Was Hurricane Katrina Proof Possitive That Democrats Can't Run A Government During a Crisis?

Question

In what world is it the federal government's responsibility to be the first responders? The tragedy was clearly mismanaged at the state level, but as usual, the only political person the majority of Americans know is Bush so he gets the blame.

Answer 1

The federal government built the levees. Therefore they should respond when they break. If the state had it's national guard intact then they would have more people to help. Besides Fema was responsible for natural disasters and they blew it. Fema is a federal entity.

Answer 2

Hurricane Katrina caused a disaster that required federal as well as state action. Blame can be handed out to many parties. Bush is an incompetent leader because he doesn't surround himself with professionals but with loyalists. The argument that you are making about the state leadership must also apply to the presidency. The aftermath of Katrina was mismanaged because of lack of foresight (look at the weather channel) and ineptitude on the part of those responsible (The director of FEMA did horse shows prior to this). After making such a big deal about homeland security and safety, to put complete incompetents in such important positions is criminal. The resources of the state and local governments were overwhelmed and the federal government was slow to act.

Answer 3

AMAZING !! Folks here actually believe FEMA is supposed to respond first ?!?!

The key word in FEMA is "Management"... we coordinate the local, state, and federal agencies once the Governor of the STATE involved declares an emergency and requests federal assistance.

The Louisiana Governor didn't request the help until quite late, the New Orleans Mayor didn't order the evacuation (nor use the plan)... and the USA Corps of Engineers were the ones who said to FIX the levees, but Louisiana didn't want to spend the MONEY.

Of course Dems would scream bloody MURDER if any Federal Agency walked in on a STATE law-enforcement issue without the request of the Governor... let's say: school segregation, labor disputes, etc

NOTE... during the recent I-580 collapse (Apr. 29) in California, our Republican Governor was on-site within hours, declared the emergency, got the STATE resources moving, set the contracts, and will have it FIXED within 40 days. NO FEDERAL AID REQUIRED or requested.

Answer 4

I'm with the crowd here. The way it''s set up the State was to handle initially. They dropped the ball. FEMA is short staffed and over worked. Imagine all those who lied like 911 to get money by fraud. Bush set aside alot of money early on for aide. It was mis managed. The weather folks down played the threat b4 Katrina hit. What if and we will just see kind of stuff.
Thank God for the Coast Guard and those first responders who saved hundreds and included animals in the rescues.
I agree, Bush did it. He alone built the levees. Has no one heard of delegating authority? And some days those we chose let US all down. It's the cycle in any business and in politics it's all a blame game. NOsolutions.
Democrat or Republican they all let us down. The guard was not thin back then, I believe that point you made was in error.

Answer 5

In the last 2 major hurricanes to hit this country since 1992 (Andrew and Katrina), it's been proven that REPUBLICANS can't respond fast enough to the needs of the people who are in dire straits.

Just like Greensburg right now is proving--that once again--the federal government is unable to move fast enough in times of an emergency.

Answer 6

Yes indeed. Both Mayor Nagel and Governor Blanco are Democrats. And both were in office DURING and AFTER the hurricane. And New Orleans still hasn't recovered even with the enormous amounts of federal and regional aid pouring in. So, where's the money? Go figure!

Now, imagine an entire country governed by a female Democrat.... Yikes!

pretzeldent_dumya - Got news for ya... the governor declared a state of emergency, the federal government only responded. The federal government typically doesn't declare states of emergencies unless it's a NATIONAL disaster. Check your facts. Dumb libtard.

LittleBarb - Got news for ya too... FEMA was setup as an official agency under the Carter administration in 1979. Oh yes, he too was a DEMOCRAT. Check your facts. Dumb libtard.

Answer 7

FEMA.. National disaster. They should have been there with in two days at the most. It was ran horribly, maybe because the person running FEMA was one of another Bush buddy that had no business being in that position. There are so many things that went wrong with how that was handled by the feds its sickening. It is still a disaster two years later. Maybe because yet again politics played into who was getting paid for jobs not being done. Sound familiar...kinda like Haliburton in Iraq?

Answer 8

So you don't think an agency named "Federal Emergency Management Agency" should shoulder a lot of the responsibility for an emergency, in first response, rescue, and clean-up?

There were errors at every level, but the higher up it went, the worse the errors got.

FEMA was an agency specifically made to handle things like Katrina.

Answer 9

I get riled up everytime this subject comes up because LA has the most incompetent corrupt goverment in the whole USA! Now they've been warned, again that one of thier levies has a crack in it and won't withstand in a major storm!! To prove my point both the Gov. and the Mayor was reelected?? No way did they get that honestly or if they did the citizens of that state have more problems than I give them credit for. BUSH WASN'T TO BLAME! To prove it read Popular Mechanics investigation on this!

Answer 10

We're talking New Orleans here right? If so, the local government failed people the most. They could have used buses to get those people out. They didn't and people die. The media also was so close they could have helped people not just cover it. They could have at least gotten some of the kids out of the damn heat. The only reason Bush took blame is so that people could get to work and there wouldn't have been congressional oversite everywhere.