Embattled FEMA director Mike Brown has resigned.
“I’m turning in my resignation today,” Brown said. “I think it’s in the best interest of the agency and the best interest of the president to do that and get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead of me.”
During his tenure, Brown developed a reputation for focusing more on the appearance that FEMA was providing relief, than on actually providing it. This apparently remained his focus until the very end.
Just got the BREAKING NEWS alert e-mail. AP is reporting it. NPI has a link up
http://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog
The bugler is warming up to play Taps for the GOP.
Good bye, and good riddance.
You’re doing a heck of a job “Brown-eye.”
I guess this means the Medal of Freedom is going to be pinned on his chest, too.
. . . amazing! . . . even his resignation is slow in coming . . . this is one . . . slow . . . dewd . . .
Bye, bye, Drownie.
okay, that’s one, Now how about the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of La.?
what did the mayor and governor do wrong that warrants resignation?
Please
The mayor and the governor will be and can be held accountable by the people of NO and the people of the state of LA. FEMA is paid for and accountable to all Americans.
This is unusual only because this will be the first time a member of the FSIC (Flight Suit in Chiefs) administration has ever resigned under fire. Tenant of CIA resigned, but he was prior to the reign of King George III. Powell left, but it was a cabinet reshuffle.
But “Brownie” was a political appointee of the FSIC, and only last Friday the President Select said he was doing “a heck of a job”. Firing the worthless puke is the equivalent of the Boy King saying “Oops, I screwed up, sorry”. This from an administration that NEVER, EVER ADMITS A MISTAKE.
I can not wait to see the spin from the noise machine and the MSM. It should be entertaining.
go ahead, Michael. Be specific in your charges.
okay, how about a total failure of evacuating the citizens?
How about being completelty unprepaered for an impending disaster?
When a hurricane demolishes two states, and the nation’s third largest port, and a huge chunk of the country’s oil, it’s safe to say that this is is a FEDERAL problem. The locals ordered Lousisiana’s first mandatory evacuation hours before the break and got most people out and then thousands to the dome for pick up by the federal military — the only people with the public transport to do that. So people, we have two choices, 1) raise taxes to make sure every state and every city duplicates its own fully trained FEMA-type agency (that just waits and waits until the hurricane, fire, or quake of the century comes along and hit’s their particular area), or 2) we have a FEMA that works because more than half of the top ten staff have some disaster relief experience instead of GOP activism. Most of the county is not fond of the GOP way right now and I agree with them.
prr @ 11
In what world is 80% evacuation a total failure? In fact, compared to previous storms the effort was 33% more effective–given about a 60% evacuation rate in the past.
Your second charge is nonspecific–as is the first one, really.
“1) raise taxes to make sure every state and every city duplicates its own fully trained FEMA-type agency (that just waits and waits until the hurricane, fire, or quake of the century comes along and hit’s their particular area),”
Is raising taxes your answer to everything?
How about bring qualified people ot every office regarless of political affiliation?
The Mayor and Governor are just as quilty as being fuck-ups as is the director of FEMA.
Actually, even more so.
Oh and lets not forget the total lack of security, food, water, bathrooms etc… that should have been in place at the Superdome.
@13, see 14
prr @15
there was food, water and bathrooms at the Superdome–what are you talking about? Was there enough to last a week? Clearly not–but it was never intended that the Superdome be a shelter AFTER the hurricane had passed, nor that local officials would be responsible for caring for them. That’s the feds’ job, and it was one they were specifically asked to do as of Aug 26th.
An interesting article regarding the Fed’s response.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05254/568876.stm
The mayor and the governor are elected officials accountable to the people of New Orleans and Louisiana respectively. Director of FEMA is a political appointee. You may not like the mayor and the governor, but unless you live in Louisiana, tough titty you don’t have any say.
However, since I help pay the salary of the FEMA director, and this guy is responsible for making sure disasters and emergencies are handled competently and quickly, I have a right to expect that whoever appoints someone to the position it going to put in some due diligence to get a candidate that’s qualified.
Bush put in another unqualified crony in an important position at the expense of the public; they *both* should resign.
kitten sounds @ 6:
I’ll call for Govenor Barbur’s resignation the day you call for Bush’s resignation.
bf @ 16
that’s a stupid article. For one thing, basing the federal response on the timing of Natl Guard troops is silly, since they’re deployed by governors. Secondly, giving the ACE credit for fixing the levees is absurd, since they knew about it for almost a full day before acting even haphazardly, and it took a team that included many local officials before it was taken care of. From an engineering standpoint, that was THE job that needed priority. Finally, comparing the relief to an airlift not only omits the obvious point that feds had TWO DAYS BEFORE the storm to get moving, but also ignores that we had quick response to Aceh after the tsunami, quicker than was given NO.
Amazing, even in the face of complete incompetence, Bush still couldn’t bring himself to fire such an idiot.
BREAKING… FEMA chief Brown resigns
Good, it’s about time. Hopefully this is just the beginning of the house-cleaning that will take place in this administration.
It’s ironic the righties don’t want to play the “blame game” and yet they can’t wait to blame the local officials to deflect the blame where the vast majority of it squarely belongs — with Bush.
Yep, they got all their fake timelines, blame game, and their talking points, like ‘dodging the bullet’ but there’s one bullet they won’t dodge, the Democrats retaking congress in just over one year!
Then, the impeachment of the worst president this country will ever have. The pattern of failure at the C level by Bush is something many of us here have been saying for a long time. Now, Bush’s pattern of risky and failed policies have come home to roost.
