A bit of confusion about the hurricane

[The Pentium Guy]

My friend just posetd this informaiton

We're all well aware of the flurry of hurricanes this season, with the destruction of New Orleans still in everyone's mind.
This is my attempt to convince you to convince everyone you know (and hopefully everyone you don't know) to stop donating to hurricane relief efforts (except maybe the Red Cross or Salvation Army. Those are still maybes).

I don't write stuff up like this without provocation, and not without reason. My "beef" with the donating is a simple function of it's not doing anything.

There are two hundred BILLION dollars in PERSONAL donations invested in cleaning and fixing up New Orleans (as well as some other communities). They're not lacking for money. The problem that faces them now is the fact that the cleanup crew is Halliburton. Don't just dismiss this as a knee-jerk "Oh, he just hates Halliburton and this is a knee-jerk reaction." It's not. Halliburton is going in there, getting funded by taxpayers' dollars (the insurace companies are not part of the $200 bil, as they haven't had to pay anything yet), and using their employees to rebuild the region.
This is even stupider than it sounds. Instead of a project where the people of the region get work to rebuild their own homes, it's being taken care of by a corporation known for *ahem* juggling the books.

This means that the two hundred bil in OUR money is going mostly to Halliburton. Not to the people of that region. Not to that region's businesses. Hell, not even going to local government to help in rebuilding. The money's going to a corporation that does not want for money. The people of that region are not getting their jobs back with that money. They're (mostly) not getting food, clothing and shelter from that money. No, they're getting a corporation that has no business being there going in and taking (at this point) their money.

To sum up: don't ****** donate. Your money's going to the ****** at Halliburton, and all it does is increase their coffers. Nothing you donate will go directly to the betterment of the people in the ravaged region.

Two Hundred Billion ****** Dollars ($200,000,000,000)and they're still dicking around.

Why is it that nobody's called anyone on this? Why aren't the ****** insurance companies doing their job? There are simple answers to these questions.

Is this actually true or not?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

...Sparknotes for the lazy:

Edit: Fixed

1) Tax money goes to Halliburton
2) Friend bitches about nothing
3) I get confused.
4) .....
5) Profit?

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
...Sparknotes for the lazy:

1) Plenty of money for hurricane releif $200,000,000,000
2) Money goes to an organization, Halliburton, that is SUPPOSED to donate to the people.
3) Money doesn't get to the people, money stays nowhere.

Halliburton is a charitable organization now? Wow, is there anything this company doesn't do or get blamed for?

Edit: This thread is probably going to get shipped to P&N and that'll be the end of it for me.

 

[Amused]

Facts help:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...cle/2005/09/04/AR2005090401193_pf.html

An Arlington-based Halliburton Co. subsidiary that has been criticized for its reconstruction work in Iraq has begun tapping a $500 million Navy contract to do emergency repairs at Gulf Coast naval and Marine facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root Services Inc., won the competitive bid contract last July to provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters.

Jan Davis, a spokeswoman for the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, said yesterday that KBR would receive $12 million for work at the Naval Air Station at Pascagoula, Miss., the Naval Station at Gulfport, Miss., and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. KBR will receive $4.6 million for work at two smaller Navy facilities in New Orleans and others in the South.

The company has provided similar work after major disasters in the United States and abroad for more than 15 years, including in Florida after Hurricane Andrew.

KBR has been at the center of scrutiny for receiving a five-year, no-bid contract to restore Iraqi oil fields shortly before the war began in 2003. Halliburton has reported being paid $10.7 billion for Iraq-related government work during 2003 and 2004. The company reported its pretax profits from that work as $163 million. Pentagon auditors have questioned tens of millions of dollars of Halliburton charges for its operations there.

Last month three congressional Democrats asked Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to investigate the demotion of a senior civilian Army official, Bunnatine H. Greenhouse, who publicly criticized the awarding of that contract.

Vice President Cheney headed Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, and Democrats have questioned whether the firm received favorable treatment because of his connection.

NO donation money is going to the contract for repairs of infrastructure or naval bases.

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money? The two are no where near connected in any way shape or form.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Amused

NO donation money is going to the contract for repairs of infrastructure or naval bases.

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

The two are no where near connected in any way shape or form.

That may be true but the majority of donated money is not making it to the ordinary people.

Everyone is just excuse after excuse that we do not qualify for anything. Interesting when you have lost your home, car and job while the Companies with relationships with Haliburton and Bechtel bring illegal workers in from Central America get millions of dollars for doing so and paying these people cash.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Amused

NO donation money is going to the contract for repairs of infrastructure or naval bases.

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

The two are no where near connected in any way shape or form.

That may be true but the majority of donated money is not making it to the ordinary people.

Everyone is just excuse after excuse that we do not qualify for anything. Interesting when you have lost your home, car and job while the Companies with relationships with Haliburton and Bechtel bring illegal workers in from Central America get millions of dollars for doing so and paying these people cash.

