Posted on 09/01/2007 5:56:39 AM PDT by NapkinUser
Lawmaker Says “Enough is Enough” After Two Years and $114 Billion
(WASHINGTON, DC) – U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) today criticized runaway government spending on post-Katrina recovery efforts as excessive, and called for a halt to any additional appropriations amid rumors that additional Katrina requests for money are forthcoming.
“The amount of money that has been wasted on these so-called ‘recovery’ efforts has been mind-boggling,” said Tancredo, “Enough is enough.”
According to the White House, the federal government has provided about $114 billion in funding and resources for hurricane recovery in the gulf coast over the last two years – or around $1 billion per week – a staggering figure. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that potentially more than $1 billion in taxpayer money has been squandered through waste, fraud and abuse.
“At some point, state and local officials and individuals have got to step up to the plate and take some initiative,” said Tancredo, “The mentality that people can wait around indefinitely for the federal taxpayer to solve all their worldly problems has got to come to an end.”
Tancredo noted that after the devastating San Francisco and Chicago fires of the last century, individuals and local officials rolled up their sleeves and rebuilt – all without truckloads of money from the federal government.
“This whole fiasco has been a perfect storm of corruption and incompetence at all levels” said Tancredo, “It’s time the taxpayer gravy train left the New Orleans station.”
News outlets have reported significant abuses of federal aid money by recipients, including the use of relief money to pay for Louis Vuitton handbags, adult entertainment, bail bond services, jewelry, weapons, and even to pay traffic violation fines. Earlier this year, GAO estimated “improper and potentially fraudulent payments related to the Individuals and Households Program… to be $1 billion through February 2006.”
Tancredo, who warned in the immediate aftermath of the disaster that Louisiana officials could not be trusted with federal funds given that state’s long history of corruption, pointed out that several state emergency management officials were already awaiting trial on charges related to improperly using public funds when Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
“State and local officials have been shirking their responsibilities and taking advantage of taxpayers since before day one,” said Tancredo, “Throwing more money at this debacle will do nothing but perpetuate more of the same.”
I agree with the sentiment. The amount of money wasted is obscene.
We all knew this would happen. Money grows on trees and the government is here to save you. Citizens of this country are fools.
This outrage should have ended a year ago. The scum in La. reaches from the police dept to the mayor and all the way to the state house. The corruption is complete and cannot be avoided. This money is going right down a rat hole.
Now there's a conservative. Too bad there's so few of them left.
-- Throwing more good money after bad is something all nations do when confronted with the SAME problem that persists...is STILL moral in its solution and people SCREAM and SCREECH for a solution which is NOT moral.
Examples: HIV/AIDS, out-of-wedlock births, rampant divorce, drug addiction, homelessness, failing mortgages, alcoholism, child abuse, pornography, prostitution. The list goes on and on and on.
We humans haven't changed ONE IOTA over the millenia. The problems that persist are still basically moral.
Katrina spending goes down the sewer into corrupt pockets. That is what led to the failed dams, chaos in the rescue missions and failure in the recovery programs.
-- Saturday morning armchair quarterbacking here.
Finally, a voice of sanity in the insane effort to turn the senseless rebuilding of another city below sea level. The whole bailout has turned into another giant welfare pit.
I agree with Tancredo as well. Lest we forget the utter incompetence of Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin...but alas, the dims love to use New Orleans as a backdrop for their political hate speech....”Iz goin’ to take from those nasty rich ppl and give to ya’ll po folk”
Free money...come one come all....
How astonishing. Tancredo is also one of those rare politicians who says what people need to hear, even if it goes against the grain. And this proposal no doubt would shock many. Most Americans probably have been conditioned to think the federal government should and will spend every penny it takes, and that is the only way New Orleans can be saved. So Tancredo’s idea will no doubt be shouted down as racist, uncaring, cruel, etc.
Meanwhile McCain and others go on TV and say too many politicians tell people only what they want to hear, and this isn’t right. Oh really? When conservatives (and I’m including GWB for the sake of argument) do what they thing is right, even if it is unpopular, they are excoriated for it. So some people want it both ways.
