Scandal Scorecard - Old School Edition

What with the blizzard of unethical behavior and downright criminality that's been a hallmark of Republican government, I tend to overlook the traditionally fertile ground of 'fraud, waste and abuse.' This week's entry on the



is a slight correction to that tendency. The AP reports...

An audit showed that thousands of people who did not need aid cashed checks that totaled more than $31 million. The allegations were based on "marginal cases" and did not reflect the typical response to disasters by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Michael D. Brown told a Senate committee.

But an internal investigation by the Homeland Security Department, of which FEMA is a part, found "programatic, systemwide weaknesses" in aid distribution.

Marginal cases," huh? How marginal?

The audit cited allegations that FEMA paid $720,000 to 228 applicants for personal property items based only on the applicants' verbal descriptions.

Scandalous!