Millions wasted in Katrina aftermath

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Who knows. A lot of the poorest New Orleanians never had much in the way of ID, then you have the ones with 18 social security numbers. While the rest of the country was vaugely aware of New Orleans/Lousiana's reputation for corruption, I think this is proving an eye-opener just how wide-spread the "I got mine" culture had become. It's interesting to note that Mississippi, while suffering a great deal of devastation, has not been plauged by this kind of mess.
 
When this first began happening, we speculated on the abuse when they started passing out the $2000 stipends, wondering how many ways, the system, or lack of a system, would lead to abuse, with the same people getting in line multiple times. It's so unfortunate that such wide-spread abuse happened, and continues to happen, Resources going to waste, New Orleans with no real concrete plans to rebuild. We wonder how things could degrade to this point. It never fails that there are certain types of individuals who wait for things like this to happen, and are quick to capitalize on them, and some of them are the very people who are supposed to be minding the store. Instead of minding the store, they loot it. So much money poured into a situation, that gets wasted, and siphoned off.
 
I heard that after hurricane Rita went thru the government gave anyone who had a Abbeyville address food stamps. Strange thing was they never took a direct hit. :bang:
 
My wife got mad at me because I wouldn't contribute to the Red Cross's relief effort. I did not because of three reasons:

1) I knew that in a few months no one would be giving anything and figured it would be better served to donate then--when the need was clearly defined and lagging.

2) I knew there would be widespread abuses as we are seeing now. There were both the government issued debit cards and the Red Cross Issued debit cards.....the Red Cross were widely abused because the Red Cross isn't going to go after someone faking need and misspending the money.

3) I knew that many of these people were useless and I didn't want my money going to them.

We have had a good amount of Katrina violence most recently with that murder suicide where the man beat their autistic son so badly that the police couldn't tell he had also been SHOT. Burn in hell buddy.

We also have a bunch of these Katrina victims that have done absolutely nothing in Atlanta for SIX MONTHS to better themselves or get off the dole. Now they want to complain because they didn't get a job (there are PLENTY) and a permanent place to live. So are we supposed to pay for these slobs for the next 70 years of their life at hotels and hope they have a change of heart and become self-sufficient? Don't think so. All many of these people did was relocate their welfare state from NO to other States.

I take that back, we did help the family of a woman my wife works with. Her family evacuated to a hotel inland from NO to survive and then they saw that their home was gone. They decided to move to Atlanta and were staying with my wife's co-worker until they found a place (there was one of her and ten of them :D). They lost everything. So we gave them money, clothing, etc. Their son was truly overjoyed at getting our son's used but still in new condition windbreaker and jogging suit along with some new toys and some new clothes we bought. We had saved a LOT of pristine clothes for this year's garage sale and they were boxed up and we just took them. I didn't mind helping people who were generally grateful and had taken proper steps to help themselves. The dad was given a GOOD job arranged by a local church and they now have a home and are doing well. Those are the people I like to help...those who help themselves.

Cal
 
The on-going issue of vacant hotel rooms being paid for by FEMA just kills me. :banghead: Our local paper did a research of the hotels here, and they showed that all the hotels in the area stated they had no more Katrina victims there, but FEMA was contacted, and told that they were still paying weekly amounts for 47 rooms. :banghead: And this is after the scandals of certain less-than-honest hotels still billing FEMA for weekly amounts when the rooms had been abandoned. They kept billing FEMA. :banghead:

That's just 47 rooms (at weekly rates) in the Waco area; now multiply that...and imagine the wasted $$$$. Both for fraudulent billing, and FEMA paperwork errors.

I would LOVE to tell FEMA I'd be happy to work for them as a hotel room auditor and go around and verify the # of rooms currently occupied by legitimate people. I KNOW I would be able to more than pay my own salary with the savings through an audit.

This just kills me.
 
This is the same US Government that many want making our health care decisions for us.

They should make an example of these people and throw them in jail for oh say 50 years mandatory sentence and this garbage will stop.

Cal
 
FEMA is not so innocent itself in all of this...

They went around to state agencies encouraging them to file for damage that either did not happen or that was more then covered within the agencies own staffing ability.

