(FL) State Records Show Bush Re-election Concerns Played Part in FEMA Aid

[Wilms]

State records show Bush re-election concerns played part in FEMA aid

Consultant predicted a `huge mess'

By Megan O'Matz & Sally Kestin
Staff Writers

Posted March 23 2005

As the second hurricane in less than a month bore down on Florida last fall, a federal consultant predicted a "huge mess" that could reflect poorly on President Bush and suggested that his re-election staff be brought in to minimize any political liability, records show.

Two weeks later, a Florida official summarizing the hurricane response wrote that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was handing out housing assistance "to everyone who needs it without asking for much information of any kind."

-snip-

Democrats in Washington said the records confirm suspicions that the federal government used the hurricanes to funnel money to Florida, a key battleground state in the presidential election. "They weren't really asking for information, yet they were just doling out this money like it was Christmas," said Lale Mamaux, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.

-snip-

Even state officials were surprised at how quickly money flowed to Florida.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-fema23mar23,0,5221240.story

Thanks to eomer for posting this on the 3/24 Election Fraud, Reform, & Updates Thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=348114&mesg_id=348247&page=

[Wilms]

1. .

[Wilms]

2. Last week there was a thread asking about this.

Now we have a link...and no replys. :cry:

[MissWaverly]

3. Great Post, thanks Wilms

at last documentation, thanks! Every little drop of verifiable money for votes = 1 step closer to nailing this fraud. What really pisses me off, is that the payola is always from our tax dollars, like Armstrong Williams paid to push No Child Left Behind out of tax dollars and now disaster relief funds used to buy votes in FL.

[Wilms]

4. Agreed. I read a story about $1.3 Billion in cash lost in Iraq.

Made me wonder if it was being used to create an illusion of a Democracy Movement in the Middle East.

[MissWaverly]

5. Think it will show up in Ohio

Wilms, this whole mo has been from the very beginning, cash and carry aka bribe, bribe, bribe, if they flooded Fl with cash, they also flooded Oh

[Wilms]

6. Cash & Carry Governance! That's so great!

So Uncle Sam was droppin' coin in OH prior to the election?

Dish!

[MissWaverly]

7. Wilms took a few days to sink in

So, what the article is saying is that approximately 13,000 residents of Miami-Dade that were not in the path of the high winds received 31 million from FEMA in hurricane relief. I am no math whiz but that means that works out to about $238,000 each, correct me if I am wrong????

[Wilms]

8. $2384.00

Careful of those decimal points. :)

[MissWaverly]

9. would be interesting to know how much each was awarded

if it was consistently the same amount, it was definitely a payoff since no one could have the exact same damage, you would expect 1 to have say broken windows at $5,000 where the next could have claimed shingle damage at say $700.00 but if it was all the same amount per person then it was definitely payola. (Even someone padding the books would have based it on something).

[Wilms]

10. Hang on.

Don't you think that represents an average??

And what was your referrence to Government $ being spent in OH?

[MissWaverly]

11. don't know about the payments

it didn't seem like they broke the payments down in the article, as far as misuse of govt. funds in Ohio, the letter of John Conyers on the Ohio irregularities mentioned Blackwell's misuse of HAVA money, billing for one item but it getting it cheaper from a different vendor.

http://www.house.gov/judiciary_democrats/dojelectionspconltr11405.pdf

[Wilms]

12. Oh! You mean this little item...

"Misuse of HAVA Funds

We received an affidavit from Rhonda J. Frazier, a former employee of Secretary Blackwell, describing several irregularities concerning the use of HAVA money and the acquisition of election machinery by the state (attached). She states that Secretary Blackwell’s office failed to comply with the requirements of the voting reform grant that required all of the voting machines in Ohio to be inventoried and tagged for security reasons.

Ms. Frazier also asserts that she “was routinely told to violate the bidded contracts to order supplies from other companies for all 17 Secretary of State offices throughout the State which were cheaper vendors, leaving a cash surplus differential in the budget” and that, when she inquired as to where the money differential was going, she was essentially told that this was not her concern and that she should not inquire about where that money went.

The affidavit appears to demonstrate a prima facie violation of HAVA due to the fact that the monies that were given under the act had been diverted without being reported."

