Tis' a good thing he did not spend it on first and blow

That should read:

Tis' a good thing he did not spend it on Boobies and blow

Good for him. I just hope there was nothing he skimped on for this stunt.

Good for him. Of course, in a year, should he NEED more money, he's going to learn why no one does that.

That dude totally looks like a mob boss, which makes the article all the more unbelievable... but, hey a public official actually doing shiat right, times HAVE changed.

RON PAUL does this all the time.

Relatively Obscure: Good for him. Of course, in a year, should he NEED more money, he's going to learn why no one does that.

I came here to say this

The idea that if you don't spend all the money you ask for, you can't get money you need next time is almost criminal

It punishes the people who budget well, and rewards people who overspend/underestimate need

Saddly I doubt this will ever change

In 1935, the Supreme Court building was completed under budget, and $65,000 was returned to the US Treasury.

Great move, but he's just ruined his chances for a Federal government career.

And NEXT year, that's the amount his budget will be cut by.

bicentennialman: And NEXT year, that's the amount his budget will be cut by.

Sad but probably true.

FTFA:

"By Jan. 1, Cerasoli said his office also will unveil a telephone hotline that residents can call to report evidence of corruption and inefficiency in local government. The system, he said, will be manned by people, not an automated answering service, and may run 24 hours a day."

I hope the first call is someone reporting the operation of a 24-hour manned hotline instead of a using a more efficient automated system.

I hope the first call is someone reporting the operation of a 24-hour manned hotline instead of a using a more efficient automated system.

He might need a large call center if everyone reported every instance of governmental corruption taking place in New Orleans

Unobtanium: I hope the first call is someone reporting the operation of a 24-hour manned hotline instead of a using a more efficient automated system.

He might need a large call center if everyone reported every instance of governmental corruption taking place in New Orleans

Eh, he can out source it to India.

wombatsrus: Great move, but he's just ruined his chances for a Federal government career.

Not so. People at the Fed have no problem cutting budgets that are not their own. The problem is that DC is made up of a zillion petty fiefdoms and way too many civil servants are petty fieves.

MrShinra: That dude totally looks like a mob boss



"Someday - and that day may never come - I'll call upon you to do a service for me. But, until that day, accept this returned money as a gift."

Typical white person.

New Orleans needs to go, saw a very informative show last night on the gang situation down there. The dumbasses, meaning the local lawmakers, have a 60-day policy when it comes to indictments. If nobody comes forward as a witness in 60 days, for say a murder, they let the guy go. This has led to extremely violent gangs who are much more willing to kill people than other states gangs because of the 'code of silence' the community has. Why are they silent? The guys will either get out in 60 days and kill them or their friends will kill them to prevent their buddy from being indicted.

Stupid laws are stupid, and in this case, ends in many deaths.

Oh, all of that post-Katrina criminal mayhem? That was those same gangs fighting over drug turf as their wards were uninhabitable, as well as fighting off the illegals who came in for the rebuilding.

Fark New Orleans.

/Why yes, they still go free for murder if the ballistics tests come back positive

For all of you saying New Orleans needs to go. Are you willing to fogo the refineries down there? Are you willing to give up the ports that 20% of the oil goes through? Un freaking believable. There are more areas to the city than what they are showing you. The Quarter is a vibrant multi-cultural area that is alive and well. Uptown, is beautiful with the old oaks lining the streets. There is the zoo, the aquarium and many other tourist attractions. If YOU don't want to come here, fine, stay the hell away, we don't need the likes of you.

DeathByGeekSquad: New Orleans needs to go...

And what do you propose to do with the people who live there?

Well, at least he didn't stick it in his freezer.

/subby

No good deed goes unpunished. This most likely farked up his karma.

...or not.

DeathByGeekSquad: New Orleans needs to go

Blah, blah, blah. I assume you've never visited here or done any real research (I'm talking maybe taking 30 minutes and reading stuff from people who live here).

New Orleans is doing fine. We have the same zany local government stuff any large city has. We have slightly more crime than most major cities, sure, but its pretty slight. Oh, and its mostly gang-on-gang or drug deals going bad, and doesn't really affect the rest of us.

You keep on watching the rehashed crap from 2005, keep relying on Spike Lee and Anderson Cooper to keep you informed.

Things sucked for a lot of people in 2006. That was a long time ago.

I haven't posted on here since Katrina, because Fark tends to attract some extremely ingorant and insensitive people, e.g. DeathByGeekSquad, but this story does have one angle no one's commented on, so far.

