FEMA still can't manage itself

More than one year after the relief effort on the Gulf Coast began, FEMA is still misappropriating money to people that don't need it:

The GAO audit found that numerous aid applicants received duplicaterental aid, with FEMA in one case providing free apartments to 10people in Plano, Texas, while sending them $46,000 to coverout-of-pocket housing expenses.

Another $20 million was wasted on thousands of individuals whoclaimed the same property damage from both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.FEMA also paid at least $3 million to more than 500 ineligible foreignstudents in the stricken Gulf Coast, the report said.

"Ineffective preventive controls have resulted in substantialfraudulent and improper payments," GAO investigator Gregory Kutz told aSenate hearing. "The additional examples of potentially fraudulent andimproper payments in our testimony today show that our estimate of $1billion in improper and/or fraudulent payments is likely understated."

Where has Congress been on this?  These are our tax-dollars.

Conservatives got into power in November of 1980 by bashing the very idea of government intervention -- so it shouldn't shock people when they fail at managing disaster response efforts that require strong federal leadership.  The 1980 Reagan revolution was successful because of the rhetoric that government was everyone's enemy and it simply needed to get cut.  But when you downsize to the point where you are unable to respond efficiently and effectively to disasters, then maybe your rhetoric was more of an ideology than a practical and workable idea.

Why does it seem like we always have to choose between "big government" and "small government"?  What is wrong with "smart government", "efficient government" or "transparent government"?

Comments

[Tony]

The problem with
"smart government", "efficient government" or "transparent government"
is it has nothing to do with friendship, corruption and whats good for the people. it really is sad.

already i'm watching the spin put on the IRAQ plan..watched a republican say how talking to iran and syaria isn't a good thing. and maybe it isn't, but at this point trying it wouldn't hurt [wince] (hopefully)

5 reps and 5 dems came up with 79 points to make up the plan. this is a good start.

on FEMA:
i was discussing this with a conservative friend of mine (which also works for DHS), and wouldn't you guess it...she was telling me how "bad" the people were for taking more than their share of AMEX debit cards and double dipping. OF COURSE they're bad, BUT desperate people do desperate things, i would think that MOST of these people were actually good people with a handful of criminal element. my point is IT'S FEMA's SCREW-UP from the get-go! and these poor bastards were wallowing in filth with NOTHING.

I know I ranted a bit and got away from the issue.

tony

[Administrator: Todd]

Points well taken. Desperate people certainly do desperate things. However, if the government understood that was going to happen, then they would have been prepared and more organized. I agree, we can't blame the people for wanting to manipulate the system. But we certainly can blame those in Washington who cut disaster funding and then don't know what to do when mother nature acts like mother nature.

And yeah, the spin on the Iraq Study Group is nuts. How could people shoot the Baker-Hamilton Commission down after this has only been out for ONE day!? Most of these are great recommendations.

It was so refreshing earlier today to listen to Baker and Hamilton speak in REALISTIC terms, not ideological terms.