This I saw first hand. The FEMA rep was trying to get these agencies to file when it wasn't needed...
Yet people in need could hardly get a dime from them.
This is Florida I speak of not LA. I don't know how the FEMA reps handled themselves there.
 
The article mentions $375 a day rooms at Panama City Beach condos. That is outrageous. That is the peek season prices. Believe me, when Katrina hit we were into off season rates.

This sounds like greedy motel owners wanting to be reimbursed for high prices to profit.
 
calus_3 said:
My wife got mad at me because I wouldn't contribute to the Red Cross's relief effort. I did not because of three reasons:

1) I knew that in a few months no one would be giving anything and figured it would be better served to donate then--when the need was clearly defined and lagging.

2) I knew there would be widespread abuses as we are seeing now. There were both the government issued debit cards and the Red Cross Issued debit cards.....the Red Cross were widely abused because the Red Cross isn't going to go after someone faking need and misspending the money.

3) I knew that many of these people were useless and I didn't want my money going to them.

We have had a good amount of Katrina violence most recently with that murder suicide where the man beat their autistic son so badly that the police couldn't tell he had also been SHOT. Burn in hell buddy.

We also have a bunch of these Katrina victims that have done absolutely nothing in Atlanta for SIX MONTHS to better themselves or get off the dole. Now they want to complain because they didn't get a job (there are PLENTY) and a permanent place to live. So are we supposed to pay for these slobs for the next 70 years of their life at hotels and hope they have a change of heart and become self-sufficient? Don't think so. All many of these people did was relocate their welfare state from NO to other States.

I take that back, we did help the family of a woman my wife works with. Her family evacuated to a hotel inland from NO to survive and then they saw that their home was gone. They decided to move to Atlanta and were staying with my wife's co-worker until they found a place (there was one of her and ten of them :D). They lost everything. So we gave them money, clothing, etc. Their son was truly overjoyed at getting our son's used but still in new condition windbreaker and jogging suit along with some new toys and some new clothes we bought. We had saved a LOT of pristine clothes for this year's garage sale and they were boxed up and we just took them. I didn't mind helping people who were generally grateful and had taken proper steps to help themselves. The dad was given a GOOD job arranged by a local church and they now have a home and are doing well. Those are the people I like to help...those who help themselves.

Cal
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They had a woman on the news here this morning saying she looks in the paper every day and sees plenty of jobs but she can't get hired because she's considered unstable because she doesn't have a permanent home. Believe you me considering the circumstances I bet someone would happily hire her. It's probably some type of job she doesn't want or feels is beneath her.
 
kato said:
They had a woman on the news here this morning saying she looks in the paper every day and sees plenty of jobs but she can't get hired because she's considered unstable because she doesn't have a permanent home. Believe you me considering the circumstances I bet someone would happily hire her. It's probably some type of job she doesn't want or feels is beneath her.
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That's bulloney and who said she can't get hired? Her? Sounds like a convenient excuse.....heck radio show hosts here in GA had some people on who were displaced and talked about their skills--they had call after call offering them work.

Heck half of the people I know don't have anything more than a month-to-month lease. I never once have been asked if I had a permanent home or even where I lived other than my address for tax and other purposes.

She could go rent a PO box and list that as her address and stay wherever the heck she wants.

That is a BAD excuse from a government leach, IMHO.

Cal
 
calus_3 said:
That's bulloney and who said she can't get hired? Her? Sounds like a convenient excuse.....heck radio show hosts here in GA had some people on who were displaced and talked about their skills--they had call after call offering them work.

Heck half of the people I know don't have anything more than a month-to-month lease. I never once have been asked if I had a permanent home or even where I lived other than my address for tax and other purposes.

She could go rent a PO box and list that as her address and stay wherever the heck she wants.

That is a BAD excuse from a government leach, IMHO.

Cal
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Totally!
 
To the hard working poor people of NO and LA, MS, and AL, this storm will turn out to be the biggest blessing they every had.....potentially relocating them to much more fertile area with better standards of living and jobs.

