Tim Ryan: “I heard tonight on CNN earlier this evening that the cost of the 11,000 trailers was upwards of $300 million. So…”

“I heard tonight on CNN earlier this evening that the cost of the 11,000 trailers was upwards of $300 million. So basically what happened is FEMA is so screwed up, okay, because there are not many other ways to put it. They are so screwed up that they bought 11,000 trailers that they moved to Hope, Arkansas, and put them in a field that is full of mud. They sunk in the mud so they are not even good anymore. They will probably have to get rid of them. Real estate people in Louisiana said that $300 million could build 2,500 homes for middle-class people in Louisiana or in the gulf States. It could open up all of the schools in the gulf coast. So when we come down here and we are talking about the debt, the deficit, and the recklessness and the irresponsible spending, reckless abandon for balancing the budget, that is one issue. But another issue is look at the waste. My goodness, $300 million to buy trailers that are now sitting in the mud in Hope, Arkansas, instead of actually housing people? You mentioned Speaker Gingrich earlier. He was talking, and I read in the paper the other day, he is as critical of the Republican establishment in this House and in the Senate and in the White House as any of us are. This is not about Democrat and Republican. This is about America functioning as a government in the 21st century with the communication capabilities that we have, with the technology that we have, with the know- how that we have.…”