Bush put FEMA on the backburner
17 replies
·
2527 views
·
Started by cafe-aulait
·
Sep 2005
| CHRONOLOGY....Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of
| both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under
| the Bush administration. Read it and weep:
|
| o January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony
| from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous
| experience in disaster management.
|
| o April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces
| the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of
| FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be
| downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster
| assistance may have evolved into both an oversized
| entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the
| federal government should be involved and the degree of
| involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an
| appropriate level."
|
| o 2001: FEMA designates a major **** hitting New
| Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic
| disasters facing this country."
|
| o December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA,
| Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting
| firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq.
| He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like
| Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.
|
| o March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level
| position and folded into the Department of Homeland
| Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of
| ****.
|
| o 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS,
| FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to
| a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will
| henceforth focus only on response and recovery.
|
| o Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster
| mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood
| zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get
| maximum consideration....This is what the grant program
| called for. We were more than qualified for it."
|
| o June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for
| levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson
| Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments:
| "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."
|
| o June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of
| the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2
| million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast
| Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created
| after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson,
| Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.
|
| o August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow
| motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake
| for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers
| an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation.
| When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of
| the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air
| Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the
| Rose Garden.
|
| So: A crony with no relevant experience was installed as
| head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were
| slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three
| risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as
| part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to
| reduce the role of government. After DHS was created,
| FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away.
|
| Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a
| **** the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the
| slow federal response when it did happen was no accident.
| It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican
| policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan
| loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the
| Bush administration in a nutshell.
|
#1
Reply
Wow, it amazes me how the government would want the people give their all to support it, then the government turn around and give mnimal support to its people.
#2
Reply
MissNeeNee wrote:Wow this Sh*t is crazy.....G Dub is an idoit. With all the information presented in front of him he slashes funding??? :x
