by the Way . . .

The Small Business Administration is working with FEMA to provide Katrina relief, which, according to agency chief Barreto, has responded "quicker to this event than any in our history". It has shouldered a huge burden, for in addition to its small business mission (3,000 loans approved, 7,000 rejected, 27,000 pending), it must reject loan applications from home-owners before they can get free money from FEMA. FEMA referrals resulted in more than 250,000 loan applications to the SBA, of which 175,000 remain to be "processed". However, the agency has managed to reject 81% of those that have, qualifying those folks for FEMA grants. From the standpoint of the applicants, this 81% must be considered success rate, rather than a failure rate as some critics have suggested.

FEMA does not dispute the SBA contention that most of the people really don't want loans (they seem to prefer grants) but says it cannot give out money to people that have enough money to take out loans. This works out, however, because the SBA says it cannot risk taxpayer money by lending to poor people. "We are just dealing with the demographics in the area" said Herbert Mitchell, who runs the agency's disaster assistance program. The SBA has expanded its staff for the area from 800 people to 4,200 people, so help is on the way.

As for all the criticism, Raul E. Cisneros, the agency director of communications, said: "Unfortunately, the current political environment in Washington, D.C., is not lacking for individuals who are anxious to throw stones." The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce issued a statement that "politically motivated attacks leveraged against Administrator Barreto undermine the hard work of a dedicated public servant."