Posted on 06/23/2007 7:18:49 AM PDT by posterchild
WASHINGTON - American Indian tribes throughout the country will receive 2,000 unused trailers that were intended for but never given to Hurricane Katrina victims.
Thousands of trailers have been idling in Arkansas and Texas, prompting criticism about government waste. They originally were purchased to house people displaced by the hurricane, but FEMA officials said regulations against placing the homes in flood plains prevented their use on the Gulf Coast.
Last year, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., urged the agency to donate the trailers to American Indian country, but the agency said federal law dictated the trailers must be used for disaster victims. In September, Johnson pushed through legislation allowing FEMA to sell or donate the trailers.
Nine months later, the trailers will finally be distributed, Johnson said in a statement issued by his office Friday.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Wow, he's a generous guy!
His office speaks. Which is probably more than you can say about the senator himself.
After all, it’s just tax payer money.
It’s not like anybody has to pay real money for the trailers.
sarcasm off:
Of course,giving them the trailers also reinforces their dependency on the federal government.
Sad to say that while these trailers might be needed to replace substandard housing in Pine Ridge and on other reservations, within 6 months they will be largely trashed. The reservations have rampant drug and substance abuse problems as well as an increasing gang presence that seems to destroy the very things the people need most. It is not uncommon to see reservation housing with plumbing fixtures, wiring and furnaces ripped out and sold to support alcohol and drug habits.
But nobody could push through legislation to allow them to be placed in flood plains so they could be used for what they were originally intended?
Like many govt giveaways though, I’d expect that these trailers will go to those who are most politically connected rather than those who truly need them. They just might show up on ebay being sold by the recipient.
I don’t agree that putting them on the market is bad and they shall be destroyed. It’s like breaking a window and repairing it just to create economic demand. In the end it’s merely wasted time and resources rather than creation of something new and the deployment of resurces that could be used elsewhere.
Dang, I was going to give the trailers a life expectancy of 3 years. Maybe a few will last that long.
OTOH, how about giving the trailers to the Iraqi immigrants we expect out here in Utah any day now, going to start making a new life in a Muslim camp at the gubmint’s expense?
” donate the trailers to American Indian country, “
Why should they be “given” to anyone.
They should be sold like any govt surplus property to get some of the taxpayer’s money back.
The IT department I work for was going to get one since they were giving them away for free. We later found out it would cost thousands of dollars for shipping so we dropped the idea.
Are these the same trailers that were on the news for being chock full for formaldehyde? Breathe deeply my Indian friends... by the way, do you want any of these blankets fresh from the CDC?
Yeah, that “shipping and handling” will get you every time.
I was wondering about that too. What happened to the formaldehyde thing? Did it dissappear.
We wouldnt want to be accused of giving the Indians Small Pox blankets again.
Coming soon to a casino parking lot near you!
(Although less affluent tribes could set them up as road side tax-free cigarette outlets.)
The federal government will have to pay millions to have these trailers shipped vast distances to the reservations.
The last reports I read said FEMA had spent over $200 million on ice (I am not making this up) that went unused and apparently may still be racking up immense storage charges in refrigerated storage facilities all over the country.
I remember the stories of complaints that trucks and drivers were sitting for days at truck stops with refrigerated loads waiting to go somewhere.
Trucking companies demanded their trucks and drivers be freed to pick up other loads. In some cases, truckloads of ice went back and forth for several weeks without a delivery destination. It was The Three Stooges in the "Great Ice Fiasco."
I was thinking the other day that if Indian tribes can set up casino’s outside of state law and can sell tobacco without state sales taxes then what is to prevent them from creating legal brothels on Indian Reservations.
Those trailers could come in handy.
-Agreed!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.