Big Dogs Weblog

If You Pay, They Will Come

by Big Dog on Dec 6, 2006 at 19:02 Political

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall and caused the damage to New Orleans the left was quick to jump on the Bush Administration as inept and unable to respond or help. They completely ignored the fact that FEMA is not a first responder and that the local officials, that is; Democrats, completely blew it. All blame was laid on the President by a well aimed effort of the media and the Democrats. The entertainment industry chipped in with the famous line by Kanye West, “Bush hates black people.” These are all pipe dreams and the President should have stood his ground. It might have been helpful if Republicans and people who know how to handle the media had gotten out and informed people of the truth. The images of stupid people who either did not have the sense to leave or were abandoned by their elected Democrats like Ray Nagin were too much for America and eventually people bought into the idea that the government is the savior and should be there on a moment’s notice and that personal responsibility was unimportant.

Bush rushed in with pledges of billions of dollars, money no one balked about spending like they do the money for the war, and he did this to appease people. The message was, we will throw money at this to help you. I wrote several posts at the time and indicated that not one red cent should go to the region until there was a method to account for the taxpayer money that was being spent on something that taxpayer money is not meant for. I was the voice calling for oversight because I know what happens when the government tries to be nice and give away other’s hard earned money. The conditions were set up for massive fraud and I hit that nail on the head. There is a report out today that at least a BILLION dollars has been lost to fraud. One thousand million dollars has been lost to fraud because the government, in its haste to appease people by throwing cash at them, had no method of oversight. This is how the government handles our money each and every day when they are not in crisis mode so anyone with a brain could see it was going to be a disaster.

The GAO cited incidents in which FEMA gave $17 million in housing assistance to individuals who had already obtained free housing in the form of trailers or apartments and $20 million that went to people who improperly claimed for help for both storms that ravaged the U.S. Gulf Coast area. al-Reuters

There were people who received money for housing even though they already had free places to live. They knew they were not entitled to the money and yet they took it. The government should find these people, get the money back and then give them free housing in a federal penitentiary. There were some who claimed to be victims of both hurricanes (Katrina and Rita) so they collected money for both. They need new accommodations as well. FEMA is not blameless in this fiasco but they have a hard situation to deal with. As soon as they try to cut funds or delay they are challenged in court and people clamor for their gubmint check. The public outcry and the lawsuits make it easier for them to just give up the money and forget about it.

FEMA needs to stop all assistance right now. They need to regroup and get a handle on how money is doled out and how it is accounted for. They need to ensure that they stop giving out our money to people who do not deserve it. This is the kind of corruption you get when people are made to believe they are entitled to something for nothing. This is what happens when an administration rushes to appease rather than assessing the situation and handling it properly (with regard to rebuilding and helping people). FEMA needs to involve the FBI and other law enforcement to track down the people who committed fraud and bring them to justice. FEMA also needs to hold off on any more hand outs until every penny is accounted for.

Put me in charge of the effort and I will fire people who are inept, be tough with slugs looking for handouts and I will make the people who lived in New Orleans go back there and work to rebuild it in return for the money they want. You want fiscal responsibility you keep politics and emotion out of the arena and you handle it like a business. All the Democrats in the world, the MSM, and the entertainment industry (especially Kanye) can call me any name they want while I am conducting business because as far as I am concerned, they can all get in line, behind the last person in line, to kiss my tail.

I recommend each of you contact your elected officials and let them know that you don’t appreciate having your hard earned money wasted.

The Dog has spoken.

Tags: Commentary, Political