Just sent to my political address book . . .

[flamin lib]

A tale of three disasters: Florida, The Gulf Coast and FEMA. Copeid and pasted from several sources for your entertainment.

Louisiana vs Florida
Between August and September of 2004, four hurricanes -- Jeanne, Charley, Frances, and Ivan -- belted the Florida coast. At the time President Bush was engaged in a close campaign with Florida to be a key battleground state that would swing the election. The Bush administration's response to the four hurricanes was quick and generous; the outpouring of aid was so generous millions of the $12.8 billion dollars were disbursed without oversight including $8 million given out to people for temporary housing even though they hadn't asked for it. By comparison, prior to yesterday's supplemental request for additional hurricane relief due to Katrina, Bush initially asked for $10.5 billion for the most damaging hurricane in history, four days after Katrina made landfall. Across the board, the comparisons between the administration's actions in the aftermath of the 2004 Florida hurricanes and the recent Katrina catastrophe indicate an uneven response.

Timing is everything
The St. Petersburg Times noted in August 2004 that Bush approved federal assistance for Hurricane Charley about an hour after the hurricane made landfall. Four days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast the White House was still making an assessment of what additional funding may be needed and could not even offer a ballpark estimate for its initial request. Within hours of Charley making landfall rescue teams and National Guard troops were on the move to the hardest-hit counties; 11 truckloads of water and 14 truckloads of ice were immediately available. One former Florida director of emergency services remarked, "It amazed me how they got over 4,000 National Guard troops in there that quick." It was five days before any if this happened after Katrina.

As Hurricane Frances followed Charley, FEMA sent out a press release noting that it had pre-positioned disaster response personnel, equipment and supplies to help those who are displaced or suffer losses. Indeed, millions of dollars were directed to Miami Dade county even though the hurricane went ashore far north of that voting district. FEMA made the same preparations for Hurricane Ivan after that. The response to Katrina, however, has left the American public, the media and members of Congress questioning why those same actions weren't taken in the Gulf Coast as quickly as they should have been.

Me, Me, Me! Uh, no, it’s Them, Them, Them
The White House sought to take credit for the federal response to the Florida hurricanes. The White House put out a fact sheet extolling presidential action in response to the Florida hurricanes. In response to Katrina, White House officials have blamed state and local officials. FEMA Director Mike Brown gave a commencement address at the Florida Institute of Technology in December 2004, in which he dedicated a large opening section to applauding the work of FEMA in meeting the needs of Floridians. By contrast, Brown waited five hours after Katrina hit to even contact Secretary Chertoff.

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know
The Chicago Tribune noted yesterday that top-level FEMA officials have little or no experience in disaster management, but they do have strong political connections to Bush. Those connections seemed to help Florida in 2004, and it may explain why Louisiana was not treated similarly. The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel revealed official records that suggested Bush's re-election concerns played a part in FEMA aid. Two weeks later a Florida official wrote that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was handing out housing assistance to everyone without asking for much information of any kind.

Don’t get mad, get even
Today, Congress will consider a $52 billion supplemental spending bill for the victims of Hurricane Katrina -- money that is desperately needed to help rebuild cities and lives. The Boston Globe reports that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) are angling to give Mississippi first dibs in the post-Hurricane Katrina grab for federal disaster funds. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) wrote a letter urging Speaker Dennis Hastert to refrain from directly appropriating any funds from the public treasury to either the state of Louisiana or the city of New Orleans.

It’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity
The House of Representatives at the urging of the conservative leadership voted to limit floor consideration of the Federal response to Hurricane Katrina to just forty minutes. According to Rep. Louis Slaughter (D-NY) no one had yet seen a copy of the legislation. Slaughter said this lack of accountability ensured that our disaster response was a bigger disaster than the hurricane itself. Yet here they go again completely unfazed in their determination to eliminate debate, consideration and accountability from the Congress and the Federal government. They don’t want to govern, they want to rule.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry has urged Texans to contribute to three groups: the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the OneStar Foundation. Sounds admirable, except for one detail: the OneStar Foundation isn't doing any relief work in the Gulf states. It's a volunteer organization set up by Perry and run by Susan Weddington, a close political ally of Perry who left her political position to run the organization. Perry's promotion of the group has prompted some to question whether the governor is trying to benefit politically from the outpouring of sympathy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) said yesterday that conservative leaders plan to use the post-Katrina gas price woes to push through a sweeping new energy bill. The legislation will likely include provisions for millions more in subsidies to profit-flushed energy firms, provisions that were jettisoned from the earlier energy legislation passed before Congress left for the August recess.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) recommended drilling in Alaska and in coastal states where offshore drilling currently is banned.

Yesterday a watchdog group released internal oil company memos showing how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits.

Gilligan is gone but we still have Bush
In response to Nancy Pelosi (D California) asking about the dismissal of Michael Brown, director of FEMA, President Bush said, “Why would I do that?”

Indeed, why would President Bush do anything?