Hello?
Yes, Hi, Mrs. Johnson, this is Bob from ICF International.
IC what?
ICF mam, I am calling from ICF.
Bob, what is ICF?
We are a collections agency mam, we are calling about a debt that you owe us.
A debt? I don't owe any debts. I am 65 years old, and am just now getting back on my feet after the Katrina storms wiped out my home and took my husband from me.
Yes, sorry to hear about that mam, but according to our records you owe us $35,000.
$35,000? Oh Lord how do I owe you that much money? I have to sit down, I feel kind of *weak. I have been really sick ever since I have been living in one of them FEMA trailers.
Well mam, did you receive a grant to help rebuild your home?
Yes I did, the government gave me that grant to get back on my feet after the storm wiped out my home.
Yes mam, but you were overpaid by $35,000, so we will need that amount back.
Overpaid? I used every penny you gave me to try and rebuild my home.
Sorry mam, our records indicate that you received too much.
But nobody told me that...
Didn't you read the forms on your "Road Home" grant mam?
Yes I did, I thought the Governor of Louisiana was giving us this money to help us rebuild?
No mam, when you received the money you signed a form that said you must repay it.
Well sorry, I don't see too well.
Yes mam, I am sorry to hear that. So when can we expect a payment?
Okay, that was a fictional exchange between a bill collector and Katrina survivor. But if you read the latest news about how the poor Katrina victims are being screwed again by the A-merry-can government, you wouldn't think it's so fictional.
Now these poor people, after finally trying to rebuild their lives, have to suffer the indignity of having bill collectors call them to repay a loan that should never have been a loan in the first place. The $11 billion that the feds invested into the "Road Home" program represents a few days in Iraq. And the assholes who run the program stand to earn a cool $912 million. I have an idea; how about you assholes cut $175 million from your contract and and forgive the victims who over paid your sorry asses?
Honestly, I think Kanye West might have been right.
*Thanks woozie ;)
