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.Coburn said HUD should have a plan in place to ensure that people who receive grants use the money for its intended purpose. He said one area of particular concern is the $16 billion community development block grant program in the Hurricane Sandy aid package, which was signed into law earlier this year by President Obama after intense debate in Congress.
Senior officials at the Housing Department told ABC News that tighter controls are already in place for the Sandy rebuilding effort that were not operative during Hurricane Katrina.
"In the years since Hurricane Katrina, HUD has already implemented a number of the recommendations made by the Inspector General, including additional controls to ensure recovery funds are used properly," said Jerry Brown, a spokesman for the Housing Department.
But the call for stricter accountability in government spending rings hollow in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, where dilapidated houses remain an eyesore for Felicia Higgins, who said she went through a very "arduous process" to qualify for a government grant to elevate her home.
She believes some of her former neighbors are guilty of fraud.
"It hits you in the face every time you walk out the front door," Higgins said in an interview this week, standing outside her house that sits near abandoned and dilapidated property. "If they aren't going to spend the money for what it was intended, then they need to give it back."
Tina Marquardt, who works at Beacon of Hope, a community organization created to help New Orleans residents rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, said the people who received money from the Road Home Elevation Program should have been monitored to see if they were following the guidelines of the program.
"There needs to be a physical inspection of every property that received Road Home money," Marquardt said, adding that the damage is still taking a toll on New Orleans. "It decreases the quality of life in the neighborhood. It's an eyesore and it decreases the value of your own property."
More than seven years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast, the rebuilding still continues, but the effort is underway with more urgency for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Complicated bureaucratic rules that made it difficult for some homeowners to follow the guidelines of the program have been streamlined, officials said
Ray Nagin, former New Orleans mayor, indicted on 21 corruption charges
AP) NEW ORLEANS - Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was indicted Friday on charges that he used his office for personal gain, accepting payoffs, free trips and gratuities from contractors while the city was struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
The charges against Nagin are the outgrowth of a City Hall corruption investigation that already has resulted in guilty pleas by two former city officials and two businessmen and a prison sentence for a former city vendor.
The federal indictment accuses Nagin of accepting more than $160,000 in bribes and truckloads of free granite for his family business in exchange for promoting the interests of a local businessman who secured millions of dollars in city contract work after the 2005 hurricane. The businessman, Frank Fradella, pleaded guilty in June to bribery conspiracy and securities-fraud charges and has been cooperating with federal authorities.
Nagin, 56, also is charged with accepting at least $60,000 in payoffs from another businessman, Rodney Williams, for his help in securing city contracts for architectural, engineering and management services work. Williams, who was president of Three Fold Consultants LLC, pleaded guilty Dec. 5 to a conspiracy charge.
The indictment also accuses Nagin of getting free private jet and limousine services to New York from an unidentified businessman. Nagin is accused of agreeing to wave tax penalties that the businessman owed to the city on a delinquent tax bill in 2006.
In 2010, Greg Meffert, a former technology official and deputy mayor under Nagin, pleaded guilty to charges he took bribes and kickbacks in exchange for steering city contracts to businessman Mark St. Pierre. Anthony Jones, who served as the city's chief technology officer in Nagin's administration, also pleaded guilty to taking payoffs.
Meffert cooperated with the government in its case against St. Pierre, who was convicted in May 2011 of charges that include conspiracy, bribery and money laundering.
The story plainly says changes have been made since Katrina, yet the OP apparently wishes to ignore that.
Why?
Typical double standard. They blamed Bush for Katrina but the media isn't interested in Obama's response to "Sandy". The poor folks who were trying to run businesses on the Jersey coast still haven't been compensated by insurance companies.
Typical double standard. They blamed Bush for Katrina but the media isn't interested in Obama's response to "Sandy". The poor folks who were trying to run businesses on the Jersey coast still haven't been compensated by insurance companies.
Typical double standard. They blamed Bush for Katrina but the media isn't interested in Obama's response to "Sandy". The poor folks who were trying to run businesses on the Jersey coast still haven't been compensated by insurance companies.
