Consumer Advocates Help Defeat Allstate's Efforts to Hide its Post-Katrina Pay-Out Procedures

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Allstate Insurance Company will not be allowed to hide trial exhibits that include the company's pay-out procedures for Hurricane Katrina claims thanks, in part, to efforts by Public Justice, a national public interest law firm headquartered in Washington DC, and the California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR).

On August 16, United States District Judge Sarah Vance in New Orleans refused to seal the trial exhibits in Weiss v. Allstate, the case of a New Orleans couple who earlier this year won a $2.8 million verdict against Allstate for illegally refusing a hurricane- related claim. In so ruling, the Court noted that "[p]ublic access serves to enhance the transparency and trustworthiness of the judicial process, to curb judicial abuses, and to allow the public to understand the judicial system better."

The documents are available for download at:
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/insurance/AllstateKatrina/.

"We are thrilled that the Court has rejected Allstate's request to seal these exhibits," said Public Justice Attorney Michael Lucas, lead counsel for FTCR. "This ruling vindicates the public's right to know and it prevents Allstate from hiding its behavior in the wake of Hurricane Katrina."

Several months after the jury verdict in Weiss, the insurance company had asked the court to either return or seal the trial exhibits, which include Allstate's manual for handling claims and an operational guide for subcontractors engaged to work on Katrina-related damage. Representing FTCR, Public Justice opposed Allstate's request on the ground that the trial exhibits provide insight into Allstate's decision-making process and that denying public access to them "would directly impede FCTR's mission of educating the public about insurance practices and abuses." The motion to seal was also opposed by plaintiffs' counsel in the case.

In refusing Allstate's request for secrecy, the Court specifically rejected Allstate's argument that public access to the trial exhibits would cause it prejudice in other litigation involving hurricane-Katrina claims, holding that "[w]hen, as here, the documents are in the possession of the court as trial exhibits, the case is even stronger for permitting other litigants to have access to them." The Court further ruled that Allstate had failed to identify any specific reason why disclosure of the materials "might be harmful to Allstate's competitive position."

"Allstate clearly did not want to disclose the internal proce-dures by which it handled the claims of Katrina survivors, but the public and policymakers have a right to know why and how insurance companies make decisions to pay or not to pay in the wake of disasters," said FTCR' Executive Director Doug Heller. "This ruling will prevent Allstate from using the court system as a cloak of secrecy."

Public Justice Staff Attorney Leslie Brueckner and cooperating counsel Brian D. Katz, Stephen J. Herman, Joseph E. Cain, and Soren E. Gisleson of Herman Herman Katz & Cotlar, LLP in New Orleans are also representing FTCR.

Read the court order and briefs for Weiss v. Allstate at
http://www.publicjustice.net/briefs_documents.htm.

SOURCE: Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights

Related sources:

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org

http://www.publicjustice.net

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With Katrina's Wind at Our Backs, We're Blowing Through Congress!!

by Ana Maria

With a force seemingly more powerful than that of Katrina herself, the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee passed the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007 keeping in tact the Multiple Peril Insurance Act that had recently been attached to it. In every day language, this means that the Democratically-controlled Congress just took a major step forward in protecting the 55% of Americans who live within 50 miles of the nation’s beautiful coastline. Score one for American families and businesses!


This began nearly two years ago with the insurance companies apparently devising a scheme though which to rip off Mr. and Ms. Home or Business Owners who had just been through the nightmarish Hurricane Katrina with her 22 tornadoes and winds at landfall that were at least 135 miles per hour. Katrina's winds beat down residences and businesses for up to three to four hours. Insurance companies like State Farm, Nationwide, and Allstate directed their agents that if so much as a smidgen of water were on the property to blame all the sustained damage on water.

Those directives and the subsequent documentation on how they were carried out are the foundation for the racketeering (RICO) lawsuit that the Scruggs Katrina Group filed against State Farm and its two corporate partners. [See State Farm, Partners, and RICO: What a Racket! It's another piece I did. You'll love it.]

ABC News was able to obtain a copy from State Farm files of the original FAEC [Forensic Analysis & Engineering Corp.] damage report, which included the image of an attached "Post-it" note that read, "Put in wind file - do not pay bill - do not discuss"

Image at ABC's The Blotter.