Question: Is it not a bad thing when the department charged with investigating corruption in a place as corrupt as New Orleans underspends their budget?

I'll go back to living my life and working to rebuild my hometown. DeathByGeekSquad, you can go back to writing retarded flame-bait from your mommy's basement, you farking douche.

macht5: Question: Is it not a bad thing when the department charged with investigating corruption in a place as corrupt as New Orleans underspends their budget?

Well, when the mayor and City Hall (but not the City Council, except for maybe the Cynthias) is causing headaches for you every step of the way (just getting an office, computers, phones, and whatnot), do you think that a certain chocolate mayor is trying to hide something?

thebigtymer: Well, when the mayor and City Hall (but not the City Council, except for maybe the Cynthias) is causing headaches for you every step of the way (just getting an office, computers, phones, and whatnot), do you think that a certain chocolate mayor is trying to hide something?

I'm not questioning the IG's office, just the press coverage and local responses.

After checking DeathByGeekSquad's profile, I can confirm that he is indeed a douchebag being from the city of broad foreheads. I'm a Cubs fan, too, but not a Chicago fan.



Yet, another fine display of Chicago's lack of class.

DeathByGeekSquad And the date on what you saw? I have been to NOLA 5 times since Katrina. All I have seen is a slow rebuilding. The last visit (in October) the French Quarter was almost completely back.
Now I know you may be saying to yourself that I never left the French Quarter. Well you are wrong. Not only that but I went on the out skirts at night.
The gang land NOLA used to be...just does not exist anymore. It did exist. But..it just does not anymore.
You can't rob and thug when there is nothing to rob and thug.

downstairs: DeathByGeekSquad: New Orleans needs to go

Blah, blah, blah. I assume you've never visited here or done any real research (I'm talking maybe taking 30 minutes and reading stuff from people who live here).

New Orleans is doing fine. We have the same zany local government stuff any large city has. We have slightly more crime than most major cities, sure, but its pretty slight. Oh, and its mostly gang-on-gang or drug deals going bad, and doesn't really affect the rest of us.

You keep on watching the rehashed crap from 2005, keep relying on Spike Lee and Anderson Cooper to keep you informed.

Things sucked for a lot of people in 2006. That was a long time ago.

Brand new, not 2005, but keep telling yourself that.

Gangbangers went to Houston, who handled them correctly, and tossed a number of folks with 5+ murders under their belt into prison, unlike NO, which lets them go after 60 days because the community is afraid to talk.

Robberies/Burglaries went up when the Hispanics moved in during the rebuild, partly due to the increase of latin gang activity, and another due to illegals carrying money on their person or in their housing, they got coined 'walking atms'.

Food for thought: Every state NO refugees went to had a murder rate increase.

There were THREE HUNDRED murders in Houston, amongst the refugees alone.

Fine, keep the rich/tourist destination parts and scrap the rest of the worthless Wards. Use the scrap materials to fortify the city so it doesn't go under again.

Where will the criminals go? Elsewhere, into established gang terrirtories where they will be hunted and killed for their excessive violence, or tossed in prison.

You know you have a problem when national gangs like Crips, Bloods, MS-13, etc can't get a foothold in NO because of the violent nature of the residing bangers.

Macht5

Keep on blindly defending the biggest loophole in your local laws, allowing murderers to go free constantly.

The statistic from the show was post-Katrina, ONE murder conviction.

ONE

Depending on the year the statistic was taken, that's either 161 (2006) or 206 (2007) homicides resulting in ONE conviction.

Cup_O_Jo: DeathByGeekSquad And the date on what you saw? I have been to NOLA 5 times since Katrina. All I have seen is a slow rebuilding. The last visit (in October) the French Quarter was almost completely back.
Now I know you may be saying to yourself that I never left the French Quarter. Well you are wrong. Not only that but I went on the out skirts at night.
The gang land NOLA used to be...just does not exist anymore. It did exist. But..it just does not anymore.
You can't rob and thug when there is nothing to rob and thug.

Sorta. There is more crime in the city as a raw statistic. But raw statistics are BS. I happen to live right between the French Quarter and a fairly bad neighborhood. People ramble on and on about the crime wave, but fail to realize its mostly confined to the bad guys shooting the bad guys at a higher rate.

And there's a reason. 50% of the population is gone forever- and those that are gone are more poor than rich. So the gangs- who's primary source of revenue is drug dealing- have the same number of dealers with a smaller turf and less customers.

So guess what that causes? Turf wars.

