It's time to disband FEMA, get it out of Homeland Security and start over. The head of Homeland Security is not the brightest light on the block, and to try and guide an organization as big as FEMA needs to be compentant, he doesn't get it. A lot of money was donated to the Gulf Cities, as well as funds from the government, as anyone thought about a full accounting of all that money? Where is it and why do the Gulf Cities still look like a war zone? Why are US citizens still out of homes and jobs? It is nearly a year later and nothing has changed. For all the money spent on FEMA Trailers, cruise ship apartments, hotel and motel rooms, more secure homes could have been built, hospitals and schools could have been repaired, people put to work. Where is the money? It's a simple question.

That story on FEMA's bizarre spending is intriguing--I hope a detailed version makes it onto NBC Nightly soon. Not to diminish the importance of the whole Israel/Lebanon/ Hezbollah war--but isn't there a way to cover it more succinctly to make room for full coverage of such equally-important news as that FEMA piece. I'm also worried about Iraq-- which, where 2 major bombings with heavy casualties happened earlier this week, seems to be sliding into sectarian civil war. I'm afraid her falling into civil war will catch a lot of Americans off guard due to the fact that there hasn't been detailed coverage out of Iraq lately.

The FEMA mess is also ironic. Last fall when Louisiana was appealing for post-Katrina rebuilding aid, several mean-spirited senators rubbed salt in her wounds by saying in effect that she couldn't be trusted to handle relief money. Idaho Sen. Larry Craig said in effect that there is a culture of fraud and corruption in Louisiana and New Orleans as bad as the one in Iraq.

Instead of picking on hapless Louisiana, these lawmakers should have been taking a good look at FEMA's spending instead. That money would have been better used to actually help Katrina survivors and to aid in rebuilding.

"every person I've ever worked with has had their heart in the right place."

Never been in a navy shipyard, have you?

Perhaps it is a regional/organizational thing, Jay Jay in Clinton. Myself, I've been working in the Federal Government for just over 13 years. In that time I've seen waste, sure. Show me 1 large organization that doesn't have waste. But abuse, fraud, and such? Sorry, I've never seen it. I can honestly say that while mistakes are made, every person I've ever worked with has had their heart in the right place.

As an aside: You state that the television is in somebody's home. How do you know this? Did YOU buy the television? Drawing a parallel to the things I've seen in my career I'd say it's more likely that the television was purchased for a project with a specific application only to have the entire project canceled before the television could be installed. So the television sits for lack of purpose; NOT because anybody was attempting theft of any sort.

To Mr. Gunter in Tennessee. Do you work for the government? If so, in what agency? I do and for a federal law enforcement agency and I have seen enough examples of fraud, waste, abuse and just down right immorality that it makes me sick to even acknowledge that this is the country of my birth. People need to wake up. All those $34 dollar booties for the dogs came out of your pocket. That over $7,700 television is sitting in someone's house or office right now. Does Mr. Gunter really think that those people are not only aware that what they are doing is dishonest but also don't care because there is so much dishonesty, fraud, and corruption in the federal government, that it has become commonplace and does no longer shock most people. It shocks me and because I reported fraud and corruption almost ten years ago, I have been blackballed, harrassed, and threatened ever since.

Greetings All. I can see how dog booties would be helpful if you had working dogs looking for bodies. If you wnat to keep the dogs working, their feet will need protection. That said, they should have plenty.

Govt employees are usually not that sinister in my experience, they just tend to overreact due to supervisor pressure, or just plain incompetence.

My house was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and my insurance company (Shelter) has refused to pay any damages at all, not one cent. The Attorney General for state of MS has promised to sue those insurance companies believed to be withholding payment to policy holders. So far I have seen nothing that the AG has done except make empty promises. I also had to take out a loan from the gov't to repair my house and since the second loan plus my regular mortgage will ensure that if I sell my house, there will be nothing in equity. I applied for FEMA assistance but was refused because I to had insurance. Just because I had insurance which is a struggle to pay, that doesn't mean I can afford to pay back a loan on top of my mortgage. I have worked for the federal government almost 19 years now and still do not understand why people continually vote these politicians in who are out for no one other than themselves. Also don't understand why these people who used government credit cards to buy them items are not forced to return the money or prosecuted for theft. There is no honor among thieves.

My home was severely damaged by flooding of the Susquehanna River in the Southern Tier of New York State at the end of June. I was responsible enough to have flood insurance, even though I've been told (still waiting for the verdict on how much money I will get to make my house livable again. FEMA tells me, since my credit is good, I will need to take out a loan for the rest of the repairs. A neighbor with no flood insurance and no credit due to his own shenanigans gets $27,200 from FEMA. I am punished for being responsible; the irresponsible get rewarded. Does anyone wonder why we are all critical of FEMA?

When will it occur to people that this Bush administration is a scavenging project, intended to lighten the Treasury of funds for the wealthy. It is a Take Back process from all the previous years of social spending. The Wealthy want their money back by what ever means possible! This explains the FEMA Shame!