Americans “deserve a better FEMA”

Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina, the government is still discovering critical governmental flaws, according to Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) at a hearing before the Joint Homeland Security Committee to discuss the delivery of donated goods to catastrophe survivors. Thompson said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not properly manage and distribute the donated supplies after Hurricane Katrina.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said that it was important to ascertain why some goods purchased for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief were supposedly never delivered and failed to be used for their intended purposes. Landrieu conceded that FEMA has made some progress but said that FEMA must learn to be proactive and more collaborative. Landrieu said that Americans “deserve a better FEMA.”

Eric Smith, Assistant Administrator of Logistics Management at FEMA, said that there have been inaccurate reports of the lack of distribution of relief goods. According to Smith, the materials and supplies held in storage and deemed to be in excess of FEMA’s needs are valued at $18.5 million and not $85 million as reported. He attributed the error in value to a manual miscalculation. Smith said that FEMA continues to provide livings kits to help those in transition out of FEMA housing.

Carlos Castillo, Assistant Administrator of Disaster Assistance of FEMA, agreed that FEMA has encountered uncoordinated shipments and volunteers. Castillo attributed this to the volunteers being overwhelmed and the fact that many states may not have the proper infrastructure to support large donations. Castillo said that even with FEMA’s shortcomings, it has distributed more than $50 billion since Hurricane Katrina and has provided more than 90,000 units of temporary housing. Castillo added that FEMA remains committed to those affected by the disaster.

"Christmas in July" for big oil companies

Exxon spends more money on its Chief Executive Officer than it does on energy research, according to Senate Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer said that he was not surprised with the profits oil companies are making but rather, he was surprised about how oil companies are spending their profits. According to Schumer, oil companies are using the profits to buy back their own stock and increase their share prices.

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) said that the government must stop subsidizing big oil companies and demand that the companies divert more resources into increased domestic production. Emanuel said that American taxpayers are spending billions of dollars for handouts to big oil companies and are also being forced to pay record prices at the pump. According to Emanuel, big oil companies are spending $180 billion on stock buy-backs but only spending $10 billion on research and development.

House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said that BP now stands for Bloated Profits. Markey also doled out statistics regarding big oil companies' profits. According to Markey, big oil companies made $40.6 billion profits in 2007 and spent $32 billion on stock buy-backs. Markey emphasized that big oil companies had only spent $10 million on renewable energy.

One size doesn't fit all voters

America has a long history in which the voting process has been largely controlled independently by states, according to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) at a hearing on the Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act. The Bipartisan Electronic Voting Reform Act would help amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and provide for auditable, independent verification of ballots. This would ensure the security of voting systems.

According to Feinstein, the bill requires each state to establish a chain of custody protocols for voting systems, components and records where only appropriate election officials have access to machines. Feinstein said that the bill authorizes $30 million in grants for research, development and testing of independent verification technologies. Ranking Member Bob Bennett (R-Utah) said that America has a long history of vote manipulation and vote fraud and independent verification would bring a degree of reliability and security to voting.

The Honorable Todd Rokita, the Indiana Secretary of State, said that in order to facilitate the appropriate balance for an equal and effective partnership, National Associations of Secretaries of State (NASS) members agreed that members of Congress should respect America's legal and historical distinctions in federal and state sovereignty as well as avoid pre-emptions of state authority when drafting federal legislation. In addition, Rokita said that the federal legislation should include a reasonable timeframe for implementing state requirements or programs.

Barbara Arnwine, Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law, said that eligible voters were disenfranchised by malfunctioning voting machines and inadequately trained poll workers. According to Arwine, 72 percent of voters in Georgia complained about problems at polling places and malfunctioning voting machines. Arwine recounted a story from a voter who had pointed out that the poll worker fed her ballot to the machine upside down. In response, the poll worker merely smiled and said that she was "one of the lucky ones." Arwine said that she was excited about the bill as it would allow voters to feel confident that the votes they cast count for the candidate they choose. She said that this bill would also allow for disabled people to cast their votes independently and privately with its multimodal voting interface.

Privileges and vendettas in the courtroom

"The gavel allows you to push issues" according to Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) and he added that he missed being the one holding the gavel.

At The Heritage Foundation discussion on "Attorney-Client Privilege: Repairing the Damage," Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) focused on the Department of Justice's policies regarding the right to counsel and the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Sixth Amendment sets forth rights related to criminal prosecutions in federal courts.


When asked if courts would ever allow cameras into the courtrooms, Specter said that courts today decide all "cutting edge authority." Specter noted that the print media has accessibility and a shift to electronic media was inevitable. Specter said that, as always, there was the question of security, but it was something that simply needed to be dealt with. Specter said he understood the public's desire for transparency and accessibility in institutions such as the Supreme Court.

Specter also discussed the case of Kent Wakefield from Virginia. According to Specter, Wakefield had written him a letter detailing his six year ordeal with the courts. Quoting Wakefield, Specter said that his employer at America Online (AOL) demanded to waive his attorney-client privilege. In addition, Specter said that Wakefield's assets were frozen. Specter said this was an example of a "vendetta being carried out."


Specter explained the importance of full disclosure between attorneys and their clients. Specter said that if the client did not feel comfortable telling his attorney everything, the attorney would not be able to sufficiently represent his client and the client would not get the full value of his attorney. Specter also emphasized that attorney-client privileges ensure fair trials and the government wins when justice is done.

Debts and deadbeats

Over 1.6 million businesses owe more than $58 billion to Uncle Sam, according to Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) at a hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on unpaid payroll tax abuse. A study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that more than half this debt is now uncollectible.

According to Levin, delinquent businesses not only stash away taxes they owe the government but also steal funds withheld from employee paychecks. Levin pointed out that this widespread failure to remit payroll taxes is a felony and a disgrace. Levin said that in 1998, the GAO found unpaid payroll taxes totalled $49 billion but now it has increased to $58 billion. Levin attributed the cause for this increased tax debt partyly to ineffective Internal Revenue Service (IRS) payroll collection efforts.

Levin focused on three of the hosts of problems identified by the GAO. Levin said that GAO’s report disclosed that 70% of all unpaid payroll taxes owed by businesses are due to repeat offenders. Levin also cited the IRS’ failure to make effective use of available enforcement tools and “deadtime in the queue” where cases are left unproductive until a revenue officer is assigned to them and enforcement action is taken.

Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, referred to those who fail to pay payroll taxes as “deadbeats” and said they are not only breaching their employees’ trust but shortchanging honest American taxpayers. Coleman said that the IRS estimated $44 billion has been transferred from general tax revenues to Social Security and Medicare. Coleman pointed out that the billions of dollars could have been invested in crucial areas such as healthcare, homeland security and education. Coleman also said that tax-cheats are shifting the tax burden onto honest Americans and are gaining an unfair advantage over honest businesses.