The REAL Reason Why Republicans Want To ABOLISH FEMA: So They Can PROFIT From Natural Disasters

[HeiressofBickworth]

38. As I mentioned on a previous thread,

I once worked for a disaster clean-up company. It was a subsidiary of the engineering firm I worked for. One of the engineers came up with an idea that he thought would make money -- cleaning up disaster-struck areas. Clients were cities, counties, states. There was a very involved computer program to track truck loads of debris as this information formed the basis of the billing method. He was right, the enterprise made a fortune and I, low on the totem pole that I was, received the largest bonus I had ever received in my entire working life. The company provided a much-needed service to local communities and, other than management, hired local people to do the dirty work and paid local prevailing wages. So where did the money come from to pay for all of this? The company billed the client and (with the company's assistance) the client billed FEMA. When FEMA paid the client, the client paid the company. What Jeb Bush is planning is to form a company just like the one I described. The Repubs may TALK about defunding FEMA, but when they form their disaster companies, they know that ultimately the money to pay for all of it will come from the Federal Government, because THAT's who has the money. Cash-strapped cities, counties, states or individuals in the midst of disaster do not have the funds to pay for the clean-up and they won't venture into this kind of business without lining up their paying customers in advance. ONLY the Feds have the actual money to pay. What Jeb et al are doing is placing yet ANOTHER corporate layer between the work to be done and the source of the money to do it (FEMA) in order to skim profit off of disasters. So once again, they are spouting ideas that have no bearing on reality -- not that we should be surprised about that. To pacify their small-government libertarian wing of their party, they will talk about defunding FEMA, but with so much money to be made in that industry, they will never actually do it. More bait and switch politics.