Fix FEMA
One of the most glaring and unforgivable incompetence's of the Bush Debacle has been the handling of FEMA as an agency. Under the Clinton administration, FEMA was led by the experienced and talented James Lee Witt. Witt reported to Clinton as a cabinet official, so that when there was a disaster, information and decisions could flow freely up and down the chain. Witt staffed FEMA with professionals who knew emergency management backward and forward.
Bush, in his effort to turn all American successes into failures, dismantled the agency. He staffed it with incompetent political cronies, and then he buried it in the Frankenstienien Homeland Security Department. What he failed to realize (there's a long book: "What George W. Bush Failed to Realize") was that in a disaster, the performance of FEMA and its leadership becomes a huge story.
Poppy Bush failed memorably to deal properly with Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and it helped lose the presidency for him. Clinton, having appointed Witt and the rest of the 'A Team,' looked great in a disaster. He got the supplies and support moving early, recognizing that states are notorious for delaying their call for federal help. Clinton's approval ratings went up every time there was a disaster. When Bubba walked through a disaster area with Witt, they exuded confidence and support for the victims.
Bush 43 was, as in everything, far worse at disasters than his bungling father. His political hack of a FEMA Director, the memorable Michael "Heckuvajob" Brown, failed in every possible way. And when the Boy King walked through the rubble with "Brownie" the incompetence and lack of empathy was thick enough to cut with a chainsaw.
Here's the thing: the right wing extremists who've been running the country believe that the government is always the problem and never the solution. In a disaster, government is the only solution. The 'invisible hand of the market' cannot build tents or evacuate thousands of people or rebuild a city. There's no profit in it. No marketable gain is derived. You can sell shares of disaster relief.
Sure, there are plenty of disaster profiteers (as there are now plenty of war profiteers), but the value that they soak up is tax dollars. It's not productive value, it's tax value. And, under Bush, it's borrowed dollars to be repaid by the kids and grandkids tax dollars. Thanks, George.
People look to government when there's a disaster. And when government looks back and says: "what're you eyeballing, you freeloader?" then there's a huge problem.
Look: Obama is not the progressive dream that a lot of people make him out to be, or want him to be. He's a Washington 'Villager.' But at the very least, he's going to stop dismantling the place. He's going to put actual Emergency Managers in charge of FEMA. Not actively tearing government apart in an attempt to prove that it doesn't work, and instead just trying to make it work good will be a giant change.
Bush, in his effort to turn all American successes into failures, dismantled the agency. He staffed it with incompetent political cronies, and then he buried it in the Frankenstienien Homeland Security Department. What he failed to realize (there's a long book: "What George W. Bush Failed to Realize") was that in a disaster, the performance of FEMA and its leadership becomes a huge story.
Poppy Bush failed memorably to deal properly with Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and it helped lose the presidency for him. Clinton, having appointed Witt and the rest of the 'A Team,' looked great in a disaster. He got the supplies and support moving early, recognizing that states are notorious for delaying their call for federal help. Clinton's approval ratings went up every time there was a disaster. When Bubba walked through a disaster area with Witt, they exuded confidence and support for the victims.
Bush 43 was, as in everything, far worse at disasters than his bungling father. His political hack of a FEMA Director, the memorable Michael "Heckuvajob" Brown, failed in every possible way. And when the Boy King walked through the rubble with "Brownie" the incompetence and lack of empathy was thick enough to cut with a chainsaw.
Here's the thing: the right wing extremists who've been running the country believe that the government is always the problem and never the solution. In a disaster, government is the only solution. The 'invisible hand of the market' cannot build tents or evacuate thousands of people or rebuild a city. There's no profit in it. No marketable gain is derived. You can sell shares of disaster relief.
Sure, there are plenty of disaster profiteers (as there are now plenty of war profiteers), but the value that they soak up is tax dollars. It's not productive value, it's tax value. And, under Bush, it's borrowed dollars to be repaid by the kids and grandkids tax dollars. Thanks, George.
People look to government when there's a disaster. And when government looks back and says: "what're you eyeballing, you freeloader?" then there's a huge problem.
Look: Obama is not the progressive dream that a lot of people make him out to be, or want him to be. He's a Washington 'Villager.' But at the very least, he's going to stop dismantling the place. He's going to put actual Emergency Managers in charge of FEMA. Not actively tearing government apart in an attempt to prove that it doesn't work, and instead just trying to make it work good will be a giant change.
posted by fiduciary at 10:09 AM
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