FEMAignores Congress and makes announcement on alternative housing plans…

WASHINGTON — Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the Federal
Emergency Management Agency plans to begin releasing $281.3
million to Mississippi for an alternative housing program
Monday, despite her request that the distribution be delayed
pending a hearing on whether the distribution discriminated
against Louisiana.

Mississippi’s award was nearly four times as much as
the $74.5 million awarded Louisiana — even though
Louisiana lost more than 205,000 homes during Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, compared with 61,000 in Mississippi.

It’s the second time FEMA has timed a controversial announcement on this…

This isn’t the first time that a controversial
decision about the alternative housing money has been
announced near a major holiday.

It was on a Friday, three days before Christmas, that
FEMA announced Mississippi would get the bulk of the
alternative housing money. At the time, some Louisiana
officials, including Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, said
the distribution appeared to be a gift from the Republican
Bush administration to Mississippi and its two GOP senators
and Republican governor.

The announcement to the Senate Appropriations Committee
came on Good Friday, a day when Louisiana state offices and
many congressional offices were closed.

Landrieu said the timing “can only be considered a
calculated pattern to hide their process from appropriate
public scrutiny.”