We never were offered any beer brewed by the Coast Guard. Or saw any dogs with booties on. We did hear about the boat issue to my understanding they were paying boats an unbeliveable amount to go out and look for bodies in the Gulf. Also another big money maker here was transporting campers and setting them up which was done by Becthel Corp. for a cool $50,000,000.00 in September of last year and we still everyday hear of some lucky family just getting there camper and here it is 11 months later.

We probably will survive the incompetance of Homeland Security running the job that FEMA used to do. But these folks are also responsible for our domestic security. That might not be survivable. Is anybody running our government?... I mean, other then running it into the ground...

There has been a tragic and criminal amount of funds wasted that should have gone to helping those who need it.

However, I personally don't object to the money spent for the dog booties. Although it's a shame they weren't used, the dogs deserved the opportunity for protection.

My dogs have been on numerous S&Rs, and their feet would have been torn to bits on some of them without the protection of the booties. These wonderful animals will give heart and soul -- and their lives -- to rescue people. I think $68K is a small price to pay for that kind of dedication.

I don't think the dog booties fall into the category of wasted Katrina funds -- investing money in protecting these noble animals is a very small payback for the service we receive from them. Think about it -- how much is your life worth, or that of your spose or your children? Would you give up your kid's life to save $68K?

Cutting government waste is a good thing, but lumping every dollar spend into the same category is simply the product of immature and non-critical thinking.

The tone of this article did a disservice to these canine heroes. They performed their selfless life/death jobs far better than the inept bureaucrats. And please, never forget the heroic VietNam military dogs who our government ordered abandoned. They were not permitted to be airlifted out with their soldier handlers. Instead, these faithful dogs were left to wander, suffer, and be slaughtered by the enemy. AND, the military has blocked a well-deserved memorial to these canine soldiers. The stance is that Arlington is for humans only. What a cruel injustice.

Steve, what a dumb comment, honestly. I'd give $100 BILLION to save the life of any member of my family, no matter what. That doesn't mean that the spending of that much money is automatically justified.

The bottom line is, since those booties went ENTIRELY unusued, someone apparently didn't think the necessity of that purchase all the way through. That means wasted funds and it deserves inclusion. I think it's misplaced concern when you're trying to forgive $68K that was spent potentially to help a dog - and didn't - when it could have been used directly to help a human being.

This is really just a symptom of the governments unpreparedness for this situation. Stricter cost controls should have been in effect, including strict guidelines and punishments.

An approval board for each purchase is overboard and adds too much overhead, but audits of spending and an assignment of responsibility for misused funds should have been a part of the process.

$68,000 on unused dog booties is a waste of funds and sign of incompetence. A more sane approach would have been to purchase a hundred pairs to determine usefulness, then to continue with purchases on an as-needed basis.

AMAZING!!! Homeland Security... Talk about Oxymorons. Makes you wonder who is in charge... apparently no one.

Remember New Orleans 'Katrina' Mayor Ray Nagin? The one that tried to teach 1,200 buses to swim while his citizens drowned? Once again, he has demonstrated his ability to deal with hard realities. According to The New Orleans Times Picayune there were 50,000 vehicles ruined in Katrina and abandoned by their owners.

The largest auto crusher east of the Rockies, K&L Auto Crushers of Tyler, Texas, offered to pay the City of New Orleans $100.00 per vehicle, 'as is, where is', an estimated $5 million net to the city. They agreed to bring in 5 to 10 portable crushers, work 6 days per week and complete the job in
15 weeks. Of course, mayor Nagin knew better how to do the job and refused the offer saying the city would do the job themselves. It seems that now it will cost the City $23 million to complete the job. The vehicles are still there today instead of being cleaned out 5 months ago.

Now, let's see if I have this correct.....By doing it J&L's way, the City of New Orleans would net $5 million. Doing it Mayor Nagin's way costs the city $23 million for a net cost to the City of New Orleans of $28,000,000. This is the same mayor that wants The United States taxpayers to give $50 billion to New Orleans and let him rebuild a "Chocolate City" his way without any oversight or any control. Brit Hume reported this on Fox News.

Why don't you write a story about some of the items the "victims" bought with their FEMA cards?

The "duh" question here is why, after finding the booties to be unusable, didn't FEMA simply return them, or exchange them for usable goods?

