Bush steals Katrina money

[HaroldLand]

They can't/won't explain where the money went

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050923/...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Democrats criticize accounting of Katrina money Fri Sep 23, 5:32 PM ET

The Bush administration has failed to provide enough details on how billions of dollars in emergency funds for Gulf Coast states hit by Hurricane Katrina were being spent, a senior Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Friday.

"We asked for specific information on how they (FEMA) are awarding contracts and who contracts are going to," said Rep. David Obey (news, bio, voting record) of Wisconsin, the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.

"Instead of telling us who is doing what and how, we got a few spreadsheets."

The information provided by the administration lists broad allocations of funds for a range of government programs, such as $2.3 billion for "housing assistance," $3.1 billion for "missions" under a category called "operations," and $3.5 billion for "missions" under a category called "administration of field operations."

Congress has approved $62.3 billion in emergency aid to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and other Gulf Coast states following the late August destruction by Hurricane Katrina. The White House is expected to ask for more money soon.

The post-hurricane funds are dwarfing the $43.9 billion the government shelled out following the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Under the law providing the disaster funds, the Bush administration must provide Congress with weekly updates on the pace of spending.

The latest report, sent to Congress on Thursday, indicated that nearly $16 billion had been allocated by FEMA, the agency in charge of most of the rescue and clean-up effort.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which received $400 million in additional funds from Congress, reported that it expects "nearly all of the funds to be allocated by next week."

Spokesmen at the Department of Homeland Security were not available for comment.

The Bush administration came under intense criticism in the days after Hurricane Katrina for what was perceived as a slow emergency response.

Since then, congressional lawmakers have argued over the best way to investigate the federal government's disaster response and the most effective way to make sure emergency funds were not wasted.

Besides asking for details on the awarding of contracts, Obey and Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record) of West Virginia, the Senate Appropriations Committee senior Democrat, have asked for details on credit card purchases by government officials.

Should we have expected any less when Rove was put in charge of this?

[Sheerah]

Well, do you want quick relief action, or do you want a 6 month detail of how the funds will be allocated? It really can't be both ways with something of this magnitude.

However, I would appreciate an audit during the work being done, and after the work has been completed. I see nothing wrong with assigning a comptroller to the relief efforts.

[Sheerah]

Sh!t, I can't find my soapbox anywhere.

You see, it's stuff like this that really annoys me. The Dems are losing sight of the ultimate goal here in order to further their political agenda. They'd rather take time in Congress with all of their finger pointing, putting obstacles in the way of getting the job done. First, Bush is blamed for not getting active sooner. And now that he is trying to get active, the Dems in Congress are trying to stall him. This stuff drives me crazy and shows how many who are in politics lose sight of the greater good and drift their views towards furthering thier own party's agenda.

[HaroldLand]

Originally Posted by sschiffman

Sh!t, I can't find my soapbox anywhere.

You see, it's stuff like this that really annoys me. The Dems are losing sight of the ultimate goal here in order to further their political agenda. They'd rather take time in Congress with all of their finger pointing, putting obstacles in the way of getting the job done. First, Bush is blamed for not getting active sooner. And now that he is trying to get active, the Dems in Congress are trying to stall him. This stuff drives me crazy and shows how many who are in politics lose sight of the greater good and drift their views towards furthering thier own party's agenda.

Did you know there's $9 billion of our tax money that was allocated to the Coalition Provisional Authority (the Bush Administration's former controlling influence in Iraq) since 2003 that isn't/can't/won't be accounted for by the Busheviks and the critter buddies in the Congress?

$9 billion!! That's hard to believe.

In the past year there's been 8 Republican-led investigations of the US Postal Service. To date there's be 0 investigations into this missing money. Recently I saw an article that indicated Iraqis connected to the CPA in Iraq had personally made off with at least a $1 billion of that missing $9 billion. Still, no investigation. Nothing.

It would be a scandal even if our people weren't dying over there at the rate of 2 per day. Now comes the Katrina disaster and the Busheviks are again throwing billions of tax dollars around and making little to no effort to account for it AND they've put the most notorious, corrupt political hack in history (Karl Rove) in charge of handing out the money.

It's not being political to say "show me the money". In fact, it's one of the criteria of being a Congressman or Senator to keep track of tax dollars. The Dems aren't stalling Bush by being watchful of our money. THEY'RE DOING THEIR JOBS! Too bad Republicans show no desire whatsoever to earn their keep in this regard.

