When $110 Billion Isn't

5 states, 3 storms slice up federal pie
Sunday, February 11, 2007
By Bill Walsh
WASHINGTON -- In the wake of the brutal 2005 hurricane season, the White House and Congress made a point of repeatedly noting that $110 billion in federal aid had been dispatched to the Gulf Coast, the most ever for a disaster. The total was widely touted as a blessing.

But as the region struggles to rebuild 18 months later, the figure has become something of a political curse, especially for Louisiana officials who say they have been consistently shortchanged and are back in the nation's capital looking for more.

The new Democratic majority in Congress seems more than willing to cut bureaucratic red tape to speed the recovery, but hasn't committed to the infusion of new cash the state says it needs.
Republicans and the Bush administration, meanwhile, say the state needs to spend what it has first.

Louisianians making the rounds on Capitol Hill last week kept hearing the same question: Didn't we just send you $110 billion?

"I hear it all the time," said Walter Leger, of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the state entity in charge of rebuilding programs. "It's frustrating."

The LRA estimates that in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Louisiana alone sustained upwards of $100 billion in losses, but hasn't gotten anywhere near that amount. Leger figures the state has $34 billion in "uncompensated losses."

A misinterpretation
He says the $110 billion in federal assistance for the Gulf Coast is widely misinterpreted. First, the money was divided among the five Gulf Coast states and covers damage from Katrina, Rita and Wilma, which hit south Florida. The LRA figures that Louisiana's share of that was about $59 billion, but even that is misleading.

About $18 billion came in the form of disaster relief, which includes the kind of post-crisis assistance -- health care, evacuee assistance, business loans -- the federal government routinely extends in a major crisis. An additional $14.7 billion was in payouts from the National Flood Insurance Program, for which Louisiana policyholders had paid premiums.

By the LRA's calculations, the state has received $26.4 billion in genuine federal help, including money to rebuild levees, homes, schools and community infrastructure.

"A lot has been said about the $110 billion," said Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge. "We just haven't seen it."

But skeptics of the state's position aren't hard to find in Washington. The skeptic in chief is President Bush, who has said that the state doesn't need more money, but to spend what it already has.

Shortchanged from start Exhibit A, he said, is Gov. Kathleen Blanco's Road Home housing program, which has been allocated nearly $12 billion; as of Thursday, 590 people had gotten checks totaling $38.3 million.

"I think it's important for the state and the parishes to use what they have right now," said Donald Powell, Bush's Gulf Coast recovery coordinator. "My job is to look at the needs and make recommendations for more funding. But I think anyone would be hard- pressed right now to recommend more funding when the vast majority of the state's federal funds remain unspent."

There also is no shortage of doubters on Capitol Hill. At a hearing last week, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., said he thought Louisiana had enough. He read aloud comments Blanco made a year ago praising President Bush and touting the "carefully crafted, legitimate numbers" for the assistance received.

But Leger said Bachus was quoting her out of context and that Louisiana has been shortchanged from the start.

"If we got $59 billion, that means the rest went to Mississippi, Alabama and Texas, and we had four times the damage," Leger said. "That's not fair. That's what people ought to be looking at."

He and Democrats in the state's delegation told the House Financial Services Committee last week that Mississippi has fared far better because of its Republican political clout on Capitol Hill. In December 2005, Mississippi got $5.2 billion for housing recovery in an emergency supplemental spending bill and Louisiana got $6.2 billion, even though Louisiana had far more damage from flooding.

According to the Office of Gulf Coast Rebuilding, Louisiana had 204,737 homes destroyed or with major damage. Together, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas had 77,173.

It helped Mississippi's case in Congress that the man making the final spending decisions, Sen. Thad Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is the state's senior senator.

Louisiana officials say the unfairness continued in the supplemental spending package passed in the summer of 2006 in which the state got an additional $4.2 billion for housing. Leger estimated that the actual need was $8 billion to $9 billion, but because of Mississippi's clout, Louisiana's portion was limited.

"I don't begrudge Mississippi its money, but we have to ask what does it really take to fund the recovery?" Rep. William Jefferson, D- New Orleans, said. "There just isn't enough money starting out to measure up to the scope of the damage. The amount was pulled out of the air and politics took over."

The 10 percent rule
The disparity, they say, continues today. At the top of Blanco's wish list is waiving the requirement that Louisiana pay 10 percent of the disaster recovery costs. The Bush
administration reduced the amount from 25 percent, but the Blanco administration says it has cost Louisiana $400 million that could be spent on rebuilding and will cost plenty more.

She says that the federal government waived the local cost-share for Hawaii in 1992 when Hurricane Iniki hit and for Louisiana and Florida the same year after Hurricane Andrew. The local contribution was also waived for New York after the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Powell, the Bush-appointed recovery coordinator, said that extra money was given to Louisiana to cover the state's share and that it's important for locals to take some "ownership of these
projects."

But state officials say they will be in a better position to help themselves when they receive a little more help from Washington.

A pamphlet members of the LRA were handing out on Capitol Hill last week quoted from Bush's Sept. 15, 2005, speech in Jackson Square promising "an unprecedented response to an unprecedented crisis."

