Think Progress

Compassionate conservatism, FEMA-style.

By Nico Pitney on May 16th, 2007 at 9:56 pm

Compassionate conservatism, FEMA-style.

“Complaints that mobile homes and trailers housing hurricane Katrina and Rita victims have unhealthy levels of formaldehyde were dismissed by Federal Emergency Management Agency Director David Paulison on Tuesday. … ‘We’ve told people they can air those trailers out,’ he said.”



76 Responses to “Compassionate conservatism, FEMA-style.”

  1. heyzeus says:

    Then go back inside and go to sleep, like good little sheep.


  2. WaltTheMan says:

    Why not bury them 40 feet underground as Air Raid shelters for the politicians in DC?


  3. JTitor says:

    Wolfowitz refuses to quit Bank, wants name cleared

    By Lesley Wroughton

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz refused on Wednesday to bow to heavy European pressure to resign as he sought to clear his name in negotiations with the bank’s board over a possible exit strategy.

    —-
    Unbelievable!


  4. JPark says:

    So he was unaware of the formaldahyde but he said they could air out the trailers (as if that would work all that well with a deadly gas). Gotta love these guys.


  5. the Lone Voice of Reason says:

    I’m not a scientist but will airing them out stop the source of the fumes? I’m guessing this is another example of our government apathy towards the people in need. I’m also guessing that these trailers are not going to inhabit many rich white folks either.


  6. Zooey says:

    I’m sure they hadn’t thought for themselves of airing the trailers out.

    Thank goodness we have Mr Paulison to be the voice of caution and reason.

    *eyes rolling*


  7. Barbara Bush says:

    “They’re used to having nothing so this is good enough for them.”


  8. dlet says:

    Republican Infomercial on proper FEMA trailer use:

    Here’s a box to live in after a horrific event in your life but the air inside is toxic so when you put your children to sleep at night just leave the door open. By the way we are the “For Life” Party.


  9. WaltTheMan says:

    #5 – the Lone Voice of Reason
    Cosider the fact that thy have been “airing out” for the past two years or so


  10. JPark says:

    A little question here. Why was there formaldahyde gas in FEMA trailers?


  11. WaltTheMan says:

    Cosider s/b Consider in my number 9.


  12. WaltTheMan says:

    #10 – JPark,
    It comes from the foam insulation.


  13. David O. says:

    YEAH, Cletus, we’ll a-just _air ‘em out_, ’speshully down SOUTH there with the heat abn humidity-
    obviously this brain surgeon hasn’t been to the Gulf Coast in the 9- unbearable month of the year


  14. JPark says:

    Wow, Walt, how old are these things???


  15. the Lone Voice of Reason says:

    Ok FEMA fell flat on its face the first opportunity to help in a disaster. But why do still not have their S%$# together.


  16. JJ says:

    How can they notice it with the stench of raw sewage in the air?


  17. JPark says:

    Lone, I am guessing because they are Republican hacks. That type generally doesn’t care about the people…just money.


  18. WaltTheMan says:

    #14 – JPark,
    Actually pretty new, urea foam is still used as a filler between metal panels. If you had a spa installed inside your home, you would notice the odor for about 3 months. It’s cheaper and does not exert as much pressure as it expands as polyurithane foam.


  19. Babs says:

    Oh, so what. They were poor anyway. Formaldahyde will preserve them and keep them looking youthful. Why do the poor always complain. They are so ungrateful.


  20. Babs says:

    #7 is a name jacker. Everybody who’s anybody know that I only post under Babs.


  21. JPark says:

    I don’t understand Walt. So, people actually buy trailers with dangerous insulation?


  22. Babs says:

    Do you think the contractor who furnished these trailers is a crony so he used the cheapist as WTM said and knew they wouldn’t get returned if they had issues.


  23. Shayne says:

    How many years do you think these poor people will be staying in these trailers.
    I read somewhere that they were selling off the rest of the unused trailers. And they were in Arkansas but when a tornado tore up a town there, close to them, they wouldn’t send them to the people because they had voted Democratic.


  24. WaltTheMan says:

    #21 – JPark,
    Some people do so on a personal buy, but the Feds always favor a low bid or a crony, same difference.