I think I recognise that guy. I think he approached me at Jackson Square and said”I know where you got them shoes”.
I love this guy. It’s too bad that the GOP water carriers in Washington, on the radio, and here on FR have marginalized Tancredo so badly that he can never be elected president.
Tancredo is incredibly stupid to have said this. Those who would follow such a man belong in the hell-hole to which he leads. His vision is that of a "Pick and Choose" America where tough problems are simply ignored and simpleton solutions are festered up with minimal effort toward acheiving success before giving up all together. If that's who YOU are, follow him. Not me.
So you think we should continue to send money to corrupt politicians.The simpleton solutions you speak of are the same old throw money at it and declare success ones. Tom Tancredo is exactly right. Enough is enough.
Tancredo hasn't paid a single visit to New Orleans since Katrina. He's an idiot with a big mouth and bigger feet. What size shoes do you wear?
Well! I guess we can all just pack our stuff and go home. UNCLE SHAM HAS SPOKEN I think maybe you need a little more humility. My shoes are well fitted.
Well I guess I guessed right. Not the Louisiana flag on Uncle Sham’s homepage.
Well I guess I guessed right. Note the Louisiana flag on Uncle Sham’s homepage.
With the amount of money that has been spent, NO should have been re-built TWICE. Yet still, we are treated to these weepy “news” specials about how bad everything still is down there and how “America doesn’t care”. Frankly, I’m over it.
The same people doing the most whining are the same ones who have done NOTHING to help themselves. I do NOT support re-building the 9th ward- leave it to the sea. Shut off the tax funded gravy train and those who are still collecting Katrina money while living in other states (we have quite a few in the Atlanta area) need to be kicked to the curb and told to get a job.
Once that is done, it’s time that “Chocolate Ray” and Blanco are investigated. That money has gone SOMEWHERE and even a couple of dopes like these can’t “lose” it ALL.
“If that’s who YOU are, follow him. Not me.”
Spoken like a true government educated socialist.
Shocking!
The truth of the matter is that all those homes should have been purchased and the land returned to swampland.
I’m not a Tancredo-for-prez supporter, but I SURE DO like this kind of spending-straight-talk.
If we could only transfer some of the enthusiam for the FT boondoggle and apply it to the clear-and-present dangers like the Katrina Cash Toss.
If we keep spending money like this and encouraging reliance on the fedgov, then we’ll have the United Socialist States of America (USSA) so quick that we’ll WISH we had the NAU instead! =/
These people obviously have internet access. The truth is not hard to find if they want to know it.
Freepers might also want to look up the meaning of the words scale or scope when discussing this disaster. To compare this to a tornado or a midwestern flood, while those are very traumatic and damaging to the individuals involved, is in itself showing a complete lack of knowledge of the scope of the damage in this region. It is easy to say "neighbor helping neighbor" when you actually HAVE neighbors who did not suffer a complete loss. But it is a different thing when your "neighbors" for mile after mile after mile also lost everything. It is different when you still can go to the grocery store 6 blocks away. It is different when you can still go to your job next week. It is different when you can go to a motel temporarily a few blocks away. ALL of those things were destroyed down here. I realize that nothing we will say or post will make any difference to most posters but what the hell, that has never stopped me before.
for the 1994 earthquake, Fema came to my house.
To replace a broken window, repair a cracked tile, and lift the house up and put it back on the foundation,
THEY WROTE ME A CHECK FOR $200.00.
HMMM, well I wasn’t given enough money for those repairs, but... I’m sure the katarina victims got more for their whoes than I did.
SEE POST #22, How much is enough. How many freezers of COLD CASH do we need to find. Louisiana is awash with corruption and we are suppose to forget it and keep the money rolling in. sadly you are probably going to get your wish. We will once again be thrown under the bus while the politicians keep showing us how compassionate they are, WITH OUR MONEY.
Post 22 is so full of errors it only proves the point I was making.
and those errors are!