The agents for the federal government’s flood insurance program were the very same agents for State Farm, Nationwide, and Allstate and the like. Insurance companies handed down their directives: Do the paper work shuffle, leave your conscience at the door that Katrina blew away, and deliver the bad news to Mr. and Ms Home or Business Owners.

Routinely, the news went something like this.

Mr. and Ms. Homeowner, your wind policy on your homeowner’s insurance won’t pay for any damage. We want to keep to ourselves the $108 billion in profits our industry will make in 2005 and 2006. We have faith that you’ll be ok in spite of our reckless, selfish, irresponsible behavior. We’re greedy bastards who show up religiously at church. We’ll be praying for ya! Do I hear an amen! God bless.

Well, we have been blessed. We have Gulf Coast Representative Gene Taylor (D-MS), a heroic congressman who lost everything in Katrina, whose insurance company screwed over him and his family with failing to pay a penny before resorting to a lawsuit, whose own constituents were experiencing the same level of anguish that he and his family were experiencing.

We are blessed because Congressman Gene Taylor pulled out from the depths of his soul an indefatigable strength to carry on personally and professionally to champion this cause to ensure that America’s families and businesses all over the country never again are exposed to the ravages of corporate greed that has become so apparent in our nation’s insurance industry. To that I say Amen!

President Bill Clinton said something along these lines, “There isn’t anything wrong with America that can’t be made better by what’s right with America.” What is happening with this insurance reform bill is a fantastic example of Clinton’s wise words.

We are blessed because down here in Katrina Land, we reflect the rich tapestry that makes our nation envied the world over. We are of African, European, and Asian descent. We come from Central and South America. Our music is lively and soulful. Our food is hot, strong, and spicy. Our determination to persevere is strong.

To achieve the justice that every home and business owner in America requires in the aftermath of a natural disaster will require that all of us remain determined to persevere through the laborious and slow legislative process that is our form our government.

We can achieve this. The first step is to believe we deserve it. We do deserve it, and now we must embrace that very idea. The second is to believe that it is possible. We have proof that it is. The vote in subcommittee last week—along party lines, I might add, and the vote yesterday—again along party lines with a few conscientious Republicans joining the leadership of every Democrat on the committee. We have achieved step two.

The next step is to take concerted steps in the direction of this legislative dream. You know what that means! It’s political hell raising time. Woohoo! The very next vote will be in the entire chamber of the House of Representatives. It could be as soon as next week before the congress breaks for its August recess. We can say that to achieve our political dreams, we must engage in a bit of political hell raising. What fun!

In the aftermath of Katrina, with the malice of forethought the insurance industry engaged in deceptive practices intent to steal from American home and business owners the benefits that they had paid to have. Through our own political hell raising, we can end the deceptive financial charade of the insurance industry.

We must contact our own congressional representatives and let him or her know that we support the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2007 ESPECIALLY because it includes the Multiple Peril Insurance Act which protects America’s families and businesses.

Sharing our perspective on this critical matter is how we protect our families through expanding the flood insurance program to include wind coverage. Sharing our perspective is how we put a gust of powerful wind under our political sails—and sail into the next round of legislative victories for ourselves, our families, and our businesses.

[Here are political hell raising email and phone activities.]

If you enjoyed this, you may also wish to read . . .
Bookies, Pimps, and Insurance Companies.
Commercial insurance rates will crush small businesses

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Drowning in Millions: State Farm, Allstate CEO Pay

Mississippi’s Insurance Commissioner George Dale said Katrina was "the worst natural disaster in U.S. history . . . and put an undue burden on insurance companies.” Oh yeah? Is that how Dale characterizes the obscene tens of millions dollars that State Farm and Allstate paid their CEOs in 2005 and 2006?

As Dale well knows, the company’s financials prove otherwise.

The Insurance Industry Institute pegged the industry's profits at $108 billion for 2005 and 2006. These profits are after companies paid taxes and Katrina claims they didn't pay. These profits are after companies paid out normal expenses such as employee income and benefits. These profits are after companies paid out extraordinary expenses such as their CEOs obscene compensation packages.