"We are still waiting to be treated like other states," it says.
From Jenni

Reducing Debt and Payments

http://www.incharge.org/Credit_Counseling/GettingStarted/default.aspx?vdn=8056&kw=debt%20reduction&gclid=COvUhpjd74kCFTBcFQod9jinJQ&bhcp=1

Trust me when I say, I've been in position to have used all of the following suggestions and headaches.

You have debt. You don't make enough money. You'd pay if you could. You just don't have it to pay. How do you deal with it all? It's so stressful.

If you have a regular job where you can pay SOME, but not all on your bills, you will go about it differently than if you don't have a regular job.

Budget. Look realistically at your bills. You need to pay for food, gas, electricity, phone and insurance; rent or mortgage, car payment, clothes (most people forget this); medicine. If your money will go this far, then you can start looking at managing your credit card debt.

Food - Stretching Food Budgets
Gas - combine trips to save both gas and time. Even if all you are saving is the gas to pull in and out of your driveway, you're saving money.
Make sure your tires are at the right pressure. It sounds wild, but it's true that correct tire pressure can save up to 10% of your gas consumption.
Tune up - make sure air filter is clean. If the car is running rough, put fuel injector cleaner in to help optimize your engine's ability. Use AC as little as possible.
Speed Limit - going no faster than 65 mph will give you ultimate mileage. Start up slow from stop signs or red lights - it takes less gas.
Don't idle. Don't leave the cars running for more than 1 minute without shutting it off.
Electricity - Keep lights, TV's, radios, computers, monitors, printers, etc. OFF when not in use.
Unplug all appliances that don't need to run constantly when you aren't using them. These 2 things alone can save you 10%.
Turning your heat down 1 degree can save 2% on the heat portion of your bill. Turning your AC up 1 degree can do the same thing. Use insulated curtains to hold indoor temperature steady.
Phone - use a calling card for long distance. Most have charges of 3.4 cents per minute now - very cheap! Don't get the all in one packages that are being sold by cable companies. Unless everyone you talk to on a daily basis lives out of town, you're wasting money.
Consider getting rid of landline if you have a cell. Don't pay for both, especially if you don't talk on the phone a lot.
Cable - get rid of it. Read books or put the money toward internet access. You get the same information online for less. DSL through the phone lines is cheaper than cable internet.
Insurance - You have to have car insurance. Talk to your agent and ask them what you can get rid of. Check around for cheaper rates, but really look. Sometimes the savings is less than 2% and can go up for a simple traffic violation. Be cautious when changing carriers.
Health Insurance - If you don't have any, start a small account and put some in it every month. Mine is in my sock drawer - not that I advocate that AT all. But, I have my reasons. And, it keeps me honest and keeps me putting the money in.
Rent - there is very little you can do to change this number. Don't even try. If you have a mortgage - you can try renegotiating the terms. It's similar to refinancing, but isn't.
Car Payment - you can do the same as with the mortgage. If you're tight on cash, you can ask for a renegotiation. You'll pay longer, but if you ever get to a better spot financially, you can pay more down per month to finish the debt sooner.
Clothes - you need clothes. Budget so you can buy at least one article of clothing per month, then shop the sales as often as possible. Don't buy anything at regular price. There's no need, especially with all of the discount stores out there now.
Medicine - You need even aspirin on occasion, no matter how healthy you are. Put a reasonable amount in per month for over the counter meds, and again, buy on sale and buy generic. If you have prescription meds, please refer to this link for more assistance:
Medical Resources

Again, if you money covers all of these things and you still have some left over, then start looking at your credit card debt.

Credit Cards - If you can pay some on all of your cards, then call the companies to negotiate a decent interest rate. Most will probably deactivate the account if you can't pay their minimum payment, but it won't look as bad on your credit report than defaulting on one or more.
Most advisors urge people to pay the highest interest rate off first. I suggest you pay the lowest balance off first, then go to the highest interest rate. You need cash flow now. As cash frees up, increase your payments on all by even as little as $5 a month, while putting the lion's share toward the highest interest rate. This shows good faith to all of the companies while reducing your balance on all and mostly on the worst one.
Close all but 2 or 3 of the accounts. Remember the average American has 7.

If you can't pay on all of them, then choose 1 for emergencies only, pay the debt off this one and stop using or paying all others.
Being in the crisis mode like this makes life far different than it once was. You will most likely be unable to keep your credit record clean, so don't try.
Call the credit card company you will be keeping the account open with and negotiate an interest rate reduction with a promise of paying X amount per month to pay the debt off.
After being in default on the other cards for at least 30 days, call the companies to ask for their hardship program. Negotiate a payment you can handle and they will most likely give you a reduced interest rate. The account will be deactivated so you can't use it until you are back in good standing with the company.

Become a "Cash Only" person. If you don't carry your credit cards, you will be less likely to use them. You buy only what you have cash for. And if that's only food, then that's the way life is right now. You need to get your debt under control or at least out of crisis. It can and will bury you if you don't take the steps necessary to regain control of your life. Keep the one credit card for emergencies only - such as ER visits, the car breaking down, a new necessary medication. There are very few reasons to use the credit card - so don't use it!

