The Gulf coast: Government’s waste bucket

While much of America spent the last week remembering the tragedy of hurricane Katrina, I did not hear not one individual address the current tragedy that is taking place in that very same region. That tragedy is government waste. As I mentioned in an earlier post, former FEMA chief Michael Brown was the convenient scapegoat for local, State and Federal governments. One year later, the same Negroes folks that miraculously became overnight economists by tying things like poverty, joblessness, and a dilapidated levee system to budget reductions by the Bush administration have seemingly become clueless on the growing issue of government waste in that region. All they want you to focus on are the endless stream of pictures portraying helpless black individuals stranded in waste-deep water. While it is important to remember the unfortunate events of those weeks, it does nothing to stop the mess that I am about to share with you.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a non-profit organization that regularly tracks all forms of government waste. Recently, they posted a press release that outlines the wasteful handling of the post-Katrina Gulf cost. Here are just some excerpts:

“At last count, there were at least 785 criminal cases under investigation by the Hurricane Katrina Task Force, a joint effort of 19 federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Service, the Defense Department and even the Environmental Protection Agency. State prosecutors in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are similarly swamped. And scores more cases wait in the wings. … So far, FEMA and the Red Cross say they have amassed more than $8 million in disaster-aid funds that have been voluntarily returned by recipients. Some repayments have been accompanied by letters professing that they were mistakenly paid or confessing to fraud, while others have been anonymous remittances via money order. A few people have asked to arrange a payment plan for reimbursing the government for benefits they took but weren’t entitled to.”

- Scripps Howard News Service, 08/25/06One year after America’s most destructive natural disaster, appropriators continue to ignore the physical and fiscal realities as families and businesses try to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Of the $20.8 million dollars in pork designated for the home state of Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee member Mary Landrieu (D-La.), $13.5 million, or 65 percent, is for the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway, even though it is only used by 4 percent of Louisiana’s commercial traffic. Additionally, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, the waterway’s costs will not be justified until 2046.

- CAGW Pork Alert, 08/25/06

A Government Accountability Office investigator Gregory D. Kutz told a hearing by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee a report on Homeland Security employers found many abusive and questionable expenses:

-More than 2,000 sets of dog booties, costing $68,442, that have sat unused in storage since emergency responders decided they were not suited for canines assisting in Gulf Coast recovery efforts.

-Three portable shower units for $71,170 from a contractor who investigators said overcharged the government. Customs and Border Protection agents could have gotten similar showers for nearly a third of the price – and faster.

-12 Apple iPod Nanos and 42 iPod Shuffles, priced at $7,000, for Secret Service “training and data storage.” Because the Shuffles cost less than $300, the Secret Service said they were not required to track them to ensure they were used properly.

-37 black Helly Hansen designer rain jackets, costing nearly $2,500, for use in a firing range that the Customs and Border Protection purchaser later acknowledged shuts down when it’s raining.

-Conference and hotel rooms at a golf and tennis resort at St. Simons Island in Georgia, worth $2,395, for training 32 newly hired attorneys when they could have used a nearby federal law enforcement training center.

-A beer brewing kit and ingredients for more than $1,000 for a Coast Guard official to brew alcohol while on duty as a social organizer for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. “The estimated price for a six-pack of USCG beer was $12,” the investigators noted, adding: “Given that the six-pack cost of most beers is far less than $12, it is difficult to demonstrate that the Academy is achieving cost savings by brewing its own beer.”

-Investigators also noted that Customs and Border Protection wasted up to $464,586 by buying meals-ready-to-eat over the Internet instead of contracting through the Pentagon, as is standard procedure. And they found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency cannot locate 22 printers and two GPS units worth $170,000, as well as 12 of 20 boats the agency bought for $208,000.”

- AP, 07/19/06

FEMA spent $7.9 million spent to renovate the former Fort McClellan Army base in Anniston, Ala. But when the doors finally opened, only about 10 people showed up each night, leading FEMA to shut down the shelter within one month.

- New York Times, 06/27/06

(click here to read the rest of the press release)

As Black people, remembering tragedies is something that comes quite natural for us. So another documentary that only focuses on what people felt on that day is not needed. What is needed is a movement to remove public officials from office that take our money and spend it on their pet projects while many of our people still are not getting the help that they need.