These execs denied legitimate policyholder claims stemming from Hurricane Katrina's wind damage. Company memos directed its employees to deny wind claims where ever so much as a drop of water was involved in the damage. [See Wind? Water? More like a Bunch of Hot Air! Also view these insurance documents on the website of Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS). ]

Collectively the insurance companies sent our government's federal flood insurance program a $23 billion bill, the percent of which is fraudulent is yet unknown. For deliberately hurting Katrina survivors, these CEOs have been handsomely paid. In fact, I'd say that their pay has them drowning in millions. This year, State Farm increased the salary of its CEO by 82%.

"Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Rust Jr. got a $5.26 million raise. He earned $11.66 million in 2006 with a base salary of $1.77 million and results-based bonus of $9.89 million, the statement said. Rust made $6.4 million in 2005 and $5.5 million in 2004." -- Insurance Journal

Photo on State Farm Website

Ed Liddy has been "[c]hairman of The Allstate Corporation since January 1999. Mr. Liddy previously served as Chief Executive Officer from January 1999 until December 2006 . . . .” Allstate’s SEC Records Photo by Business Week.

Forbes Magazine reported Liddy’s total compensation for 2006 to be $18 million, and his 5-year compensation total to be $70 million. In 2005, Liddy’s compensation total was $27 million.

When it comes to bloated salaries, these gentlemen are in good hands with their respective companies. All that money didn't buy them ethics, decency, or integrity though. Instead, they acted as really bad neighbors toward their Katrina area policyholders. As for George Dale, he is acting in accordance with his reputation as a bought and paid for political hack of the industry.

M. Dale, if you will kindly look in a mirror, you’ll find the undue burden staring you right in the eye.
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Wind? Water? More like a Bunch of Hot Air!

Ever since the last drop of Katrina rain passed through the Gulf Coast and the water receded after the levees burst in New Orleans, the insurance industry has been hell bent on implementing at full throttle its great American rip off program. In no time flat did those who had likened their company to good neighbors or to the security of being in good hands issue written instructions on how to maximize what seems to have been their goal: blame Katrina’s damage on flooding.

Let me help the insurance industry become crystal clear on this point. This was a H-U-R-R-I-C-A-N-E! We didn’t call this Katrina, the flood. We didn’t call this Katrina, the tornado. We didn’t call this Katrina, the storm surge. Everybody calls it . . . H-U-R-R-I-C-A-N-E Katrina. Capiche? Now let’s get technical.

The National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAO) states on its hurricane preparedness website that “[h]urricane hazards come in many forms: storm surge, high winds, tornadoes, and flooding.”

In other words, a hurricane is a natural disaster consisting of both wind and water. How does one slice and dice the impact of one on the other and the amount of damage directly attributable to each?

Gulf Coast Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS) testified before Congress that insurance companies were choosing not to pay on claims unless the policy holder provided an eye witness. [See Video: Katrina Insurance Claims Hearing: Rep. Taylor Testimony on the homepage of A.M. in the Morning!]

Can you believe this?! Unethical,? Of course. Heartless? Obviously. Ruthless? Evidently. Maniacal and Evil? Absolutely.

Stupid? No. These corporate execs who made the decision to blame Katrina’s damage on water comes out of value system foreign to most of us of any religious or spiritual background. Seems these execs live in a decency-free bubble where their god, the Almighty Dollar, reigns supreme. There will be no conversions. So, forget any lofty notions of that sort.

What we need are two things. First, we must fully understand how they are getting away with this horrendous travesty. Second, we must understand and implement what we can do to prevent its continuation.

Look, they know how to play us and play the politicians. Moreover, they know how to take advantage of the conflicts of interest that are inherent in the U.S. Government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Yesterday’s piece titled Scamming Policyholders & Taxpayers reported that our federal government has been in the flood insurance business since 1968. The private insurance companies pretty much got out of the flood insurance business “because of the catastrophic and unpredictable nature of floods.” In 1983, the federal government turned over to the private insurance industry the selling, servicing, and adjusting of those policies and claims. This may have been a fine arrangement for those natural disasters that dealt with floods only.

However, when it comes to a hurricane which by its very nature simultaneously involves several types of natural calamities such as storm surge, high winds, tornadoes, and flooding, a conflict of interest rises when it is the private insurance companies that are determining whether damage would be covered by them or by the federal taxpayers. In this instance, the conflict of interest is $23 billion.