This takes discipline, focus, determination and patience. It won't come easy or fast, but it will come.

Stretching Food Budget

Reducing Food Bills
I know it is virtually impossible to store any food in a FEMA trailer or small apartment. This makes it especially difficult to keep food bills to a minimum. However, you might be able to incorporate some of the ideas here and reduce your bills even a little bit.
Coupons – besides what you get in your Sunday paper, try these
http://www.wow-coupons.com/ http://www105.coolsavings.com/
Food Pantries. Many only allow you to use them monthly, quarterly or even only once ever 6 months. Don’t let that discourage you. Social Services should have a list to send.
Community Meals. Many churches and civic organizations serve community meals for little or no money. My area has at least 2 every day in a 15-minute radius of each other. Few will be breakfast; some will be lunch and some dinner. Many organizations also have very inexpensive meals - cheaper than you could buy the ingredients to make yourself. Social Services should have a list to send you.

Menu Planning. This takes a little time to learn, but becomes easy and is worth the effort.

Chicken – buy a whole chicken. Roast it for one meal. Pull the meat off the bones and boil the bones for broth. Use half of the broth and 2/3 of the meat to make chicken and gravy for on biscuits or unsweetened French toast. Use the other half of the broth and the rest of the chicken to make soup. This gives you at least 3 meals to work with on just 1 chicken. Plus, a whole chicken is less per pound than cut pieces.

Roasting Chicken – rinse off, pull giblet pack out of cavity. Lightly salt and season skin if you want. Roast at 325 for 70-90 minutes. When juices run clear out of a cut near the thigh, it’s thoroughly cooked.

Boiling chicken bones – pull most of meat off bones. Put bones in large saucepan. Add onion, garlic, tomato, celery for flavor. Cover with water and slowly bring to boil. Skim foam off – this is what makes broth go from good to great. Slow boil for up to 2 hours. Strain bones and pieces with colander and or cheese cloth.

Making gravy – chicken gravy takes more flour than beef gravy. Heat broth to rolling boil. Mix water and flour to a very thin paste. Mix into broth while stirring constantly with a whisk. Boil for 2 minutes to cook flour completely.

Making soup – Great way to clean the refrigerator of leftovers! Large saucepan, 2 T of oil, brown everything going in – chicken meat, raw vegetables, rice, barley. Add a bit of tomato paste, soup, sauce, juice for depth of flavor. Add broth. Add any leftovers to the soup. Cook for a half hour. Let set for an hour before cooling rapidly to store. Or reheat and serve.

Beef – Buy roasts. They are more expensive initially, but you can do the exact same thing for roasts as you do for chickens.
Chuck roast would be the most economical for this use. Brown the meat heavily with salt and pepper before covering it with water to slow cook. Cover with at least an inch of water to have more broth. Cook onions, potatoes and carrots with the meat for the initial meal.
Use 1/3 of broth for first meal for gravy.
Use 1/3 of broth and any gravy left from prior meal to make gravy for hot beef open-faced sandwiches (Add previous gravy at the end of the cooking of the new gravy).
Use 1/3 of broth for soup. Leftovers are again utilized very well in this soup. So is cut up spaghetti, spaghetti sauce and any pork meat you might have. Add previous gravy at the end of cooking to get a very hearty stew.

Shepherd’s Pie - Uses ground beef, is nutritious and goes a long way. Again – you can use left over vegetables to help fill, use mashed potatoes for the top or biscuit dough, or even cooked pasta.

Chili – with at least a 1:1 ratio of beans to ground beef, along with a good portion of other vegetables, this is inexpensive and nutritious. Make it go further by serving over rice or pasta.

Corn/Potato Chowder – easy, fast, cheap, nutritious. Fry cut bacon. Add chopped onion, carrot, potato and brown in bacon grease. Add about 1C water (or broth) – just enough to cover vegetables. When potato and carrot are tender, add corn and milk to make a thick soup. Mix some flour and water for thickening if desired. Bring soup to boil and rapidly stir thickening in. Boil for at least 2 minutes to cook flour thoroughly. Northern beans go great in this to make it even more nutritious.

Leftovers – A friend of mine has a container in her freezer that she puts all leftovers in: Vegetables, meat scraps, leftovers from dinner plates, etc. When the container is full, she makes soup. It allows you to utilize every bit of what you cook as well as reduce the number of storage containers in your refrigerator.

Making extra broth. Ask your meat counter for both pork and beef bones to make more broth from. Brown or roast them prior to boiling for better flavor.

Vegetables – for soup, ask your produce section for deals on veggies they can’t normally sell. You can cut the bad parts out and use the good parts for soup.

Breakfast – Oatmeal is by far the cheapest and most nutritious meal you can make for breakfast. Get containers rather than prepackaged. Get the quick cooking rather than the instant. Cook it milk for more nutrition. Add sugar, peanut butter, nuts, and dried fruits all during cooking for a more flavorful meal.

Lunch – Make leftovers; Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches; Soup.

Remember what my grandmother always said, “What won’t fat will fill.” You may get sick of the stuff, but it’ll keep you going, healthy and make eating more affordable.