Bye Bye losers.
Thank you Goldy for helping to expose this fraud.
JDB @ 19, the truth is, GWB is so damn slow…he would have to ask momma, then papa, then Rove, then Cheney, and finally try and find his sleep around daughters and ask their opinion…….by the time he gets up to date, the date has left him behind……what a slow imbecillic neanderthal
It’s ironic the righties don’t want to play the “blame game” and yet they can’t wait to blame the local officials to deflect the blame where the vast majority of it squarely belongs – with Bush.
Ironic, maybe, but that’s official GOP policy.
THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXERPT FROM THE ARTICLE NOTED IN COMMENT 16.
Jason van Steenwyk is a Florida Army National Guardsman who has been mobilized six times for hurricane relief. He notes that:
“The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne.”
For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 2002. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three.
Journalists who are long on opinions and short on knowledge have no idea what is involved in moving hundreds of tons of relief supplies into an area the size of England in which power lines are down, telecommunications are out, no gasoline is available, bridges are damaged, roads and airports are covered with debris, and apparently have little interest in finding out.
So they libel as a “national disgrace” the most monumental and successful disaster relief operation in world history.
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTRADICTS THE IDEA THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAS SLOW IN RESPONSE TO KATRINA. IN FACT THE ARTICLE POINTS OUT THAT THIS WAS THE FASTEST RESPONSE, WHEN COMPARED WITH OTHER HURRICANES.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05254/568876.stm
So they libel as a “national disgrace” the most monumental and successful disaster relief operation in world history.
Yes, SO monumental and successful it ended in the FEMA director’s resignation.
Comment by prr—
“1) raise taxes to make sure every state and every city duplicates its own fully trained FEMA-type agency (that just waits and waits until the hurricane, fire, or quake of the century comes along and hit’s their particular area),”
Is raising taxes your answer to everything?
How about bring qualified people ot every office regarless of political affiliation?
The Mayor and Governor are just as quilty as being fuck-ups as is the director of FEMA.
Actually, even more so.
Oh and lets not forget the total lack of security, food, water, bathrooms etc… that should have been in place at the Superdome.
First, how do we have a FEMA waiting and ready in every city that costs LESS in taxes then having a single federal one?
Second, there didn’t need to be many services at the dome if the FEMA and the military had done a proper rescue.
prr
“Is raising taxes your answer to everything?”
We probably wouldn’t need to raise taxes if some US administration (current or future) would seriously think about changing its budgetary appropriations. For what eventuality do we need to spend $441.6 billion next year?
TJ @ 17,
First off, they did not have adequate supplies (3-5 days worth).
Secondly security was non-existent. If it was such a glaring sucess, please explain the significant number of Rapes and Murders that took place inside the Suprdome.
For the record, I think all parties (left, right, liberal conservative) actions in this matter is absolutely shamelful and think that heads should role.
If anything is to be blamed it’s that there are too many layers in our government and too much room for red tape.
Dr. E,
I agree with you on this. There is a termendous amount of special interest money that needs to go away…. On both sides of the party lines.
Vance @ 31…
you are dillusional if you think that relying on the federa government in an emergency id a “Smart” line of defense.
I think everyone can appreciate the lead time associated with reacting to a disaster like Katrina.
What the article–and all administration apologists–misses is the fact that this storm was known to be especially dangerous, the specific disaster scenario (category 5 hitting new orleans) had been identified as one with particular wide-ranging negative effects years ago, and the poor state of the levees was already acknowledged.
It is FEMA’s job to keep ahead of such situations before they turn into–what actually happened; any successful manager of a large organization would realize this. That’s why Drownie and Shrub look like deer in the headlights–neither one of them know how to anticipate problems, handle large, complex logistical situation, or think ahead about what they should be worrying about. This is borne out of Shrub’s spectacular business failures and Drownie’s overall failure at life.
Even caught flat-footed as he was, Drownie was in a position to do such things as inquire about available military resources that could be put to immediate use (e.g., naval vessels with hospital facilities and fresh water) but he did *nothing*; when confronted by journalists he couldn’t even dance and say what he *should* be doing–just popped off with a litany of excuses.
He could have come across as a guy with his shit together, even if it was bullshit, but he couldn’t even lie well.
Stop apologizing for these people; they fucked up, acknowledge it and move on.
Did Blanko resign yet? or the cable guy?
righton @ 35
explain, specifically, why they should.
So, the mayor got 80% of the city evacuated, finding it acceptable to leave behind over 100,000. The dems say Hurrah!
New Orleans was 80% evacuated, which was a dismal failure for FEMA. The dems cry incompetence!
Which is it? A success or a failure? Seems like you want it both ways. The mayor passed up opportunities to use city and school buses and trains to get people out of the city. This was not FEMA’s call. The mayor PREVENTED food and water from being distributed by the Red Cross. This was not FEMA’s call.
The governor allocated 200 National Guardsmen to police a city known to be high crime and highly corrupt. And, they weren’t allowed to be policemen – just rescuers.
But, I guess it all is Bush’s fault, because he is the omnipotent god. Except that he is worthless. Whatever.
Torid @ 36
a) knew he lived below sea level, in a town prone to hurricanes
b) had a mock emergency last year that showed need to evacuate
c) waited till last minute to evacuate.
Negligent Nagin i call him
or Mayor Nagligent
The level of response from the federal government regarding Katrina is something we might have expected, and accepted, in a pre 9/11 mindset.