After Katrina hit and many evacuees came to live in other cities, it was upsetting to watch them shop at jewelry shops in the mall with their Red Cross Cards. I mean really, is buying a new gold or silver chain on your priority list when you have no place to stay? Not mine! I think those cards should have only value or be blocked to purchase unless used for food, shelter or water....the basics. And what are venders supposed to say...sorry I can't let you make this purchase. Highly unlikely. I had a friend who lost a lot from her house when it was damaged from Ivan. She had to then ring up a customer who was using her Red Cross Card to buy costume jewelry in the store we worked at in the mall.

While I appreciate the S&R dogs and their handlers dedication, and I can appreciate the thought of FEMA protecting the dogs, for some odd reason I keep thinking, "If I did S&R with my dog, I'd be really sure they got what they needed to safely work the area: I'd supply my dog's boots as a part of standard operating equipment."

Apparently, this is not SOP for FEMA or the Red Cross to purchase the paw equipment, or even for the dogs to have them. If this were so, the explanation would not have been that the dogs didn't use them because they were not accustomed to them.

Rather than purchase these things without coordinating with the S&R groups first, I'd rather they refund the cost of the booties to the handlers than buy 2,000 of them without knowing if they were necessary.

The dog booties aren't truly "waste". They can stay in storage until the next disaster. And there will be one ... the odds say so.

Sounds like these "purchase cards" sure did increase efficieny, all right -- the efficiency with which our government wastes our hard-earned tax dollars.

Jim - I hope you're not in any way implying that the spending by some crooked, so-called "victims" could even hold a candle to the corrupt, wasteful spending that our government demonstrated in this case alone.

Waste is waste, but I'm less concerned about the few poor crooks blowing a few tax dollars than the rich ones that blow millions.

I agree that dog's do deserve the protection but now they should use them for dog's in country's were they have had tragedy befall them. At least if we have alredy spent the money let's use them to help other victims. We are alway's giving money to other country's any way.

This is what happens when you have the government in charge of something. They take our money (tax dollars) by force and then waste it because there is no accountability. They don’t have to do a good job and convince us to keep funding their programs, they can do a lousy job and just keep taking our money. This is why these types of situations are better handled by private charities and other aid organizations that have to compete for donations by being efficient and doing a good job. If they screw up and waste the money that is donated, they know they will lose their source of funds and this is why that rarely happens with a legitimate private aid organization. They have an incentive to do a good job whereas the government and those that work in government agencies have no incentive because there’s almost never a penalty for doing a poor job. Do you think any of the people involved in wasting all this money lost their jobs? They were probably promoted. The free market is always the best vehicle for dealing with society’s problems, and the Katrina disaster is a prime example of this.

I was outraged to learn that homeland security officals used taxpayers money to purchase items that made their life styles better, yet katrina victims are still homeless and displaced over the region. This is just another way for the government to tell blacks in America that they are unwanted and deserve to be in proverty. If we as American citizens would have done what those officals did we would be labeled as a thief or criminal and be facing charges that would altimiately result in becoming a felon. This is what I as well as others I've talked to think should be the finial result of punishment for homeland securiy officals that purchased those items. We the People are the government and they should fear us but the role has been reversed. In short, lock them up and make them pay back all expenses.

I was outraged to learn that homeland security officals used taxpayers money to purchase items that made their life styles better, yet katrina victims are still homeless and displaced over the region. This is just another way for the government to tell blacks in America that they are unwanted and deserve to be in proverty. If we as American citizens would have done what those officals did we would be labeled as a thief or criminal and be facing charges that would altimiately result in becoming a felon. This is what I as well as others I've talked to think should be the finial result of punishment for homeland securiy officals that purchased those items. We the People are the government and they should fear us but the role has been reversed. In short, lock their ass up and make them pay back all expenses.

After hearing about this on Good Morning America this morning, I am thorougly disgusted with the way "OUR" government mismanges money. In my opinion this is tad amount to embezzlement especially the employees who purchased iPods, iPod Shuffles, & a 63 inch plasma TV. They should be ordered to reimburse the taxpayers through payroll deductions. If I misused my employer's funds the way FEMA employees did, I would be locked up & treated like a common criminal.