Anecdotes and Katrina money

I talked yesterday with a friend of mine who works as a police officer in a major Texas metropolitan area. We'll call him Allen. Allen tells me that "every sumbitch that I arrest claims he just got off the bus from New Orleans."

I chide him. "Aw, c'mon. It can't be that bad."

Allen responds,"Some of them, I've been arresting for three or four years, but now, suddently, they're all Kristina evacuees. - - Lotsa money to be made in being a Katrina evacuee."

Yeah, buddy! I bet there is! I am always amazed at the scamming ability of the rational human being. Suddenly, there is a lot of money floating around tied to the Katrina invoice. There will be scammers at all levels trying to get a piece of it. From the hobo getting off a bus in Lubbock, to a contractor selling shingles, to the politicians that see an opportunity to bring home a little pork. A little poached pork.

We need absolutely bipartisan (no-partisan??) controls on that money, to make sure the people who need it, get it. And them whut don't deserve it, don't get it.

As a Louisiana native, I can say with some certainty that the politicians (from the Queen Bee on down) need to be kept away from it. It needs to be controlled in a transparent, seamless, equitable manner. Y'all figger that out.