Just give up
Saw Fred Barnes yesterday say that, with the large amount of money that is going to be poured into the Gulf Recovery effort, we should 'expect' a large amount of money wasted. Huh? Why is that inevitable? Why not do something about it... Are we just so stupid that we have no choice but to continually repeat our past mistakes?
9/11 Recovery Loans Loosely Managed
"The government promised banks a hands-off approach in overseeing nearly $5 billion in Sept. 11 recovery aid to small businesses. What it got in return was numerous loans to companies that didn't need terror relief or even know they were getting it."
Thousands of businesses far from the devastation simply submitted short applications that linked their slow business to the widespread economic fallout caused by Sept. 11, and got loans. For instance:
_Karl Grimmelmann, general manager of KBFS-AM "Hit Kickin' Country" in Belle Fourche, S.D., borrowed $135,000 from SBA's disaster program after learning about it from a news release. He said his station was forced to pay more money to cover national news and also lost advertisers.
_Margie Olson, co-owner of the Torii Mor Winery in McMinnville, Ore., said her business needed a $125,000 loan because it couldn't sell high-end pinot noir to restaurants that closed in New York City.
_Melva Kravitz, co-owner of the Little Dogs Resort & Salon in Salt Lake City that offers boarding and grooming services for small dogs, said people stopped taking vacations and boarding their pets after Sept. 11, requiring her $50,000 loan.
_Christine Hilty, co-owner of Violettes Boutique on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said the perfume shop lost 60 percent of its business overnight as tourism stopped, and she got a $169,500 loan from the SBA.
9/11 Recovery Loans Loosely Managed
"The government promised banks a hands-off approach in overseeing nearly $5 billion in Sept. 11 recovery aid to small businesses. What it got in return was numerous loans to companies that didn't need terror relief or even know they were getting it."
Thousands of businesses far from the devastation simply submitted short applications that linked their slow business to the widespread economic fallout caused by Sept. 11, and got loans. For instance:
_Karl Grimmelmann, general manager of KBFS-AM "Hit Kickin' Country" in Belle Fourche, S.D., borrowed $135,000 from SBA's disaster program after learning about it from a news release. He said his station was forced to pay more money to cover national news and also lost advertisers.
_Margie Olson, co-owner of the Torii Mor Winery in McMinnville, Ore., said her business needed a $125,000 loan because it couldn't sell high-end pinot noir to restaurants that closed in New York City.
_Melva Kravitz, co-owner of the Little Dogs Resort & Salon in Salt Lake City that offers boarding and grooming services for small dogs, said people stopped taking vacations and boarding their pets after Sept. 11, requiring her $50,000 loan.
_Christine Hilty, co-owner of Violettes Boutique on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said the perfume shop lost 60 percent of its business overnight as tourism stopped, and she got a $169,500 loan from the SBA.