  25. JT8D-15A says:

    They’re used to having nothing so this is good enough for them.”
    Comment by Barbara Bush

    My parents recently took a trip thru the area (N.O.) What people don’t realize is that even if you repair your home you cannot move back into it until over a third of the block has completed home repairs. Many people have simply abandoned their property.

    It’s a catch 22 scenario, fixing your home does not mean you can live in it.


  26. JPark says:

    I think some wrongful death suits are in the offing.


  27. kimmy says:

    I confirm that the furnaces are up to Canadian standards in US mobile homes.
    The FEMA trailers are a waste of money.
    They are incomplete, they are not up to NA standarts.
    They have been left in fields for over a year with no oversight.
    You expect the people of New Orleans to accept them when in our country we won’t accept them!


  28. WaltTheMan says:

    #26 JPark,
    Bush thinks he will be dead by then – no skin off his corpse.


  29. JPark says:

    I know Walt, he talks more about his ‘legacy” than he does about the people. It is sickening. I swear the only reason he wanted to be president was to get his name in the history books. I don’t know why…he clearly has never read one.


  30. WaltTheMan says:

    JPark,
    I’m off to Jon Stewart – then to slumberland, thanks for the confab. – Walt


  31. paul says:

    After 20 months, these people are still living in the government trailers? If the government won’t support you, will you shrivel up and die? Maybe condescension from the government is appropriate.
    Stop banking your future on someone else.


  32. Kriss says:

    ‘We’ve told people they can air those trailers out,’

    -it’s not a rank fart for Christ’s sake


  33. Jay Randal says:

    Paulison needs to live in one of those trailers for a month and see if he then thinks it’s OK. Formaldehyde can kill you, so David can die from it.


  34. Zooey says:

    Stop banking your future on someone else.
    Comment by paul

    For shame. These people had very little to begin with, and then lost everything.

    Aid for these people has been a clusterf*ck since the very start, and yet somehow it’s their fault.

    You have some nerve blaming the victim.


  35. JPark says:

    There is that compassionate conservativism we all expect, Pauly. Tell me, how do you get a job when you have nothing. Those dress clothes you use to go to interviews? You don’t have any. That phone used to get call-backs? What phone? Businesses are decimated in the area so there are not too many people hiring (especially “losers” like those in FEMA trailers). Would YOU hire them, Paul?


  36. Jay Randal says:

    JPark > the trailers were constructed cheaply using too much foam with formaldehyde in it. The gas might keep forming for years in them, so they are unsafe for habitation. Young children and pets can suffer great harm from breathing the gas and even die from it. The trailers should either have the foam ripped out of them or destroy the trailers in a land fill. The manufacturer should be sued and put out of business.


  37. Kate Henry says:

    Hey, if the formaldehyde kills them then we won’t have to bother with these pesky people any longer.

    Heaven help us all. We need it. What have we become?


  38. RUCerious says:

    I’d like to see Barbara and son sleep in these trailers during their mother/son prison visits.


  39. paul says:

    JPark. At what point did the responsibility for their lives become mine (or collectively ours, via the federal government) and not their own. Who should pay your rent? Who should you look to, to make sure you have a job? Who should be responsible for insuring your property? Here’s the answer: You.

    It seems like most of you here need some tough love. I will give it to you. Each individual should bear the responsibility for their own well being. 20 months in a government trailer is more than enough. Take responsibility for yourself and your family. Get a job, find a place to live, and get on with your life. It’s the best thing for
    you.


  40. JPark says:

    I see, Paul. So, as soon as you contract a debilitating disease come and ask me or any other taxpayer to help you out. My personal response would be “F!$k you” but I am sure some of my more tolerant liberal brothers and sisters would help you out. You would have been right at home with the Native Americans that sent their elderly into the woods to die. The difference is they did it out of necessity. You would do it out of greed.


  41. Zooey says:

    paul,

    If you ever suffer a disaster of some sort and lose everything, please don’t look to people like you for help. Look to people like us.


  42. Jay Randal says:

    paul > are you aware that our government gives away tons of money to wealthy people with no strings attached, but giving it to poor people pisses you off? I would rather see the poor get helped, than the rich who are parasites.


