LOST (money that is)

 

Just a little update on how inept FEMA is. Half a billion dollars of your tax money just rotting away. In Hope Arkansas. Now, why does that place sound familiar?

1. Can’t wait until the feds take over health care. Maybe I’ll get an appendix transplant.

   Posted by JimT       11/16/2007  at  01:59 PM  



2. Can we kill them now? Set up a squad at each Federal courthouse, and execute the loons as they file these idiotic suits?

   Posted by cmblake6       11/16/2007  at  04:16 PM  



3. I have a question - FEMA has been around for a while, no? [Ok I amend that, several questions]

   I do not recall ever hearing about the delays, screwups and such before - so have I missed something in the past or is this one of the BDS, stick it to Bush ‘talking points’(that just keeps on giving)?

   Isn’t the Goverment suppose to have a rational purchase guidelines and safety specs on purchases, before they sink zillions of tax dollars into it?

   And why buy temporary homes, if they know they can’t be set up in a flood plain?

   And then why not turn them over to HUD or Sallie Mae or some such to sell on the cheap - at least recoup some money on this deal?

   And finally - is this a prime example of the GAO and Congressional oversight committees too? Since this has been going one since 2005? And not taken care of yet?

   Inquiring tax paying minds want to know.

   Posted by wardmama4       11/16/2007  at  04:44 PM  



4. You should see the one outside of Purvis, Mississippi. It sits alongside I59 and is reputed to have 25,000 trailers.

   Posted by steve       11/16/2007  at  09:19 PM  



5. Steve, I found a site that has pictures of the yard in Purvis. Here ya go! But I was not able to find them with Google Earth. Can you give me a little more detail about where in or around Purvis they are? I looked from West Hattiefield down to Lumberton, and saw nothing. thanks.

   And I also learned that FEMA, just a week ago, indefinitely postponed an air quality test of many of the trailers that are in use down in Mississippi and NOLA. Ain’t that funny, cuz they tested the darn things back before they handed them out, and already knew about this.

   Posted by Drew458       11/16/2007  at  10:03 PM  



6. I’ll buy one for 10¢ on the dollar!

   Posted by KBaker       11/17/2007  at  12:05 AM  



7. Wait:  I guess not. SPECIAL NOTICE --- FEMA Travel Trailer and Mobile Home sales are temporarily suspended until further notice.

   Posted by KBaker       11/17/2007  at  12:07 AM  



8. I’d have to guess that the whole problem started when some practical minded chap (or chapette), figured that the trailers would be good temporary housing and that any questions of flood plains and such just weren’t relevant under the circumstances.  People (predominantly Afro American, the very folks GWB is supposed to hate) needed shelter and were dieing.  The trailers in could have gone a long way to helping their plight. 

   Enter an attorney.  With a polite cough this attorney (I won’t give the attorney the dignity of a gender) pointed out the that some federal regulation would be violated if the trailers were erected on a flood plain and that the Democrats would have a field day barbecuing G.W.B. for housing the N.O. refugees in unsafe conditions (below sea level flood plain, just like their old neighborhood) if the Bush administration found a way around the flood plain regulation.  This was then combined with a side article from People magazine on the dangers of outgasing from everyday products and viola $500,000,000.00 down a rathole.  Anyone want to bet that the attorney is a Democrat?  Anyone want to bet who’s funding the threatened lawsuit?  Government tends to do some really dumb things, but this one has got to have had help. 

   Last dumb thought:  Aren’t these the same sort of trailers that thousands of retirees and vacationers live in while touring the U.S?  Has the level of formaldehyde shown itself to be dangerous to them?  I’m sorry that’s a practical consideration, nothing to do with the law or politics or government regulations.

   Posted by Dr. Jeff       11/17/2007  at  02:30 AM  



9. Drew458,
   The yard is just south of Purvis on the west side of I59. It’s visible from the interstate.
   btw-it’s Hattiesburg, not Hattiefield.
   Google may not have updated that section of their maps. They still show a clearcut next to my house that is over 8 years old. On Google Earth it’s freshly cut but there are 20’ tall pines there.

   Posted by steve       11/17/2007  at  09:00 AM  



10. Just as a matter of practical interest…

    Government employees - FEMA career employees, for instance - are protected under various laws generally referred to as ‘Civil Service’.  Most government employees belong to labor unions, unions generally owned by, operated by and loyal to the Democrat Party.

    Yes, there is a ‘Republican Administration’ in the White House, but the vast majority of government employees are essentially union Democrat followers.

    So, who made the choice to buy these particular trailers?  Does anyone think President Bush personally oversaw the process or transaction?  Does anyone think the head of FEMA was present to notice the formaldehyde levels when the trailers were purchased?  No, these functions are the duties of various ‘mid-level’ managers - all of whom are career government slugs; sorry, employees.

    Guess how hard it is to sabotage administration policy?  Guess how hard it is to do something really stupid so the ‘media’ can blame the President?

    And they can’t be fired in any realistic meaning.

    Posted by Archie       11/17/2007  at  09:36 AM  

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