Senators Collins (R-ME) and Lieberman (D-CT), joint chairs of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs have announced that they will investigate hurricane relief efforts in the wake of the loss of New Orleans. As I will outline in detail below the fold, anybody drawing a sigh of relief that FEMA and DHS officials will be held to accountability are fooling themselves. FEMA has been called to the carpet numerous times this year to respond to well documented claims of widespread fraud and abuse. Caught-in-the-cookie-jar kind of abuse. The kind that should have made heads roll. Only it didn't. Which now has led to thousands dead.
Let's follow the trail of debris and see why American taxpayers been given no better option than to hide in the attic to avoid drowning in FEMA's sea of corruption.
FEMA director Michael Brown (the
"blithering idiot", as Mo Dowd calls him) is no stranger to defending blatant thievery in the halls of congress. He's an old hand at dancing the shuck and jive, concluding, rightly it seems, that he is above the current system of checks and balances. Going back to last September's
Hurricane Frances, questions of improprieties were raised, most forcefully by Fla. Rep. Robert Wexler, who by January of this year,
was demanding in a letter to President Bush that Michael Brown be fired from his post as head of FEMA as organized under the Department of Homeland Security. Wexler alleged gross mismanagement and misappropriation of funds. To the tune of $30 million dollars:
Wexler cited reports in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that FEMA under Brown's management inappropriately gave away $30 million in disaster relief funds to people in the Miami, Florida, area even though they were not affected by Hurricane Frances, which made landfall more than 100 miles away.
In his letter to Bush, Wexler wrote: "According to several news accounts by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 'FEMA has written checks to cover new wardrobes, cars, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, furniture and thousands of televisions, microwave ovens, stoves, air conditioners and other appliances.' In addition, the Sun-Sentinel cites that FEMA paid $4,500 for one resident's funeral, even though the county medical examiner recorded no storm-related deaths. Another Sun-Sentinel article stated that two residents received aid for 'dental treatments due to dental injuries received during the disaster.' In six other cases, FEMA reimbursed residents for damage caused by 'ice/snow.'"
"Rather than taking responsibility for FEMA's mishaps and moving expeditiously to correct the problems, Under Secretary Brown has further undermined his agency's reputation by stymied investigations and inquiries into fraud allegations," Wexler added. "FEMA's massive misallocation of recovery aid is a gross waste of taxpayer monies, which must be immediately addressed by the Bush Administration," Wexler said.
Remember, this is back in January of
this year. Wexler's letter got people's attention and soon the Lieberman/Collins team were starting to investigate with
significant input from Fla. Sen. Ben Nelson.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee began investigating allegations Thursday that FEMA gave too much relief money to residents in areas, such as Miami-Dade, that were largely unaffected by last year's hurricanes.
Nelson, D-Florida, who called for the investigation in October, said "poor management" allowed the agency to send money to unaffected areas. He said investigators will hold FEMA officials accountable for the discrepancies, and possibly change the way the agency gives out money.
"You've seen money poured down a rathole because you've seen money poured to a county where hurricane winds did not blow," Nelson said Friday.
Meanwhile resident who HAD sustained damage from Hurricane Frances
were apoplectic at the unfair distribution of monies to a county that hadn't been hit by the storm, but was a potential reservoir of Bush votes.
"I live in Miami-Dade County and during Frances people were out in the storm, I went back and forth to work," says Sun-Sentinel report Sally Kestin. "It wasn't exactly a day at the beach, but there wasn't any damage."
Miami-Dade experienced sustained winds of only 43 miles per hour and rainfall of three-and-a-half inches -- what Floridians would call a severe thunderstorm.
Yet more than 19,500 Miami Dade residents have applied for FEMA aid. Because the applications are private, it's unclear who the victims are requesting federal money.
"We don't understand. Who are these people? Where are they? Where's the damage?" says Sun-Sentinel reporter Megan O'Matz.
So an
investigation commenced, and FEMA started backpedalling:
Still smarting from criticism and a newly launched Senate investigation into its spending, FEMA went on the defensive Monday, saying the agency has kept track of its spending and none of it was misappropriated.
<snip>
While FEMA officials denied those charges, it admitted the agency gave $12 million more than it should have to about 3,500 hurricane victims. The agency vowed to go after the victims to get the money back, but wouldn't say who is affected or where most of the money went
What's a mere $12 million among friends? But the Feds were determined and they weren't buying it.
