Do you think the Federal relief effort is being mismanaged?

[Jeff Lawson]

Originally posted by rdale

Why does this keep coming up? What has he NOT done that he was asked to do? Remember - the President is not an EM expert. That's why FEMA & DHS exist. If they need the President to do something, they go to him and say \"sign this\" and he does.

He's not some lowly county commissioner. He's the President of the United States. I would think the lack of any organized federal response to this disaster would be of some interest to the President of the United States. Instead, all we've gotten from him is a, "Gee, that's too bad. Well, help is on the way." Well, where is that help, Mr. President? As far as I'm concerned, he shoulders as much responsibility for the lack of response as FEMA and DHS. Why? Because what we need right now is for someone to take charge of the situation and make things happen. Who better to fill that role? The President of the United States.

No more excuses. People are dying, for crying out loud!

 

[rdale]

"Because what we need right now is for someone to take charge of the situation and make things happen."

I understand, however I don't think you understand that EM is a local operation. Federal support is requested, but in the end it is up to the mayor and his EM (note Guliana ALWAYS gave credit to NYC's EMA) to coordinate the plan. The Fed's just offer the resources...

 

[Amos Magliocco]

This is the sort of patently absurd thinking that is allowing people to die in scores tonight.

This is the most epic humanitarian crisis in the history of the United States. Do you think the old rules apply here? Does it look to you like the New Orleans City Government is in any shape to coordinate this effort?

Yeah, normally that how it works. Does anything about this look normal to you?

This is a crisis that only the resources of the federal government can control. It ought to be under the command of a four star general---the Northern Command Chief would be a good choice, and everybody should be working for him.

Originally posted by rdale
\"Because what we need right now is for someone to take charge of the situation and make things happen.\"

I understand, however I don't think you understand that EM is a local operation. Federal support is requested, but in the end it is up to the mayor and his EM (note Guliana ALWAYS gave credit to NYC's EMA) to coordinate the plan. The Fed's just offer the resources...

 

[rdale]

"This is the sort of patently absurd thinking that is allowing people to die in scores tonight. "

I'd venture to say most people that die did not evacuate when they were told to. I suppose somehow that's the President's fault too...

I've yet to hear EXACTLY what GB should be doing that he isn't.

 

[John Farley]

Originally posted by rdale
\"This is the sort of patently absurd thinking that is allowing people to die in scores tonight. \"

I'd venture to say most people that die did not evacuate when they were told to. I suppose somehow that's the President's fault too...

I've yet to hear EXACTLY what GB should be doing that he isn't.

Mobilize sufficient military resources to deal with the crisis before all the unnecessary deaths that undoubtedly occurred today. Order an air-drop or other delivery of food to the people at the Convention Center today. After all, the mayor DID say the crisis was beyond the ability of the city and made a "desperate SOS" to the federal government for help.

Oh, and next time, don't cut flood control funding in New Orleans to fund a war halfway around the world. That's just a few things; I am sure I could think of more.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

I'm not sure he can do much more NOW, but it's what has already happened that peeves me... Just as ONE example:

In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness.

On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: \"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.\"

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/ne...t_id=1001051313

I can't state my opinion more without going too far into a political discussion. All I'll say is what I've said before -- government money is finite. The countless billions we spend overseas HAS to come from somewhere (well, unless record budgets are okay, but that's another point that's too political for ST)... Spending 1/2 trillion dollars on a large military operation overseas means less funding for projects back home. So does the countless billions being spent to give rural towns hazmat units under the notion of "terrorism response", things that a town will probably never, ever, ever use. There's a difference between preparation and taking money from noteworthy projects and using it for events of miniscule probability.

 

[B Doss]

I'd venture to say most people that die did not evacuate when they were told to. I suppose somehow that's the President's fault too...

Once again, they couldn't. You've seen the sick, and you've seen the elderly. Those who look able-bodied are generally at the bottom of the socioeconomic barrel. They depend on those govermental paychecks that come the first week of every month. A late check spells crisis for them, a hurricane does not. It was impossible for them to evacuate. Regardless, they remain there, waiting. I have never seen such a backlash at the victims, I don't recall any complaining about the resources and aid exhausted on any previous hurricane victims who stayed in the path.

 

[rdale]

"don't cut flood control funding in New Orleans"

I'm sure you aware Clinton was the first to do that... And I'm going to wager a bet that most of the country is not interested in paying for New Orleans to get better flood control - nothing stopped them from using their own tax money to do so.

 

[Jeff Snyder]

Originally posted by rdale
\"don't cut flood control funding in New Orleans\"

I'm sure you aware Clinton was the first to do that... And I'm going to wager a bet that most of the country is not interested in paying for New Orleans to get better flood control - nothing stopped them from using their own tax money to do so.

"And I'm going to wager a bet that most of the country is not interested in paying for" small towns to get terrorist response labs, etc. Again, I think we need to discuss probabilities. We KNEW NO was a sitting duck, below sea-level and in a hurricane-prone location. The Dept of Homeland Security and Dept of Defense have enormously massive budgets under the name/paranoia of "terrorism", and I'm sure NO would have liked to see 0.00001% of that money to renovate the levees. Heck, you brought this up in another post of your own.

