That's the conclusion of the free-market National Center for Policy Analysis based in Dallas, Texas. As the Center explains:

     In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, companies as far away from New York City and Washington, D.C. as South Dakota received loans for "9/11 damage."

     Last year, Miami received $31 million in federal aid for Hurricane Frances. Hurricane Frances never struck Miami.

     Of the $62.3 billion already appropriated for Katrina aid, most contracts are being awarded without competitive bids – virtually guaranteeing that taxpayers will end up paying too much.

     Now President Bush has asked for $200 billion more in Katrina disaster aid, on top of the $62.3 billion already appropriated.

     The lion's share of this money is to be used to expand the budgets of agencies like FEMA which not only failed to aid most victims but actually blocked other groups from bringing in aid.

     Bush's new $200 billion Katrina initiative also contains absolutely no independent oversight for spending, but instead proposes that monitoring be done by a Bush appointee.

     ABC News reports that 85% of funds already appropriated by the federal government for Katrina relief will go to government agencies rather than to disaster victims.

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