However, after 9/11, FEMA was rolled into the Dept of Homeland Security in order to prepare for, and elevate our nation’s response during a widespread disaster. Whether the disaster is an act of God or comes in the form of a radiological, biological, or chemical attack from Al Qaeda does not matter. What matters is the level of response from the federal government.
In fact, KNOWING that there was a Cat 5 hurricane bearing down on the gulf coast makes this all the worse. On September 11, 2001 nobody knew of the impending disaster that was about the strike our nation.
But we knew what was happening two weeks ago in the Gulf of Mexico. What we should expect, no DEMAND, from our national leaders is not business as usual bureaucratic responses to wide scale catastrophes. We demand effective, well thought out responses with contingency plans to avert this type bureaucratic bungling. If it weren’t for the military getting involved and doing what they do best in bad situations, improvising, it would have been far worse.
The inept response from the federal government demonstrates the lack of seriousness George W. Bush and the Republicans place on our national defense and the response to eventual disasters we know are certain to come in this post 9/11 world.
Final grade on the Republicans in charge of our national security post 9/11: F-
gbs; 100% of New Orleans in the path; 50% of Lousiana in the path, only 5% of the US in the path of Katrina.
Should mayor, then governor be super worried, and thus responsible?
Local McDonalds runs out of burgers, they fire the branch manager, not the president
You know the best way to slow down the work production of a hard working man is to … give him a law degree!
fellow righties, relax on this; libs off to Bork John Roberts, they’ll soon grow bored of blaming bush
righton, you’re doing what 99.99% of the conservatives do when confronted with the obvious truth, blame someone else.
The question Katrina drives home is this: Hass the United States Government prepared for eventual disasters we know are certain to come at any time in this post 9/11 world?
Yes or No?
@ 41
The governor was so “super worried” that she asked Bush to federalize this situation before the hurricane made landfall. Bush accepted the responsibility. So yes, fire the CEO of McDonald’s if he is as ineffectual as Bush.
“YOU’RE FIRED!!” ala Donald Trump.
Haven’t we gone through all of this the last week and a hafl…NOTHING HAS CHANGED. BUSH STILL FUCKED UP.
The Gov. and Mayor can be voted out. Or impeached or whatever by their constituents. Fine.
This irresponsible administration MUST be brought to task and forced to pay attention BEFORE something else goes wrong. What if this had been one of their dreaded terror attacks? Wake the fuck up!
Wonderful! So we get a new TAG TEAM of trolls to beat this around again. PLEASE go peddle your bullshit somewhere else.
Just FUCK OFF already.
gbs; ya’ll would not understand that conservatives don’t think 100% of goverment comes from a national government
a) we hate dept of education
b) we believe in states rights, except when explicit in the constitution (note “all powers not given to feds, ascribe to the states” (paraphrasing)
c) Feds should defend our borders, doing things a state is incapable of doing. I still don’t get how a federal guy is more competant to order evacuations than the governor
Righton
I get how the levels of government work, I really do.
The answer to your question regarding evacuations can be summed up in your a) response.
Sorry, I just don’t have the time to give you all the cliff notes you should have taken in Civics class.
gbs; anytime, us dumb right wingers barely graduated 6th grade, happy for the lessons on federalism. Trust you know there are 2 sides to the issues.
Ah, if only Barry Goldwater were still around..
I will say this about the federal response vs. the state response.
Think of it this way; Lousiana goes to war against Cuba. Would it be as effective if we pooled all the resources of the United States?
Noooooo, it wouldn’t, would it? That’s because the federal government has far more resources than a state government.
OK, run along now, your Kindergarten teacher is about to serve milk and cookies, followed by a story “My Pet Goat,” and nappy time.
Goldy, Like FEMA, is there and “affirmative action” program in force on the HorsesAss website? How many blacks post here? You should know this unless you are racist.
47–
It’s not a question of competence, it’s a matter of access. That is, the FEMA director, until recently a cabinet level role, has rapid access to whoever in the federal govt he needs to help facilitate rapid response to a national-level disaster. That’s why it’s all the more egregious that drownie was such a screw-up–he had all the access he needed, but had no clue what to do.
That said, at this point I don’t think *anyone* would make the mistake of thinking the “federal guy” is “more competant [sic]” than the governor.
Also, it’s evident from your spelling that you hate the department of education.
gbs; you need to distinguish between before the fact failures to order good building codes, evacuations, food depots, etc, vs after the fact neighbors helping out.
Still can’t figure out why they even have a government down there if they have no responsibility in all this?? Are they only there for the good times, never the hard work.
How are the good ol boys doing on their R&R trip to Las Vegas?
righton, you’re about to get a new moniker, The Artful Dodger.
I’ll ask one more time:
“Has the United States Government prepared for eventual disasters we know are certain to come at any time in this post 9/11 world?
Yes or No?”
righton @ 38
a) is not a failure, it is a statement–and one reflective of any reasonably educated official.
b) was not conducted by the Mayor; it was done by FEMA (if you’re talking about Hurricane Pam)
c) is unsupported. Evacuations began by the weekend; it was only “mandatory” by Sunday morning–a few hours after other areas of the Gulf Coast, and after the express warning from weather officials that it was going to be bad. Remember, until about Friday evening, it was considered a Cat2 ‘cane.
Furthermore, which argument are you using to buttress c)? That there was no plan to evacuate 100%, or that it could not be completed in time before the storm?
Try again, and this time be specific.
Thanks mongo, other denizens of the wierdo water cooler.
All you guys do is correct on spelling, make iq insults, etc. Pretty base stuff, thought you all were lovers of intellect, free speech, tolerance, diversity (oh yeah, not of thought).