The odd thing about this funding issue is that this disaster will likely exceed any terrorism event we've ever had in this country. So, while billions upon billions go to terrorism prevention and response efforts on the homeland, we neglect things that are more probable and will likely end up costing more than many terrorism scenarios for which we are spending billions and billions of dollars.

 

[Jeff Lawson]

Originally posted by rdale+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rdale)</div>

I'd venture to say most people that die did not evacuate when they were told to. I suppose somehow that's the President's fault too...[/b]

So that's it. These people deserved to die. The President bears no responsibility. That's your argument?

It's a pretty goddamn pitiful excuse of an argument, if you ask me.

<!--QuoteBegin-rdale

I've yet to hear EXACTLY what GB should be doing that he isn't.

Take charge. Tell FEMA and DHS to get their act together. Push for more military resources. Reassure the public. You know, be a leader. Last time I checked, that's his job.

 

[John Farley]

Originally posted by rdale
\"don't cut flood control funding in New Orleans\"

I'm sure you aware Clinton was the first to do that... And I'm going to wager a bet that most of the country is not interested in paying for New Orleans to get better flood control - nothing stopped them from using their own tax money to do so.

We'll all be spending a lot more of our tax money on New Orleans now. My response was to a question about what Bush could have done, not Clinton. But if the shoe fits Clinton, then he should wear it to.

For those (apparently few, judging from the poll) of you who think the feds are doing just fine, you might want look at the material below, quoted from the nola.com (Times-Picayune) web site this evening. Very sad. Like the Convention Center, a place where a mere air-drop of food and water could have saved lives. The comments below about FEMA are the Congressman's.

Originally posted by NOLA.com

100 said dead in Chalmette

Thursday, 9:46 p.m.

About 100 people have died at the Chalmette Slip after
being pulled off their rooftops, waiting to be ferried
up the river to the West Bank and bused out of the
flood ravaged area, U.S. Rep. Charles Melancon,
D-Napoleonville, said Thursday.

About 1,500 people were at the slip on Thursday
afternoon, where critical supplies like food and water
are scarce, he said. Melancon expressed serious
frustration with the slow pace of getting these items
to the people waiting to finish their journey to
safety.

Many of those at the slip were evacuated from a shelter set up at Chalmette High School that suffered massive flooding as the waters rose during Hurricane Katrina.

Melancon said people are being plucked out of their water-surrounded
houses, but the effort to get them out of Chalmette
and provide them with sufficient sustenance is the
problem.

While he did not directly criticize the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, Melancon said they are
ultimately responsible for making sure that people are
taken care of. “That is where the buck stops,â€￾ said
Melancon at a briefing at the state Office of
Emergency Preparedness.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Originally posted by Jeff Lawson

Take charge. Tell FEMA and DHS to get their act together. Push for more military resources. Reassure the public. You know, be a leader. Last time I checked, that's his job.

To be honest, I was even more frightened today when I saw the president's statement. He looked like a deer into the headlights to me. You know he's lost when he begins using the words "hard work" over and over again. Yesterday in the Rose Garden, he was so unfamiliar with his statement that he misread words on the script. Ugh. Normally his circle of advisors help him to not come off sounding uninspirational and weak, but it seems that with this crisis (as in the first debate), not even his advisors can help him.

 

[Alex Lamers]

Originally posted by Jeff Lawson

You know he's lost when he begins using the words \"hard work\" over and over again.

Like when he was talking about the war in Iraq before the election. They parodied that a lot on SNL...that's how I remember that precise phrase.

...Alex Lamers...

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

Yesterday in the Rose Garden, he was so unfamiliar with his statement that he misread words on the script. Ugh.

To be quite honest, what bugged me most about that whole deal was he had a script to read to begin with. Instead of saying we're doing this and we're doing that, followed by that quirking smirk/smile/whatever he always has, it would have been better to hear anything that sounded more concerned and heartfelt. I didn't get either impression by the reading of that script. A robot up there would have done as much for me.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Originally posted by Kevin Bowman+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kevin Bowman)</div>

Originally posted by John Farley+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John Farley)

<!--QuoteBegin-Kevin Bowman

@
<!--QuoteBegin-John Farley

I am utterly amazed at the very limited use of U.S. military resources. Sending ships that will arrive next week does nothing for the thousands stranded and in danger of dying. Air drops of food and water are needed immediately, and nobody but the U.S. military has the resources to move large numbers of people in a short time as needed for this disaster. There seems to have been no plan to do this, and when yesterday was allowed to pass with no such action undertaken, the fates of many who are trapped was, I fear, sealed. This is a national disgrace.

Yes, it is a very spread-out large-scale disaster, on an unprecedented scale, but there have been 15,000 people in need of food and water at the convention center and even this large, concentrated mass of people had received no assistance as of the last report I heard.

yep airdrop food and water into the middle of looters and watch people get killed by the stampede. You really think the people who need the help the most get it by air drops?

Yes, if you also parachute in some troops for crowd control.[/b]

you are going to need a lot more than some troops, you will need hundreds[/b][/quote]

You don't just drop one bundle of food / water / medicine so that all looters and crazies can home in on it. That's the point....you drop tons of it all over so everyone can easily get to it - troops or not.