Comments on: FEMA's "Toxic Bureaucracy"

CBS Evening News: Are FEMA Managers Holding Up Aid To Hold Onto Their Jobs?

[mjvwsr]

soon nationalized health care, nationalized oil, and nationalized banks will be run with the same efficiency as FEMA. Can't wait!~

[rickwar]

OK jerk off. Let's discuss another great bureaucracy then. How about the IRS. You like them too?

I was not talking FEMA under any one president. You made an assumption and you are proof of it.

I was talking about what happens once you empower people and give them control over your lives. Count me OUT on this one. I want nothing to do with some bureaucrat treating my healthcare how it would be treated if it were FEMA, IRS, USPO, Amtrak or any other bureaucracy running it. DO YOU GET IT NOW?
Posted by independenti at 4:34 AM : Feb 26, 2009

Oh, we get it you don't like anything.

[trueblueusa]

I`m a Shrubbie,.So ,I Know about living ' In Embarrassment "
Posted by jwind1 at 4:08 AM : Feb 26, 2009

[sean1z]

President Obama could terminate FEMA senior managers for inexperience, lethargy, and political graft. Congress provided funds for the Katrina Disaster. Where is the distribution? New Orleans should be rebuilt. The Obama Administration must never accept the lack of interest and tact by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. After the 2003 Presidents Day blizzard, Pennsylvania was awarded funding for recovery. PA EMA Director David Sanko was fired for failing to execute grants.

[skyk-2009]

Today I am an embarrassed American. Embarrassed because I once supported George W. Bush and the Republican Party. I once believed their line about less Government and how some people were just looking for a handout. I now realize that Greed was the motivator for that deception and they were using my fear and my selfishness against me for their gain. It's sad when you realize such things about yourself and those you once supported.

[sockpuppet4]

Cronyism, Sexual harassment, Racial discrimination, Intimidation, Retaliation?

This all seems a little far fetched. It sounds more like a disgruntled employee trying to build a multi million dollar public opinion law suit. As if some lazy employees want the living large life style at the expense of the taxpayer. Thats what this sounds like to me. I bet the whistle blowers are all fat escalade driving pigs. Show us their picture.

[cassluvcubs]

i volunteered in schools in la while in the navy way before katrina. They were disgusting smelly overcrowded you name it. while i believe these problems should be corrected, to blame fema is ridiculous. it was for years abhorrable. lets fix our public education system by teaching parents the importance of reading to your children and being involved in school. i'm not saying pta(o) or being room mom, just drop in for lunch a couple times a year and know your childs teacher by sight. Fema didn't cause the problems in LA, and it cant fix what was so broken.

[skarrzpop]

Dear God!!!..and we need to wonder why our country is falling into a **** hole?..thank you BUSH....another person that shoulda been treated like that damn judgre in NYC regarding helmslys will...funny how none of this happened under the Clinton adm huh?..

[johnnye6]

It was a hoot listening to Bobby Jindal during his response to Obama's speech complaining about the bureaucracy of not sending boats to Katrina victims. It wasn't big government's fault. It was the fault of Republicon cronyism, ineptness, patronage, privatizing, profiteering, starve-the-beast way of running government. And now Jindal doesn't want stimulus money for ideological reasons while New Orleans is still ravaged and Louisiana is one of the worst states in just about every measure. Republicans destroyed FEMA.

[barbi520]

It most certainly is a Republican issue. FEMA ran great under Clinton, and Bush appointed Clinton to clean up after the Sunami that killed hundreds of thousand s of people and occurred after Katrina. Clinton's cleaned it all up already. Can't even tell a Sunami hit those areas. That's because Clinton didn't give his buddies no-bid contracts for doing nothing. He actually went there to help people. Bush is an incompetent and a crook. All the building money for Iraq has also been basically stolen and the GOP in Congress prevent the DEMS from providing oversight and finding where the 10's of billions have gone missing in Iraq. 16 companies have been convicted of fraudulent activities in Iraq. Ask yourself why you've never heard about them on the supposedly liberal TV

[Brownie1894]

I am a former FEMA Caseworker at the Hyattsville Maryland National Processing Service Center. The things that are listed in Armen's report are the same exact issues that are going on at the Hyattsvile FEMA facility. Back in Sept 2007 I was interviewed by Armen concerning the problems at the Hyattsville facility. That story was titled: FEMA Wants Payback. As we speak there is Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's Office and a Congressional Investigation going on right now concerning some of the things listed in the CBS News report that have been going on since 2004. I should note that I am also a Certified Employment Law Specialist, Paralegal, EEO Counselor, Labor Relations Specialist so I am not a person who management could say was a bad employee. I have never had any write ups from any supervisor during my time working at FEMA. Management of the Hyattsville facility have gone so far as to threaten employees who attempted to start a union to protect their rights in the workplace.
Previously I have represented and assisted over 40 FEMA employees who filed complaints with the Merit Sysytems Protection Board (MSPB). That complaint was concering a lay off of employees after only a three day notice. There are also problems at the TX-NPSC.

Clark Browne
Paralegal/Employment Law Specialist
Laurel, Maryland
301-497-7631

[cyberus-2009]

This surprises who?