What drives me crazy is how Republicans in Washington have demonstrated themselves to be the most corrupt and dishonest group in US history, with not enough Dems crying foul, and not enough US citizens informed about what's going on. No wonder the Union is in such a bad state.

[gunsfornuns]

Lemme tell ya what...I saw all the Mission Assignments (MA) that required capabilities from US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM). These MAs come with a preliminary dollar amount attached to the requirement. It's normally an extimate by the PFO (Principle Federal Officer) or the FCO (Federal Coordinating Officer) and the DCO (Defense Coordinating Officer). We got one with $1,000,000,000 on it.

So, what comes first? Get the capabilities to the disaster site or account for the money? Neither, of course; blame the administration is first!

[Dances w/PURPLE]

Of course Guns! Slow news week, they must find some silly thread to pull on George's jacket.

[yesyadda]

Looking at another thread, it would appear the dude is stocking his liquor cabinet with the proceeds.

[creamy]

Originally Posted by HaroldLand

Did you know there's $9 billion of our tax money that was allocated to the Coalition Provisional Authority (the Bush Administration's former controlling influence in Iraq) since 2003 that isn't/can't/won't be accounted for by the Busheviks and the critter buddies in the Congress?

$9 billion!! That's hard to believe.

In the past year there's been 8 Republican-led investigations of the US Postal Service. To date there's be 0 investigations into this missing money. Recently I saw an article that indicated Iraqis connected to the CPA in Iraq had personally made off with at least a $1 billion of that missing $9 billion. Still, no investigation. Nothing.

It would be a scandal even if our people weren't dying over there at the rate of 2 per day. Now comes the Katrina disaster and the Busheviks are again throwing billions of tax dollars around and making little to no effort to account for it AND they've put the most notorious, corrupt political hack in history (Karl Rove) in charge of handing out the money.

It's not being political to say "show me the money". In fact, it's one of the criteria of being a Congressman or Senator to keep track of tax dollars. The Dems aren't stalling Bush by being watchful of our money. THEY'RE DOING THEIR JOBS! Too bad Republicans show no desire whatsoever to earn their keep in this regard.

What drives me crazy is how Republicans in Washington have demonstrated themselves to be the most corrupt and dishonest group in US history, with not enough Dems crying foul, and not enough US citizens informed about what's going on. No wonder the Union is in such a bad state.

The last thing the democrats have ever done is watch over the peoples money.

[HaroldLand]

Originally Posted by creamy

The last thing the democrats have ever done is watch over the peoples money.

Creamy, that's not supported by the fact that Clinton, a Democrat, who inherited the largest budget deficit of any president, turned that deficit into the largest budget surplus in history. Doing this required a significant amount of effort and success at 'watching over the people's money'.

[smatt]

Of course they're some p[oket stuffing going on. Whee's there's money there's pocket stuffing. The Republicans are best a this, it's to be expected no matter who's in charge. But I'll reserve my -----ing until they start investigating themselves and find nothing wrong.....

[gunsfornuns]

Originally Posted by HaroldLand

Creamy, that's not supported by the fact that Clinton, a Democrat, who inherited the largest budget deficit of any president, turned that deficit into the largest budget surplus in history. Doing this required a significant amount of effort and success at 'watching over the people's money'.

Check. Budget surplus projection.

[gunsfornuns]

Oh, well. The feds were too slow. Faster than wtih Andrew, but too slow. Get it done. Now. So, no-bid contracts to companies with the expertise and track-record to get it done. What?! Halliburton, KBR?! No way; what happened to the bidding process? Personally, I can't think of too many things slower...maybe a herd of turtles stampeding through a field of peanut butter.

Can't win. Oh, well.

[smatt]

Originally Posted by gunsfornuns

Check. Budget surplus projection.

At least there was a surplus project... Instead of deficits as far as the eye can see..... Then add in the OFF-BUDGET dough for the war, and the SS rip-off money the goverment is borrowing for free and you gt the largest deficits in history.... Only to be worse when the phony economy built on free money lent to people who can't afford it when interest rates rise. Then revenues go caput. And wahlah, we're likely to have a trillion $ deifcit in the near future. This year, if you leave out the disaster relief it's already likely to be in the 600 billion range. The REPUBLICAN PORK machine has sucked this country dry.


