Watch Your Katrina Money Wash Away.
Writing by on Thursday, 29 of September , 2005 at 10:02 am
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According to the Washington Post, FEMA signed a NO-BID contract with Carnival Cruise lines to house some of the people left homeless in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The contract was for $236 Million in Taxpayer money for the month deal.
To critics, the price is exorbitant. If the ships were at capacity, with 7,116 evacuees, for six months, the price per evacuee would total $1,275 a week, according to calculations by aides to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). A seven-day western Caribbean cruise out of Galveston can be had for $599 a person — and that would include entertainment and the cost of actually making the ship move.
“When the federal government would actually save millions of dollars by forgoing the status quo and actually sending evacuees on a luxurious six-month cruise it is time to rethink how we are conducting oversight. A short-term temporary solution has turned into a long-term, grossly overpriced sweetheart deal for a cruise line,” said Coburn and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in a joint statement yesterday calling for a chief financial officer to oversee Katrina spending.
To make sure that not a single dollar goes unspent, Also from the Washington Post
Technorati Tags: Failed Leadership, Failed Presidency, Hurricane KatrinaAs fiscal hawks surrendered, would-be government contractors were meeting in the Hart Senate Office Building to figure out how to get a share of the money. A “Katrina Reconstruction Summit,” hosted by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and sponsored by Halliburton, among others, brought some 200 lobbyists, corporate representatives and government staffers to a room overlooking the Capitol for a five-hour conference that included time for a “networking break” and advice on “opportunities for private sector involvement.”
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Category: Failed Presidency, Failed Leadership, Hurricane Katrina
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