To the derelict poor that seemed to sort of congregate in NO, this was a nightmare temporarily dressed up like a Colt 45 in a paper bag. How you ask? Well, they were relocated after losing nothing because they didn't own anything or very little worth saving to begin with. Most were section 8 housing in the worst areas of NO. They were relocated to other States and put up in hotels that were leap years better than what they had in NO. But now some six months later, they have done nothing to secure any work or permanent housing--living off the tax payers. Suddenly, that has gone away and we get the sob stories and the heartless US Government and homeless kids stories. I say let them become homeless, take the kids and give them to foster care with responsible parents. That will solve the homeless children problem. If in six months of free living you can't find a job and save enough to get a job and probably even a car, you got something wrong with you. ESPECIALLY....let me repeat ESPECIALLY if you have children.

Cal
 
kato said:
They had a woman on the news here this morning saying she looks in the paper every day and sees plenty of jobs but she can't get hired because she's considered unstable because she doesn't have a permanent home. Believe you me considering the circumstances I bet someone would happily hire her. It's probably some type of job she doesn't want or feels is beneath her.
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I agree there's got to be a lot of people not trying very hard. She should cruise on up to the Central Texas area - plenty of lower paying jobs in the papers all the time. Not awesome jobs, but jobs. And because she doesn't have a permanent home? Baloney. Doubtful that's the only, or primary, reason. Whatcha say there's more to the story that she didn't volunteer?!

My heart goes out to those displaced. But there's been plenty who are re-establishing their lives, and not by sitting 24/7 in a hotel room, where they've got furnishings, electricity, maid service, etc. for over 6 months. Some I'm sure are really in need, but I hate to see those that haven't done much to get off their rear, continue to whine. I have more pride in myself, and wouldn't want handouts when I could be out doing something. (It's no different than the expectations I have for my own children. I'm supporting my son in college - I pay tuition, books, he lives at home and doesn't pay for board, etc. - but I want him to work a small part-time job to gain experience, as well as pay for some of his extras.)

I don't mind paying for some things for awhile for those truly displaced, but not everything on an forever basis. Get a job, earn your keep. I'm not one to fall for a lot of the excuses. If anything, go volunteer at some place to get good experience, show you're reliable, and maybe it will lead to an actual paying job.

JMHO.
 
calus_3 said:
To the hard working poor people of NO and LA, MS, and AL, this storm will turn out to be the biggest blessing they every had.....potentially relocating them to much more fertile area with better standards of living and jobs.

To the derelict poor that seemed to sort of congregate in NO, this was a nightmare temporarily dressed up like a Colt 45 in a paper bag. How you ask? Well, they were relocated after losing nothing because they didn't own anything or very little worth saving to begin with. Most were section 8 housing in the worst areas of NO. They were relocated to other States and put up in hotels that were leap years better than what they had in NO. But now some six months later, they have done nothing to secure any work or permanent housing--living off the tax payers. Suddenly, that has gone away and we get the sob stories and the heartless US Government and homeless kids stories. I say let them become homeless, take the kids and give them to foster care with responsible parents. That will solve the homeless children problem. If in six months of free living you can't find a job and save enough to get a job and probably even a car, you got something wrong with you. ESPECIALLY....let me repeat ESPECIALLY if you have children.

Cal
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:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
 
Recently, it was on the Dallas news about a man who had his one week eviction notice for his hotel room - and he wasn't wanting to leave - although FEMA had been paying for an apartment for him for the past month! The reason why he said he didn't want to leave the hotel? He didn't have furniture for the new apartment.

Well, just wondering - did he tell FEMA that he wasn't going to use the apartment? Did he try to find sources for some furniture, i.e., churches, Salvation Army, etc? And in that month, did he try to find a job that would allow him to get a little $ so as to buy some furniture?

It's stories like this that make me go :doh: I know so many people who would willingly give excess furniture, household supplies to those really needy and who have a desire to move up and on.

I'm hoping that after the story aired, that someone did indeed find furniture for the man and get him to his new apartment. I'm sure they did, as usually there is such an outpouring for such specific needs.

(Sorry, no link - it was on TV a few weeks ago.)
 
DEPUTYDAWG said:
Recently, it was on the Dallas news about a man who had his one week eviction notice for his hotel room - and he wasn't wanting to leave - although FEMA had been paying for an apartment for him for the past month! The reason why he said he didn't want to leave the hotel? He didn't have furniture for the new apartment.

