A hurricane of fraud
Weren’t Republicans supposed to break this cycle (via USA Today):
Federal agents investigating widespread fraud after the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005 are sifting through more than 11,000 potential cases, a backlog that could take years to resolve.
Authorities have fielded so many reports of people cheating aid programs, swindling contracts and scamming charities after the hurricanes that Homeland Security inspectors, who typically police disaster aid scams, have been “swamped,” says David Dugas, the U.S. attorney in Baton Rouge.
“There’s definitely a backlog,” says Dugas, whose office helps coordinate an anti-fraud task force formed after the hurricanes. “Right now, that means we might not get to some cases as quickly as some people might like. If there’s still a backlog in two years when we start running up against the statute of limitations, that’s different.”
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita triggered more than $7 billion in disaster aid to Gulf Coast households, plus billions more in government contracts and rebuilding projects.
Flashback: Clinton’s biggest disaster fraud.
It has only gotten worse since the bad old Clinton days, not better.
Heckuva job. Heckuva job.
***
Previous Katrina blogging.
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Government contracts + Billions of Dollars = Possible Corruption…
Say it ain’t so.
Oh no.
We could’ve used a topic like this a long time ago.
Both sides of the aisle are guilty of not being watchful of spending.
What is sad about the Katrina situation is that some money isn’t getting to those who actually need it.
This is part of the reason Republicans lost the Senate and the House. We voted them into office, and what happens? They carry on like “business as usual.” I think its time for a third party.
Interesting you didn’t include something else in the formula.
Man-made disaster + Government Contracts = Recipe for fraud and abuse.
But the GOP is going to take care of everything.
Right?
Of course they are.
Will there be a post about Iraq spending habits too?
Let’s hope the Dems are just as hard-nosed about this as they are Iraq spending.
What saddens me about Katrina is that there are so many people who aren’t getting the help they need.
Edit: Second post is the most updated.
We do need another party. A third party win might give the Democrats and the Republicans a wake up call. Then again, as ingrained to the beltway as they are, they might not catch on….
The American Patriot Party, the Reagan Party…there are so many possibilities!
I keep wondering if a third party is on the horizon. With conservatives so upset with Shamnesty and liberals so upset with the continuance of Iraq, it seems there a lot of party regulars dissatisfied.
How about leaving the Federal Government out of it all together and let the States take care of their business. Remember “Federalism?”
Sometimes that approach doesn’t quite work.
ex.
Governor Wallace
Governor Ross R. Barnett
Governor Orval Faubus
…and yet we didn’t give out enough money fast enough….
Well, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. The outrage was originally that Bush didn’t act fast enough to rescue the
victimsidiots that didn’t leave town before Katrina. Consequently, the solution was just to throw a lot of money at the situation and with loose controls so that just about anyone that needed assistance could get it.Of course, any gov’t program that has those kinds of criteria involved will result in a great deal of money being lost to corruption. But basically you have to chalk it up to a cost of doing business. The last thing Bush wanted was more people like Kanye West being on TV calling him a racist.
Check out the Constitution Party here: http://www.constitutionparty.com
I’m not necessarily sold on all of their ideas (particularly the military issues) but they are as close to a viable republican alternative as I’ve found.
And they are saying a lot more that I agree with than what I disagree with. Which is more than I can say about the republicans now days.
Aw, heck…I thought I had made up the “American Patriot Party” but it turns out they exist…and not something I’d sign up for…
I’m a conservative-minded person, but this is why I no longer identify myself by party.
And this is why I have not joined.
And if any one of these were turned down the USA Today and others would had put it on the front page as another example of Bush incompetence.
Bad enough they are still ridiculing the Feds with hardly a peep about the Dem Governor and Dem Mayor not to mention the Dems that represent that area.
Even though the folks that could have helped the most, didn’t. Like the Mayor and Governor, both of whom are still as incompetent today as they were when Katrina hit land almost 2yrs ago.
I know this quote is ten years old now, but it proves that to be director of FEMA you pretty much have to be oblivious to real life:
This was in response to FEMA sending $3k checks to residents in a zip code hit by an earthquake before sending inspectors in to assess the damage.
Yeah, it’s sad that people aren’t getting enough help. It’s also sad that their are so many con artists (criminals, whatever you want to call them) who are cheating the system. It’s good to know that as long as there is free money coming from the federal government that we’ll still breed ineptitude and laziness into the lower classes of society, regardless of if the people handing out the checks are Democrats, Republicans, Whigs, or Dixiecrats.
Since Democrats love to label everyone by their skin color every chance they get (except for criminals, unless you’re white), let’s play a game and find out the race of these 11,000 people who have committed fraud. Any guesses?