[MissWaverly]

13. Yes, but look at this link, too

http://www.co.wood.oh.us/BOE/Press%20Releases.htm

The state of Ohio was allocated 132 million dollars for election reform funding, the allocation were based on 1 voting maching for every 200 registered voters (yeah, right, that's why people had to wait for 11 hours), there are 8 million registered voters in Ohio, each Diebold Accuvote-OS cost $4,572 per unit and each
ES&S Model 100 cost $5,499 per unit, this sounds like a lot of money that could be squeezed out, weren't something like 60% of the machines in the Ohio election in 04 old ones. Just looked at Fraudwell site, he states that you do not need an ID to vote in Ohio.

[Wilms]

14. Time to start an Ohio thread???

This is a nice review of some of the details.

[MissWaverly]

15. Thanks, see below for additional Ohio info

http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/239/ohioelection.shtml

Report Charges Taft Administration Subverts Election in Ohio, Allies with PDFA and CADCA in Effort to Defeat Initiative
Ohio Governor Bob Taft and the highest reaches of his administration have embarked on a concerted, months-long effort to subvert the state's electoral process, a report released yesterday charges. With overall control of budgets, jobs and sentencing policy at stake, the Taft administration has organized a sophisticated, sub-rosa campaign to defeat a "drug treatment rather than incarceration" referendum likely to appear on the ballot in November. Starting last spring, Gov. Taft himself, First Lady Hope Taft, his chief of staff and numerous senior and support staff have -- while on the clock, ostensibly serving the public -- conceived and directed a partisan political campaign.

[MissWaverly]

16. more info on Ohio voting machines

http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/equipment_machines01.html

The 2004 Election
1. Notwithstanding the legislative and litigation developments since 2000, many voters will continue to use punch cards in the 2004 elections. Approximately 19% of voters nationwide will use punch cards this election cycle. In Ohio, over 70% of voters will use the same type of punch card machine used in Florida's 2000 election.
Wilms, if we had a media, there would be an investigation of the timeline of the HAVA money that was sent to Ohio, exactly how much was spent from 02 to 04 in Ohio and on what and who authorized it.

[Wilms]

18. Yep. Though I'll bet Conyers is all over it.

I don't think this is yet over. :)

[MissWaverly]

19. You are probably right

regarding your initial post, I am glad that you did it, I have been hearing rumors myself, but I'm glad that you posted an actual article, and I would like to see more facts on this. This administration has a habit of using emotion not facts. We have to
focus attention on a reality based presentation.

[Wilms]

20. It's really no different, it's true, than what they've been shoveling.

You're right to be up and arms over yet another edition of

[MissWaverly]

21. Wilms, I posted this on another thread, but

I thought you would appreciate it.
The thing that has scared me most is the theory of having a style of governance that is not "reality based." Something that is above the confines of observation and existing fact. I think that people will buy into this "I am the guru" only as long as the soothsayer is above reproach. But since Jan '04, reality has landed with a bang.
According to the Wead tapes, Bush lied about his drug use and formulated a response to avoid the issue. What I am hearing all over the blog, is JEB lied about bringing in the troops to save Terri. As boss Tweed said, the public is a sheep to be sheared but if you insult it, it's a wolf (rough quote).

[Wilms]

24. We're lucky.

While outraged, it's not like we're 'disappointed' with this thug.

The ones that finally wake up will be as jilted lovers.

-on-edit-

[Pacifist Patriot]

23. This is absolutely ridiculous...

Considering where my house lies relative to the path of the hurricanes (directly for two of them) and the amount of relief assistance I requested from FEMA ($0) this is appalling to me. I cannot believe there was that much damage in Miami-Dade that required FEMA intervention.

[demo dutch]

17. Sorry old news.. have been saying it for a year!

Unfortunately the people in this state are sooooo dumb!

[Pacifist Patriot]

25. Hey, "SOME people in this state are sooo dumb!"

the rest of us are trying. ;)

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. As a victim of 2.5 of the 4 hurricanes that struck last fall...

This is definitely not a surprise to me. FEMA's presence was overwhelming compared to Hurricanes Irene and Erin in the 90s. Filing guidelines definitely seemed looser. Jeb was also serving an obvious dual role of Gov. of a State of Emergency and Campaign Stumper for Big Bro. I have no doubt the Bush camp "bought" some votes with FEMA money.

<No personal property damage from Charley so I'm only giving him half credit>

[MissWaverly]

26. please update us about FEMA payola

someone once said follow the money, I think that's what we have to do here.