Now, as someone who doesn't buy or do drugs, someone that isn't a member of a gang, how does this affect me? Very little.

And BEYOND all of this- why is crime the one and only measure of the worth of a city to some people? There's culture, cost of living, and general community, etc. etc. On most of these New Orleans kicks the ass of any other major city.

DeathByGeekSquad: You know you have a problem when national gangs like Crips, Bloods, MS-13, etc can't get a foothold in NO because of the violent nature of the residing bangers.


Why? Why do I have a problem if I'm not a member of a gang?

Trust me, I live here. I live right next to a neighborhood with more gang members than not. The street next to my house is a haven for drug dealing.

Guess what. They leave me alone.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be better if we did a better job locking up thugs, but please... its not as big of a problem as the media you watch has you believing.

Keep on blindly defending the biggest loophole in your local laws, allowing murderers to go free constantly.

No one is. You indicted the whole city on this one issue. Your quote: "New Orleans needs to go".

Its a dumb law, yeah. But your city has a bunch of dumb laws that keep criminals on the street too. I know that because I lived in Chicago as well. Its part of big city life. Deal with it.

And what should we do about the abandoned areas? You are proposing the impossible. You do know that 9th Ward was made up of a very large respectable population that had been most of their lives right? Their homes were paid for and they did not have flood insurance. Yes, the conviction rates should be much higher, but what the hell are they suppose to do when people won't talk? You going to come down and add to our police force to protect witnesses?? Don't talk about shiat you don't know all the facts to. And, btw you are looking at ONE aspect of the thing.

downstairs, Cup O Jo, and Macht5, thank you ALL for responding and in a reasonable way. I hope that things are going well and that you are all doing alright. This is a really touchy subject for me and I tend to be a little irrational.

DeathByGeekSquad, I'll stop blindly defending that which I didn't defend, when you stop discussing subjects you know little to nothing about. Glad you saw some documentary on television, but I'm living here near the business end of the blade, not comfortably judging a place I've spent little, if any, time in.

downstairs Because people like to focus on the negative. They can not say "Hey all major cities have crime" and leave it be.. They have to point out that ___________________ has crime so everyone should stay away. Or ______________________ is a cess pool. People who can not see the culture. Who can not experience a city for it's history,food,and people. The peeps attacking NOLA have either never been there or..been there at a crap time like Mardi Gras.

macht5: DeathByGeekSquad, I'll stop blindly defending that which I didn't defend, when you stop discussing subjects you know little to nothing about. Glad you saw some documentary on television, but I'm living here near the business end of the blade, not comfortably judging a place I've spent little, if any, time in.

Ten year NOLA veteran, here. After much anguish, I've learned to let the self-proclaimed experts about New Orleans be. I spent over two years arguing with these people, and in the end it occurred to me that I am a part of this community, and not getting my information from sexed-up news coverage, word of mouth, or the self-perpetuating rumors that are responsible for many people thinking that New Orleans doesn't even exist, anymore. Anyone who offers an opinion of New Orleans and doesn't actually live here (or at least study the situation professionally) is welcome to the juicer portions of my crotch.

What I have been through in defense of my Number One Girl, my belle New Orleans, is far too precious to be pissed on some window-licker who probably has plenty of other opinions on issues he knows even less about than the day to day life of a New Orleanian. The same assholes who never venture off Bourbon St. and complain about the filth and stench that they create by pissing on the pavement and throwing beer cups in the gutter. The same assholes who make kneejerk assertions based almost wholly on the highly televised actions of a some miscreant scumbags during Katrina - and who have never rightly experienced the majesty, charm, and unique flavor of America's most bizarre, graceful city.

It took some time - up to this month, really - to let go of the anger. New Orleans is all things to me, and it's impossible to make most people understand.

I'm taking a semi-permanent trip overseas, soon. But no matter where I go in the world, New Orleans is my home. And now you know you understand my Fark handle. Oh, and one last thing...

When I was in the military the
Commading Officer, at a naval base, told me our mission isn't to be under budget or over budget but to break even.
Me: 'You err...don't want to be under budget?'
Him: 'No, if we are then they'll cut our budget.'
Me: Heck of a way to run a buisness.
Work at the VA now and things haven't changed a bit.

Stay Cool Babylon, do stay cool wherever it is you're going overseas. I, too, gave up arguing with the Farktards, but much sooner than you; I don't have your patience, I guess.

The question I raised still remains unanswered, though. Why should anyone be pleased with the Corruption department underspending their budget in New Orleans?