FEMA Assistance Used As Expected

In the chaos that followed Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, FEMA doled out millions of dollars in assistance to misplaced individuals. Now that the dust has settled, the government is starting to see how the money was spent. Federal investigators released a report, highlighted by MSN.com.

Where did the money go? Food? Hotel stays? Temporary trailers? Clothing? Sure, some of it did. However, up to an estimated $1.4 billion is being classified as bogus assistance. What falls into this category? Here are some examples:

* an all-inclusive, one-week Caribbean vacation in the Punta Cana resort in the Dominican Republic.
* five season tickets to New Orleans Saints professional football games.
* adult erotica products in Houston and “Girls Gone Wild” videos in Santa Monica, Calif.
* Dom Perignon champagne and other alcoholic beverages in San Antonio.
* a divorce lawyer’s services in Houston.
* $2,358 in rental assistance to an individual, while also paying that person about $8,000 to stay 70 nights at more than $100 per night in a Hawaii hotel.
-and the best one...
* a sex change operation.

How do people commit such vile acts of fraud against the government? With all the paperwork passing through the channels, it's not too hard. Finally getting it sorted out, they found one person who used a New Orleans cemetary for his home address. Another individual used 13 different Social Security numbers — including the person’s own — to receive $139,000 in payments on 13 separate registrations for aid. All the payments were sent to a single address.

As a final disclaimer, I am not advocating that you should cheat the government at the next opportune moment. Yes, bureaucracy is quite ugly. Yes, politicians ignore the desires of their constituents. (of/by/for the people?) And yes, government has too many rules. However, have you ever tried to please a family of 250 million?