After weeks of acting as if Katrina never happened — or at least as if victims should just get over it — leaders in Washington, D.C., are refocusing on what went wrong and on how to prevent it from happening again. In recent days, congressional testimony and audits have detailed the shocking incompetence at all levels of government before and after the hurricane hit, including fraud and waste far from the Gulf Coast ($438 hotel rooms in New York City? $375 beachfront condos in Florida?), and what the House audit called the federal government’s “fecklessness, flailing and organizational paralysis.”
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff (in photo) answered the criticism Monday with some proposed changes to make FEMA more flexible, effective and accountable, including new disaster conditions “reconnaissance teams.” Maybe some lessons will be learned in time to help the next part of the country targeted by terrorists or nature. But don’t count on it, because finger-pointing is much easier and cheaper than actually fixing any of this mess.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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13 Comments
Rhonda,
I doubt any of you have ever or will ever actually come back to defend these things you post… but really, perhaps you could explain some of this.
What leaders in Washington DC acted like Katrina never happened or that the victims should just get over it?
Nathan,
The same ones at the White House who received a photograph of the breach of the levees on the first day of Katrina. And who then lied about having received it.
Whatever happened to ‘the buck stops here’? When did being a Republican mean never having to acknowledge that you were in the wrong, but instead attacking those who were in the right to point out your mistake?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0509.franklin.html
It was just as bad when Clinton was President, but don’t let the facts get in your way.
Thanks Todd for the link. According to it things were MUCH better under Clinton:
Broken under Bush 1; fixed by Clinton; broken again by Bush 2. Quotes from Todds link follow:
Rarely had the failure of the federal government been so apparent and so acute. On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew leveled a 50-mile swath across southern Florida, leaving nearly 200,000 residents homeless and 1.3 million without electricity. Food, clean water, shelter, and medical assistance were scarce. Yet, for the first three days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is responsible for coordinating federal disaster relief, was nowhere to be found. And when FEMA did finally arrive, its incompetence further delayed relief efforts. Food and water distribution centers couldn’t meet the overwhelming need; lines literally stretched for miles. Mobile hospitals arrived late. In everything it did, FEMA appeared to live up to the description once given to it by South Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings: “the sorriest bunch of bureaucratic jackasses I’ve ever known.”
Fast forward one year to the summer of 1993: Weeks of unrelenting rainfall had driven the level of the Mississippi River and its tributaries far beyond the previous records. Every county in the state of Iowa was declared a federal disaster area, as were portions of eight other states in the river basin. But this time, FEMA’s response earned nothing but praise. The agency met the needs of the flood victims quickly and with few of its trademark bureaucratic tangles. – Clinton president
How FEMA transformed itself from what many considered to be the worst federal agency (no small distinction) to among the best is the most dramatic success story of the federal government in recent years. Not only does it provide further evidence that the government can work, it offers a blueprint for what it takes: strong leadership, energetic oversight, and, most importantly, a total reevaluation of its mission.But Clinton and Witt demonstrated an understanding of the virtues of the patronage system. The high number of political appointees allowed the new administration to free itself of the incompetents and replace them with talented new people. Clinton agreed to let Witt interview all potential appointees to ensure that they were qualified for the jobs. As a result, the resumes of the team they assembled are formidable. Elaine McReynolds, head of the Federal Insurance Administration served as the insurance commissioner of Tennessee for over seven years. Richard Moore, a former state legislator from Massachusetts, was appointed to help make state and local governments better prepared for disasters. Carrye Brown, head of the Fire Administration, had worked on Capitol Hill for 18 years where she was a specialist in disaster and fire legislation.With a new mandate and the staff to go with it, Witt conducted a top-to-bottom review of FEMA’s mission, its personnel, and its resources. The review brought swift changes. In its first two years, the agency shut down several unneeded field offices. It reduced internal regulations by 12 percent and drafted a plan to reduce them by 50 percent by the end of 1995. It strengthened programs that prepared states for natural disasters. And, so it could better inform state directors what aid was available, FEMA conducted the first comprehensive inventory in the agency’s history.
Okay, so Clinton gets a pass on Andrew because he got a do-over with some flooding in Iowa.
I just think it’s funny that some people like to bag on/defend the federal government depending on who’s in office.
The fact is, it has NEVER done its job well, and WILL never do its job well.
Todd – according to your link FEMA indeed DID do its job well.
“But this time, FEMA’s response earned nothing but praise. The agency met the needs of the flood victims quickly and with few of its trademark bureaucratic tangles.
How FEMA transformed itself from what many considered to be the worst federal agency (no small distinction) to among the best is the most dramatic success story of the federal government in recent years. Not only does it provide further evidence that the government can work, it offers a blueprint for what it takes: strong leadership,”
This is directly from YOUR link.
Clinton didn’t get any do-overs – Andrew took place while Bush 1 was president – AS YOU ARE WELL AWARE!
There is nothing quite as painful as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the foot.
Except a VP inflicted buckshot wound to the face maybe, LOL!
XXX,
Have to concede that one!!!
I doubt any of you have ever or will ever actually come back to defend these things you post
I NEVER see them defend their posts!
CX – I stand 100% behine my comments (2/13) above.
BH,I’m talking about the guys who post permalink.
Michael Chertoff Needs to GoMichael Chertoff was grilled before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, over his handling of Hurricane Katrina. This as a sharply critical committee report from House Republicans is to be released.
Chertoff, you may recall at the time of Katrina, told us that everything was being done as it should be, in disdainful bureaucratic double talk. We could all see for ourselves from live reports that was patently untrue.
Blame extends beyond Chertoff. The Mayor of New Orleans was woefully incompetent, only outdone in ineptitude by Louisiana Governor. Hopefully the voters will take care of Negin and Blanco.
President Bush, who ultimately should have been on top of the Federal effort, deserves blame as well. He should have stepped in early when it became clear to anyone with eyes that it was a fiasco. Now he should fire Chertoff, and not just as an exercise in post facto blame fixing.
The Homeland Security Secretary is a critical position for our country. We will sustain another terrorist attack. It’s just a matter of time, no matter how well our intelligence and law enforcement agencies perform. It’s impossible to have perfect results all the time, and it only takes one miss.
His performance in Katrina has shown him to be incompetent to handle an actual major crisis in real time. Our country can’t afford that, it’s a matter saving people’s lives. Chertoff is probably a great infighting bureaucrat. But we need more. We need a true leader in his role.