When my parents were being hit by hurricanes in Florida, my dad wanted to convert to a more sympathetic ethnic group to increase the chances of quicker aid. He would not evacuate either. When I told him it was being declared a disaster area, he replied, “Son, between the illegal immigrants hitting Key West to the liberals from Long Island coming from the other direction, Florida is already a disaster area.” Oh, and that Hurricane Andrew money should be coming any day now.
eric aka http://www.blacktygrrrr.wordpress.com
Katrina and that entire New Orleans thing is a hot button for me. Having lived on the Gulf Coast most of my life, any person knowing that if a force 5 hurricane is bearing down on you and will arrive in three days, and deciding to stay put is the just stupid. The chocolate mayor, Ray Nagin, is solely responsible for the loss of life under his watch. PERIOD. That slacker did not use his just powers to order the evacuation, he did not utilize the resources at his disposal to facilitate the evacuation and allowed chaos (read drug dealing gangs) to follow in the storms wake. And then in a stunning move, to add insult to injury, that idiot allowed those around him to steal the relief effort blind.
I would wager that when the dust settles a few years from now, it will be discovered that fully one third of the relief money has been stolen. Mostly by corrupt democrat politicians. There, I have gotten this off my chest.
OK I’ll bite, just so you know, the folks in New Orleans were fully obligated to the aid. The ones that weren’t don’t live here? Just because the Dems like to play games, I would hope that we were a little above that kind of nonsense?
zorro
Being a current resident, I whole heartedly agree. The continued neglect is getting unbelievable. I have suggested this many times, that you never hear from the hard hit states of Texas, Miss, Ala, and Fla. I am sure it has a lot to do with the fact that they are Republican Govern states, plus they are probably competent as well. The residents of New Orleans and surrounding the area are flat embarrassed at how are leaders portray us as helpless, when it is them infact that are helpLESS.
No doubt prosecutions will be labelled “Racist” and the administration will then stop investigations. Sort of like the way this administration enforces the border, voter fraud and corruption by Democrats. By the way, when is Berger taking that lie-detector test?
Chocolate-gate?
Its hopeless down here…my mother in law who was stuck in the Superdome for a week, Thank you Michelle for your help, is STILL not back in her house. She has been getting ripped off by the permit process in New Orleans…She is a doctor for the City of New Orleans who just found out that the pension they were promised will not happen. It is pitiful and the funniest thing about it is people don’t want to give up on the City.
Though the housing prices have plummeted as of late.
Why on Earth did they re-elect that Moron Mayor? I notice now every time you see him he’s wearing a $10,000 dollar suit. Is a Mayor’s salary that much? Also, rumor has it that FEMA even sent “Tommy” a check and visa card.
Oh, don’t you mean the JESUS party? Little hard for an American Hindu to support it…
I was fortunate enough to spend 30 days in LA as a Logistics Section Chief with the Coast Guard. I spent a considerable amount of FEMA’s money and we did not waste anything. The bill for a one month supply (not including what the National Guard gave us) of bottled water was 150k. We had Coasties living in local Churches, trailers, basic need hotels, motor homes and personal vehicles. Motor homes were by far the greatest expense, some contracts charging 10k a month. While the majority of the contractors and local businesses that were operating treated us fairly, many were out fleece the government for as much as possible. I lost my warehouse (hanger) at the airport due to the greed. The initial contract was for 30 days renewable. The owner wanted 100k for an additional 30 days. I moved our entire inventory into rented budget trucks to save money.
I spent an additional 60+ days in MS as tthe Operations Section Chief. MS was hit hard, much harder than LA. In many places along the coast there was nothing standing for 5 blocks. Yet, we did not encounter many of the problems in LA. The basic reason being, the mayors, town councils, police, fire dept personnel were there.
One of the major mis-understandings concerning FEMA is, FEMA is basically a support agency. They bring in talent, equipment, supplies and ‘assist’ the local government with recovery. When there is no, or a hostile, local government, it just doesn’t work. FEMA has neither the local knowledge, or trust, to take the place of the local officials.
It’s too bad we don’t follow our own Constitution. I’m with Colonel Crockett and Walter Williams – there is no authority in the Constitution for this!
http://www.juntosociety.com/patriotism/inytg.html
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4130
I still say leave it to the State. Colorado had several disasters. Texas also. What did they do. Pulled up their britches and started to work. Consider the States that believe they deserve Federal money for any shakeup in life.
Good hard working people suffer just like the others, however there is something inside them that says we will get through this. Welfare states are what they are.
general company
Not all residents of New Orleans are entitled to aid. Only thise affected. There were many who weren’t.
We’ve had 3 or 4 cases here in Denver of Katrina fraud. All were residents or had ties to residents in New Orleans. All were charged with fraud and all were black. I’m not saying all 11,000 cases of fraud were by the black community. But I would like to see the statistics, and then I would like to hear Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton comment on those statistics.
My point is libs will put race labels on everything. And if 9,500 of those 11,000 fraud cases were commited by whites, believe me, it would be front page news.
I have no doubt that many of those poor, welfare dependent slaves of the Democratic party think that commiting fraud is fine, because the government owes them somehow.
Wow, how politically incorrect was that statement?