  43. JPark says:

    Not me Zoo. If they voted for Reagan or Bush 2 they are on their own.


  44. ann dover says:

    Maybe Paulison has lived in one of these trailers. Maybe that’s why his advice sounds like its from a brain damaged idjit.


  45. ann dover says:

    Paul obviously needs to become one of those hospital dumpees on skidrow from Kaiser Permanente. He could be,like, the paraplegic crawling on the street with the leaking colostomy bag. That would be,like, so cool.


  46. Zooey says:

    Not me Zoo. If they voted for Reagan or Bush 2 they are on their own.
    Comment by JPark

    As if people like that have anything against lying to get what they want…..


  47. Jay Randal says:

    Just a reminder: if you smoke Marlboro cigarettes, then be aware they have formaldehyde in them. Our government wants some of us to die. If you must smoke, then use Spirit brand with the Indian on it. That is pure tobacco with no additives.


  48. zxz says:

    Some people do so on a personal buy, but the Feds always favor a low bid or a crony, same difference.
    Comment by WaltTheMan — May 16, 2007 @ 10:40 pm

    These are just like the trailers that many low income working people live in. (They would be the same people I’ve seen referred to here several times lately as “trailer trash”. Attempts by enlightened, tolerant liberals to insult people who disagree with them.) Working people who live in trailers until they can afford something better might have a problem with people complaining that they weren’t given better accommodations.


  49. JPark says:

    No kidding Jay? As far as I knew all smokes had cyanide, formaldahyde…etc. As an addict…do they have menthol? :)


  50. Shane says:

    Who should you look to, to make sure you have a job? Who should be responsible for insuring your property? Here’s the answer: You.
    Comment by paul — May 16, 2007 @ 11:29 pm

    The army corps of engineers is supposed to do things like shore up levees. That wasn’t done. And then you warm hearted republicans deregulate every industry including insurance. Who decided not to pay claims. So when everything you own is destroyed because a government agency f*cked up and your insurance won’t pay a legitimate claim and you still owe money on the property you can’t live in what are you supposed to do? Not that you care.


  51. JPark says:

    zxz, you post was…disingenuous. But thanks for your compassionate response.


  52. zxz says:

    Just a reminder: if you smoke Marlboro cigarettes, then be aware they have formaldehyde in them. Our government wants some of us to die. If you must smoke, then use Spirit brand with the Indian on it. That is pure tobacco with no additives.

    Comment by Jay Randal — May 16, 2007 @ 11:45 pm

    Oh yes, by all means, smoke a brand of CIGARETTE that doesn’t have formaldehyde in it. They’re safe. You certainly don’t want to get formaldehyde poisoning from your CIGARETTES! WTF?????


  53. zxz says:

    zxz, you post was…disingenuous. But thanks for your compassionate response.

    Comment by JPark — May 16, 2007 @ 11:51 pm
    So you wouldn’t expect them to have a problem with their tax dollars going to the cause then?


  54. JPark says:

    zxz, you are not for people switching to a brand with fewer carcinigens? Wouldn’t that lower health care costs?


  55. Jay Randal says:

    JPark > the formaldehyde keeps the cigarette burning, so it does not need to be relit. Yes some cyanide occurs naturally in some tobacco.
    Marlboro puts a concentrated nicotine in the cigs too to hook you bad.


  56. JPark says:

    Well, considering they probably make 15 grand or much less I am guessing their money is going for food to feed their families.


  57. JPark says:

    #55 Hmm, a less concentrated form of nicotine might be a good stepping stone to quitting.


  58. Jay Randal says:

    zxz > I gave that advice to smokers to use only natural tobacco cigarettes. Smoking is bad for your health, but if you must smoke due to addiction, then use Spirit brand or other natural tobacco product.


  59. Jay Randal says:

    Never smoke clove cigarettes. They are pleasurable to smoke, but cause lung inflamation from allergic reaction to burning clove pieces.


  60. JPark says:

    Jay, zxz is only addicted to masterbating to liberal blogs. It is only dangerous to his sanity (what he had to start with would just be speculation).


  61. Shane says:

    JPark and Jay Randal, our trolls don’t approve of smoking. Besides, they’re too jacked up on crystal meth to light a match.


