How would you feel if someone took money from you, without you having any direct say in the matter? It would anger most people. But what if you learned that the money was given to someone in need, such as someone who lost everything except the shirt off their back in Hurricane Katrina? You might still be angry, but you would probably feel a little better, at least thinking that you helped someone in desperate need, even if it was involuntarily. What if you found out the next year that it was all a lie, that the money was really used to buy someone a tattoo, condoms, a handgun, or an engagement ring. My guess is that you would be more angry than you were in the first place. Well, if you read, watched, or listened to the news lately you might have learned that this did, in essence, happen to you! That is, if you could get past the stories about Vice President Cheney's hunting accident!

Government officials testified before Congress that thousands of individuals misused Social Security numbers. FEMA also made payments to people using false addresses. Debit cards were used for adult entertainment, tattoos, bail bond services, $400 massages, a $450 tattoo, $150 worth of condom products, gambling, a 45-caliber handgun for $1,300, and a diamond engagement ring for $1,100. It has been reported that 10,777 trailers meant to house evacuees are stuck in the mud and unusable because they are in a flood zone and are not allowed to be used in that location by law. The Wall Street Journal has reported that $250,000 has been spent per evacuee household and that 900,000 out of 2.5 million applicants for aid received aid using invalid Social Security numbers, false names, and false addresses.

It almost makes me wish that I lived in New Orleans prior to Katrina. I would have a nice house and a Hummer in the garage!