Of media and money

Speaking of Katrina, as we near the TWO YEAR anniversary of the storm... where has all the money gone? (Long time passing?)

I'm just dying to know where all of that money raised by the two ex-presidents has gone. I just don't see the results. They raised MILLIONS. Where is the money?

The Federal government alone supposedly allocated $116 billion in recovery aid (a pittance to what is spent in Iraq every time we blink our eyes.) But for some reason, the languishing residents of the Gulf Coast just haven't seen it. And they're starting to wonder if that check was lost in the mail:

The fact that, two years later, most federal Katrina funds remain bottled up in bureaucracy is especially shocking considering that the amounts Washington allocated come nowhere near the anticipated costs of Gulf rebuilding.

For example, the $3.4 billion FEMA has available to recover local public infrastructure would only cover about one-eighth of the damage suffered in Louisiana alone. But this money is spread across five states - Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas - and covers damage from three 2005 hurricanes, Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

Congress has acted on some of the money holdups, like changing a requirement in the Stafford Act that mandates local governments pay 10 percent of rebuilding projects up front before receiving federal aid. The Bush administration had refused to waive the rule - like it did for New York after 9/11 - grounding countless projects. The effect of the rule was particularly devastating in the hardest-hit places like Mississippi's Hancock County, where communities lost most of their tax base after the storms.

Oh yeah -- I remember that kind of 'help' after 9/11. The 'help' we received from the SBA cost us our house. Thank you by the way, Federal government... I don't believe I ever told you how happy I was with the way that turned out. Of course, we were lucky compared with the people of New Orleans. They obviously didn't have houses to put up as collateral, so you just blew them off -- worse even than the storm itself.

But back to the presidents. There is never any mention at all, ever, of where that money went. Ever.

And looking at the region, its obvious that money isn't being spent there by anyone, save the manpower invested by organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and others like them.

But money?

Federal contracts for rebuilding and recovery have also been marked by scandal, fraud and abuse. An August 2006 study by the office of Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., identified 19 contracts worth $8.75 billion that experienced "significant overcharges, wasteful spending or mismanagement."

Halliburton to the rescue! (Or not.)

"Where did it go?" says Tanya Harris of ACORN in New Orleans when asked about the $116 billion. "Tell me. Where did it go?"

Maybe it found a home with the money miraculously lost in the sands of Iraq...

Bill Moyers Journal: Tough talk on impeachment

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | Impeachment Panel Excerpt | PBS


Every time I think I have seen 'the best Bill Moyers Journal ever,' he raises the bar in his next weekly installment. Last night's discussion of impeachment was so far above the setting of any previous bar that it is in a category all it's own: must see TV.

If you watch nothing else this week, nothing else at all... make sure you watch this. Every American should see it; every school should show it to every American gradeschooler and especially high school student. Every congressman and senator should watch and learn.

Impeachment: Cure for Constitutional Crisis



This discussion is about the heart and soul of our democracy, the balance between the three (not four) branches of our Federal government, about why Dick Cheney's idea of a 'unitary presidency' is destroying our Constitution and stealing our freedom as Americans. It should also serve as a dire warning. If we don't restore the executive branch to the limits and boundaries established (for our protection) by our forefathers, we will live forever, from here on, under dictatorship.

Moyers spoke at length with constitutional expert Bruce Fein, and John Nichols from 'The Nation' magazine on the merits of impeaching Dick Cheney and George Bush. I have included a YouTube video (above,) but the entire show can be seen on Bill Moyers web site, and the entire transcript as well as supporting documents are also available online.

Why Impeachment of Cheney/Bush Is NOT Something to Fear



I encourage you to watch the entire show, whether on television or via the web. Yes, it is that important.