Still say #1 tail on the line is the person most impacted. That’s how business, military, etc operates. Suddenly ya’ll neatly skip straight to the top.
Artful Dodger (righton) @ 55
I’ll ask one more time:
“Has the United States Government prepared for eventual disasters we know are certain to come at any time in this post 9/11 world?
Yes or No?”
Janet S @ 37
Some severe factual problems with your account. The local officials getting 80% out by themselves and emergency-sheltering most of the rest was, relatively, a success. The federal officials doing nothing to help the other 20%, despite being asked specifically for that help on Friday, Sunday and Monday, is a failure.
The mayor did not necessarily “pass up” opportunities. Insufficient resources existed to utilize them. Were you volunteering to drive a bus Sunday? I didn’t think so–so stop blaming unknown others for not volunteering, either.
I have NO idea where you get 200 Guardsmen. The initial deployment from LA was 4,000–about 4X as many as MS’s governor allocated at first. Cite is Knight-Ridder, yesterday.
@ 55
You’ve never served in the military have you? You really don’t understand the chain of command do you?
You don’t have a clue that when a Captian takes command of a Naval ship he’s betting his entire career that some wing nut with a 6th grade education doesn’t fuck up on his watch.
You moron.
Bush claims he doesn’t know that Brown resigned…
“Maybe you know something I don’t know.”
(http://thinkprogress.org/2005/.....s-for-him/)
And yet, Brown says:
“As I told the president, it is important that I leave now to avoid further distraction from the ongoing mission of FEMA.”
(http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/.....index.html)
What bullshit.
GBS; i dunno, if its about a missile into Seattle, sure hope so, and its the feds job to defend, but local govt job to send the fire trucks, staff the hospitals, quell the riots. And yeah if we are undermanned, you then activate the Guard, then finally send in the feds.
Nice job using cover of terrorist damage to also inflate the mission to also defend against hurricanes and tornadoes.
What’s Ron Sims’ plan for this pending power shutdown this winter? (making this up). does he have generators lined up?
righton @ 55
I only commented on spelling because of the irony of someone specifically stating they hate dept. of education, yet displaying what could easily be inferred as their own deficiencies in that area.
Besides, that wasn’t my main point (which you conveniently ignored). The point of having a federal agency like FEMA is specifically to be able to step in in situations where local authorities have been overwhelmed (through their own failings, magnitude of disaster, or both). That is FEMA’s raison de’etre; if it can’t fulfill it’s own function due to incompetent leadership, what are we supposed to do, say, in the event of a nuclear attack?
Your “state’s rights” arguments are anachronistic and insulting to everyone suffering from the katrina aftermath.
61; Marine Corps commandant doesn’t take the fall when some Air Force flyboy screws up. Bush isn’t in charge of New Orleans, unless you know something I don’t.
@ 65
I guess I do know something you don’t. Before the hurricane struck the Governor asked Bush to federalize this situation. So, Bush is, in fact, in charge of Louisiana’s disaster operations.
Welcome to the left.
Mongo
I don’t get why its my/out responsibility to allow rich people in Mississippi the right to build on the beach but then we pay for them to rebuild. I agree that if that state gets blown out and needs food and water so people don’t die, sure we help, and do so asap. But beyond that, they get to live the good life on the water, nice evenings on the deck, pretty water views, but then get free insurance from rest of us.
You libs are only trying to tar bush. I”m happy to tar all, but be honest about it.
How’s Gregoire’s plan for helping us out looking?
@ 65 Would you like the link to the LA. governors home page so you can read the letter for yourself? See that it’s dated before the hurricane made landfall, citing specifically that this event was going to be too large for the capabilities of state and local government.
Would you like that?
gbs; happy to swap the copy of last years drill, the report on how the city needed to prepare better.
I’ll throw in the photos of the abandoned buses.
Wish i could find the names of the 200 awol officers; guess that’s also Bush’ fault.
I hear Haley Barbour’s doing a fine job across the way in Miss.
I guess righton is reading the Governor’s declaration to federalize the disaster response before Katrina hit land, or he’s just tired of being proved he’s as wrong as the rest of the “right.”
You guys are too easily distracted by trolls. The wingnuts aren’t even being subtle about it here. Stay focused. Keep repeating the simple truth, “LA did what it was supposed to do. FEMA was no where to be found, Bush was on vacation, and the Guard was stuck in Iraq.”
See, he resigned today, but he’ll learn of it FACTUALLY sometime next week.
I really think the ‘Nightline’ interview was the final nail in his coffin. Before those on the left get too excited about this, there are many agency positions packed with dullards who couldn’t find work other than as Government stooge appointees under most administrations. The one in recent memory was Hazel O’Leary and that damn ‘racist’ colored badges incident over at the DOE. Her actions haven’t gotten anyone killed yet, however. Though the long term ramifications of Chinese nuclear weapons espionage are unknown. Until 80% of us are killed by it, that is.
bf @ 29:
That is an OPINION PIECE, not an article, and it relies on the OPINION of one right wing blogger, with no apparent qualifications.
It also ignores that President Bush ran on his ability to make the country safer, and yet badly led FEMA, the primary agency for responding to events like this and terrorist attacks.
Even then, you would have to be willfully blind not to see that FEMA failed to do what they said they would do, and what they promised they would do in the Hurricane Pam simulation. On the other hand, Mayor Nagin was able to evacuate 80% of his city, when the Pam simulation showed an evacuation rate of only 64%.