So far, claims paid out on Katrina add up to $64 billion— and this amount only accounts for those who’ve been paid on their claims through 2006. By the end of last year, the private insurance companies had paid $41 billion. These same companies essentially handed a $23 billion bill to American taxpayers for damages that these private companies determined flood waters had caused. How generous that the private insurance industry only stiffed us for 36% of the bill.

What a racket! But could companies really be that methodically maniacal to stiff its own customers and the American taxpayers to the tune of at least $23 billion?!

On his official government website, Gulf Coast Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS) has an incredible collection of “documents that suggest fraud by insurance companies in the handling of Katrina wind and water claims.” The doozies below are from Nationwide, State Farm, and Allstate.

9/4/2005: Nationwide instructed its adjusters that “if loss is caused by both flood and wind there is no coverage.”

9/13/2005: State Farm instructed adjusters that “where wind acts concurrently with flooding to cause damage to the insured property, coverage for the loss exists only under flood coverage.”

6/28/2006: On-site damage assessment by engineer Jerome Quintero of Rimkus Consulting Group for Allstate… concluded that there was “insufficient physical evidence to determine the proportion of wind versus storm surge that destroyed the structure.”

11/4/2005: Jerome Quintero’s damage assessment after revision by Rimkus staff who never visited the site. Quintero’s conclusion of “insufficient physical evidence” was changed to “storm surge and waves destroyed the residence.” Quintero’s name was signed to the revised report without his knowledge.

So there we have it. In the three examples, Nationwide, State Farm, and Allstate seem to be essentially instructing its adjusters to blame Hurricane Katrina’s damage on water alone thereby sticking the American taxpayers with an inflated $23 billion bill.

We haven’t even begun to talk about the rebuilding costs that weren’t covered at all or the folks who didn’t have flood insurance because they believed their policy provided adequate coverage. We haven’t touched on the fact that many like my own family are not in an official flood zone and may not have purchased flood insurance.

What is important, though, is to recognize that what the insurance companies are doing to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast can happen to over half the population of our country.

“Populations and built environments in coastal watersheds are growing rapidly, with 55 percent of the U.S. population already living within 50 miles of the coast.”

“The Coastal Community Development Partnership”

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

The Coastal Community Development Partnership brings together NOAA and EPA offices to better support state and local governments as they promote safer and smarter development along the coast.



The name of the game is to be informed and to take action.

Yesterday, we discussed the need to eliminate the insurance industry’s exemption from the anti-trust law governing business throughout our country. Right now, the Senate is considering the Insurance Industry Competition Act (S. 618), which will make it illegal for the insurance companies to collude with each other for things like price fixing and claims adjustment. Go here to tell your two U.S. Senators that you support the Insurance Industry Competition Act.

Today, we take action to protect ourselves from the inherent conflict of interest created because the insurance industry gets to determine for our federal government the amount of damage allegedly attributable to flooding at the same time the private insurance industry is determining the damage at the same property that it will attribute to wind.

Congressman Taylor has introduced H.R. 920, which amends the National Flood Insurance Program. In his testimony before Congress, he stated, “in response to the fact that the insurance industry apparently no longer wants to over people for wind damage in coastal America, or will not provide that coverage at a cost that is reasonable, I am asking you to consider legislation that will expand the National Flood Insurance Program to include all natural perils.”

Taylor explains that under the rules of the House of Representatives, the insurance plan would have to be financed in a way that pays for itself. “Thus, any argument that this would be taxpayer-subsidized would be eliminated. Under the new rules of the House, that is not an option.” What Taylor is referring to is that when the Democrats were swept into office last November, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi instituted strong fiscal controls on spending. She ended the fiscally irresponsible era under Republican leadership.

Lastly, Taylor stated, “This problem affects thousands of people. Quite frankly, people should be encouraged to get out of coastal areas in a time of a storm, rather than encouraged to stick behind with a camera to record the event.” Amen to that!

Speaking of the Amen Corner, former Congressional Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA), that compassionless conservative crony, has already come out against national disaster insurance. What a shock! The only thing those so-called conservatives are interested in is conserving their power.

