The government sucks. AT EVERYTHING

Quote: Dear Friends, We've been busy this week with assistance efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. We initially intended to locate a few families who needed assistance but we actually identified an entire town that could use our help – Franklin, LA. Let me take a minute to tell you about the situation in Franklin. Once the levees broke in New Orleans, the churches in Franklin led by the mayor of Franklin immediately set up 15 shelters around their small town. The first residents in the shelters were Red Cross volunteers who were lost on their way to New Orleans. Upon leaving, the Red Cross told the leaders of Franklin that they were doing a great job and there was nothing that they could do better. The evacuees of New Orleans began to stream into Franklin shortly thereafter. They took in 75 people the first night and the number quickly grew to 500. The small community is doing its best to meet both immediate and long-term needs. They have already relocated 40 families to new homes with the deposit, first-month's rent, and utilities paid. So far, Franklin – with a population of 8,500 – has helped 3,500 people. Franklin is doing the best job possible on their own without FEMA or government support. Knowing this, the government is now trying to take over operations. According to Brad Bullock, pastor of the one of the largest churches in the town, "they want the credit for doing a good job." The mayor and the leaders of the community do not want FEMA to come in and mess things up with their red tape and bureaucracy. I alerted you and other members earlier this week via e-mail to the situation in Franklin and the support is already coming in. The great news about helping this community is that 100% of the donations sent to Franklin will go to the victims of Katrina. If you would like to support the victims of Katrina that are sheltered in Franklin, LA, please send support to the following address: First Assembly of God 1096 Northwest Boulevard Franklin, LA 70538 Specify "For Hurricane Relief" on all checks Our staff has been assisting those affected by Katrina on top of their daily duties. However, we have already begun to feel the financial impact of this disaster. The returns on our fundraising efforts have taken a large hit since the hurricane landed last week. We expect this to be ongoing for some time as our supporters are stretched thin assisting others. You may recall that the LP took a major funding hit following the terrorist attacks four years ago. If you have the ability to make an extra donation to the National LP at this time, your help would be greatly appreciated. To contribute online immediately, visit our contribution page at LP.org. If you would like to set up a monthly pledge, please contact Jessica Wilson by sending an e-mail to pledge@lp.org. Thank you for your assistance to our hurricane relief efforts and for helping us through this time as well. Best Regards, Shane Cory Chief of Staff

[Rooflechicken]

They don't suck at making things suck.

[taco]

DBD should dontate some chicken for them to fry up.

Oh hay big surprise

Money Earmarked for Evacuation Redirected

Quote: As far back as eight years ago, Congress ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for evacuating New Orleans during a massive hurricane, but the money instead went to studying the causeway bridge that spans the city's Lake Pontchartrain, officials say. The outcome provides one more example of the government's failure to prepare for a massive but foreseeable catastrophe, said the lawmaker who helped secure the money for FEMA to develop the evacuation plan. "They never used it for the intended purpose," said former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. "The whole intent was to give them resources so they could plan an evacuation of New Orleans that anticipated that a very large number of people would never leave." In Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, attention has focused on the inability of local and federal officials to evacuate or prepare for the large number of poor people, many of them minorities, who had no access to transportation and remained behind. That possibility was one of the concerns that led Congress in 1997 to set aside $500,000 for FEMA to create "a comprehensive analysis and plan of all evacuation alternatives for the New Orleans metropolitan area." Frustrated two years later that nothing materialized, Congress strengthened its directive. This time it ordered "an evacuation plan for a Category 3 or greater storm, a levee break, flood or other natural disaster for the New Orleans area." The $500,000 that Congress appropriated for the evacuation plan went to a commission that studied future options for the 24-mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said. The hefty report produced by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission "primarily was not about evacuation," said Robert Lambert, the general manager for the bridge expressway. "In general it was an overview of all the things we need to do" for the causeway through 2016. Lambert said he could not trace how or if FEMA money came to the commission. Nor could Shelby LaSalle, a causeway consulting engineer who worked on the plan. LaSalle said it would be "ludicrous" to consider his report an evacuation plan, although it had a transportation evacuation section, dated Dec. 19, 1997. That part was tacked on mainly to promote the causeway for future designation as an official evacuation route, LaSalle said. "We didn't do anything for FEMA," he added. Asked why the congressional mandate was never fulfilled, Barry Scanlon, senior vice president in the consulting firm of former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, said he believes the agency did what it needed when it gave the money to the state. "FEMA received an earmark which it processed through to the state as instructed by Congress," Scanlon said. Witt is now a private consultant to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, D-La., on the Katrina aftermath. Tauzin said he, too, could never find out where the money went. "They gave it to the causeway commission? That's wacky," he said. At the time eight years ago, the Louisiana delegation had plenty of political muscle to get the money. Then-Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which controls the government's purse strings. Livingston, now a lobbyist, said he could not explain what happened either, although he knew of other predictive hurricane studies over the years. "Do I wish the study had been made? Sure, but now that's by the boards. We're doing the best we can right now to repair and rebuild," he said. FEMA typically contracts its studies to private or government entities. Kinerney, the agency spokesman, said it appeared the money went through the Louisiana government. State emergency and transportation officials said they did not recall it. After nothing came of its first directive, FEMA addressed the need for an evacuation plan "off and on" over the years, Kinerney said. Last year, the agency undertook the massive "Hurricane Pam" project that was supposed to create a comprehensive emergency plan for New Orleans. That work was unfinished when Katrina struck, though its first phase involved an elaborate hurricane simulation that was eerily predictive of Katrina's disaster. Asked about any earlier FEMA-funded plan, Mark Smith, spokesman for the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said, "To the best of our knowledge we can find no information on this." Congress' 1999 language directed that FEMA consult with that state agency as well as the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. FEMA's parent agency, the Homeland Security Department, did provide $75,000 to print 1 million evacuation maps that were distributed this year for the state's updated transportation evacuation blueprint, state transportation spokesman Mark Lambert said. That plan used phased evacuation orders and reverse-flow traffic patterns to avoid the highway snarls New Orleans saw during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. But that plan was designed for traffic management, not to provide transportation or contingencies for the infirm, elderly and poor who could not get out on their own, officials said.