@70
“LA did what it was supposed to do.”
so putting a thousands of people in an area to starve to death and be preyed upon by wothless scumm, was their intent?
How’s Gregoire’s plan for helping us out looking? -Comment by righton— 9/12/05 @ 2:59 pm
Oh it’s great!
She has her desire for a tsunami warning system plan right down on paper, somewhere in the bottom of her sock drawer, under her spare absentee ballots.
gotta love the Lousiana dems..
Gambling with Your Money, Their Lives
September 7, 2005; Page A17
Food, water — and laying blame. The human necessities have been on exhibit in the New Orleans flood catastrophe.
In the interests of having the argument heard, let’s phrase a key question in a bipartisan manner: Will the federal government contemplate some adjustment to policies that amount to a powerful inducement for people to build in areas that are fundamentally vulnerable? Professions of shock about the extent of the New Orleans disaster may be understandable from the broader public, but not from Louisianians themselves. Their disaster was the most predicted disaster in recent memory. The city’s vulnerability was well documented and this is one case where you can’t blame the press for taking its eye off the ball.
The policy implications were not lost on congressmen and federal officials either. A screaming match three years ago concerned a House bill to charge market-based flood insurance premiums to homeowners who filed frequent claims. Louisiana Rep. Billy Tauzin (since retired) denounced the bill as “an assault on the culture of South Louisiana.” He was right.
(from wsj, a real newspaper, sept 7, 2005)
nice 2002 article the local’s must have missed amidst drinking and partying..
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/?/washingaway/
prr,
Speaking of shameful, Don’t you feel remorse for telling a Vietnam vet he is a baby killer?
Isn’t an apology in order for that little outburst, or is a habitual thing with you?
TacomaAroma @ 70
‘Stay focused. Keep repeating…’, ‘…LA did what it was supposed to do. FEMA was no where to be found, Bush was on vacation, and the Guard was stuck in Iraq.’
Explicit talking points. How boring.
righton @ 67
Distribution of FEMA funds is a separate issue from the role for which FEMA was created. The fact that you don’t like how your tax money is being spent by FEMA (to wealthy mississippians) isn’t an argument that FEMA shouldn’t exist–again, your state’s rights slant completely misses the point.
It *is* outrageous that people should get compensated, on practically an annual basis, to rebuild their homes in an unsafe area where it’s essentially guaranteed that the property’s going to get destroyed by nature–so let’s get affordable housing built for these folks in safe areas. It’s in the government’s interest to do this, and there are plenty of ways to approach the problem, just as has been done in the past. Create incentives for the market to tackle the problem and get it addressed for the longterm, rather than rebuilding shacks and hovels, year after year.
Anyway, my original point was that your argument was a non-sequitur (i.e., it sucked).
Wow. A Brown-out and a Black-out on the same day!
I’ll ask one more time:
“Has the United States Government prepared for eventual disasters we know are certain to come at any time in this post 9/11 world?
Yes or No?”
Obviously not. Apparently, gutting FEMA, FEMA grants to states, the Army Corps of Engineers, sending the national guard to Iraq, and taking long vacations while Al Queda invades or while whole cities drown somehow doesn’t make us safer. Oh, well — in the era of “nothing’s more important than state’s rights and tax cuts” I guess each state will just have to protect themselves from earthquakes, floods, fires, famines, dust bowls, bombs, nukes, and everything else while those in the states lucky enough not to get hit can just watch them rot and turn medeival and desperate as we finish our dinner plates, count our tax rebates, and prepare for another nice weekend of golf! Yay! After all, it’s how Jesus would want it.
mongo
Cool, 2 insults in an hour. Naw, I’d say give me a federal agency for wartime stuff, since that indeed is only a fed job, but then I’m old school enough to say let my state, with help from other states, take on the jobs of natural disasters.
Of course socialism demands a federal government to be all, do all. No doubt you all would not understand a Jeffersonian limited federal gov’t model.
Vance, put down the weed, you make no sense
“That is an OPINION PIECE, not an article, and it relies on the OPINION of one “left” wing blogger, with no apparent qualifications and known psychiatric and intelligence problems”.
Exactly where GBS, JDB, DJ, Donna, FireOne and now Tacoma get their “so-called” facts and news. (HeHeHe.. Kinda sounds like roll call at the alternative=special education classes in High School doesn’t it where they hand out Ritalin like candy)
righton @83
What’s the insult? Telling you your argument sucked? It did suck; I didn’t say *you* suck…
The problem with your state-specific approach to disaster relief is the relative disparity in financial resources amongh available individual states; i.e., there is no way a state like Mississippi is going to generate enough tax revenue from activity in its borders to be able to deal with a massive disaster such as Katrina. Your comment “my state, with help from other states” is effectively what an organization like FEMA is supposed to accomplish: an organization taking advantage of economies of scale with federal tax funds, and with access to other federal resources if needed (including military).
The point is that what happened to N.O. was the result of pathology at FEMA, specifically inept management appointed because of political affiliation and connection rather than specific competencies.
Goldy, how many New Orleans homeless post here? Is there an “affirmation action” program to help blacks who may not be represented on this board? If not, why not? You must hate blacks.
T”he point is that what happened to N.O. was the result of pathology at FEMA, specifically inept management appointed because of political affiliation and connection rather than specific competencies”.
Mongo you couldn’t be more wrong if you tried. I suggest you study some constitutional law, then perhaps you’ll have some “basic” understanding of what went wrong in NO
wrongo mongo
Missisisppi can’t afford fancy cars, harvard educated elementary teachers, nor also expensive helicopters for disaster relief. Should we subsidize all 3?
