Who's the idiot here?

[hobbes4star 0]

I have been reading reports of the dis-placed hurricane victims using their FEMA issued debit cards to buy designer clothes and hang out at strip clubs, etc... I guess nobody saw that one coming, right? If you have an vunemployed bum who takes his welfare check and the money he begs from tourists and spends it on strippers and beer at his local strip club. Then you take him out of the hovel he's been squatting in, drive him to Houston and give him
a debit card with a $2,000 credit on it, and you expect him to buy food and clothes?

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[flyangel2 2]

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I have been reading reports

Got a link to those reports you are reading?

From what I heard on the news, not all displaced victims are getting $2,000, it depends on the size of your family.

I'm sure that most people are using the money to feed and cloth themselves. No, I can't prove that, but I want to believe the best.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[mr2mk1g 10]

Is there a clawback clause in relation to expenditure on non-essentials?

[flyangel2 2]

I'm also wondering if the card doesn't work like food stamps. There are only certain items that you can buy with your food stamps.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[kallend 2,148]

After the hurricanes in FL last year FEMA gave some $30M to people who weren't even in hurricane damaged areas.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[jdhill 0]

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I'm also wondering if the card doesn't work like food stamps. There are only certain items that you can buy with your food stamps.

No, it is like your run of the mill gift card... $2K to send where you like... Some of the more egregious uses have been lois viton (sp?) bags from the Galleria, and visits to one of the many fine gentleman's clubs here in Houston...

Are most people using them for what they were intended? Probably. Are some people abusing them? Absolutely.

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[flyangel2 2]

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Are most people using them for what they were intended? Probably. Are some people abusing them? Absolutely.

Naturally.

Did you find the information you were reading? I'd like to read it myself too. Thanks.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[Ashtanga 0]

I saw first hand a person buy a $500 dollar Gucci purse with a FEMA debit card. The employee at Gucci and I could not believe it.

[sinker 0]

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I saw first hand a person buy a $500 dollar Gucci purse with a FEMA debit card. The employee at Gucci and I could not believe it.

pretty sh*tty isn't it. couldn't the all-mighty govt. put restrictions on the card, just like food stamps? still, once the money is spent on that gucci bag and the louis vitton stuff, it won't be there for food and diapers and clothing... hope the gucci tastes good...

-the artist formerly known as sinker

[rwieder 0]

Quite frankly, i very upset that we are footihng the bill for this nonsense. To the morons that dreamed this scheme up, what have you to say for your selves? Please excuse me for not saying "Thanks" for pissing off our hard earned money.

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[Frenchy68 0]

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I saw first hand a person buy a $500 dollar Gucci purse with a FEMA debit card. The employee at Gucci and I could not believe it.

Did the person purchasing the purse seem to be fairly well off?

"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

[Gravitymaster 0]

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I saw first hand a person buy a $500 dollar Gucci purse with a FEMA debit card. The employee at Gucci and I could not believe it.

Did the person purchasing the purse seem to be fairly well off?

Well, they did have a Gucci Bag.

[jdhill 0]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/4979639/detail.html

http://www.click2houston.com/money/4972026/detail.html

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[billvon 3,118]

> i very upset that we are footihng the bill for this nonsense.

If my tax money supported ten thousand desperate families, and some of it is wasted on a few idiots buying Gucci bags and widescreen TV's, then I'm still glad. Prosecute the idiots; don't punish ten thousand needy people for the crimes of a handful of miscreants.

Think of it this way. Your money bought ten thousand family dinners for every Gucci bag; that's a better deal than you'll get from any other part of the government.

[gemini 0]

You're right Bill. For every $1,000 that is used for the intended prupose, there is some percentage that is not. All we can do is try to keep the "is not" to a minimum. At least they stopped the card program almost immediately instead of making it a permanent part of the process.

Blue skies,

Jim

[flyangel2 2]

Thanks, I'll read them later when I have more time.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[masterblaster72 0]

More vile for the poor.

Thanks for your wisdom, it was really worth reading.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[flyangel2 2]

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The cards were given to evacuees from Hurricane Katrina to help them relocate and start their lives anew after losing everything they own. There are no rules on how the money should be spent, but most spend it on the necessities -- food, clothing and shelter.

That's good to know.

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A woman known only as "Abby" is a bartender at Baby Dolls, another adult entertainment club across the street.

"A lot of customers have been coming in from Louisiana and they've been real happy about the $1.75 beers and they're really nice," she said.

Abby could not say for sure which type of card her patrons have been using, but said she doesn't blame them for using federal dollars.

"You lost your whole house, then, why not? You might want some beer in a strip club. There are a lot of guys out there that like to do that," she said.

"Abby" sounds like the type that should be working at a strip club

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The FEMA and Red Cross cards have few restrictions, but some evacuees have gotten into trouble when they tried to get additional cards.

Well, I'm thinking that FEMA and the Red Cross should have set up the cards so they had more restrictions. Wonder what the restrictions are.

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The Red Cross said it is aware of the problem but admitted that it cannot control where the money is spent.

I think they could have set the cards up to be accepted at places that sell the necessary items needed for th people. Kind of like how food stamps are set up.

It just keeps getting better and better. People have donated money to Red Cross and now the people that are displaced by the hurricane are buying bracelet Gee, wonder what my donation bought?

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[kallend 2,148]

Someone has to make a judgment call about whether the first priority is to get relief to distressed people as quickly as possible, or to eliminate all possibility of abuse.

On the whole I'd be willing to tolerate a small amount of abuse if it means helping a bona-fide homeless family get help a little sooner.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[billvon 3,118]

>Gee, wonder what my donation bought?

Well, Mar, some of the JFTC money is going to go to make people richer. The important part is that _most_ of the money gets to the right place.

[flyangel2 2]

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>Gee, wonder what my donation bought?

Well, Mar, some of the JFTC money is going to go to make people richer. The important part is that _most_ of the money gets to the right place.

I understand that. I'm the type that wants to see the good in everyone. I'm just hoping my money went for diapers.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[rehmwa 2]

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I understand that. I'm the type that wants to see the good in everyone. I'm just hoping my money went for diapers.

Easy enough. Don't give money. Give diapers.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[Amanduh 0]

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but said she doesn't blame them for using federal dollars.

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"You lost your whole house, then, why not? You might want some beer in a strip club. There are a lot of guys out there that like to do that," she said.

I know that if I was in the same position as a lot of NO residents have found themselves - having everything taken away so quickly - the first thing on my mind would be naked women and beer as well.

*sarcasm*

[happythoughts 0]

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and spends it on strippers and beer at his local strip club.

Well, he certainly can't use it to paint the garage.

"Hey Bob, let's go home."
"Oh, that's right, we don't have one."
"Let's stop and have a beer."

So, because of the hurricane, beer distributors and strippers have to lose their jobs too? That hardly seems fair.

The key thing is to restore normalcy to NO quickly.

More beer will be needed.

[billvon 3,118]

>The key thing is to restore normalcy to NO quickly.
>More beer will be needed.

That's . . . not a bad idea! It would keep distributors, breweries, and trucking companies employed. It would give the cops a more fun job than tagging bodies. It would lead to much happiness among the local population. Perhaps we, as skydivers, could arrange a pallet of Skydiver Blonde to be delivered to a local establishment as our small contribution to the NO recovery effort.