FEMA
Bush and members of Congress are calling for an inquiry into what went wrong with the relief effort. They need only to look in the mirror to see, who is most responsible for the devastation, which occurred in New Orleans.
In 2004 a New Orleans paper published an article entitled "A Disaster Waiting to Happen" by Jon Elliston. It warned that long before the severe 2004 hurricane season some emergency managers had started sounding the alarm. Bush administration policy changes and budget cuts were sapping FEMA's long-term ability to cushion the blow of hurricanes and other natural disasters.
"Mitigation" programs are measures taken in advance to minimize the damage done by natural disasters and is a crucial part of the strategy to save lives. Since 2001, federal disaster programs developed over many years have been slashed. FEMA's Project Impact, a model mitigation program was canceled. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After the Department of Homeland Security was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three catastrophic disasters facing this country.
The Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans last year. The White House carved it to about $40 million. Nevertheless, Bush and his Republican controlled Congress agreed to a $286.4 Billion pork-filled highway bill which included a $231 million bridge for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.
Also in 2004, Pleasant Mann, a 16 year FEMA veteran, alerted Congress of the agency's decay. He warned; "Over the past 3 1/2 years, FEMA has gone from being a model agency to being one where funds are being misspent, employees morale has fallen, and our nation's emergency management capability is being eroded. Our professional staff are being systematically replaced by politically connected novices and contractors." Cronies with no relevant experience were installed to head FEMA, and ensured the slow federal response. The devastation was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of competence.
In 2004 a New Orleans paper published an article entitled "A Disaster Waiting to Happen" by Jon Elliston. It warned that long before the severe 2004 hurricane season some emergency managers had started sounding the alarm. Bush administration policy changes and budget cuts were sapping FEMA's long-term ability to cushion the blow of hurricanes and other natural disasters.
"Mitigation" programs are measures taken in advance to minimize the damage done by natural disasters and is a crucial part of the strategy to save lives. Since 2001, federal disaster programs developed over many years have been slashed. FEMA's Project Impact, a model mitigation program was canceled. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After the Department of Homeland Security was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three catastrophic disasters facing this country.
The Army Corps of Engineers asked for $105 million for hurricane and flood programs in New Orleans last year. The White House carved it to about $40 million. Nevertheless, Bush and his Republican controlled Congress agreed to a $286.4 Billion pork-filled highway bill which included a $231 million bridge for a small, uninhabited Alaskan island.
Also in 2004, Pleasant Mann, a 16 year FEMA veteran, alerted Congress of the agency's decay. He warned; "Over the past 3 1/2 years, FEMA has gone from being a model agency to being one where funds are being misspent, employees morale has fallen, and our nation's emergency management capability is being eroded. Our professional staff are being systematically replaced by politically connected novices and contractors." Cronies with no relevant experience were installed to head FEMA, and ensured the slow federal response. The devastation was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of competence.
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