YOu are talking subsidies, maybe its worth it, but its still a transfer of wealth.
Why not have them contribute to a fund, special tax only they pay, since they are the ones living in the known hurricane path. Similarly if I build on the slopes of Mt Rainier, i pay one too.
righton @ 88
when did this become the Loosely Federated, Not-Concerned-if-it’s-Not-Us States of America? How many states are not prone to floods, mudslides, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, or tornadoes?
Your perspective entirely defeats the entire reason we are a tightly connected nation–because we gather our strength from our unity and sense of shared purpose.
and I see no one’s come up with any specific reasons to have the mayor and governor resign, either.
Torrid; SF rebuilt nicely about 100 years ago, without FEMA. Add Key West, Galveston, blah blah blah.
Yeah, I know, our model is Canada with strong federal govt
And we lost about New Deal time…
“rebuilt nicely?” According to whom or what standard? Are you suggesting that it would be OK if New Orleans rebuilt at 1906 or 1927’s pace? What kind of absurd reasoning is that?
why not? Or do you prefer the $240,000 per family we’ll plow back there, to supposedly speed things up.
Tell me, what’s the long term plan for this city that is 20 feet underwater? Retreat to the above sea level parts (fr quarter)?
Power Returns To Some Parts Of L.A. Area
Outages Extend From San Fernando Valley To Downtown
We need a federal agency to deal with this.
righton @ 93
how about build the protection properly? Ask the Dutch.
Torrid; any day. Trouble is when the dutch spend to protect themselves, the Latvians are paying for it.
If New Orleans wants to tax themselves to somehow protect themselves, let them do it. Or as Lousisana.
You’ve never served in the military have you? You really don’t understand the chain of command do you?
You don’t have a clue that when a Captian takes command of a Naval ship he’s betting his entire career that some wing nut with a 6th grade education doesn’t fuck up on his watch.
You moron.
I have served in the military, and I can tell you that there is no chain of command from local responders and the Louisiana National Guard to the president. The Commander-in-Chief of the Louisiana National Guard is the governor of Louisiana. But thanks for pointing it out that she should be taking responsibility.
oops; meant to say, Latvians are not paying for it (meaning of course for the Dutch (not the entire country mind you), its a big hairy deal. For the US, protecting against floods is only a small part of the country.
Michael @ 97
Let’s say today is your first day of boot camp, and the DI screams who’s the Commander-in-Chief? Would you say the Governor of Louisiana?
There is a link between every federal employee and the president of the US. Especially, at the management levels of cabinet positions and in particular the armed forces be they active military, reserves or the national guard.
But you’re totally missing the point, you dolt.
nice crowd ya’ll run with
Lavish tastes of card-carrying lowlifes
Profiteering ghouls have been using debit cards distributed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina – intended to buy essentials for evacuated families – in luxury-goods stores as far away as Atlanta.
“We’ve seen three of the cards,” said a senior employee of the Louis Vuitton store at the Lenox Square Mall in affluent Buckhead, who asked not to be named. “Two I’m certain have purchased; one actually asked if she could use it in the store. This has been since Saturday.”
The distinctive white cards were distributed by the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and carry a value of up to $2,000.
@ 97
If the president isn’t the CiC of the National Guard then what the fuck are they doing in Iraq?
God Damn it, you’re totally stupid!
Furthermore, when a governor signs the letter asking for federal assistance they assign power over to the president, including the state’s National Guard.
I’ll say it again: God Damn it, you’re stupid!
Portions of the National Guard can be federalized in some special cases. For example
b. Federalizing the National Guard.
(1.) Pursuant to a request from the legislature or governor of a State, the President may call the National Guard into Federal service under 10 USC 331 to suppress an insurrection against the State government.
(2.) The President may also call the National Guard into Federal service under 10 USC 332 without a request from a State, if he considers it necessary to enforce the laws of the United States or to suppress rebellion.
(3.) The difference between a “call into Federal service” and an “order to active duty” is that under a call into Federal service the National Guard retains its organizational integrity as militia while under an order to active duty the National Guard will function in its dual status as reserve components of the Army and the Air Force known as the Army National Guard of the United States (ARNGUS) and the Air National Guard of the United States (ANGUS) respectively.
http://www.senate.gov/~y2k/hea....._guard.htm
As for National Guard troops serving in Iraq, Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise and support armies. Arver v. US (1918) held that this also applies to supplementing the regular army with National Guard troops.
However, The Governor, by virtue of his office, is the Commander-in-Chief of the Louisiana Army and Air National Guard.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/.....rng-la.htm
Ten posts..None throught the filter. Classic “MSM” Goldy!!
You might want to look up exactly what the decision in Arver vs US says. It’s commonly held to uphold the Selective Service Act of 1916, congress can draft members of the National Guard. ie, you are saying that the government is currently drafting people.
Per the constitution even under that decision, National Guard troops can not under any circumstance be sent over seas unless they are drafted into the military.
Hey righton, since youve been appealing to the states rights portion of the constitution lately (and you may be right about that, I am still mulling over your commments) what do you think of the government illegally sending national guard troops to Iraq?
There was no constitutional argument in the excerpt of my post that you included in your post. You’ll have to explain your point and how the constitution relates to poor management practices at FEMA.
righton @88
You imply that, as a non-mississippian, you feel no obligation to do anything to help people in that (or other, by extenstion) states in the event of a natural (or other) disaster, and that you expect people in a hard-hit state to deal with their problems themselves. This isn’t about subsidies, it’s about disaster recovery.
