the hill as reminders.
As far as governement waste goes. After 40 years of welfare nonsense what other outcome would be expected. Handouts will always be squandered by the irresponsible. They tend along the same lines as the drunk who keeps going out and drinking everynite hoping perhaps for a different outcome.
“They tend along the same lines as the drunk who keeps going out and drinking everynite hoping perhaps for a different outcome.”
Sounds like the bushbots contemplating another war, like say in iran. But then, that’s just me.
Julie, I’d do the same as you. But not everyone is as fortunate as we are. And some are more fortunate.
Didn’t everybody get Katrina-aid? Rich, poor, middle?
I don’t know. If I had lived in the kind of poverty some of those people lived in down there, I might have gone happily berserk, after having lost everything and spent it to take the kids to Disney World. Again, I don’t know. I don’t want to go through what they did to find out.
And before everybody jumps on me, I’m not condoning that type of spending. I’m just trying to make sense of it.