Government Buys Louis Vuitton Bags for Katrina Evacuees
By dscjmc Posted in User Blogs — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
As part of their Katrina relief efforts, FEMA distributed $2000 debit cards to many of the hurricane victims. In a recent Washington Post Article, FEMA Director Michael Brown, said the debit cards program will be "aimed at those with the most pressing needs." However, as anyone could have predicted, the debit cards have found their way into the hands of some apparently not-so-desperate evacuees. As the following New York Times Article outlines, two individuals have made a purchase with their government debit card at a local Louis Vuitton store.
Lavish tastes of card-carrying lowlifes
NYT ArticleProfiteering ghouls have been using debit cards distributed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina - intended to buy essentials for evacuated families - in luxury-goods stores as far away as Atlanta.
"We've seen three of the cards," said a senior employee of the Louis Vuitton store at the Lenox Square Mall in affluent Buckhead, who asked not to be named. "Two I'm certain have purchased; one actually asked if she could use it in the store. This has been since Saturday."
The distinctive white cards were distributed by the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and carry a value of up to $2,000. "It doesn't say anything on the card other than alcohol, tobacco and firearms cannot be purchased with it," the store employee told me. "There's nothing legally that prevents us from taking it, unfortunately. Other than morally, it's wrong."
The source told me that the two women who had made purchases with the card each bought a signature monogrammed Louis Vuitton handbag in the $800 range. "They didn't look destitute by any stretch. You would never have said, 'They must be one of the evacuees.' ... The one that I dealt with yesterday was 20. She'll be 21 next month." The source described the reaction of other store-keepers in the mall - which includes luxury brands Ferragamo, Burberry, Judith Leiber and Neiman Marcus - as "outrage."
"It doesn't say anywhere on there, but it would have to be a good amount to be shopping in here," the source said with a dark chuckle.
I will sleep better tonight knowing that while some go without food, water, electricity, and various other necessities, at least one evacuee will be able to carry around her government debit card in a brand new Louis Vuitton handbag.
for the correction on the paper. If you are taxpayer, you should care that your money is paying for an extravagant handbag, not the necessitates, for the victims.
And yes, the purchase of the bags cannot actually be considered waste, fraud, and abuse, considering the only purchasing bans on the cards including alcohol, tobacco and firearms. However, the point to be made is that the organization skills of FEMA are severely lacking if those in "dire need" have enough money left over to buy an $800 handbag.
and neither is handing around free money
most will use for neccesities...some will use for fraud
what needs to be done is to get these people situated and into jobs or job training programs as soon as possible
and if possible, hire as many as you can for the rebuilding project
it shocks me that already, no bid contracts have gone out
I thought you wanted the rebuilding to get underway immediately? How does that square with a full federal contract bid/procurement process?
NY Daily News. Other tidbits from the same column:
I don't care if one or two of the cards are abused, if they help the majority of families quickly and easily buy food and clothing. They stopped handing out the cards anyway, and are now disbursing aid via direct deposit or checks.