The announcement drew a wary response from officials in Florida, including Charlotte County, where FEMA has given out more than $40 million.
County Administrator Bruce Loucks said most Charlotte County residents who received FEMA money have already spent it on recovery. He called FEMA's announcement of 3,500 overpaid accounts a "bombshell."
"That's not going to endear them to anybody," he said.
U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., said FEMA's latest announcement "leaves several questions unanswered."
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was even more critical. A spokesman for Nelson said the senator "questions whether or not one hand knows what the other is doing."
Nelson called for the Senate investigation in October after published reports alleged that FEMA didn't track the relief money it gave out.
"At some point in the investigation, FEMA will have to tell us where the overpayments have been occurring," said Bryan Gulley, Nelson's spokesman.
Charlotte County Commissioner Adam Cummings, who received $1,200 from FEMA to buy a generator and repair his home, said miscommunication with the public and within the agency has been a "baffling" experience for county residents.
"They change the rules on a daily basis and whoever is the manager du jour seems to bring in his own set of rules," Cummings said. "They could hardly hold anybody accountable if they don't even understand their own process."
And how. The pile on continues.
Miami-Dade residents have received almost $30 million, while many hard-hit counties such as Hardee and DeSoto have received less. Hurricanes destroyed a few dozen homes in Miami-Dade, while they rendered every fourth home in Charlotte uninhabitable.
"It's just amazing to me that they could give out $29 million to a community that didn't have ... the damage we had," County Commissioner Tom D'Aprile said.
[FEMA recovery division director Daniel] Craig said factors beyond the number of damaged homes in a county determine how much money individuals receive. Insurance coverage, homeowner status, medical needs and several other factors all influence the amount of money hurricane victims receive, he said.
Homeowner status? Like whether the individual in question was on a certain political party's list of valued donors?
So Michael Brown finally gets called onto the carpet to do some 'splainin. After the standard half hour of time-wasting back-slapping, he was ready to be contrite. Well, not really:
Brown responded to the committee late Thursday, thanking senators for their input on FEMA's "successful response and recovery efforts following the unprecedented 2004 hurricane season."
In an open letter posted Friday on FEMA's Web site, Brown was unapologetic, declaring the agency's work in Florida "one of our best response efforts." He referred to the reforms as routine "tweaks." FEMA posted a summary of the changes titled "Building on Success."
"It's really quite troubling that after all of this time and after everything uncovered from the situation in Miami-Dade that the director of FEMA still says that nothing happened," said Lale Mamaux, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.
Troubling enough for people to be held to account. Maybe even go to jail for "looting" of public funds? You bet your sweet bippy, only
not the people you think.
Fourteen people charged separately for fraud claims totaling more than $150,000
Washington, DC - Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) expressed concern today about incidents of waste and fraud in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster relief program, following an announcement yesterday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida that a grand jury had returned separate indictments against 14 people in Miami-Dade County alleging that they made fraudulent claims for FEMA disaster assistance. The suspects received more than $150,000 in total in disaster assistance from FEMA based on allegedly false claims.
What's that? $150,000 out of $30 million? Am I missing something here? Well at least the indicted 14 were the really big players, right?
Uh...no. Here's a sample from the bottom of the barrel:
Amanda Heflin is named in a seven (7) count Indictment, which charges her with one (1) count of wire fraud, five (5) counts of mail fraud, and one (1) count of making a false, fictitious, and fraudulent claim. As charged in the Indictment, Heflin obtained $2,561.99 in FEMA disaster assistance by, among other things, making false representations to FEMA that her personal property was damaged as a result of Hurricane Frances.
Christina Brown is named in a four (4) count Indictment, which charges her with one (1) count of wire fraud, two (2) counts of mail fraud, and one (1) count of making a false, fictitious, and fraudulent claim. As charged in the Indictment, Brown obtained $1,452.00 in FEMA disaster rental assistance by, among other things, making false representations that her personal property was damaged as a result of Hurricane Frances.
Aaron Brown is named in a four (4) count Indictment, which charges him with one (1) count of wire fraud, two (2) counts of mail fraud, and one (1) count of making a false, fictitious, and fraudulent claim. As charged in the Indictment, Brown obtained $1,452.00 in FEMA disaster rental assistance by, among other things, making false representations that his personal property was damaged as a result of Hurricane Frances.