The fact that FEMA exists acknowledges that there is a federal interest in providing a mechanism for federal response in the event of disasters of a size that overwhelm local resources. That is what happened in N.O. However, FEMA was not prepared to deal with what was an anticipated problem and its poor planning resulted in more deaths than should have occurred.
The issue isn’t whether or not there should be a FEMA; it already exists, and you and I have been paying for it. What I want to know is, what the hell has all the money been used for if all it can do is perform the way it demonstrated at N.O.? And FEMA has been a cornerstone in the Homeland Security strategy since 9/11; I’d hate to see how Drownie would have reacted to a nuclear attack.
Your comments would also indicate that you take a dim view on “transfer of wealth.” I got news for you, that’s what all taxation is; it’s fine if you don’t like taxes, let’s Starve The Beast, eventually every state will be fending for itself. Why have a federal govt. at all?
105
Federal government was originally intended for primarily national defense and a couple other duties that the States couldn’t support (i.e. postal service, federal roads, interstate commerce and protecting and enforcement of federal laws) It was never intended for education, welfare, social engineering, disaster relief and foreign aid. The sooner we shrink the better. Just don’t shrink the military.
Rufus, no, there is no federal roads there. Don’t start slipping in your own pet programs. The federal road system is not what they ment by postal roads.
You want to eliminate the things that the constitution does not allow, fine. I mostly agree, but don’t say I don’t want some of it but leave my own pet projects alone. No federal roads. No FDA (buncha crooks, and a particulary evil and illegal organization) or FCC (retarded pointless power base). In addition, get rid of the illegal monopolies, particularly the bar association and the AMA.
Given article 4 section 4, and the fact that there normally is rioting and/or looting in a natural disaster, I think disaster relief may be required (each state is guaranteed protection from domestic violence).
Federal grants to cities; what’s up with that? (duh, cuz cities cannot go in debt, feds can, so libs can spend more)
Mondo; righto I”m opposed to transfer of wealth. I think its full manifestation is called communisism, which as we know leads to poverty.
110….Exactly. Democrats cannot survive without “wealth redistribution”. Kind of like a tick or flea sucking blood from a host. And Democrats are communists!
GBS: Sorry buddy you are wrong in post 101. The president asked her to sign over her troops like Alabama and Mississippi did but she refused. The law says the the Govnur must personally sign over the troops to the Fed Guvmint. I think you better review the law again because even the MSM admitted she didn’t sign over the troops. Are you dring the JustDumbBozo juice this evening?
May I first present the Houston Chronicle link: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ss.....on/3339965
“Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco has refused to sign over National Guard control to the federal government and has turned to a Clinton administration official, former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief James Lee Witt, to help run relief efforts. ”
If needed GBS, I’ll flash more links regarding this altruism for your reading pleasure.
Sincerely and NUFF SAID,
Puddybud
Damn, I meant “Are you drinking…” Arrgh!
But wait, JustDumbBozo again responds: http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....rrer=email.
Tired of the same postings by lefty liberals? Welcome to the Bile of Seattle, HorsesAss They have no new ideas, hate GWBush and can’t get past their hatred to send more money to Katrina victims. You know righties, our family overspent our September budget to send money to Katrina victims. I had to turn down a request to fight Headlice Lucite’s (you all know Lucite: “screw them all in the ass”) favorite organization NAMBLA – you know the lefties who love little boys!! North American Man Boy Lefty oops… Love Association. Yes, I mean love little boys!!! “NAMBLA’s goal is to end the oppression of men and boys who have mutually consensual
relationships.” – From their web site. I had to tell the caller I was overtapped due to Katrina. My younger son listened to the call on speaker phone and said “ewww”. Yes, son there are those in the world. But you know what? Next month a big check is going to support dem anti-NAMBLA peeples!!!
Bill, speaking of roads, Patty Murray says Osama builds good roads! http://www.answers.com/topic/patty-murray.
She was talking about impressing the people of a region that he (Osama) was on thir side even though he had a larger political agenda. If you were not a right wing moron, this would be obvious!!
Lucite, you can spin it all you want. It’s obvious U B Stoopid! I just referenced her words on roads for Bill without any commentary. Trap baited, prey caught!
NUFF SAID, Lucite has no head.
Righton, Puddybud, RUFAS, JCH, may I ask how, with the ReThugs in control of Congress for the last 11 years, you can ignore the out and out hypocrisy of a party that screams murder about alleged tax and spend Liberals while continuing the policy of tax cut and spend conservatives.
The Federal deficit is in the trillions. Boy George is all set to spend 54 billion dollars of corporate welfare for his buddies at Halliburton with no or limited bid
contracts to rebuild New Orleans (but you can damn well believe the 9th Ward won’t be included). And your Republican Party claims to be the one of fiscal responsibility? These pricks spend money like a
drunken sailor.
When liberals or progressives spend money, it is not to enrich the corporations. It is to help the less fortunate, rebuild and maintain the infrastructure (streets, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals) and maintain a defense. It is not
corporate welfare for big bidness or transfer of tax money from the poorest of the country to the 1/100th (the 1/100th of one percent of the richest people in the country, about 29,000). It is not special dispensation to business pukes that were stupid enough to lend money to people who were poor credit risks and now want the Government to bail them out.
If Bushes corporate buddies were forced to quit sucking on the tit of government dollars, they would starve in a week. Let the Markets rule my ass. They know as much about running a real business as George Bush.
