Let The Taxpayer Gouging Begin (Updated)

You already know how I feel about the concept of “Price Gouging.” Picture me twisting my face like a ten year old when I say “price gouging…”

It’s amazing the government can run around screaming about “price gouging” while at the same time allowing themselves to be “price gouged” for no apparent reason.

Look at this posting:

“I tried in vain to obtain a hotel room for an employee downtown so that the employee would not have to sleep on an air mattress every night. It turns out that FEMA has rented the 190 available rooms from the W hotel by paying 300% of "rack rate." Rack rate is the ordinary price for a hotel room without any discounts. This is the standard rate that a hotel will quote you when you ask for a room.

Let's make some assumptions here... I am assuming that rack rate for the W in New Orleans this time of year is at least $200 a night since the convention season has already started. That would put the rooms at $600 a night per room. That comes out to $114,000 per day for 190 rooms at $600 a day each. With costs like this I can see how rebuilding New Orleans will be insanely expensive. I would imagine that the rates should come down some in the not too distant future, but, I am not holding my breath. Assuming a rack rate of $251 and the cost would be $1 million a week for 190 rooms.”

Can you believe this? SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS PER NIGHT?

It is, of course, just a rumor from what has been to date a very impressive blog written from the central business district of New Orleans. Someone should follow up on this story…

I say that they could afford to rent 190 rooms outside the city for $100 per night ($19,000) and charter four fifty-passenger buses for $2000 per day each ($8000) and pocket the $87,000 per day savings ($114,000-$27,000) to spend another day.

I told you that the government would take our money and piss over half of it away on fraud and corruption.

I rest my case, your honor...


UPDATE (11:58 PM 9/26/2005):

This is worse than Sigmond (the blogger and president of DirectNIC) thought. I checked the W Hotel Website and fooled around trying to get a price for two adults in a standard room.

Guess how much they charge?

Try a "rack rate" of $469 plus tax. If FEMA is actually paying three times "rack rate", that means that the rooms are nearly $1500 per night, per room.


Somebody should be renting each FEMA employee their own house for these prices. What a great use of our tax dollars, don't you agree?