Nevertheless, now that the really bad actors were to be punished, on to the larger issue of what to be done in the future to prevent FEMA from acting like the animatronic cast of Pirates of the Carribean:
"Although our focus is on specific events in Florida, this issue has ramifications that are relevant to future disaster-relief efforts in all regions of our country," said the Senators in a joint statement. "Federal disaster relief is very important to help families and communities rebuild from a disaster; however, it must be limited to those who have truly suffered losses. The critical nature of this assistance makes reports of waste, mismanagement and outright fraud particularly disturbing. We cannot sweep such allegations under the rug; we must face them head-on to preserve public confidence in this critical program."
The Committee's investigation has revealed that $31.2 million of disaster aid was distributed in Miami-Dade County after Hurricane Frances, even though the county's Emergency Operations Center reported that damage and debris from Frances was "minimal." Quality control inspections conducted by FEMA inspectors after disaster aid was distributed found that, out of a random sampling of completed inspections, 37% showed errors on personal property awards, 18.5% showed errors made on determining if the home was unsafe, and 11.5% showed errors on aid that was granted for rental assistance and relocation.
"Well, that got FEMA's attention," surely, you say. One can always dream, can't one?
Federal officials announced sweeping changes Friday in how they verify damages and award aid to disaster victims in response to a U.S. Senate investigation into widespread fraud and waste in Miami-Dade County after Hurricane Frances last year.
Damage inspectors will undergo more training and greater scrutiny of their work under reforms implemented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. People appealing for federal help will be reimbursed only for items such as clothing that are "clearly destroyed, physically gone or contaminated."
Noticeably absent, however, were plans to address other problems the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs found, including the process for declaring areas a disaster. The decision to include Miami-Dade for Frances, which struck three counties to the north, was "questionable" and opened the door for millions of wasted tax dollars, senators concluded.
"This isn't the SATs -- you can't skip the questions just because you don't have the answers," said U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Jupiter.
No, Mark Foley, R-Jupiter, you can't, especially when skipping the questions allows you to siphon public money to the tune of millions and disburse them to God knows who, for whatever reason the powers that be decide.
The DHS Inspector General's Office (IG) released a report during the investigative hearing today that found that: 1) FEMA designated Miami-Dade County eligible for Individual Assistance programs without a proper preliminary damage assessment; 2) some disaster aid provided for repairs and replacement of household items were not based on actual disaster-related damage or loss; 3) the verification of some personal property damages were based on undocumented verbal representations; 4) guidance and criteria for replacing or repairing automobiles and the reimbursement of expenses for funerals and other items were generally lacking; 5) some Expedited Rental Assistance applicants received assistance without a need for it, and 6) rental assistance awards were made to some applicants without reasonable assurance of eligibility. The report also found that FEMA's oversight of inspections needs improvements.
Undocumented verbal representations? Like "If you and some friends support a certain Presidential candidate, I'll get you some appliances for your undamaged home."
If by now you are beginning to wonder if this has been a pattern at FEMA for any length of time, I'll conclude with this little tidbit:
Two US senators say the Federal Emergency Management Agency didn't take enough precautions to prevent waste of hurricane aid last year.
Senators Susan Collins Joseph Lieberman sent a letter to FEMA director Mike Brown on Friday night as Hurricane Dennis barreled toward the Alabama coast as a Category Four storm.
The senators wrote that the agency should implement safeguards against waste, fraud and abuse while getting aid quickly to victims of natural disasters.
Former director of the Mobile County Emergency Management Agency Paulette Williams told a Florida newspaper she received numerous fraud complaints after the county was declared a disaster area in 2003.
FEMA paid Mobile County residents 29.5 million dollars for flooding claims that year despite repeated protests from Williams that the county suffered no damage.
Let me just underscore that before we finish here.
That's ANOTHER $30 million paid out to counties with no damage in 2003! As the man once said: "Same as it ever was."
So if you are hoping for heads to roll and asses to be kicked, in prelude to wholesale firings and resignations going all the way up to the Commander-in-Chief, it might be time to modify those expectations. An out of control FEMA is no secret to Sens. Collins and Lieberman. They've been dealing with it every day, spending heavily of their own budgets in order to craft cunning legal wrist slaps with the admonition of "better not happen again!" Michael Brown is well practiced in the art of facing the music with a smile and cheerleader pom-poms when the evidence shows shocking mismanagement and gross abuse of power. And our vaunted system of checks and balances can now be found amid the biohazardous silt that is forming along the bottom of Lake New Orleans, just waiting to be dredged up along with the sodden, nameless human remains and the shredded last vestiges of justice.