As FEMA prepares to issue $2000 debit cards to over 500,000 people with no planning, no system, and no controls what could possibly be the outcome but another disaster and money down the storm drain.

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The Coming FEMA $2000 Debit Card Fiasco
By James Boyne

Nice try President Bush. Nice try FEMA. Nice try Karl Rove.

Now President Bush and his handlers are attempting to follow up on their “a little to little and a little too late” response with a mammoth bribe to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

It will never work. The reason it won’t work is because-----look who is trying to administer it; the very crowd of incompetents who contributed to the massive screw up in the first place.

There are an estimated 500,000 (at least) displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. That’s $1billion in debit cards, if my math is right. That should keep the unruly multitudes of humanity quiet for a while. That should give Bush some time to resurrect his image as a leader and a savior.

The President has been talking an awful lot about “cash money” lately. “Gotta send some cash money”. “Jest send in some cash to da Red Cross and life is gonna be fine”. Wur gonna git some cash money to da fine people of dis part of da world”.

Cash is king.

This is another Bush fiasco in the making. Here’s some questions that would seem to arise regarding this program:

How do you apply for the debit card? At a bank? What bank? What if you have no ID? What forms have to be filled out?

Can I apply by phone? What if my home as been destroyed? Where will the debit card be sent?

What computer system will control the system so people can’t apply more than once?

Does every individual get a $2000 card, every man, woman and child? Or is it $2000 per family? Or is it $2000 for everyone over 18 years of age? Or over 12 years of age? Would a family of seven get $14,000 or would they get $2000 or would only the mother and father get $2000 each.

Do people who are mentally incompetent also get $2000 and who would apply for it for them?

Would patients in nursing homes, if they could apply, have to turn their $2000 over to the owners of the nursing homes even if the nursing homes were destroyed?

Would hospitals have any rights to the $2000 if victims had unpaid bills?

How will Bush’s Bankruptcy Reform Bill (effective in October) affect the $2000 cash that people are given. If victims don’t immediately spend the money will creditors be able to claim a right to the money? Will the new Bill mean that all the business owners that had their businesses totally destroyed be forced to make a repayment schedule that could make them an indentured servant for the rest of their lives.

Note: If one’s insurance does not cover damage from floods, does it make sense to burn ones home down because the insurance covers fire damage, making one an arsonist.

What will one do if their $2000 debit card is lost? How does one prove it if their $2000 debit card is stolen and someone uses it because they also stole your PIN number.

What is the definition of a hurricane victim or an evacuee?

If someone left their multimillion mansion in their Lexus and then flew off to the Caribbean are they entitled to a $2000 debit card. If one left the area before the hurricane hit and stayed with relatives in another state can they come back and apply for a debit card? If they are broke and out of cash and can’t make the trip back since they will have no where to stay can they apply for the $2000 debit card out of state?. Suppose they have no ID?

Both the Red Cross and FEMA are passing out debit cards. What’s the difference?

How will the system control the influx of people who lived outside the hurricane area who will come into the area just to apply for a $2000 debit card?

How will the system know how many children are in a family if each child is entitled to $2000?

Can someone just show up and give a false name and address and Social Security number and get a $2000 debit card.

Why was $2000 selected as the amount? Is this amount too much? Not enough?

Will victims staying in hotels find that hotels expect the $2000 to be turned over to them as cash payment for the hotel accommodations at the full going rate of perhaps $250 a night?

Will the sudden influx of $1billion cause rampant price gouging?

There are hundreds of thousands of sick, injured, frail, elderly, suffering and dying people in the Gulf Coast area? Who will apply for the debit for them? And who will protect them from unscrupulous individuals attempting to apply for them and then take their money?

What are the boundaries of the hurricane area? Does it include victims far inland in Tennessee that may have damage from the wind and rain who may have had to leave their homes?

Is this the same type of system we used in Iraq where we handed out “cash money” to Iraqis after we bombed their cities and towns to smizzereens?

Would free food, shelter, clothing, prescriptions, medical care, transportation and free gas be a better system for victims; or not quite as good as “cash money” through a debit card?

Will local church pastors, priests and reverends be imploring their flock to turn over a portion of their $2000 debit card money to “Jesus” so they can be “saved”?

Will the $2000 debit card program have and ending date after which applications are no longer accepted?

Are illegal immigrants eligible for the $2000 debit card as they are eligible for free medical care, free education, and jobs in our present day system? Will this program encourage illegal immigrants to flock to the hurricane area in order to apply for the $2000 debit cards since $2000 in Mexico is equivalent to a years salary.

Additional Questions:???

How will Bush’s Bankruptcy Reform Bill affect small business owner’s who will be applying for Bankruptcy? The intention of the bill is to make it harder to apply and harder to be eligible for bankruptcy protection. Will this bill increase financial hardship and desperation of people who have lost their businesses and people who might have astronomical medical bills? Has this new bill created a multibillion dollar profit windfall for the financial services sector including credit card companies, collection agencies and other companies that prey upon the desperate.

Was all this part of the well laid out planning of Homeland Security?

What should I now do with all the duct tape I have stockpiled as well as my gas mask and my airtight anti-germ warfare, biological jump suit? Should I keep my anti-atomic bomb radiation eye glasses or sell them on e-bay? Is the terror alert level still at yellow? What comes after yellow again?---I forget. Do you think I will ever get my nail clippers back that the security guard took from me at the airport?

Why does President Bush keep asking for “cash money”? Did he run short of the $2.7 trillion that we gave him in taxes last year? President Bush said we “have the resources to fight in Iraq” ($300 billion so far and $2 billion a week). Katrina is estimated to cost $100 billion. When will the resources run out? Should we have another $350 billion tax cut for the wealthy and make it permanent like he wants to?

How come New Orleans is always referred to by President Bush as “that part of the world”? Also, I never knew that New Orleans was 100% African American. Was there a “rap music concert” at the Superdome? Is that why only blacks showed up there? Where did all the White people go?

Just some questions.

James Boyne
[email protected]

James Boyne is a regular contributor to www.opednews.com

Authors Bio:
The author is a freelance writer.