[retiredgustav]

For all you MORONs who keep tellng us Iwe shouldn't live in a flood plain perhaps we should move all of the refineries and chemical plants into your neighborhoods. The reason people live here is because we work here. Every area is prone to some kind of natural diaster. New York city is just a vunerable as New Orleans as to flooding due to hurricane, it just hasn't happened yet. St. Louis Tornadoes and earthquakes. I can go on an on. Just thank your lucky stars you haven't been hit yet! If any of y'all know if there is an area that is 100% diaster proof let me know.

[888irish]

And homes shouldn't be built on cliffs over looking the ocean, homes shouldn't be built in fire prone areas, or flood planes, or on mountain sides? New Orleans isn't the only town protected by a levies. Build better levies, and the once in a 100 years storm won't be a factor.

Posted by gravyboat63 at 7:05 PM : Feb 25, 2009

No, homes should not be built on a cliff where there are major earthquakes. Homes should not be built on flood planes, either. And as far as building better levies, it ain't going to happen. If they were going to do it, it would have been done by now.

[massmoca]

I volunteered down in that area for 6 months, both in Slydell Louisana and Pearlington, Mississippi, and what is needed is for something bigger than Feema to monitor Feema. An organization that is honest. (if there is such a thing).
Feema is not the only one to skim off the area's resorces. I saw many organizations both small and large that do the "hanky-panky" with greed. You need only to be down there several weeks to have an "eye opener " in greed, especially in Pearlington.
Rebuilding seemed to be getting done by and ONLY by volunteers who come in from all parts of our country at their own expense. And funding the rebuilding is through the generosity of churches and private funds from around the country as well.
I came back home to the North East with a wonderful fondness for the people I met who live there and lost everything in Katrina and for all the volunteers that came in from all around the United States.
Volunteers are the true reason that anything is getting done at all.

[sharingmythoughts]

This problem is not only occurring in New Orleans, but also in Houston, right NOW. I was fortunate enough to work on the Houston cleanup project after Hurricane Ike. I don't know how many times we were told to slow down in our efforts because we would be putting ourselves out of work. Well I was thankful for the work because I have been un-employed and under employed for too long. However, I am also a taxpayer and very much opposed to any waste of American tax dollars.

Also, talk about cronyism. I saw it every day when I reported to work. The vast majority of persons who were selected to supervisory positions were former military. I have nothing against those who serve in our armed forces, but it is not fair to discriminate against those who do not and select supervisors primarily based upon that connection. I also saw husbands and wives working in positions and then I later found that in such a short period of time their son in law had also been promoted to a supervisory role.

It was not uncommon to hear racist jokes by some of the supervisors. I was often offended by the comments of some of those in charge, but no one ever seemed to say anything about it. Some supervisors often yelled and barked orders. Although I was doing blue collar work, does that mean that I have to be treated with disrespect and yelled at? There were many people like myself who were grandparents, teachers, parents, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who were just out of work. Some of us had graduate degrees. But those were never the people selected to supervisory positions.

I also thought the way they selected individuals to be in supervisory positions was rather obscure. It was never asked who had degrees, who had experience in a particular area or not. I was not as upset as some people were, because I understood that the jobs were temporary. But to know that I didn't even have the opportunity to work for the $22 per hour that most supervisors were getting as opposed to the $14 per hour that the rest of us were getting, was disturbing. Also, not to know what I could do to prolong my work life with this project was also disturbing. The last day that I worked for the cleanup effort was sometime in December. Some people are still working.

It just seems like with all of these recovery efforts that have taken place throughout our nation, we would have developed some good, strong, leadership in FEMA and/or through the companies that they contract the work to. There do not appear to be any policies and procedures, no organizational structures that would provide the necessary guidelines to ensure that cleanup efforts are executed in a timely and efficient manner, while also providing a work environment where workers are respected and treated with fairness. This should be applicable regardless if the positions are temporary or permanent.

[dragontat2]

I'm with you, livinNOLA. This is not a Republican problem or a Democrat problem... this is an American problem. An American problem that is eating OUR money! The thieves embedded in every level of business - city, state, federal, and private - must be weeded out and eradicated.
It sounds like the FEMA management at the city level, at least, is creating their own brand of Job Security. Not to mention the sexual and racist harassment. Fire them all and start again... there are plenty of eager and qualified people ready to step in and do things right.

Peace & Blessings to you & yours... and I did vote for Obama.

[yamuttya]

Why wait another minute to right a wrong, its been 3 years of Bush style corruption and incompetence. Heck of a job Brownie.......
Sweep out the losers and install a new management team and GET THE JOB DONE !

[PVperson2]

Hey independenti, Katina and the following FEMA disaster was on Bush's watch, you do remember him don't you or is you neo-con memory too short to go back more than 1 month?

But then incompetence does seem to be what neo-cons favor, your kind demonstrates so much of it.

[peguesplace]

Louisiana isn't the only hurricane-stricken area that is having problems with FEMA...
Take a look across the Sabine River towards the Texas Gulf Coast and Galveston ... It's as bad, or worse there, and they've only gotten a fraction of the publicity that New Orleans has.
FEMA should be replaced, hopefully by something more efficient, with accountability and transparency, allowing for constant monitoring and correction. And THE PUBLIC should have access under The Freedom of Information Act.
If they thought someone was looking over their shoulders, maybe , just maybe, the funds might get to the people who need it so desperately, not to a bunch of bureaucratic bunglers who "having reached their levels of incompetency" are locked into jobs that they are incapable of handling and a till-full of our cash to dip their grubby fingers into..
.