Posted on 09/05/2005 11:08:26 AM PDT by schu
Tensions color Bush, Blanco meeting
Gov. Kathleen Blanco canceled a scheduled trip Monday to visit Louisiana evacuees in Houston shelters to stay in Baton Rouge to meet with President Bush. Blanco Communications Director Bob Mann said the governor did not learn about the Bush visit until early Monday morning. “We had no idea the president was coming,” Mann said.
Tension between the Blanco and Bush administrations has surfaced in recent days as state and federal officials try to coordinate recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The Blanco administration clearly wanted to express their irritation with the communication about the president's trip. Blanco officials said they had heard that the president might make a visit and had been trying to get details.
As of late Sunday night, FEMA officials told Blanco that the president was not planning a visit, Mann said. One key point of coordination is the military effort to restore order and begin rebuilding infrastructure.
As of Monday morning, the National Guard from Louisiana and other states had deployed 13,268 troops in the 13 parish area affected by the storm, Louisiana National Guard spokesman Pete Schneider said. In route are 7,845 more National Guardsmen, so that by Tuesday morning 21,113 guardsmen will be in Louisiana.
Parallel to that effort, the regular Army 82nd Airborne and 1st Cavalry divisions are sending in 7,000 troops to Louisiana to arrive in the next couple of days.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
FEMA can step in and take over anytime they want ecspecially since 9/11 and they are in the Homeland Security Department. They over rule local authority of which I do not think they even knew.
FEMA can not step in and take over State functions and rule over local authorities as you suggest. When in State mitigating disasters they report through the chain of command to ultimately the Governor of the hosting State. Citing H. R. 525: The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, as amended) has provided the basis for federal assistance to state and local governments impacted by a significant disaster or emergency since its enactment in 1974. Created by a Presidential Reorganization Plan in April 1979, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has primary responsibility for administering this type of assistance.
An overview of the Stafford Act and FEMA's history can be found here at congress.indiana.edu. It summarizes the function of the Stafford act quite nicely as follows: The Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act instituted an orderly and continuing means of assistance by the Federal Government to State and local governments in carrying out their responsibilities to aid citizens when natural disasters overwhelm them.
VBM -- right on the mark! TDubb is brand new to FR and his post points to the RATs agenda.
She was in waaaaay over her head. I'm convinced nobody in LA government knows anything except how to get graft. If I had to guess, she called some people at the DNC -- consultants who helped with her campaign -- and cried for help. This is a horrible, unmanagable situation, but Blanco is simply making everything worse.
Anyone see the interview of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on CNN yesterday? When Mayor Nagin met with both President Bush and Governor Blanco last week, he urged them to "Make a doggone decision". President Bush was prepared to act immediately, but under federal law, he cannot act without the authority of the state. Mayor Nagin said Governor Blanco wanted 24 hours to think about the offer of federal assistance President Bush presented. Imagine that! People are dying as they meet, and one person, the Governor of Louisiana says she wants to wait twenty-four hours while she thinks about it!
The interview is available on the CNN website. I had to do a site search on "Ray Nagin" to find it, but it is there, and well worth watching. The segment is about a minute and a half long. Sorry I don't have the link.
"So, she expects to not declare the state in an emergency, she expects to block all federal efforts to get the job done all the while manipulating all efforts to cast blame on the feds for doing nothing - and, then that the President of the United States will call and tell her he is coming to visit her state?"
There was a time in the not-too-distant past that Pres. Bush came to Baton Rouge for a LSU graduation and Blanco said she was "too busy" that day to greet the President. She did not even send someone from her office to represent her. What was she doing that was more important than meeting the United States President who was in the capitol city? Having lunch with Tom Benson of the NO Saints. So it seems that she is, perhaps, reaping what she has sown - and I certainly hope she is.
Apparently nobody there read or watched the news on Friday.
I knew he was coming back Monday then.
"Blanco Communications Director Bob Mann said the governor did not learn about the Bush visit until early Monday morning. “We had no idea the president was coming,” Mann said."
TDubb has had many opportunities to defend his position --
I guess he's waiting for the next "stalking point"* paper.
*courtesy of a Freeper
Absolutely not true.
"FEMA is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating against disasters." that is from their own website. They did a horrible job until recently. FEMA can step in and take over anytime they want ecspecially since 9/11 and they are in the Homeland Security Department. They over rule local authority of which I do not think they even knew. They need to read there own site.
Only a liberal would post that on this site; most of it is just out and out lies.
They do NOT 'take over" at any time.......they have to be ASKED IN by the local authorities.
The rest of your post is too ill-informed to respond to.
Just a word of advice, we expect facts here -- not just liberal talking points and boilerplate remarks.
Petition circulation time: 180 days.
Results of successful Recall: Recall Election would be followed by separate Special Election for a successor.
--La. Stats. Ann. 18:1300 - 18:1300.17
I don't think TDubb is a troll. I've checked out the prolific number of posts by TDubb and I see a good deal of honesty. He/she has more opinions than information, though.
My heart goes out to you. AMD and myself were going over memories of working a disaster. It's obvious that things are broken at a State level but it's maddening to watch the media try to play it differently.
Your mayor acts as if she has never read a disaster plan in her life. "I'm making this up as I go along" may have been a cool line for an Indiana Jones movie but it is a script for tragedy in real life.
Oh, dear Lord! That's crazy! I'm not even sure that many people will be left in Louisiana.
"my guess is they are not being very complementary to the state and local authorities."
Louisiana is as Louisiana does.......at least their politicians and the ones behind the politicians, pulling strings, greasing the palms.
I looked at his posts as well.
I just would like him to get his facts straight before he starts lecturing me about poverty in LA and MS.
Furthermore, the author seems to be an (albeit reasonable) environmentalist. I've learned to take anything any of those people say with an acre of salt.
| "They are very unorganized and there [sic] leadership is flawed. FEMA can step in and take over anytime they want ecspecially [sic] since 9/11 and they are in the Homeland Security Department. They over rule [sic] local authority of which I do not think they even knew. They need to read there [sic]... |
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If you're going to troll, at least pretend to be conscious, you DUmb noob.
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