The governor procrastinates (Governor Blanco)

Washington Times ^ | Wednesday, September 7, 2005 | House Editorial

[JohnHuang2]

Before hurricane Katrina made landfall, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco of Louisiana appears to have been more focused on securing federal funds for post-hurricane relief than ensuring that necessary troops were deployed to carry search and rescue missions, deliver food and water, and protect the citizens of Louisiana against marauding street thugs. President Bush had offered the governor federal aid, including additional troops. He declared Louisiana a disaster area before Katrina arrived. To the dismay of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, the governor told the president she wanted 24 hours to decide whether to accept the offer because Mr. Bush, as commander-in-chief, wanted control of the troops. Many of the governor's constituents died because of the delay. On her Internet Web site, Mrs. Blanco displays her letter to Mr. Bush dated Aug. 28, in which she requests various forms of federal funding for dealing with the expected aftermath of the storm, and estimates that she will need about $130 million. In the letter, Mrs. Blanco does not request federal troops, nor does she highlight any immediate needs. Clearly not enough troops were deployed. On Aug. 30, the day after the storm hit, only 4,700 National Guardsmen were mobilized in the state. Mrs. Blanco could have asked for a more substantial force under established emergency-mutual-assistance compacts, which enables governors of neighboring states to share resources in times of disaster. Of the 300,000 Guard troops in the United States, 6,500 are in Louisiana, and nearly half of those are deployed abroad, most of them in Iraq.

[Adder]

"without consulting the UN or Paris..."

Ahh...that would explain why Chirac is only sending some tents and cots. He's miffed.

Now, if we had set up an Oil for Food program where he got some kickbacks...

[B4Ranch]

As of yesterday there was 60,000 National Guard and US military troops helping with the Katrina disaster in LA, MISS, & ALA.

Source; D.Rumsfield on Fox News last night.

[NetValue]

I would call it criminal negligence on Blanco's part. She shopud resign and go into hiding. There is blood on her hands.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Now it begins to come out that the porcine faced Blanco was only interested in boodle from the Feds that she could squander. As to Nagin.........he is making himself into the worst sort of stereotype. If he keeps going, he will surpass Marion Barry (former mayor and "first felon" of Washington, D.C.) as a shameful example.

[sgtbono2002]

I hope someone forwards this information to Broussard who was squealing like a stuck hog. He wanted some heads to roll .

[yer gonna put yer eye out]

NOTICE TO VOTERS IN NEW ORLEANS....

When youse elect 4th rate talent, youse get 4th rate service...

Let me reiterate for the liberals....When youse elect 4th rate talent........

[coconutt2000]

Technically the mayor didn't need to wait for the governor to request more direct Federal involvement. He could have begun to mobilize and enact the emergency plans the mayor's office has on file. The school and municipal transit buses are part of that plan for moving people out of the danger zones.

The mayor hesitated because he was afraid of angering his constituency. An enforced, mandatory evacuation would've forced out a lot of black Democrats, and this would've caused a great deal of backlash in the event that the hurricane did not cause as much damage as predicted.

[Peach]

Wow! Thanks for the ping.

This seems to confirm that the Friday in question on so many threads is the Friday before the storm.

If this is confirmed, it's no wonder the Democrats are going nuts.

The Governor did NOT request troops to secure the city BEFORE the event which would have surely alleviated some of the problems experienced.

Not that the troops would have been deployed to a hurricane area before the storm hit, but they would have been mobilized to move immediately in the hours after the storm passed through.

[sirchtruth]

Bring on the investigations!

[The G Man]

Thanks for posting this JH. Good stuff.

[Williams]

"The delay in requesting the necessary troops is inexplicable and there was no justification for it."

But it is explained in the WP story previously posted here. She refused to place the troops under federal control because she bizarrely "suspected a political motive" was behind the request, and feared that once in control, the feds would "blame" the state for anything that went wrong. She obstructed the emergency relief effort for purely political reasons.

[wolfcreek]

"Bring on the investigations!"

Hopefully, when the good people of LA figure out what really went down, they'll begin impeachment proceedings.

[The G Man]

Here is a link to the letter:

Gov. Blanco's letter to W

[Robert A Cook PE]

Reference.

[carlr]

They just had a National guard spokesmen on Fox.I was only half listening while surfing Free Republic.
He stated that they were under the authority of the Governor and would go to where ever she directed.E.D Hill on the way to commercial said they will replay a statement that Gov.Blanco made on the show yesterday and added that she,Hill, is confused as to who is in charge.
The point is that with all the political mud being thrown at President Bush,the Governor is still in charge of the rescue,relief program.
Does the federal personal have any authority to operate outside of the Governors direction?

[BilLies]

We want an investigation by the Government Accounting Office and not the political hacks. No more 9-11 type committees.

[The G Man]

"But it is explained in the WP story previously posted here. She refused to place the troops under federal control because she bizarrely "suspected a political motive" was behind the request,"

Williams:

Any chance you can provide a link? I'd like to read that story but I'm striking out using "search."

Incompetently yours,
The G Man

[driftless]

From what my wife and I have ascertained, FEMA may be blamed for slowness in some situations (however let's wait for the whole story to unfold), but the primary responsibility for the disaster we concluded has to be the gov and the mayor accounting for about eighty percent of the problems after the levees broke.

Any storm of this magnitude will cause problems that cannot be handled as well as desired by any person or any agency no matter how well planned. However Blanco and Nagin HAD!!!!! the authority and resources to sufficiently mitigate the terrible effects of the flood. If they had used the resources they had with just a modicum of competence, the suffering of the people affected by the flood would have been a lot less. In our minds, the feds only get about ten percent blame for the problems after the flood.

[Williams]

Here you go G Man, I had to get the link from someone else as well, searching never works for me. I think this article is a slam dunk "guilty" verdict on the governor:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1476915/posts

[The G Man]

Thanks. That was a good read.