"... examine without sentimentality or fear of political incorrectness what was done.."

BizzyBlog makes reference to an excellent, outstanding investigative series by the New York Daily News: 4-year scandal of the 9/11 billions.

The whole series is a must read. It tells the tale of how the generosity of the American taxpayer was abused; a story that is becoming all to common.

Senator Schmuer, who requested an got $20 billion for NYC, comes off looking a lot like Senator "It's all vital. There's not anything in here that we would consider a wish list or pie in the sky. This is what we really believe is essential" Landrieu of Louisiana who was able to ask for $250 billion in disaster relief just for the state of Louisiana with a straight face.

As the New York Daily News' premise for the series states (to "... examine without sentimentality or fear of political incorrectness what was done.."), Porkopolis has taken a similar tack when looking at our most recent national tragedy:

• The Katrina Cruise Ship Contracts
  
• $62,000 per person in federal aid and counting in Katrina
  
• Discussions on alternatives to rebuilding New Orleans
  
• Pork Gumbo
  
• Flip Flop Alert: Bush reinstates Davis-Bacon
  
• Jean Schmidt signs "No Pork Pledge"
  
• Katrina Disaster Relief Credit Cards
  
• ...and more

Update: Mayor Bloomberg has a lesson we can apply to Katrina aid:

But it seems clear, Bloomberg added, that the pressure of cleaning up Ground Zero and restoring confidence in the city likely led to a mad dash in spending in the months immediately after the terrorist attacks — with little regard for waste.

"We certainly do know that people were trying to do things — big things, with a lot of money involved — very quickly," Bloomberg said. "And it is probably true, when you have a situation like that, people don't do all of their due diligence that they should have done. But they were under pressure to get things done."