Reply #15: & link to transcript of today's Meet the Press w/ additional Clinton bits: [View All]

[Wordie]

He made some other wise and thoughtful comments, again not breathing fire at Bush, but very targeted and effective, imho.

Here's the link to the full transcript, which also includes a segment with Vice Adm. Allen and a round table discussion on

<snip>
the politics of Hurricane Katrina: deficits, Iraq, the Supreme Court, and more. Insights and analysis from Gwen Ifill, moderator of PBS' "Washington Week"; Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post; Judy Woodruff, veteran political reporter; and Byron York of the National Review.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9327333/

From the Clinton interview:
<snip>
MR. RUSSERT: So we should take FEMA out of Homeland Security and make it an independent agency again?

MR. CLINTON: Yeah. We--in my opinion, we should either do that, I have a bias for that because that's the way it worked under me. But if they want to leave it in Homeland Security, they should at least restore its disaster preparedness function, which was diverted, and have a requirement that I think should be in the law that the FEMA director should be qualified by previous experience in disasters. And then when a disaster occurs, he--if it's natural, he or she, the FEMA director, should be in charge of that.

<snip>
MR CLINTON: Now, in terms of the budget deficit--you know what I think. I mean, I think it was always a mistake for people in my income group to get tax cuts. I think before it was terrible. I think that we shouldn't be-- this--Katrina is going to force us to go back and think about three things. What are our obligations to the poor, there, and in America? What is the role of government? And who's going to pay for it?