I should probably explain why so many people stayed after the '05 hurricanes because I'm sure a lot of people wonder why anyone in their right mind would stay....okay, Katrina hits and the powers that be have a round table meeting and I would guess that it went something like this..."What are we gonna do? You know that when the homeowners get their insurance money, they'll pack up everything they've got left and they'll be gone and then all we're gonna have left are the citizens that need our help and without the tax revenue from the homeowners, we can't afford that, we'll be broke in no time and we won't have jobs!"..."I know, let's call the insurance companies and tell them to drag their feet settling these insurance claims...we can tell them to drag it out, I don't know...a year or two...and by then, people will have settled down."..."Yeah..and we can send them letters from the city & parish telling them that we're going to fine them if they don't clean up their property and that way not only will we still have tax paying citizens here but the city will be liveable and we get to collect some pretty hefty fine money from those that can't/won't clean up their place in the meantime."...."Hey, check this out, I got a phone call from a private for-profit company this morning...they said that if we can get the Feds to give us some disaster money for rebuilding, they'll handle the distribution of the money to our citizens for us and we don't have to be bothered with it at all.".....Enter R.O.B.(the private, for-profit company that has so generously offered to help), "Gentlemen, Good Morning and I must say, great job! I understand that you rallied the government and they allotted yall 15 billion dollars to help the poor people of this unfortunate tragedy.....well that's great, wonderful news!...as my partners & I explained in our earlier conversation, we would like to help you and the victims of this hurricane....for a small fee, of course...oh and, uhhmm...we'll need money out of that fund for administratives fees and uhmmm payroll, bonuses, travel expenses and general overhead...yes sir, it's gonna take BIG money to help these people...big money but your people are gonna love you for it, no doubt you'll be re-elected next term, you see we have a subsidary enrollment company, Wehook Youcrook, that we'll deploy to sign up the victims and they'll be lobbying for you while they're out in the field getting the contracts signed, we had our legal firm, Dewey, Skrewum & Howe, formerly known as Sucker, Punchem & Runn, draw the contracts up. All of this can be yours for a small fee, of course.... but the best part, you won't have to lift a finger, no sir, not a finger we'll do all the work for you....let's see, how does 40% sound?"....all the while he's thinking to himself..."HeeHee, I'm gonna shake things up so bad that by the time these fools realise what's happened, I'll be long gone and I'll be taking most of that money with me and if the feds figure it out, I'll blame it on my CFO and let him take the fall while I'm laughing all the way to the bank!" Meanwhile, back at the farm....
The citizens call R.O.B. to check on the status of their application and the phone number has been disconnected and suddenly reality slaps them in the face....the boat's gone and they're still in the fishbowl....
