Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Hurricane Housing: Holiday Gloom

I hope everyone out there had a safe and happy holiday, full of good cheer and things you'll get teased about thirty years down the line. ;)

Unfortunately, for many Americans, the holiday season is especially dark this year, as homeowners and families continue to negotiate the rebuilding of their lives after the onslaught of the hurricane triple-threat. Amazingly, there are stories of holiday cheer and perseverance out there. It's astonishing how resilient the human spirit is at times.

But there are just as many stories of infighting, bureaucracy, and delays plaguing the Katrina cleanup. It's the old struggle--you can do something slowly and meticulously, and have it cost more, or you can do it quickly and cheaply, and have to pay costs of other kinds down the road. Of course, given that the states who are paying for cleanup are suffering tremendous losses of economic revenue as it is, that money is not going to be recouped very easily, so they'll have to go back to the Feds and ask for help anyway. It's a tough call. Given how horribly mismanaged the government cleanup has been, most people will probably hire their own contracting companies.

Thankfully, some of that money is now going directly to the states, and is out of FEMA's control.

Speaking of money going to the states, your "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" nominee for the season is Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), who decided to play "Hide the salami" with home heating funds in order to get oil drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) approved. He failed, so he's taking his ball and going home, with millions of dollars in home heating subsidies in tow. I mentioned this before, but like the White Stripes, it bears repeating.

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I hope everyone out there had a safe and happy holiday, full of good cheer and things you'll get teased about thirty years down the line. ;) Unfortunately, for many Americans, the holiday season is especially dark this year, as homeowners and families continue to negotiate the rebuilding of their lives after the onslaught of the hurricane triple-threat. Amazingly, there are stories of holiday cheer and perseverance out there. It's astonishing how resilient the human spirit is at times. But there are just as many stories of infighting, bureaucracy, and delays plaguing the Katrina cleanup. It's the old struggle--you can do something slowly and meticulously, and have it cost more, or you can do it quickly and cheaply, and have to pay costs of other kinds down the road. Of course, given that the states who are paying for cleanup are suffering tremendous losses of economic revenue as it is, that money is not going to be recouped very easily, so they'll have to go back to the Feds and ask for help anyway. It's a tough call. Given how horribly mismanaged the government cleanup has been, most people will probably hire their own contracting companies. Thankfully, some of that money is now going directly to the states, and is out of FEMA's control. Speaking of money going to the states, your "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" nominee for the season is Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), who decided to play "Hide the salami" with home heating funds in order to get oil drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve (ANWR) approved. He failed, so he's taking his ball and going home, with millions of dollars in home heating subsidies in tow. I mentioned this before, but like the White Stripes, it bears repeating. In other words, Merry f&$!in' Christmas from Ted Stevens.