SirKnob :
We appreciated you and many other volunteers and agency workers. I have to agree with you about our local leaders here, they saw an opportunity to carry water for the Democratic party and they took it. Even at the expense of their own folks. Our dimwitted Governor did not realize until days later that the Feds cannot intervene until a State of Emergency is Declared. Many of the Agency workers stayed up on the north shore (where we live) because the State refused to let them continue into the city. I talked with many of them, they were horrified especially after watching CNN talk about 400 dead in the Dome and so on.
ajmontana
The residents did not reelect Mayor Nagin or Congressman Jefferson. In both cases the out of state vote was as big as the instate vote. Add Gov Blanco in with this group and you have our States worst set of politicians, and the biggest cataserfy These guy did very little campaign here, believe me they are not very popular either. Most city residents are appalled by having these crooks represent them.
PierreLegrand
I feel for you and your mother. My SiL and Daughter also lost their place, they wanted to rebuild but cannot secure insurance because of the cities refusal to clean up and start up other city owned municipalities. The housing market was predictable, unfortunately it is affecting all areas that had a spiked population.
msplitt
Those folks you mention are chicken feed compared to the out of state contractors and Government officials and other business type fraud. The Bush administration was so ridiculed in the news that they virtually paid anyone asking for a check, believe me they had FEMA folks trying to give out Visas in Baton Rouge and other areas that were not even hit. They even passed them out at the hospital on the north shore were my wife works, yea their is fraud but it was equal opportunity fraud. And if your counting the cash, I don’t think that the Race was won by who you think. The feds made the fraud too easy, folks that should not had accepted probably did not even realize they shouldn’t had. You have to remember, many of us were with out Elec, Water, for many weeks, (17days where I live), plus fuel went up and stayed up for weeks. I had 21 trees and half of every other one on my 4 acre property blown down, but just 20 miles west they never lost Elec. So let me tell you the half’s and the have-nots were on a thin line and the feds were not taking chances.
Realy, how does that work? Trust me everyone was affected. Most property owners still are!
I read the Constitution Party’s platform and sorry this makes them a non starter in my book.
I remember being bewildered by the way Bush reacted to the Katrina “problem” by throwing billions upon billions into the region without any method to police the use of those funds. Remember the debit cards given to everyone just because they were alive?
Bush wasn’t alone in this either. Congress was giddy with the outflow of taxpayer money to the region – especially New Orleans. The problem is the Federal Government HELLO! Our government is incapable of reasonable use of resources and is incompetent at doing anything efficiently.
Here’s what should have been done: do everything possible to rescue the irresponsible and the unfortunate from the aftermath of the storm. Then let charities, and the free market do what’s necessary for the recovery.
I guess I just don’t like my income being forcibly diverted from me and given to a bunch of undeserving freeloaders and fraudulent crooks.
I live here in South East Florida, for 4 years now, and went through all the hurricanes, and, besides ice being made available (By Public Grocery stores I might add, not the government) I saw nothing the local or federal government did that was not done by individuals. So the idea of having a perminate fund to tap is total insanity to me. The BIG accomplishment of FEMA after it was all over was to have childrens plays feating Mr Wind and Miss Hurricane, god what drivel, and that they spent pretty close to 750k, what in the hell were they thinking? And that went on for over a year after, the last hurricane came through, for the love of god.
Bruce, while I am trying to understand your thoughts , I am sure you and most people don’t understand the whole situation. I guess glancing over the fact that most folks are getting their info from the MSM who will say anything to make the current Administration look bad, and regardless of how bad it makes us (residents) look.
Over 90% of the residents from all affected areas DID evacuate, only to come back to find unlivable conditions. Also expecting that everyone was going to leave is just a bit unrealistic don’t you think? The Mayor could had made it mandatory and loaded up the city busses, but he decided to do some politicking (kinda order the Feds to get it done and played chicken with the Feds at the expense of his own citizens).
St Bernard’s Parish (County most other places) had over 98% of ALL of their buildings destroyed completely, along with the fisheries and other industry. About 60% of all residents in N.O. were also uninhabitable, my guess is they 30-40% still cant be. You see it was the residential areas that were flooded. Where would you have these folks go/do? Most folks don’t want hand outs, they want their representatives to clean up the mess so they can put the pieces back together, just like N.Y did after the attacks, just like Miss, Fla, and Texas are doing.
Sure lumping all of us as (a bunch of undeserving freeloaders and fraudulent crooks) is easy to say, but it simply isn’t reality. Most of the resident haven’t come back because their is no place to live, the rest were not property owners and probably aren’t coming back. We were descended by crooked contractors and Illegal immigrants who have under cut our skilled labor so badly that our already depressed wages have fallen. We used to have about (I am guessing) 1-3% Hispanic folks here, now they must be at least 15-25% of the population of N.O and surrounding area. I have way too many horror stories to know that what you said simply isn’t reality. We don’t want your sympathy, but we really could do without your insults as well. The folks in the affected area did not ask for this, the failing and fraud has little to do with the majority of folks down here.
Today’s Baton Rouge newspaper (The Advocate) has a story that Mayor Nagin is calling on all N.O. residents to demand more money/services from the feds. I know there are still a lot of deserving folks who haven’t gotten any help at all . . . however, at this point, it should be coming from the city (Mr. Nagin, are you listening?? Way past time to get your act together) or the state. The feds and the rest of the country have helped us tremendously. The citizens genuinely appreciate it, even if our Governor and Nagin are still whining.