What does that last statement of yours have to do with donation money? Neither Halliburton nor Bechtel are non-profit charitable organizations. They are both for-profit companies.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Amused

NO donation money is going to the contract for repairs of infrastructure or naval bases.

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

The two are no where near connected in any way shape or form.

That may be true but the majority of donated money is not making it to the ordinary people.

Everyone is just excuse after excuse that we do not qualify for anything. Interesting when you have lost your home, car and job while the Companies with relationships with Haliburton and Bechtel bring illegal workers in from Central America get millions of dollars for doing so and paying these people cash.

What does that last statement of yours have to do with donation money? Neither Halliburton nor Bechtel are non-profit charitable organizations. They are both for-profit companies.

Are you going to deny whether it be non-profit or for profit Companies getting slices of the money earmarked for the disaster???

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Amused

NO donation money is going to the contract for repairs of infrastructure or naval bases.

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

The two are no where near connected in any way shape or form.

That may be true but the majority of donated money is not making it to the ordinary people.

Everyone is just excuse after excuse that we do not qualify for anything. Interesting when you have lost your home, car and job while the Companies with relationships with Haliburton and Bechtel bring illegal workers in from Central America get millions of dollars for doing so and paying these people cash.

Again, WTF does one have to do with the other? Halliburton (KBR, actually) was hired to clean up and repair government property. Neither they, nor the feds have ANYTHING to do with charitable donations.

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Amused

NO donation money is going to the contract for repairs of infrastructure or naval bases.

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

The two are no where near connected in any way shape or form.

That may be true but the majority of donated money is not making it to the ordinary people.

Everyone is just excuse after excuse that we do not qualify for anything. Interesting when you have lost your home, car and job while the Companies with relationships with Haliburton and Bechtel bring illegal workers in from Central America get millions of dollars for doing so and paying these people cash.

What does that last statement of yours have to do with donation money? Neither Halliburton nor Bechtel are non-profit charitable organizations. They are both for-profit companies.

Are you going to deny whether it be non-profit or for profit Companies getting slices of the money earmarked for the disaster???

Earmarked for the disaster? According to that Washington Post article KBR won the contract last July to "provide debris removal and other emergency work associated with natural disasters". That definately doesn't sound like it was earmarked for Katrina, unless you are going to propose that President Bush had a hand in Katrina's formation and steering.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Feldenak

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Amused

NO donation money is going to the contract for repairs of infrastructure or naval bases.

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

The two are no where near connected in any way shape or form.

That may be true but the majority of donated money is not making it to the ordinary people.

Everyone is just excuse after excuse that we do not qualify for anything. Interesting when you have lost your home, car and job while the Companies with relationships with Haliburton and Bechtel bring illegal workers in from Central America get millions of dollars for doing so and paying these people cash.

What does that last statement of yours have to do with donation money? Neither Halliburton nor Bechtel are non-profit charitable organizations. They are both for-profit companies.

Are you going to deny whether it be non-profit or for profit Companies getting slices of the money earmarked for the disaster???

Federal money is spent on companies like Haliburton and Bechtel to do the heavy cleaning up. Federal money is spent on individuals who have lost their homes and on housing those individuals. Private money (read donated money) is spent by charitable organizations like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army on helping people.

This is the way it has always been after disasters in the last several decades. I'm not understanding why this is an issue.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

Whoops. I posted in a hurry in the morning actually, but I'm sitll a bit lost/confused on this topic anyway.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy

Why does your post confuse federal disaster relief with donation money?

Whoops. I posted in a hurry in the morning actually, but I'm sitll a bit lost/confused on this topic anyway.

How is this confusing???

To clean up and repair infrastructure and military bases, the feds and local government have to hire contractors to do the work. Just as you would to fix your house.

That is OBVIOUSLY separate from charity donations that go to clothe, house and feed victims. AND it is separate from FEMA money used to clothe, house and feed victims.

I suggest you change your topic title and cliffs. They are completely incorrect and misleading.

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Fair enough. I dunno what my friend's bitching about then....

The donation money does go to organizations suhc as the red cross right?

 

[robphelan]

i thought bechtel got the cleanup contract

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
Fair enough. I dunno what my friend's bitching about then....

The donation money does go to organizations suhc as the red cross right?

Considering that people donate directly to those organizations, yes.

There are problems with shady fraudulent outfits trying to take advantage of other people's goodwill and then there are problems with the people who take advantage of the help given by these charitable organizations. But, that has nothing to do with your friend's nonsensical rant.

 

[mugs]

$200 billion in PERSONAL donations? b.s. That's an average of $700 per American. That's what Bush said it would cost, obviously it's not all going to come from personal donations.

Edit: Then in the next sentence they change the story to "taxpayers' dollars." I don't think the person who wrote this had any idea what he was talking about, whether it's true or not (which I doubt).