I’m expecting this to be on the top of the news for at least the rest of this week.
A federal plan to cancel housing aid for hurricane victims is “a cruel injustice” to thousands of refugees in Washington state, Gov. Christine Gregoire said Tuesday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to halt payments for hotel rooms on Dec. 1 for most refugees of the year’s two devastating hurricanes, Katrina and Rita.
What, it has been three months. Hadn’t these people figured out that the free money would go away sometime? Did they not get jobs?
They traveled about as far away from Louisiana as they could and still stay in the continental US, did they think we’d just let them lounge about for the rest of their lives?
Sorry folks, but you had two weeks after Katrina to figure out where you were going and you chose Washington. You then had 10 more weeks to get settled in and gainfully employed. What’s the problem here?
But at least I get a little comic relief from Barely Governor Gregiore:
Gregoire said state and local officials were given no warning the payments would stop next month.
Hey Chrissy, consider this a warning!
And don’t you dare give one red cent of my tax money to these people!
Amen! Once again, Governor Christine Fraudoire (or is that Christine Quagmire?) collects political capital by running to the media with scathing statements critical of the Administration. What she failed to mention, however, is that FEMA was already aware of the December 1st deadline, and had already informed hurricane refugees that they will have to find other housing.
What is also unknown to many is that a good share of the refugees in Washington State are staying at a medium-to-high-priced hotel in downtown Seattle. One would think that a more economically-sound idea would be to have them stay at the local Travelodge or Days Inn, not the Marriott Hotel in downtown Seattle. If you were a refugee, wouldn’t it make sense to save as much money as possible, because at some time, the federal government will say “it’s been over 2 months, time for you to find your own housing”…?
And, as a recent article in “The Stranger” illustrates, the grocery list of “non-grocery” items purchased by refugees raises an eyebrow or two.