  62. JPark says:

    Shane, I should have gone to dentistry school. I could make a fortune on Republican tweakers.


  63. zxz says:

    zxz, you are not for people switching to a brand with fewer carcinigens? Wouldn’t that lower health care costs?
    Comment by JPark — May 17, 2007 @ 12:00 am

    Unless you remove the tar, how much difference is the formaldehyde going to make? Seems smokers aren’t all that worried about cancer, or they’d quit.


  64. Jay Randal says:

    Shane > LOL the GOPers like to snort cocaine, because it’s an expensive habit, but they have no idea that coke is cut with all kinds of junk. Powdered sugar is usually used, which is like miniture knives in your nose cutting the membranes. Reason why cocaine users get bloody noses easy. Baking soda is also used to cut it and even baby powder. Chemicals are used to extract the cocaine from coca leaves, so some of that remains in the drug.


  65. JPark says:

    Ohhhh, I got it zxz. It is the TAR!!!. I am also guessing you don’t think nicotine is addictive. Do you work for Phillip Morris?


  66. michael says:

    And so, what do you think the administration should have done? Hang a new role of toilet paper? Wiped their a$$es? What a bunch of idiots!


  67. zxz says:

    JPark and Jay Randal, our trolls don’t approve of smoking. Besides, they’re too jacked up on crystal meth to light a match.

    Comment by Shane — May 17, 2007 @ 12:11 am

    Spoken like a true addict. I’m guessing a poll of meth users would find their opinions closer to yours than mine: no drug laws, let me out of jail even though you have proof I’m selling drugs because what I do in the privacy of my home is my business, I’m not responsible for my behavior because I was on drugs. Kind of hits close to home doesn’t it?


  68. JPark says:

    Mikey, wipe YOUR a$$ before speaking please. The smell is unbearable.


  69. JPark says:

    zxz, I see. So, the Arizona desert is overwhelmingly Democrat…right? Oh, and how have those drug laws worked? And you whine about taxes. Wanna build another prison?


  70. zxz says:

    Ohhhh, I got it zxz. It is the TAR!!!. I am also guessing you don’t think nicotine is addictive. Do you work for Phillip Morris?

    Comment by JPark — May 17, 2007 @ 12:23 am

    Good Lord, does everything have to be spelled out for you people? OF COURSE NICOTINE IS ADDICTIVE. I ASSUMED that went without saying. The point was, are people who are unconcerned about sucking tar into their lungs really going to be that concerned about formaldehyde?


  71. zxz says:

    Oh, and how have those drug laws worked? And you whine about taxes. Wanna build another prison?
    Comment by JPark — May 17, 2007 @ 12:30 am

    They’ve provided a handy little means to get rid of some rather nasty folks. I don’t mind a bit paying taxes for prisons to house people who think it’s ok to hurt innocent people. See I care about the innocent people, whereas you want to protect those that hurt the innocent people. Simple enough for you or do I have to clarify that, too?


  72. JPark says:

    #70 Really, zxz? Just because you eat red meat, you must not care about any growth hormones the industry might add. You know, the ones that cause cancer?


  73. JPark says:

    #71 Yes, those bad-a$$ marijuana users are real prone to killing people. Makes you CRAZY!!!!


  74. zxz says:

    #71 Yes, those bad-a$$ marijuana users are real prone to killing people. Makes you CRAZY!!!!
    Comment by JPark — May 17, 2007 @ 12:41 am

    Perhaps you’ve already forgotten that you and I both referred to Meth, not marijuana. And meth does seem to cause folks to hurt others, or at least users say that’s why they committed their crimes: It was the drugs, it’s not my fault, I’m a stand up guy.

    I happen to buy meat and dairy that is SUPPOSEDLY free of hormones. And when cancers caused by growth hormones are proven to approach that caused by cigarettes, you can count on me advising people to avoid it.


  75. ValiantVenusGrewFromUranus says:

    And so, what do you think the administration should have done? Hang a new role of toilet paper? Wiped their a$$es? What a bunch of idiots! Comment by michael — May 17, 2007 @ 12:25 am

    They should have used you as the toilet paper, considering what an *sswipe you are…


  76. Damian says:

    The irony of simply preserving the “dead” doesn’t go unnoticed.



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