President Bush's brother Jeb was involved in helping Carnival Cruise Lines get their massive contract to provide ship-side housing for evacuees. Most of that housing went unused but was still paid for by FEMA.
Rep. Henry Waxman has written a letter to Jeb:
I am writing to request information about your role in the award of a […]
From Auditors Find Huge Fraud in FEMA Aid:
Thousands of applicants for federal emergency relief money after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita used duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers or bogus addresses, suggesting that the $2.3 billion program was a victim of extensive fraud, a Congressional auditor will report Monday.
The examination of the so-called Expedited Assistance program […]
WASHINGTON (AP) - Overwhelming Senate passage of a bill bearing $29 billion to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina has put the massive aid package a step away from being sent to President Bush for his signature.
Nearly four months after the maelstrom devastated New Orleans and much of the nearby Gulf Coast, the House was expected […]
The affirmative action-supporting NYT reports in "Governor's Relative Is Big Contract Winner":
Rosemary Barbour happens to be married to a nephew of Mississippi's governor, Haley Barbour. Since the Reagan administration, when Mrs. Barbour worked as a White House volunteer as a college student, she has been active in the Republican Party.
She also happens to be […]
From Storm Hit Little, but Aid Flowed to Inland City:
When the federal government and the nation's largest disaster relief group reached out a helping hand after Hurricane Katrina blew through here, tens of thousands of people grabbed it.
But in giving out $62 million in aid, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross […]
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is getting to keep the $452 million. And, there are now no restrictions on how the money has to be spent: they could build the controversial bridges, or they could spend it on other things.
Oddly enough:
Stevens said he has no choice but to live with his colleagues' decision.
"We're getting attacked from […]
FEMA has sent LA a bill for "its share of hurricane relief". Governor Kathleen Blanco says she can't pay it.
…Staffers for the governor "about fell over" Wednesday night when they received the Federal Emergency Management Agency's estimate of the state's costs for hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said Mark Merritt, a consultant working for Blanco.
FEMA projects […]
Carnival Corp… defended its $236 million U.S. government contract to provide ship-based housing after Hurricane Katrina, telling lawmakers on Wednesday the firm was charging only what it would have earned from its regular cruise business.
…Terry Thornton, vice president of marketing planning at Carnival Cruise Lines, told the U.S. House of Representatives Committee investigating the government's […]
From Recovery Costs May Be Less Than First Anticipated:
Gov. Haley Barbour said an initial estimate of federal money needed to recover from Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi is less than expected.
He said the request for $38 billion has been decreased to about $33.5 billion by "fine tuning."
Nothing was removed from the recovery package, Barbour said that […]
Townhall has the scoop:
Capitol Report has learned about a provision tucked away in the Senate Budget Reconciliation Bill that would direct Medicaid money intended for Katrina affected states (Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana) to Alaska.
The Budget Reconciliation package (PDF) contains $71.4 billion in new savings but it also spends $32.4 billion. Portions of that new spending were […]
