Re: UXO

[Chris Kline <ckline@skyenet.net>]

Having worked in DC for 12 years in part investigating federal waste,
fraud and abuse, I do not normally leap to the defense of alleged silly
federal practices.  However, the recent posting which trashes FEMA and
then conjures up a vast "black helicopter"-type conspiracy to explain
why hordes of  bureaucrats descended upon the Maryland beaches really
goes beyond the pale.  It is not worth spending too much time dissecting
the inaccuracies, speculations and blind assertions in the article.  The
author clearly has a political agenda, or perhaps he was just mad
because he couldn't get crab cakes at his favorite restaurant one day.

In my view in the last 8 years, FEMA has been turned from a political
backwater and ineffectual agency to a crack, first-responder to
disasters both in the US and abroad.  Don't rely on my word for this. Do
a search of FEMA in any major US newspaper.  Read the articles which pop
up and decide for yourself whether FEMA "briefcase-toting" bureaucrats
are dreaming up ways to waste your tax dollars.  What the inquistive
reader will find are countless stories of prompt, needed assistance in
the aftermath of serious storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and
floods.

Granted, one can always wag a finger and cluck, "They get what they
deserve because they live near a coast, flood zone, tornado alley,
wildfire-prone area, etc."   But the simple truth is that disasters can
happen to anyone at anytime anywhere   To the people in the the few
square miles of this country which aren't prone to floods, hurricanes,
tornados, wildfires or severe storms, I would make sure you aren't
benefitting from crop, mining or grazing subsidies or some other obscure
federal program before you get all riled up about FEMA.

FEMA has a little over 5,000 employees.  If all of them showed up at the
author's swank beach town in February, it would be a light day compared
to any of the weekends from May to October.

If the author is so intent on saving taxpayer dollars, I suggest he
write to James Lee Witt, the director of FEMA, and have his own name
removed from any data base that FEMA utilizes.  That way, the next time
a hurricane comes roaring up the Atlantic coast, there will be on less
mouth for FEMA to feed.  In the mean time I'm not going to begrudge them
the dollar or two of my taxes that provide the cheapest insurance
around.