GAO: Bogus Hurricane Aid May Top $1.4B

[The Straight Story]

GAO: Bogus Hurricane Aid May Top $1.4B


By LARRY MARGASAK, The Associated Press
Jun 13, 2006 11:28 PM (17 mins ago)
WASHINGTON - The government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, getting hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation and even a divorce lawyer, congressional investigators have found.

Prison inmates, a supposed victim who used a New Orleans cemetery for a home address, and a person who spent 70 days at a Hawaiian hotel all were able to wrongly get taxpayer help, according to evidence that gives a new black eye to the nation's disaster relief agency.

Federal investigators even informed Congress that one man apparently used FEMA assistance money for a sex change operation.

Agents from the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, went undercover to expose the ease of receiving disaster expense checks from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

http://www.examiner.com/a-135076~GAO__Bogus_Hurricane_Aid_May_Top__1_4B.html

[Rex]

1. 1.4 billion, pffft

a piffling when compared to the wholesale thievery in Iraq! We give that much in interest to China every single day. :sarcasm:

[frustrated_lefty]

2. A final accounting from one DU-er's family.

We lost everything to Katrina. Three kids, two parents in our family. The remains of my car were posted in a few threads here. Our (my) dog is missing or dead. When we finally got out, we didn't have a complete set of clothing among us.

There are times an anger begins to build up within me. By the grace of god...I don't care which god, if any, you pray to....by some inexplicable grace, my wife and my children emerged alive. Whatever criticisms may be made, my family and I have so much to be grateful for. Hearing your child's voice, knowing they are safe, can be enough, a gentle blessing for which to offer thanks.

Individual volunteers throughout that time displayed crushing generosity. The generosity displayed by so many American people was astounding.

This gratitude in mind, I will never willingly spend another dollar to support The Red Cross or FEMA.