From Scout:

From today’s Times Picayune editorial…

Some members of Congress have been downright indignant about Louisiana’s requests for aid. Their message: Do you think we’re made of money?

No, but they sure do act like it sometimes.

Take the now-defunct Livestock Compensation Program, which was administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2002 and 2003, the two years it existed, the program spent $1.2 billion on so-called drought relief, according to The Washington Post. Of that, $635 million went to ranchers and dairy farmers in areas where there was no drought or only moderate dryness, the newspaper reported. Ranchers were not required to prove that they had suffered any losses. They got money based merely on how many head of cattle they owned.

SNIP

Some ranchers got tens of thousands of dollars simply because pieces of the space shuttle Columbia landed 10 miles from their cattle. Nothing hit the cattle, mind you. The debris was just within driving distance of a cow.

SNIP

All you had to do was fill out a form verifying how many cows you owned. The money was doled out by type of cow — beef cattle were worth $18 each and dairy cows were worth $31.50. Buffalo and sheep got ranchers a smaller amount.

So here’s the plan: Let’s put a few head of cattle on the levees and tell Congress it’s a dairy farm. Then, just sit back and wait for the disaster relief to flow in.

(h/t to lb0313)