Clinton to FEMA: Hire LA workers

[AnnInLa]

http://www.acadiananow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051005/NEWS05/510050335

Clinton to FEMA: Hire La. workers

John Hill
Louisiana Gannett News Service
# Complete Local Coverage

BATON ROUGE - Former President Bill Clinton told U.S Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should hire Louisiana companies and workers from areas hit by the hurricanes.

Clinton, on a fact-finding tour of Louisiana, said he and former President George H.W. Bush have raised between $90 million and $100 million from private donors, and want to spend the money on "things that would fall through the cracks" in public and private disaster assistance programs.

"We don't want to duplicate what the federal government is going to do anywhere," Clinton said.

At a private briefing with Allen, who is directing federal relief in Louisiana, Clinton said he understood FEMA's argument that it needed to use existing national contractors and bringing in out-of-state workers for the short-term.

"There is clearly no argument when you are turning to long-term," Clinton said. While FEMA has handed out a lot of big contracts, "relatively small amounts of it is going to the states affected." For long-term work, Clinton said it's important to "hire people from Louisiana even if they have to be retrained."

more at link

[CottonBear]

1. I hope Bill can influence FEMA policy. God knows, the LA people need jobs

My husband's nephew in the hurricane damaged area of St. Tammany Parish in no longer has a job. At least he and his mom have a (storm damaged) home but a good job would be helpful.

edit: Bill as FEMA head. I like the idea.

[CoffeeCat]

2. Clinton as head of FEMA...wouldn't that be lovely? (nt)

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Doesn't this sound like a no-brainer?

Republicans are so stupid.

[DRoseDARs]

4. I sounds like socialism. Lord knows we can't have that. Sink or swim...

...free-marketing* is the Murican Way! These people are just too lazy to work, that's why they were Welfare Queens to begin with and didn't want to leave their Welfare checks behind in N.O. </inane_freeper_babble>

*At least as far as the big corps will allow.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. So...state's rights applies, except where cronyism can override it?

[SCDem]

6. Or when it goes against a right to life agenda

ie no Oregon cannot have state's rights for death with dignity because we say so.

[DRoseDARs]

9. The two of you know my post was tongue-in-cheek, right? eom

[CTyankee]

7. Shows you how pathetic and criminal * is

I don't know which.

I am so glad Bill spoke up. We need him to remind all of us EVERY DAY what a real president does for the people, what LEADERSHIP is for gawd's sake.

E un brutt'affare!

[markus]

8. Why, because illegal aliens make much better employees

See my last post on http://wetbankguide.blogspot.com, The New Orleanians. Illegal aliens don't sue you for the affects of handling nasty things for low pay for long periods of time.

I don't know if * Bush meant it to work out this way when he suspected the rules for documetation of citizenship. Even if they didn't (and there's probably a lot of people without their papers among the Katrina survisors), it didn't take the scum that gathers around the GOP to figure out the upside of this massive f--- up of a decision.