Over 6 months ago, a devastating Hurricane struck the Gulf Coast, ravaging cities and towns from Louisiana to Alabama. In the aftermath of that hurricane, thousands of families were left homeless, when their homes were destroyed by wind or flood waters. Since that time, the government has promised some 80 billion dollars to rebuild New Orleans, more than Germany’s total cost of rearmament prior to WWII.

Indeed, the amount pledged to rebuild the city of New Orleans exceeds the estimated cost of the damages sustained by several billion dollars. In addition to this outlandish outlay of taxpayer’s dollars, which absolves citizens of personal responsibility, such as private insurance, the federal government has been paying the hotel bills of thousands of families since early September.

Many families have taken advantage of this short-term respite to rebuild their lives, finding permanent homes and employment. Some families, however, looked upon FEMA’s support services as an entitlement program and now after many months these Katrina refugees have come to rely upon FEMA to permanently support their new lives. Even those who no longer receive free hotel stays, still receive rent assistance from FEMA, nonetheless an advocacy group has filed a motion to stop the evictions once FEMA ends its hotel entitlement program. This latest episode highlights the inherent failure of entitlement programs in general.

Such handouts have a poor track record in transitioning families to self sufficiency, as a result, generations of Americans lack even the basic semblance of a work ethic and would be hard pressed to support themselves if called upon to do so. Entitlement programs are simply serfdom to the state and with each passing day that the government continues to spoon feed these individuals, they loose any hope of sustaining their own lives. Its time the Katrina evacuees, find, jobs, find homes and become productive contributors to society, rather than pigs at the public trough.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-02-12-katrina-evictions_x.htm


UPDATE: In spite of an attempt by Katrina evacuees to forestall the inevitable. A federal judge has given FEMA the go ahead to cut off those Katrina evacuees still milling at the public trough. Those evacuees still dependent upon the federal government to foot the bill for their housing needs will now have to turn elsewhere. Perhaps they could start by turning to the want ads, rather than looking for handouts? There simply is no excuse for someone not to have a job, 6 months after Katrina, unless they have a physical defect preventing them from working. There are a plethora of available jobs for those willing to work.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060213/D8FOCU2O0.html