$192 million pissed away

[bermudat]

<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename... >

"A plan to move 4,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees from temporary shelter in the Astrodome to a pair of cruise ships anchored in Galveston was dry-docked yesterday when none of the refugees would agree to trade their cots on the floor of the aging stadium for beds aboard the luxury ocean liners.
"I'm too busy trying to find the rest of my family members to even think about another move," said Tracy Youngblood, 28, as she stood in line outside the Reliant Center here to apply for emergency housing. "If after we get settled they want to give us a two-week cruise to Jamaica, I might be interested."
Red-faced officials now admit they misread the mood and "psychology" of the evacuees when they hatched the cruise ship plan, saying their intent was the safety and well-being of the evacuees."


"The Ecstasy and Sensation (with a total of 4,000 beds) are docked in Galveston, an hour's drive south of Houston, while the Holiday is docked in Mobile, Ala., ready to house another 1,800 people. The ships are under contract to the U.S. federal government for the next six months."


That this plan wasn't well thought out is an understatement. So the Carnival line just received $192 million of our tax dollars. For nothing. Who wants to bet that the CEO of Carnival is a huge Bush donor. Head of FEMA, Brownie, is a nitwit.

[FormerRepublican]

1. They targeted the wrong group of evacuees.

The should have put the folks who haven't been evacuated yet on the Cruise ships.

[SmokingJacket]

2. Moreover, would you feel comfortable sitting on the ocean during

hurricane season, after what you just went through? With no way to look for a job OR your family? Oy.

The time for the ships was before the hurricane, if they could have gotten out of the area fast enough (I dunno, never having been on one.)

[pnorman]

3. That link doesn't work.

This one does: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1126043418717&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

pnorman

[samdogmom]

4. You know what's good about this?

How can the horrible nay-sayers claim the "refugees" are just trying to milk the system?

What Bush protege would turn down a "free" cruise? I bet they simply can't understand how this could happen!

Guess what, Mr. President, sometimes "free" cruises (or other high-priced luxury items) can't fix the mess you made!

Sometimes people just want their old lives back and unfortunately you can't help them right now. And, guess what? They're not in it for themselves. Probably a concept you can't comprehend because it's so foreign. Have you ever done anything that didn't benefit you or your best friends personally?

Mr. President meet the real people of America...finally (with no more event pre-screening permitted.) They are genuine and they don't have ulterior motives.

And one more thing--if you just spent a week in hell trying to stay above water and cling to life, would you agree to be stranded on a boat in the middle of the gulf during hurricane season?