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If you are really a government shrinker you should be complaining about the very existence of FEMA, period.

I'd shut it down in a second if I could. But for the time being, the infernal thing exists, and the more demonstrations there are of how utterly incompetent it is at managing resources, the sooner it will get its budget clipped and hopefully be on the way to eventual oblivion.

The sale of the trailer that was trucked to Louisiana begs the question of why there are still people in Louisiana willing to shell out money for these rickety trailers, when most people who have no better place to live are entitled to get one free from FEMA. And while FEMA has thousands of the trailers unused and self-destructing in soggy fields in the middle of nowhere, and is emitting a laundry list of lame excuses for why the trailers aren't going to people made homeless by the hurricane, a FEMA trailer recipient in Texas who no longer needs his demonstrates the technique: Find somebody who wants one, and haul the thing over to them. Maybe the buyer wanted it for recreational purposes rather than as a primary residence, but so what? If there's actually a market in Louisiana for cash sales of flimsy FEMA trailers for recreational purposes, why isn't FEMA finding those people and selling them the trailers that are currently being left to self-destruct?

You are speculating as to the motives of those who violated their government contracts, attributing to them altruistic virtues they may not have.

There is disgusting waste throughout government. That is the nature of government bureaucracy. Some of it is organized and planned, some of it is stolen, but most of it is just the nature of bureaucracy and human nature, too.

If you recall the political atmosphere around Katrina and Rita you will remember that the media was playing the situation for all it was worth to hurt Bush and the Republicans and protecting the Democrats in the process. The crux of the original delay was that in order for a state of emergency to be declared, thereby triggering federal government assistance, the governor of the state must declare the emergency and request the aid. Until then, the President cannot legally act.

Governor Blanco and her Democrat inner circle delayed the request while they argued over who would control the money, them or FEMA. During this time the media was showing all the destruction and flooding and demanding that someone, specifically President Bush, do something. It was not the easiest environment in which to operate.

After the crucial three day delay, while the local and state politicians bungled the whole process, the aid was requested and hurriedly sent. Such massive relief on such short notice, much of it not needed it was later determined, brought about the inevitable screwups.

The governor could have sent the Louisiana National Guard in immediately had she wanted. The underlying current of the whole disaster was to discredit Bush and the Republicans and to put hundreds of billions of dollars in the hands of the Democrat insiders. Remember Senator Landreaux requested $200,000,000,000.

To continue to pound this dead horse is pointless, IMO.