All right, either I’m a big idiot and somebody already covered this story, or I’m actually the first person to pick up on it.
Either way, this is not surprising:
The government’s $5 billion effort to help small businesses recover from the Sept. 11 attacks was so loosely managed that it gave low-interest loans to companies that didn’t need terrorism relief — or even know they were getting it, The Associated Press has found.
And while some at New York’s Ground Zero couldn’t get assistance they desperately sought, companies far removed from the devastation — a South Dakota country radio station, a Virgin Islands perfume shop, a Utah dog boutique and more than 100 Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway sandwich shops — had no problem winning the government-guaranteed loans.
Can we trust these idiots to run anything?
Dentists and chiropractors in numerous cities, as well as an Oregon winery that sold trendy pinot noir to New York City restaurants also got assistance.
“That’s scary. Nine-11 had nothing to do with this,” said James Munsey, a Virginia entrepreneur who described himself as “beyond shocked” to learn his nearly $1 million loan to buy a special events company in Richmond was drawn from the Sept. 11 program.
“It would have been inappropriate for me to take this kind of loan,” he said, noting that the company he bought suffered no ill effects from Sept. 11.
Arvind “Andy” Patel, 50, said he used his $350,000 loan in fall 2002 to remodel his Dunkin’ Donuts shop in western New York state and never knew it was drawn through the Sept. 11 program.
“Not at all,” Patel answered, when asked whether his business had been hurt by the attacks.
Is there anyone even running this show anymore?