The AP is reporting that
Congress is set to pass an emergency aid bill of $10 billion to provide immediate relief to Gulf Coast residents. The above article also says, "FEMA is spending more than $500 million a day as it struggles to respond to devastating flooding in New Orleans and severe destruction that spans the length of the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida."
Given what we've heard today from Jack Cafferty on CNN as well as various other reporters commenting on the conspicuous absence of FEMA personnel on the scene in New Orleans and elsewhere, we have to ask where all of that money is going.
Is it going to feed the broken, bloated and ineffective agency that has embarrassed and enraged all of us and, through negligence and lack of preparation, resulted in the deaths of many more people than was necessary? I hope not.
This is one of the most important agencies in the country. It is an agency that is underfunded and, more importantly, poorly managed. I'm glad representatives and senators have finally decided to weigh in on this national crisis. It's about time.
I hope the money goes to aiding those still stranded and in need of medical help. I hope it's spent wisely and directly on the people who need it most, instead of the contractors who are, I'm sure, already licking their lips at the prospect of rebuilding an entire city.
I feel like if all of this happened four days ago, New Orleans may have been a near miss. All of this is so disheartening.
I hope the spirit of cooperation takes root among the citizens of New Orleans. It seems like, in many ways, ordinary folks are going to have to look out for and care for one another. The government agencies, on every level, have been sickeningly remiss in executing their duties and deputations.