FEMA: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

The lack of oversight and complete disregard of environmental laws and regulations that has become a signature feature of bush administration management, not only of catastrophes here at home, but of the entire war procurement process in Afghanistan and Iraq is now coming back to haunt FEMA officials and causing a health crisis for over 300,000 people, many of them children.

Evidently after Katrina, FEMA ordered $2.7 billion (yes, that's "B" as in billion")  worth of trailers to house the homeless victims, based on 25 lines of specifications. 25 lines with no mentions of safety requirements to  those corporations who got the contracts to deliver this housing. Formaldehyde, a chemical with links to leukemia, asthma and respiratory problems, was being emitted from the resins and glues used in most all of these trailers in amounts exceeding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendation for a 15 minute exposure limit for workers, the limit at which acute health problems begin to appear. FIFTEEN MINUTE LIMIT???? For god's sake, these are homes you assholes ...People, families, babies and old folks would be living in and breathing this toxic mix day and day out, not only for months, now going on years in some cases.

A Washington Post investigation found that "Weak government contracting, sloppy construction, a surge of low quality wood imports from China, inconsistent (largely non-existent) regulation all contributed to the crisis." Par for the course of the bush administration. Naturally, all the key players in the fiasco are busily pointing fingers at others, another earmark of the bushies; never EVER accept responsibility. This message gets sent down from the oval office every day. Everyone in this administration follows the lead of the boy-king.

"I still can't believe we bought a billion dollars worth of product with a 25 line spec. There's not much you can do in 25 lines to protect public safety," said Joseph Hagerman, a researcher for the Federation of American Scientists. "There's over 20,000 parts in these homes."

Well, for those of you who have written off Katrina as yesterday's news, listen to this, the bush admin's deregulation mantra, their total lack of concern for consumer safety, their disregard for human health, their disdain for scientific data, will be appearing in a trailer park near you. These same manufacturers who were supported by government largess, these same manufactures of the trailers designed for the victims of Katrina, have been selling their products to regular consumers. (Anybody take off this Memorial Day weekend in a newly purchased trailer for a nice camping trip?) This was the excuse given by FEMA administrator R. David Paulison, the guy responsible for the trailer boondoggle; that it wasn't just lack of FEMA standards, but it was do to lack of industry standards -  "this is bigger than FEMA"...Thanks to the bush administration.