"You lost your whole house, then, why not?" she [bartender at strip club] said "You might want some beer in a strip club. There are a lot of guys out there that like to do that."

http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=46361

One side of me says 'hey that's what my tax money is going to?' the other side of me says, 'lets get some beer and a some dollar bills and join these guys' :p

one side of me wants to kick there asses, and the other half wants to beat there asses :mad:

Here in Raleigh, they had a local woman on the news who had faked her refugee status and got herself one of those debit cards, and about 4 free weeks in a hotel here. When they busted her, it turned out that she had an eviction notice hammered on her apartment door, she didn't have a job, so she just figured, what the hell. What's the worst that could happen.

Stupid.

What is bugging me is when these debit cards run out due to spending 800 bucks on a Louis Vuitton purse, these people are going to bitch to the media that they dont have any money left to feed their kids, get shelter, or get a proper start.

I dont want my tax dollars to go to some guys or girls spending their money drinking beer and watching strippers all day.

Stupid.

What is bugging me is when these debit cards run out due to spending 800 bucks on a Louis Vuitton purse, these people are going to bitch to the media that they dont have any money left to feed their kids, get shelter, or get a proper start.

I dont want my tax dollars to go to some guys or girls spending their money drinking beer and watching strippers all day.

I'd love to know whose great idea was this in the first place but I'm not going to search for it...or post it incase it turns into a political fireworks in this thread.

But back to the strippers :p you got to think...atleast you are probably helping a girl out with education or bills or whatnot so that is charity right? :rolleyes:

I dont want my tax dollars to go to some guys or girls spending their money drinking beer and watching strippers all day.Don't worry, your tax dollars are safe. All that money was borrowed; your taxes haven't gone up, have they? :p

what amazed me about the whole debit card idea, if you're living in the astrodome, you have no house and no car, what are you gonna spend $2000 on? "Honey, let's get the big screen and put it right between our cots in the dome!" Most of the essentials were being provided by the Red Cross or individual donors at that point. Why not wait and give them some money when they find other living quarters and need furnishings to live there. In no way should they have been deprived of things they needed, but $2000 to spend as you wish???

What moron thought of giving people debit cards with a 2k limit. That's like giving a highschool teenage girl a credit card to go to the mall. These people have already looted the whole damn city now they give thme debit cards. Why does the Red Cross say give money only to help out but then the govt. gives them debit cards. I will say it again. I hate the government. They are stupid

what amazed me about the whole debit card idea, if you're living in the astrodome, you have no house and no car, what are you gonna spend $2000 on? "Honey, let's get the big screen and put it right between our cots in the dome!" Most of the essentials were being provided by the Red Cross or individual donors at that point. Why not wait and give them some money when they find other living quarters and need furnishings to live there. In no way should they have been deprived of things they needed, but $2000 to spend as you wish??? Actually when the recently departed FEMA director Michael Brown announced the ill-fated federal debit card program, he indicated that the cards could not be used to purchase "alcohol or cigarettes," a restriction that applied to the cards distributed by the Red Cross, as well.

Of course, no one explained how "debit cards," unlike food stamps, could be restricted to purchases of particular types of goods and services.

It's hardly surprising to find that some folks have abused direct aid in the form of cash. That always happens in the chaos that follows a major disaster. In this case, of course, the scope of assistance and the disaster itself are far beyond the "usual" disaster.

What moron thought of giving people debit cards with a 2k limit. That's like giving a highschool teenage girl a credit card to go to the mall. These people have already looted the whole damn city now they give thme debit cards. Why does the Red Cross say give money only to help out but then the govt. gives them debit cards. I will say it again. I hate the government. They are stupid A couple of points. First, the notion that the "people (who) have already looted the whole damn city" are the ones receiving direct aid is an assumption that is questionable, at best. The vast majorilty of those evacuated from New Orleans and environs lost everything they owned and hardly took "loot" to the evacuation centers.

Second, both the Red Cross and FEMA handed out direct aid in the form of "debit cards" and direct deposits to bank accounts (for the folks who have bank accounts.) The FEMA aid amounted to "up to $2000," while the Red Cross debit cards and deposits carried a limit of $1500.

A couple of points. First, the notion that the "people (who) have already looted the whole damn city" are the ones receiving direct aid is an assumption that is questionable, at best. The vast majorilty of those evacuated from New Orleans and environs lost everything they owned and hardly took "loot" to the evacuation centers.

Second, both the Red Cross and FEMA handed out direct aid in the form of "debit cards" and direct deposits to bank accounts (for the folks who have bank accounts.) The FEMA aid amounted to "up to $2000," while the Red Cross debit cards and deposits carried a limit of $1500.

Still, I wish there were some kind of control on what the money was spent on. Sort of like food stamps, which can be spent only on essential items (or traded in on the street for about 50 cents on the dollar so you can buy booze :rolleyes: ) In the end, people who have legitimate needs and taxpayers will get the short end of this stick.

Still, I wish there were some kind of control on what the money was spent on. Sort of like food stamps, which can be spent only on essential items (or traded in on the street for about 50 cents on the dollar so you can buy booze :rolleyes: ) In the end, people who have legitimate needs and taxpayers will get the short end of this stick. Undoubtedly we'd all prefer that evacuees emulate our own responsible behavior. :D. In the end, however, it really comes down to a cost-benefit calculation, doesn't it? In a period in which FEMA is unable even to open aid centers in most of the affected areas (according to today's news reports), spending effort and resources to police the use of direct aid doesn't seem worthwhile, except of course to reassure us all that sinners don't profit.