Commander Ogg, speaking as an ex-drunken sailor, I really resent that remark. I may be bad with money, but not that bad.
My apoligies bill. I should say drunken Republicans.
Ogg: You asked with a whole bunch of lefty links (ignored by The Pudster): “Righton, Puddybud, RUFAS, JCH, may I ask how, with the ReThugs in control of Congress for the last 11 years [not totally, you forget about Jumping Jim Jeffords for June6, 2001 until November 12, 2002], you can ignore the out and out hypocrisy of a party that screams murder about alleged tax and spend Liberals while continuing the policy of tax cut and spend conservatives.”
Puddybud responds: Good question Ogg. Lets see, GWB spends more on donk handout programs than Clinton did. See the Federal Register numbers. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html Look at the prescription drug benefit for instance. Over $400 Billion and climbing. But I digress, mwhodges.home.att.net/fed_budget-a.htm.
Ogg: You asked: “The Federal deficit is in the trillions. Boy George is all set to spend 54 billion dollars of corporate welfare for his buddies at Halliburton with no or limited bid
contracts to rebuild New Orleans (but you can damn well believe the 9th Ward won’t be included). And your Republican Party claims to be the one of fiscal responsibility? These pricks spend money like a drunken sailor.”
Puddybud responds: What about the Shaw Group? The Shaw Group, a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate, is headed by Jim Bernhard, the current chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. So if his company gets no-bid contracts you will cry fowl?
Also didn’t your side say this: “In my experience, the culture of New Orleans is sold in the French Quarter, but it’s produced elsewhere in many of the neighborhoods that have been devastated by the storm and flooding. And in order to get the real cultural producers back in the city, I think they need to – we’ll need to feel safe that this won’t happen again, and they’ll also need to have adequate housing, which raises a big issue in my mind, because most people in New Orleans are renters. And most of the people who are poor and African American are renters.”
http://www.democracynow.org/ar.....038;tid=25
So if most poo blacks are renters, it must mean that the evil white Democratic men and women own the homes. Whom controls NO since the 30s? Your side Ogg!!
Ogg: You asked: “When liberals or progressives spend money, it is not to enrich the corporations. It is to help the less fortunate, rebuild and maintain the infrastructure (streets, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals) and maintain a defense. It is not corporate welfare for big bidness or transfer of tax money from the poorest of the country to the 1/100th (the 1/100th of one percent of the richest people in the country, about 29,000). It is not special dispensation to business pukes that were stupid enough to lend money to people who were poor credit risks and now want the Government to bail them out.”
Puddybud responds: Yes your side spends wisely. See: http://www.commondreams.org/he.....203-04.htm
All kidding aside Ogg, I call bullhsit to this screech. Read this: http://www.opinioneditorials.com/ contributors/glandrith_20030925.html – See who pays the taxes. How can you give anything but tax cuts to those whom pay the taxes? More stoopid class warfare.
Ogg: You asked: “If Bushes corporate buddies were forced to quit sucking on the tit of government dollars, they would starve in a week. Let the Markets rule my ass. They know as much about running a real business as George Bush.
Puddybud responds: “So I guess by your reasoning The Shaw group need not apply? They are Bush’s buddies? Let’s see, didn’t Clinton ask Halliburton to help rebuild the Balkans?
http://www.townhall.com/column.....0918.shtml
“The Clinton administration made the same calculation in its own dealings with Halliburton. The company had won the LOGCAP in 1992, then lost it in 1997. The Clinton administration nonetheless awarded a no-bid contract to Halliburton to continue its work in the Balkans supporting the U.S. peacekeeping mission there because it made little sense to change midstream. According to Byron York, Al Gore’s reinventing-government panel even singled out Halliburton for praise for its military logistics work.
So, did Clinton and Gore involve the United States in the Balkans to benefit Halliburton? That charge makes as much sense as the one that Democrats are hurling at Bush now.”
http://www.frontpagemagazine.c.....p?ID=15426
“It is certainly true that during a two year period Halliburton’s revenue from Defense Department contracts doubled. However, that increase in revenue occurred from 1998 to 2000 – during the Clinton administration.
In 1998, Halliburton’s total revenue was $14.5 billion, which included $284 million of Pentagon contracts. Two years later, Halliburton’s DoD contracts more than doubled.”
“When Factcheck.org checked the facts about allegations by Democrats that there was a scandal because of the “no-bid” contracts awarded to Halliburton they stated, “It is false to imply that Bush personally awarded a contract to Halliburton. The ‘no-bid contract’ in question is actually an extension of an earlier contract to support U.S. troops overseas that Halliburton won under open bidding. In fact, the notion that Halliburton benefited from any cronyism has been poo-poohed by a Harvard University professor, Steven Kelman, who was administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Clinton administration. ‘One would be hard-pressed to discover anyone with a working knowledge of how federal contracts are awarded…who doesn’t regard these allegations as being somewhere between highly improbable and utterly absurd,’ Kelman wrote in the Washington Post last November.” (Emphasis added.)”
Even Slate doesn’t think so: slate.msn.com/id/2090636 or look at this: mysite.verizon.net/vze1tvxm/thepoliticalarena/The%20Truth%20About%20Halliburton.htm
Do I need to provide more prrof to your fallacies?
Cmdr Ogg: When Goldy releases my response, I look forward to yours. Pudster
Puddybud: I didn’t mean to draw you out of retirement. Go away. You’re not wanted.
Lucite – Shut up. You make more sense when you do!
re 2: I thought I’d never say it , but : DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!