FEMA = Failure, Excess, Mismanagement, Arrogance

GAO Hands FEMA Another Katrina Blow

FEMA officials must be wondering if Hurricane Katrina will ever blow over. Now, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that FEMA lost another $30 million taxpayer dollars through “ineffective oversight” of contracts to maintain and deactivate those mobile homes and travel trailers use for emergency housing. The loss, reports the GAO, resulted from “improper or potentially fraudulent” payments made to contractors from June 2006 through January 2007. A few low-lights from the GAO report (.pdf) include:

• $15 million paid for maintenance inspections, despite having no record that the inspections actually took place.
• $600,000 paid for emergency repairs to housing units that don’t even exist in FEMA’s inventory.
• Evidence of multiple cases of bidding irregularities and improperly awarded bids.
• The payment of $4 million on a contract for work later estimated to be worth about $800,000.

All potential criminal matters identified by the GAO in their investigation have been reported to the Department of Justice for further investigation.

Also See:

• FEMA Bristles at CBS Formaldehyde Story
• HUD Relieves FEMA of Hurricane Housing Relief Efforts
• FEMA Lost Tens of Millions in Katrina Fraud, GAO Finds
• Katrina Incompetence Redux: FEMA Trailers (US Politics)

US Taxpayers are funding a leaky system that has a flawed mission statement.  The outsourcing and contractor fraud has paid crooks over and over.  There are no quick fixes.  FEMA once had a workable system that served victims of disaster quickly and effectively.  Bush and his rearrangement of government agencies has made it nearly impossible to keep tabs on taxpayer money.  Oversight is handled by even more crooks.  People who run vital agencies are Bush Buddies who have no clue how to run the agencies they are given.  Agency titles handed out to Bush Buddies are his thank you gifts for election support.  The US public has never been the priority for BushCo, regardless of frequent lip service.  The US Public has borne the brunt of this nepotism.  As with many government agencies that Bush has ruined, FEMA has lost its mission and continues to waste taxpayer money and put the public at risk.