Hey, I know it’s Saturday, but I saved this clip from yesterday’s show because it’s important that you understand the facts surrounding FEMA.
FEMA is an organization that is at best, incompetent and at worst, corrupt. Good, well-meaning people work there but the preponderance of evidence suggests the organization has rightly lost the trust of the American people through arrogant and incompetent leadership.
An elected official told me on the phone yesterday that cities expecting FEMA funds could be forced to wait three to four years to be made right. If that’s not bad enough, FEMA’s guidelines stipulate that they distribute federal funds based on equity and prioritize underserved communities of color. So lily-white Chimney Rock, North Carolina - the place that needs help the most - could be forced to wait at the back of the line.
But now FEMA tells us it likely doesn’t have the funds to make it through hurricane season only a few months after it sent hundreds of millions of dollars to fund house illegal immigrants in New York City.
While all of this is justifiably infuriating and we should expect more from a government that works for us, FEMA is not a first responder. You are.
There needs to be accountability for government — a government whose leader waited FIVE DAYS to sign a disaster order, mobilizing relief efforts and summoning parts of the military. But, again, if you call 911 when the armed criminal is breaking into your home, you’re going to defend yourself or die before the government shows up. Here, now, with this hurricane, Americans must help Americans. The government is too arrogant and incompetent to get it done. There must be accountability.
Watch:
If you missed yesterday’s full show, catch it here:
I appreciate your educating us on these issues. Letting people know that FEMA is NOT a first responder is a big deal and is good to know.
The disaster is our fellow citizens are being flushed down the tubes all in the name of equity and the government is the author of it. Those folks down there in the mountains are going through enough without having to be spit on the name of "equity." In the past other dictators who didn't address disasters properly had to get out of Dodge but quick. Somoza in Nicaragua comes to mind.