During the apex of his reign in Congress, Gingrich accepted almost $425,000 in political contributions from the insurance industry coffers. Newt being a mouthpiece for an industry that has so blazingly betrayed the American people and her families isn’t all that shocking these days.
And just as the wind got knocked out Newt’s political sails, we can partner with Congressman Taylor to take the wind out of the insurance industry’s selling to us wind insurance policies on which they fail to appropriately pay out after a natural disaster.

Today, we can call and email our congressional representatives to request that they co-sponsor H.R.920, which is called the Multiple Peril Insurance Act of 2007.

After all, the more this private industry continues to push their wind vs. water rationale, the more it sounds like nothing more than a bunch of hot air.

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Decency in DC

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Republicans love to preach about morals and decency. Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on the importance of marital fidelity. Newt has admitted to cheating on his wife at around the same time the House was impeaching President Bill Clinton over his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Disgraced Republican Congressman Mark Foley resigned amid allegations that he himself had engaged in or attempted to engage in an inappropriate relationship with an under aged teen in the Congressional Page program. Foley had chaired the House caucus on missing and exploited children and was a champion of sexual predator legislation

Another fine example of a Republican behaving badly erupted on the House floor toward the end of March. This time it was all about what constitutes decency in Washington, DC.

Earning himself membership credits in the Bush–Shill-and-Mouthpiece-Club, Georgia Republican Congressman Tom Price took to the floor on March 27th to help stick it to the families struggling to put their lives back together after Hurricane Katrina. This compassionless conservative sought to restrict housing reconstruction funds for low-income families living in Katrina-ravaged areas of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans.

Price wanted to require the demolished local communities to raise matching funds before the Bush Administration provided financial assistance to these low-income Southern residents who are struggling today within horrendous conditions that federal dollars can help alleviate.

Mind you, there is NO tax base from which to raise monies for matching funds. Capiche?! None. Zip. Nada. Democratic Congressman Gene Taylor, whose district covers the entire Gulf Coast of Mississippi, eloquently informed Mr. Price of the dire circumstances of life after Katrina.

“. . . little towns like Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, that have no tax base because their stores were destroyed in the storm, a county like Hancock County, where 90% of the residents lost everything, or at least substantial damage to their home, he wants to punish Bay St. Louis, he wants to punish Waveland, he wants to punish Pass Christian for mistakes of the Bush dministration.”

[See the video. Quite an education in Republican tactics, priorities, and values.]

Price, an obvious compassionless conservative Bush crony, has not even had the decency to visit any of the many Katrina-ravaged communities. He is speaking without understanding what the situation is. Perhaps he doesn’t care what the situation is down here on the ground.

Nevertheless, he had the audacity to cloak his disdain for the good people of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans through feigning concern for government waste, fraud and abuse. [Read: Investing federal tax dollars in rebuilding New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast is waste of money.] Since Democrats represent these good people in Congress, the people's house, Price's display of Republican charity reveals a partisan tinge. Price’s amendment failed in a 98-333 vote.

The first day I arrived here in Bay St. Louis, my younger brother drove me around to see what life is like some 19 months after the storm. Going down Beach Boulevard, he whipped into a dirt driveway and parked. This was the lot where Congressman Gene Taylor‘s home had been before Katrina destroyed it completely. In the back of the lot, new construction for a home was evident. Up the stairs we went. The Taylors were working on their home.Margaret Taylor, the congressman’s wife, told me that during the storm, they had gone to stay with family . . . and today that is where they remain.

The Taylors have received not one dime of insurance money. Not a dime.

As Margaret and I spoke, the congressman was busy hammering away. They are building their tiny home themselves literally. [See Sidebar: Gulf Coast Congressman Gene Taylor—Sticks and Stones: Rebuilding Our Future] In front of Congressman Taylor's house is a hand-painted sign that express clearly his sentiments: “Allstate & State Farm, Axis of Evil.”




Congressman Gene Taylor's sign in his front yard of what used to be his home in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Photo by Ana Maria Rosato taken May 25, 2007.




