thoughts on the news of the day: fema

hmmm…..

            What would you do if you were given money by the federal government and later asked to return it?  What would you do if the money had long ago been spent?  Apparently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency mistakenly issued about 22 million dollars worth of aid to thousands of victims of disasters and now wants the money back.  Good luck with that.

            The vast majority of those receiving aid desperately needed it immediately so that they could repair a house that had been rendered uninhabitable by floods or storms.  They quickly used the money so that they would have a home to live in again.  These are mostly people who lost everything and are still trying to recover, so it is doubtful that they have any resources to pay back the money.

            Mistakes by agency employees are mostly the cause of the error refunds, so it is really no fault at all of the victims of the disasters.  They were simply trusting the government to do their job in giving back taxpayers money that they had paid in taxes.  But on the other hand, shouldn’t FEMA try to be a good steward of the money they were allotted and at least make a stab at trying to get the money back?

            It may be a mute question since it is unlikely that those receiving the money will be able to pay it back anyway,  but what would you do if you were in that dilemma?

            hmmm…..