Paying deserters
Comments (6)
Wednesday, August 30, 2006 | 03:25 PM ET
By Henry Champ
The General Accountability Office is the investigative arm of Congress.
Its latest report says the Pentagon has been paying deserters. At least $900,000 US went to 75 army reservists who have not reported for duty since late in 2001. And the cheques have been cashed.
That date is important because these reservists wanted nothing to do with active service in the War on Terrorism. They vanished when their units were called up. They simply bugged out.
Arrest warrants were issued, 18 of the 75 were caught. The rest are free.
But soldiers on the run didn't stop the paymaster-general. Cheques kept flowing and according to the GAO, are still flowing today. Through sleet and snow and all the rest, the money must reach its appointed goal.
You will notice I have said, "at least $900,000." The army and the Army National Guard Reserve say they don't know the extent of the problem because there is no central data system that can check such records.
Now compare that situation with Katrina.
The federal government has pledged billions of dollars in reconstruction aid to displaced homeowners. President George W. Bush frequently reminded us of that in his two-day anniversary tour this week.
In Louisiana, more than 100,000 homeowners have applied for reconstruction assistance. The program will provide 60 per cent of a home's pre-storm value (capped at $150,000).
Take a guess.
How many have received approval?
Answer: 42.
How many have received any money?
Answer: 0
In Mississippi, 17,000 displaced homeowners have applied for the same grants.
How many received money?
24.
The government's response: We are hiring more people and opening more offices.
Maybe we could hire those deserters, reclaim some of the money they have received but use them to speed up the process of getting funds to those who are surely more deserving.
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Henry Champ is CBC Newsworld's correspondent in Washington, D.C., delivering Canadian viewers the latest developments in the U.S. political arena. Recently, he has been a leading Canadian voice on coverage of the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and the growing concerns over the Canada-U.S. relationship.
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Comments (6)
Fred Petrie
Too much paperwork and to many stupid rules drowns Governments on both sides of the border.
Here in the "Great White North" the Federal Government won't find out someone has died (to stop pension checques, cancel firearms licences, passports, etc) until and unless a relative notifies the appropriate Department. The provincial Governments don't cancel Drivers Licences or Medicate Cards for these people either because of "privacy concerns" yet every death (in my home province) is published in our local newspapers. What's so provate about it.?
Posted September 5, 2006 09:03 AM
Kirk
Calgary
I think Canada should go communistic. We might as well since we are headed this way. Who needs freedom when the government can think for us. When George Bush is out of office, what/who will we be able to complain about next? I'm sure we'll find something, since we don't have to worry about anything bad happening up here in Canada. Hopefully Henry Champ can rip apart and stir everyone up to the point where Canada has no more relations with America. Maybe we can buddy up even closer to China?
Posted September 1, 2006 08:43 AM
Don MacKenzie
What I want to know is: Were the cheques cashed?
Posted August 31, 2006 04:13 PM
C McCoy
Edmonton
I don't really see how this story is unusual. It is a very common happening once bureaucracies get so gargantuan that the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.
Posted August 31, 2006 12:30 PM
Don Henshaw
Actually, I have a much better idea. Considering the speed and efficiency with which Hezbollah is cleaning up southern Lebanon following their conflict with Israel, why not get them to clean up New Orleans while they're at it? I'm sure they could do a far better job than the current regime is doing and save money into the bargain.
As for deserters continuing to be paid, overly large bureaucracies such as the U.S. government will always have accounting difficulties to deal with; that was made particularly evident when Homeland Security took over FEMA and numerous other agencies - their record isn't all terrible in terms of their administration and coordination, although Hurricane Katrina and it's aftermath is a major failure all around. Given the sheer size and complexity of U.S. government operations I'm not surprised there are cracks large enough for episodes like this to fall through.
Posted August 31, 2006 11:57 AM
Kari
U.S.
I have an old Fender jazzmaster guitar that I no longer play. When I mentioned to my boyfreind that I wanted to donate it to a charity for New Orleans musicians, my boyfreind scoffed.
"If you want to donate anything to people in New Orleans, you need to go down there and hand it to them directly".
Sadly, I agree with this him. I have no doubt that the money we donated to Katrina charities went directly into the pocket of our government.
Look at the pictures. Is that all that several billion dollars can do?? Give me a break. We're not that stupid.
If it is ever proven that a single penny of that funding was taken by the government, they should all stand trial. Every single one of them.
Posted August 30, 2006 04:18 PM