Supply side craponomics is just that crap.... The tax cuts f-d us up, no doubt, Bush hasn't seen a pork laden bill he hasn't signed. This admistration is the poorest at ACTUAL management then any other in history. Time and again, it shows in every darned department at every turn.

OK, so KBR is the only company in the world qualified to continually rip the tax-payers off.... I'll buy that...l There must be some other company that can do THAT?


Bad excuses Dan..... You're losing your foothold on this Bush thing. The man is failing us at every turn. 0 ability to manage jack diddly squat, he surrounded himself with a bunch of dishonest psychophants......

[creamy]

Originally Posted by HaroldLand

Creamy, that's not supported by the fact that Clinton, a Democrat, who inherited the largest budget deficit of any president, turned that deficit into the largest budget surplus in history. Doing this required a significant amount of effort and success at 'watching over the people's money'.

Harold Land, there was no surplus under Clinton.Smoke and mirrors and accounting tricks.

[smatt]

Originally Posted by creamy

Harold Land, there was no surplus under Clinton.Smoke and mirrors and accounting tricks.

Actually in-fact there was. That is unless you listen to Rush Limblow, or other propagandist radio-BSshow hosts. Althouhg it was smaller than they said due to the off-budget SS rip-off. There in-fact was a rather large surplus that payed down goverment bonds by about 800 bil. dollars over 4 years..... There was a bit of problem though as they were in-fact running out of people that were willing to cash in their bonds EARLY. Yes the debt actually went DOWN, during Clinton. Thanks to bi-partisan work. Now that the so-called conservatives run the roost, it's back to cut the rich peoples taxes, rasie the middle-class peoples taxes and spend us into bankruptcy. The NEW CONSERVATIVE ways...... The sad thing is they're doing it right in front of people, and many are just too damned lame to see it......

[creamy]

Originally Posted by smatt

Actually in-fact there was. That is unless you listen to Rush Limblow, or other propagandist radio-BSshow hosts. Althouhg it was smaller than they said due to the off-budget SS rip-off. There in-fact was a rather large surplus that payed down goverment bonds by about 800 bil. dollars over 4 years..... There was a bit of problem though as they were in-fact running out of people that were willing to cash in their bonds EARLY. Yes the debt actually went DOWN, during Clinton. Thanks to bi-partisan work. Now that the so-called conservatives run the roost, it's back to cut the rich peoples taxes, rasie the middle-class peoples taxes and spend us into bankruptcy. The NEW CONSERVATIVE ways...... The sad thing is they're doing it right in front of people, and many are just too damned lame to see it......

Smatt, I am not going to lie to you and say i am happy with Bush. He is an idiot and has contributed to the worst fiscal mess in our history.But i am also not naive to think that congress does not shoulder alot of the blame.Both parties are at fault. We need term limits and a balanced budget amendment

[gunsfornuns]

First, you're right; W never met a spending bill he didn't like. I wish he hadn't lost the veto pen.

Second, Congress allocates money. W signs the bills, as did bill, but budgetary authority rests with Congress.

If there was a company like KBR that could do the jobs, I'm sure they would be doing the jobs.

[jfuruno]

Originally Posted by creamy

Smatt, I am not going to lie to you and say i am happy with Bush. He is an idiot and has contributed to the worst fiscal mess in our history.But i am also not naive to think that congress does not shoulder alot of the blame.Both parties are at fault. We need term limits and a balanced budget amendment

I do not agree with balanced budget amendments. We do occaissionaly have legitimate reasons to borrow monety. Disasters, wars, major bailouts, etc. I would rather see some accountability.

[creamy]

Originally Posted by jfuruno

I do not agree with balanced budget amendments. We do occaissionaly have legitimate reasons to borrow monety. Disasters, wars, major bailouts, etc. I would rather see some accountability.

You can have a balanced budget amendment with a clause in it that in time of war or a disaster the gov't can borrow $ to fund these situations.Congress is like a kid in a candy store.If you dont take the candy away from them they will never stop eating.Congress can't discipline themselves so only a balance budget amendment can do it.

[jfuruno]

I just wanted to say that I found the title of this thread to be incendiary and misleading. Nobody is seriously accusing the president of theft. HL, sometimes it makes it hard to have a serious discussion when the topic is broached in a National Enquirer manner. Just my two cents, but most of the people on here will read a thoughtful post without being led to it by a yellow-journalism grabber.