The BIG Payback

Something foul is coming out of New Orleans and it’s not the left over gumbo. Apparently some homeowners will have to payback thousands of dollars in grant money due to a mathematical error. Now I know this a lot of stuff to chew on so I’ll break it down for you. The homeowners were not just regular homeowners that went to a bank for a home improvement loan. They were Katrina Victims that were trying to rebuild their lives. They were recipients of a federal grant from The Road Home program to rebuild homes. Now keep in mind the government doesn’t give anything away for free. They told me that I could live overseas and I jumped at the opportunity. The catch was that I had to work long hours and carry around an M-16 in inclement weather. But I digress…. The mathematical error comes in to play when the contractor that supplied the homeowners recalculated the amount to include insurance money and other government aid. I guess they used the “Fuzzy Math” model that President George Bush uses. I always wondered what kind of math was used at Ivy League Schools. Because of the miscalculation some people received more money than they were suppose to. ICF International, the contractor in question, agreed they rushed to give out the money. Now they want to collect from the “over paid” homeowners. Now some people reading this will use the old Republican Line “why didn’t they read the contracts”. For once in our capitalistic lives, can we give someone a pass? It’s bad enough we didn’t do anything for them the first time but now this? The sad part of this is that the federal funds are only $11 Billion dollars. You want to know where the rest of the money is? I have two words for you: THE WAR.