Money isn’t wasted....After all- Jesse and Al need to
eat, and party, when in the city..Nooo Oleans...and the
Mayor, a Buck always stops there..unless it is in the
freezer of Democratic Congressman from Louisiana..Jackson? JK
The other thing is, as I recently heard Raymond Arroyo of EWTN (native New Orleans resident) say: they are throwing good money after bad, becuase they are rebuilding in parts of the city which are not sustainable, because they are going to be flooded again.
BWAHAAAHAAAHAAAAAAAAA.... You can't be serious? You use Wikipedia as a source of information and expect it to be correct? Ohhhh.....my stomach hurts from laughing!
- A loss of shame on the part of those who are able of body and mind who are content to be supported by the hard work of others while they engage in profligate actions. This is the epidemic addiction to what I call 'OPM' - 'other people's money.'
Well, for starters, I would hope you would have taken my hint and tried to use your internet access to look for it yourself but let me help you out.
The population of New Orleans was not 1.4 million pre Katrina. The population of the greater N.O. area was 1.4 million and that includes several surrounding parishes.
Secondly, the 114 billion has been authorized but all of it hasn’t reached yet and the 114 billion was allocated for 5 states and three hurricanes. Not all of that went to N.O.
Tancredo is right, and I respect him for having the boldness to state it.
So your solution is what? Send more money.
Also I see you got the talking points down. But still, Louisiana got around 60 billion according to the state's own governor.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco and other state officials noted that the $114 billion figure Tancredo referred to was an allocation spread among five states in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
In a statement, Blanco said Louisiana's share was about $60 billion
And WatchOutForSnakes is from Louisiana too. Funny how only people here with Louisiana state flags on their respective FreeRepublic homepages seem to think New Orleans ain’t getting enough money.
60 billion isn’t 114 billion is it? I was pretty good at math in school but that was a long time ago. Also, a lot of that 60 billion was for emergency levee repairs, emergency housing, debris pickup, etc., leaving about 26 billion for actual infrastructure repairs, rebuilding, etc.
Now before anybody says, “but they still got 26 billion”, that’s a lot of money. And believe it or not, the majority of people down here are very grateful. We are also extremely grateful to the faith based groups, churchs, volunteers, etc. who have come down and made some enormous contributions to the recovery. My whole point is to find the facts and for people to not be so superior about what is going on down here.
I am struggling to decide on an appropriate time period for relief. If the period is too short, there is too much suffering and death because people cannot get back on their feet and self-sufficient after an event beyond their control. On the other hand, if the support period is too long, it contributes to a culture of sloth and dependency. I would be interested in thoughts on how one could determine the optimum support strategy.
That is a thoughtful post. I don’t have an answer as to how long relief should last. But I do know that you can’t say, for example, six months and that’s it. Disasters are different. Some are worse and need more time. This one, by anyones standards, was a doozy.
Oh no, I’ve been busted!! I’m from Louisiana, oh the horror, oh the humanity!! You got me good!!
In a statement, Blanco said Louisiana's share was about $60 billion
Amazing, just amazing. They know how much went to them when the amount is mis-stated but they cannot account for millions in missing/absconded funds. The clintons taught their party well on the skill of selective memory.
Nagin's comment about a chocolate city annoyed me. Let him rebuild it with chocolate dollars.
Maybe that's because those are the people living thru this tragedy and they understand better than anyone else the scope of the devastation.
Okay, go check my flag, but I'm telling you now, you're going to be disappointed.
Won't happen! That's the Liberal Plantation down there. Just fill that rat hole with gasoline and torch it...
This one, by anyones standards, was a doozy.
Yes, I know. We sent a couple of teams down to help rebuild housing. Some of my son's friends went down on spring break as well. The amount of work to strip mold-ridden, flood-soaked stuff off walls was Herculean. One of the young women in the spring-break team stepped on a hidden rusty nail that went through her boot, her foot, to the bone. The wound got badly infected. The entire crew came down with a respiratory ailment that they called "The Katrina Grunge." I also know that there have been construction material shortages. I do realize that these are not simple questions. I could understand a significantly longer timeline for reconstruction in NO than, for example, housing support in Houston. Sadly, federal support agencies are ill-equipped to make such situation-dependent judgment calls.
Or maybe they just want more money.
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.