So when an obtuse individual holding the power of a congressional office pretends to be concerned mostly that the families whose incomes, homes, jobs, and places of worship have been demolished by Katrina may engage in waste, fraud, and abuse rather than worrying about the families themselves, Taylor’s response becomes understandable.

Immediately, right there on the floor of the House of Representatives, Democratic Congressman Gene Taylor filleted Price expertly. [Watch the video.]

"If you want to look for Katrina fraud, look for the Katrina fraud that was perpetrated by the Bush administration. In south Mississippi at one point we had 40,000 people living in FEMA trailers, we're grateful for every one of them. But those trailers were delivered by a friend of the president by the name of Riley Bechtel, a major contributor to Bush administration. He got $16,000 to haul a trailer the last 70 miles from Purvis, Miss., down to the Gulf Coast, hook it up to a garden hose, hook it up to a sewer tap, and plug it in, $16,000. So the gentleman never came to the floor once last year to talk about that fraud.

* * * Mr. Price, I wish you'd have the decency, if you're going to do that to the people of south Mississippi, that maybe you ought to come visit south Mississippi, and see what has happened, before you hold them to a standard you would never hold your own people to, and that you fail to hold the Bush administration to."

Then Price had the nerve to demand that Taylor’s remarks be stricken from the record AND take away for the rest of the day, Taylor’s ability to speak on the House floor.

Why? Taylor used the word “decency.” That’s right. Price wasn’t concerned about the indecency of his own proposal. He wasn’t concerned about the indecent conditions that the good people living in Katrina ravaged country endure daily because of the Bush Administration's despicable and deliberate neglect.

Price was concerned with etiquette and courtesy extended to himself. As you watch the clip, notice how Price’s hissy fit over etiquette and courtesy ended up interrupting congressional action by well over an hour. His indecent proposal wasted time and money while insulting every family and business owner on the Gulf Coast and within the New Orleans area. Immediately, Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced a motion to restore Taylor’s right to speak for the rest of the day, and Frank’s motion passed on a 265-160 vote. Republicans objected to the decency of restoring Taylor's speaking privileges. Afterall, Taylor actually knows first hand of Katrina's ravages and the suffering of families here on the ground. God forbid that they have to endure hearing how the federal government can be a force for good in the lives of these American families, business owners, communities.

Price should have been ashamed of himself for the indecency of demonstrating to the world his uninformed opinion and wholly uncompassionate position. It was Mr. Price who should have kept his own mouth shut for the remainder of the day.

He should have immediately made arrangements to take leave of absence from his office to come down here to see for himself what the situation is. Frankly, he should try living for weeks or months on end in one of those FEMA trailers. You may be thinking that these are house sized trailers. Surprise! They are more like camper trailers in which families and extended families have been living since the storm.

Personally, I am appalled at the indecency that the Bush Administration and its congressional cronies continually display. Decorum over decency, that’s what Price and his ReTHUGlican buddies advocated that day in March.

What everyone down here needs is decent leadership from a White House that will demonstrate it cares by moving heaven, hell, and earth to rebuild our communities, our towns, and our beloved New Orleans.

Rather than a lesson in congressional etiquette, Mr. Price, the folks down here need real federal leadership and federal money that actually gets where it was intended to go and does what it was intended to do. Since Price and some of his Republican buddies have no clue what to do to
rebuild with compassion, here’s a novel idea.

Ask Congressman Gene Taylor what it is going to take.

In the meantime, the rest of us can act on the advice that the great Molly Ivins provided. In her column Time to go long, Molly Ivins, another Southern hero of mine, said it best. "Sit up, join up, stir it up, get online, get in touch, find out who's raising hell and join them. No use waiting on a bunch of wussy politicians."

She must have had in mind politicians like Price.

From one hell raiser (yours truly) to the next (that would be you, dear beloved reader), how’s about calling your congressional representative to request that she/he seek Taylor’s advice on how to rebuild on the Gulf Coast and to collaborate with him. Heck, let's go one better and
provide Taylors' office number in Washington, DC. 202 225-5772. Most likely you'll be talking with a staffer when you call. Here's a script you can use. Look up here your representatives contact information.

Letting your fingers do the walking is an easy way to do an important and effective political activity. Call your reps and just ask them to listen to Congressman Taylor, because . . . it’s the decent thing to do.

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