Lets give LaRaza, MEcHa, and ACORN some more grants!!!

The DHS "borowed 78 million from Social Security to enable foreign born students to stay here 18 months arefter graduation from graduate schools and make money. That should be cancelled and US citizens should be helped first. The DHS should keep its' mitts off of the Social Security fund.

Hurricane Irene puts Nashville flood buyouts on hold
updated 9/1/2011 5:17:05 PM ET 2011-09-01T21:17:05
The effects of Hurricane Irene are being felt right here in Music City.

Dozens of families who expected to receive buyouts on homes damaged in the Nashville flood last year have discovered that $30.4 million in funding is on hold.

Sue Verellen's home had 4 feet of water in it from a flooded Mill Creek during the May 2010 floods.

She agreed to let Metro buy her home out and had made plans to move to Indiana. She even had a new house picked out, but then Hurricane Irene hit the northeast this weekend.

"When Irene hit, I knew there was a good chance that they were going to have to put a freeze on all the other money, so they'd have enough money for those people," said Verellen. "Pretty much my life is on hold."

She received an e-mail from the Metro Water Department on Monday confirming the bad news.

FEMA funding for the last three rounds of home buyouts had been frozen indefinitely because of a shortage of funds.

.The Park Terrace neighborhood is currently a ghost town. All of the homes have been abandoned since the flood, but they continue to stay standing until Congress votes on FEMA funding.

Further complicating the issue is that some House republicans want to offset FEMA expenditures with spending cuts, possibly setting off a political fight.

In a statement from U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper he says, "Congress needs to get to work and deal with restoring funding for FEMA immediately. Some want to play games, but this is no time to do that when people in Nashville are still hurting."

"I'm very frustrated, and I've tried to not be bitter because they are going through an awful lot. I just don't know where I'm at at this point," said Verellen.

The remaining buyout packages include 119 homes that were part of Metro's Hazard Mitigation Home Buyout, a voluntary program that purchases flood victims' homes at pre-flood value. The program gave first priority to homes there were in the floodways and sustained damage exceeding 40 percent of the total value of the structure.

"I urge Congress to give FEMA the funds it needs so that flood victims in Nashville can get the money they have rightfully been anticipating for months now," Mayor Karl Dean said in a news release. "I understand homeowners' deep frustrations, and I call on Congress to act quickly. Nashvillians have already been victims of the flood. They should not also have to be victims of congressional delay."

Further complicating the issue is that some House Republicans want to offset FEMA expenditures with spending cuts, possibly setting off a political fight.

"Congress needs to get to work and deal with restoring funding for FEMA immediately. Some want to play games, but this is no time to do that when people in Nashville are still hurting," said U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper.

In a statement released Thursday, the city said a total of 225 homes in Nashville are scheduled to be part of Metro's home buyout program, which receives financial assistance from FEMA and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Metro said they have closed on 94 homes, and the city anticipates closure of another 12 that are not affected by these delays, leaving 119 to wait for congressional action.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44363378