700 million is nothing. Republicans threw away 9 BILLION in Iraq in hundred dollar bills.. Just gave it away to anyone with a wheelbarrow.
News Hounds: Dan Senor Tells Bill Maher How We Lost 9 Billion In Iraq
"How do you lose 9 billion dollars?" Maher said there were virtually CPA's with wheelbarrels full of $100 dolllar bills being carted around in Iraq after the 'Mission Accomplished' had been declared.
Dan Senor: So,here's what happened. It was a lot of Iraqi money (Comment: What? This was U.S. money given to Iraq) that was being disbursed quickly, so we could put Iraqi's back to work. We had a million and a half Iraqi's on the government payroll. We had to get the money out quickly. We could have waited and held back and not distributed the money and waited for auditors to be there and waited for first world accounting standards to be in place to prevent against this kind of fraud and hope that all that would be in place in time for all these million and a half Iraqis to storm the streets wondering why they and thery're families weren't getting food on the table.(Comment: Weren't Iraqis looting, weren't they storming the streets already?)
So, we had to make the decision to get the money out quickly. In the process, it was a war zone with third war accounting standards, not first world.
Helen Thomas: It was fraud, though.
Dan Senor: (Raising his voice to a shout) It was not a fraud, it was a war zone.
The crooked Bush Regime strikes again!
Nagin ripped off corrupt Republican businessmen and contractors, Bush and "Good Job" Brownie ripped off the relief money.The crooked Bush Regime strikes again!
The idiot Eddie posts again. You see your boy Ray Nagin was indicted right? Just like that crook Kwamee we had running Detroit
Nagin ripped off corrupt Republican businessmen and contractors, Bush and "Good Job" Brownie ripped off the relief money.The crooked Bush Regime strikes again!
The idiot Eddie posts again. You see your boy Ray Nagin was indicted right? Just like that crook Kwamee we had running Detroit
Republican presidents are the most corrupt in the world, Nixon, Reagan, Bush.Nagin ripped off corrupt Republican businessmen and contractors, Bush and "Good Job" Brownie ripped off the relief money.The idiot Eddie posts again. You see your boy Ray Nagin was indicted right? Just like that crook Kwamee we had running Detroit
Please.. Democrat run cities are the most corrupt in the nation N.O, Detroit, Chicago
Republican presidents are the most corrupt in the world, Nixon, Reagan, Bush.Nagin ripped off corrupt Republican businessmen and contractors, Bush and "Good Job" Brownie ripped off the relief money.
Please.. Democrat run cities are the most corrupt in the nation N.O, Detroit, Chicago
700 million is nothing. Republicans threw away 9 BILLION in Iraq in hundred dollar bills.. Just gave it away to anyone with a wheelbarrow.
News Hounds: Dan Senor Tells Bill Maher How We Lost 9 Billion In Iraq
"How do you lose 9 billion dollars?" Maher said there were virtually CPA's with wheelbarrels full of $100 dolllar bills being carted around in Iraq after the 'Mission Accomplished' had been declared.
Dan Senor: So,here's what happened. It was a lot of Iraqi money (Comment: What? This was U.S. money given to Iraq) that was being disbursed quickly, so we could put Iraqi's back to work. We had a million and a half Iraqi's on the government payroll. We had to get the money out quickly. We could have waited and held back and not distributed the money and waited for auditors to be there and waited for first world accounting standards to be in place to prevent against this kind of fraud and hope that all that would be in place in time for all these million and a half Iraqis to storm the streets wondering why they and thery're families weren't getting food on the table.(Comment: Weren't Iraqis looting, weren't they storming the streets already?)
So, we had to make the decision to get the money out quickly. In the process, it was a war zone with third war accounting standards, not first world.
Helen Thomas: It was fraud, though.
Dan Senor: (Raising his voice to a shout) It was not a fraud, it was a war zone.
Hey idiot Republicans are part of the problem as well, they throw money around same as the Dems, Big government is the problem. as far as Iraq goes we should have been paid back by the Iraqi government for at least half the cost of the war with their oil money
