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Washington has always found opportunity in disaster

Re: Washington loves a disaster, by Jonathan Turley, Sept. 30.

Your article made me angry, not only for what it said but because it really didn't say anything new. When hasn't Washington invoked and abused emergency power or opened the pork barrel after a disaster, be it natural or man-made?

In the book Washington Goes to War, author David Brinkley described how, after Pearl Harbor, the Navy Department used its war powers to grab or confiscate large amounts of private property for a tenth of what it was worth.

The tragedy of 9/11 gave the hawks in government the excuse to curtail our freedoms in the name of "national security." As a result, the Patriot Act was pushed into law, even though many congressmen who approved it never read it.

Now that several Gulf Coast states have been devastated by hurricanes, these same opportunists have allowed gasoline prices to spike and are handing out contracts to Halliburton and other politically connected firms on a noncompetitive basis. So what else is new?

Watch out for the real looters

The images from New Orleans are still fresh in our minds: white guests of swanky hotels "commandeering" necessities from local stores and black people "looting" stores in their neighborhoods. But no matter what you call the stealing that went on during the flood, the financial losses it inflicted will end up a pittance when compared with the real looting going on now by the profiteers that are gouging FEMA and relief agencies under the guise of "rebuilding."

We know that 80 percent of the $1.5-billion awarded by the federal government so far has gone to companies selected without any competitive bidding process. Those companies include Halliburton, Bechtel and KBR, all of which have close ties with the administration.

Years from now, we may be able to figure out how many millions of dollars were stolen and by whom. We will shrug and accept it as the way of the world. As for indigent blacks who were too poor to evacuate before the storm but have since been scattered to the winds, we will remember them as the looters. That may not sound fair, but as numerous writers to the Times have pointed out, it's their own fault for not having made better choices when they were young. I sure am glad I didn't choose to be poor and black.

Unsavory options

Re: Rebuilding Gulf Coast in their image, Oct. 1.

The Republican Congress and the Bush administration want to engage in their own socioeconomic engineering in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Their agenda seems to include:

1. Suspending labor laws that promote fair wages for construction and cleanup workers.

2. Handing over nearly half a billion tax dollars in vouchers, many of which could go to religious schools.

3. Suspending environmental laws that promote breathable air and drinkable water.

4. Handing out billions of tax dollars in corporate welfare in the form of no-bid contracts to direct or indirect campaign contributors.

Unfortunately, there are no dynamic counterproposals from the Democrats. Once again, citizens only see a choice between the profiteering pirates and fundamentalist zealots who call themselves Republicans on the one hand, and plodding panderers and bureaucratic obstructionists who call themselves Democrats. Hopefully, some new leadership will emerge before the next election.

Sacrifice reserved for lower rungs

The rebuilding of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after the disaster of the recent storms will be a long and laborious task. The most back-breaking of the tasks will be done by the most unskilled of laborers, tasks such as cleanup and disposal of the remnants of the past.

It is not surprising then, that the administration is trying to discount these labors through the suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act, which assures the workers a fair wage. While promising the taxpayers a savings of up to $15-billion, the administration says nothing about the corporate profits the contractors will receive from this "pay cut."

Can you imagine what the savings would be if the money paid out was reduced to the top dogs as much it is to the bottom feeders? How come the CEOs aren't asked to work for $5.15 an hour? It's because you would find no takers of this deal. And without corporate profits, New Orleans would be forgotten. There is no sense of "shared sacrifice." If it's not profitable, then the corporate mentality wants no part of it. It's up to the needy to sacrifice, and they will, because they must.

We've seen what happens when corporations get into trouble. The government throws taxpayer money at them to solve their problems. But when the workers (taxpayers themselves) need assistence, the first thing that goes is a decent wage. Funny, how that works.

Don't expand bumbling FEMA

Re: FEMA pay puzzles landlord, Oct. 4.

I read this story and am also aware of the millions paid by FEMA to Florida residents who were not even close to the hurricanes last year. I've read about FEMA wanting firefighters to volunteer in Louisiana and then having them pass out FEMA fliers while wearing FEMA shirts instead. I've read that FEMA has suspended the Phoenix search-and-rescue team for including armed officers. And, finally, I have witnessed the fiasco resulting from the stupid decision to issue debit cards (which were promptly abused).

So I ask: Why are so many insisting that FEMA be made larger and possibly even a first-responder agency? Isn't FEMA bumbling and bungling enough as it is? Do we really want a larger bureaucracy that will only step all over itself with people incapable of making intelligent and timely decisions?

Careless with contributions

Re: FEMA pay puzzles landlord.

Now I have to wonder where and how my contribution to help disaster victims has been used. It is truly disturbing to think that the distribution of funds donated by compassionate people will be treated in the same inept manner as many other aspects of the Katrina disaster. Acknowledging that what FEMA does best is write checks, I had hoped that someone paid more attention to where they are going than was evidenced by the reported faux pas.

Promote neighborly evacuation

Neighbors can help neighbors only if they know their neighbors need help. After an evacuation is ordered, it is too late to arrange help. A program encouraging those who don't have access to a car to prearrange transportation with neighbors could potentially help reduce the demand on public assistance.

Just as Neighborhood Watch reduces crime, a Neighbor to Neighbor disaster response at the neighborhood level could be a tremendous asset.

[Last modified October 7, 2005, 01:49:15]