Yes, a link to a liberal website sure helps me on the facts
Yes LOCAL government, but what about state government?
It's ridiculous. CNN had a poll in which only 13 percent of people thought Bush was to blame for problems in the aftermath of Katrina. Doesn't that kinda tell you something?
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"Jesus also thought that non-believers should be stoned"------Alliance
Liberal website, yes, but every single thing there is from a reputable source, with said source cited. Not something that can be said of 90% of things posted.
And the governer declared a state of emergency Saturday before the hurricane hit; she asked it to be declared a federal state of emergency the next day and it was done, with authorization given for FEMA to move in as soon as possible. I wouldn't say that's doing nothing.
Gender: Male Location: between apathy and indifference
So long as those events are documented facts it shouldn't matter where they come from. Often times I don't like when people use liberal/conservative or conspiracy sites as proof because they sometimes are showing you sqewed information. However, occasionally these sites do hold merit. Especially if all they are giving is a timeline that you can easily research.
That a few too many people had the spare time and lack of life to take part in a CNN Poll. CNN Polls are hardly scientific.
__________________ "I made a typo bif deal" - JacopeX
xmarksthespot...yes. I am talking local and state. New Orleans mayor, and Louisiana Governor.
Usually local and state governments can take care of things themselves if they are actually ready. Florida hurricanes anyone? And who led the response? Jeb Bush. And did things turn out farely well? Yes.
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"Jesus also thought that non-believers should be stoned"------Alliance
Repost from the other thread:
As Lana mentioned the State declared a state of emergency was declared. It appears FEMA was free to act after this or even before this under the provisions of the NRP established for such disasters.
"The National Response Plan (NRP) establishes policies, procedures, and mechanisms for proactive Federal response to catastrophic events. A catastrophic event is any natural or manmade incident, including terrorism, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions. A catastrophic event could result in sustained national impacts over a prolonged period of time; almost immediately exceeds resources normally available to State, local, tribal, and private-sector authorities in the impacted area; and significantly interrupts governmental operations and emergency services to such an extent that national security could be threatened. All catastrophic events are Incidents of National Significance."
"Implementation of Proactive Federal Response Protocols
Protocols for proactive Federal response are most likely to be implemented for catastrophic events involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive weapons of mass destruction, or large magnitude earthquakes or other natural or technological disasters in or near heavily populated areas.
Guiding Principles for Proactive Federal Response
Guiding principles for proactive Federal response include the following:
■ The primary mission is to save lives; protect critical infrastructure, property, and the environment; contain the event; and preserve national security.
■ Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance may be expedited or, under extreme circumstances, suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of
catastrophic magnitude.
■ Identified Federal response resources will deploy and begin necessary operations as required to commence life-safety activities.
■ Notification and full coordination with States will occur, but the coordination process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical resources. States are urged to notify and coordinate with local governments regarding a proactive Federal response.
■ State and local governments are encouraged to conduct collaborative planning with the Federal Government as a part of "steady-state" preparedness for catastrophic incidents."
No, FEMA hasn't done a damn thing. And they were cleared before the hurricane hit to respond and take over because the governer of Louisiana knew that chances were that they wouldn't be able to handle the devestation on their own. In the Katrina thread I posted a link to a first-hand account of someone who lives just outside of New Orleans -- she said that FEMA didn't show up until Friday and the aid they brought only lasted a day. WAL-MART was there helping out before federal aid, which was authorized to help immediately, showed up.
That's kinda sad, you think? Yes, Blanco definitely dropped the ball on this....but at least she called for help before the storm hit because she realized what a disaster it'd be. FEMA took DAYS to show up when they should have been there in hours.
That's exactly it, though -- they didn't do what they're supposed to do. Not what they can do, but what they're supposed to do. They didn't do their job.
I think it's dangerous to attack FEMA as an organizatio, when it was a very good agency under Clinton. It was the bungling of Hurricane Andrew's relief (under George Herbert Walker Bush) that caused the reshuffling of FEMA. Under Clinton it was a very, very good agency.
Then when George W Bush folded FEMA into a small part of the Department of Homeland Security and promoted a highly, highly unqualified man to lead it, it was just at ime bomb waiting for a disaster to mismange. Unfortunately for the residents of Lousiana and Mississippi, it was Katrina.
Though Liebermann (a democrat) did f up when he lobbed softball questions at michael brown during his confirmation hearings.
this doesn't have much to do with what we are discussing, but it is all offtopic anyways...but check out keith olbermann's take on the relief effort. Even though it happened on September 5, it is still relevant four days later
Also (repost from other thread):
Federal funding cuts preceding Hurricane Katrina:
"October 13, 2001: The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that "federal officials are postponing new projects of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Control Program, or SELA, fearing that federal budget constraints and the cost of the war on terrorism may create a financial pinch for the program." The paper went on to report that "President Bush’s budget proposed $52 million" for SELA in the 2002 fiscal year. The House approved $57 million and the Senate approved $62 million. Still, "the $62 million would be well below the $80 million that corps officials estimate is needed to pay for the next 12 months of construction, as well as design expenses for future projects."
April 24, 2004: The Times-Picayune reported that "less money is available to the Army Corps of Engineers to build levees and water projects in the Mississippi River valley this year and next year." Meanwhile, an engineer who had direct the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Restoration Study – a study of how to restore coastal wetlands areas in order to provide a bugger from hurricane storm surges – was sent to Iraq "to oversee the restoration of the ‘Garden of Eden’ wetlands at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers," for which President Bush’s 2005 gave $100 million.
June 8, 2004: Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, told the Times-Picayune:
Walter Maestri: It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq , and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.
September 22, 2004: The Times-Picayune reported that a pilot study on raising the height of the levees surrounding New Orleans had been completed and generated enough information for a second study necessary to estimate the cost of doing so. The Bush administration "ordered the New Orleans district office" of the Army Corps of Engineers "not to begin any new studies, and the 2005 budget no longer includes the needed money."
June 6, 2005: The New Orleans CityBusiness newspaper reported that the New Orleans district of the Corps was preparing for a $71.2 million reduction in overall funding for the fiscal year beginning in October. That would have been the largest single-year funding loss ever. They noted that money "was so tight" that "the New Orleans district, which employs 1,300 people, instituted a hiring freeze last month on all positions," which was "the first of its kind in about 10 years."
Somehow someway the idiot(all) democrats/liberals would blame Bush for lack or relief, relief not fast enough or something stupid. It is just there nature.
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Sep 9th, 2005 03:55 PM