Well, just wondering - did he tell FEMA that he wasn't going to use the apartment? Did he try to find sources for some furniture, i.e., churches, Salvation Army, etc? And in that month, did he try to find a job that would allow him to get a little $ so as to buy some furniture?

It's stories like this that make me go :doh: I know so many people who would willingly give excess furniture, household supplies to those really needy and who have a desire to move up and on.

I'm hoping that after the story aired, that someone did indeed find furniture for the man and get him to his new apartment. I'm sure they did, as usually there is such an outpouring for such specific needs.

(Sorry, no link - it was on TV a few weeks ago.)
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When my husband and I got married (still in college) we had a bed and some hangers for our clothes. That was it. Why do they think they need anything better than what most of us started out with. They are STILL getting their gov. check and all expenses paid for. That is way more than we had starting our new lives together, and we still had to worry about getting food and books. We both worked and went to school full time. That is how it is supposed to be. You work hard and you earn, save and build your life. Why wait for a hand out?
 
deandaniellws said:
When my husband and I got married (still in college) we had a bed and some hangers for our clothes. That was it. Why do they think they need anything better than what most of us started out with. They are STILL getting their gov. check and all expenses paid for. That is way more than we had starting our new lives together, and we still had to worry about getting food and books. We both worked and went to school full time. That is how it is supposed to be. You work hard and you earn, save and build your life. Why wait for a hand out?
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Yes! I remember my meager beginnings in my little 1/2 of a duplex. Ya know what? I survived. And it's what you make of it.

Did any of you see it on TV this morning about the hundreds of FEMA trailers sitting near an airport in Arkansas (I swear it showed Hope, Arkansas, but not 100% sure)...the reporter said the trailers are at risk of sinking, that if they're on that land much longer, they won't be able to get them out and therefore, is millions of $$$ wasted. This just KILLS ME!!!!!

Am I the only one that wants to go work for FEMA and take over?! This truly can't continue! There's waste, scams, etc. from those individuals who just want federal handouts, and then on the other hand we have waste and scams and ineptitude on FEMA's side. Goodness gracious.
 
DEPUTYDAWG said:
Yes! I remember my meager beginnings in my little 1/2 of a duplex. Ya know what? I survived. And it's what you make of it.

Did any of you see it on TV this morning about the hundreds of FEMA trailers sitting near an airport in Arkansas (I swear it showed Hope, Arkansas, but not 100% sure)...the reporter said the trailers are at risk of sinking, that if they're on that land much longer, they won't be able to get them out and therefore, is millions of $$$ wasted. This just KILLS ME!!!!!

Am I the only one that wants to go work for FEMA and take over?! This truly can't continue! There's waste, scams, etc. from those individuals who just want federal handouts, and then on the other hand we have waste and scams and ineptitude on FEMA's side. Goodness gracious.
Click to expand...
I agree...and it is OUR money they are wasting. That is what some people don't seem to understand. If they did, surely more people would be having a fit!
 
FEMA is a joke and a money hog, Red Cross aint far behind. We've not had a lot of the same problems here in Alabama thankfully. Only good thing I can say about our Gov'ner, he was on the ball.

The only problem we are having now is that the state has given over our State parks with travel trailers and some folks are having a hard time getting around with no car to find a job and getting kids to childcare. Most of the parks are in rural areas, too far to walk. There has been talk of using public buses to bus these folks out to a central location so they can get back and forth to work.

Our youth in Church started a clothes pantry for nice clothing for job interviews and help folks fill out paperwork and we have some of the older folks driving the Church bus to take folks to work for a specified amount of time. We are not the only ones either.

Thankfully, we only have a few that are still in hotels, Churchs are reaching out to them to motivate them to do something...I think the numbers were about 400 people. But sometimes you can't help those that won't help themselves and they will go somewhere else eventually.

I don't give money to Red Cross. Ever. After dealing with them every time a hurricane comes through I'd rather give my money to a local charity that actually helps people in a timely manner.

And if folks want a job...my dh was just in NO last week, Arby's is hiring for 16 an hour down there! I say give em a one way greyhound bus ticket and see how they like doing it on their own!
 
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