Posted on 09/13/2005 8:31:40 PM PDT by bobsunshine
President Bush yesterday said he takes personal responsibility for the federal government's stumbling response to Hurricane Katrina as his White House worked on several fronts to move beyond the improvisation of the first days of the crisis and set a long-term course on a problem that aides now believe will shadow the balance of Bush's second term.
...he has dispatched his top strategist, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, and other aides to assemble ideas from agencies, conservative think tanks and GOP lawmakers to guide the rebuilding of New Orleans and relocation of flood victims. The idea, aides said, is twofold: ensuring that the federal response comports with Bush's conservative ideology, and preventing Katrina from swamping his second-term ambitions on Social Security, taxes, and Middle East democracy-building.
..the White House was working yesterday to suspend wage supports for service workers in the hurricane zone as it did for construction workers on federal contracts last week, administration and congressional officials said. This possible move, described by administration officials as being under debate, already provoked preemptive Democratic protests.
...At tomorrow's speech, the president is to outline his vision more comprehensively than he has to date. A top aide said he will stress that New Orleans officials will dictate how the city will be rebuilt, but also make plain the reconstruction should reflect his vision of government -- including reducing regulatory obstacles and emphasizing entrepreneurship over big government, the aide said. He will discuss plans to provide health care, education, jobs and housing assistance to flood victims, another aide said.
...the Bush administration and congressional GOP leaders are working on proposals to encourage business investment in the devastated areas and test conservative ideas such as portable benefits for evacuees who want to reestablish in new locales, low-tax business zones and waived environmental regulations.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Brilliant. The word is slowly getting out that Nagin and Blank-o are the real reasons behind this. Locals are plugging away in the local Mississippi newspaper about how LA officials didn't do their job.
One child that had relocated from NO to my high school in Jackson said: "Nah, it's not Bush's fault so much as all the police that ran away to Baton Rouge!" My students looked at him like he was crazy. Couldn't say it better myself.
He actually bought a house?
Hell NO! We have enough problems here, we don't need that body of corruption too.
Then we should have the right not to waste resources going to look for them.
If they want to be on their own before, they can be on their own afterwards.
Well it's possible that once the water recedes and the truth comes out that there won't be any local officials left to run the city. It's been so corrupt that they all may end up in jail. (one can only hope)
Yes, he BOUGHT a house in Dallas and Russert never mentioned it.
I thought that Bush said he takes personal responsibility for ANY failure in the federal government's response.
NY Compost at it again.
I agree, and you won't hear an argument from me about that.
Mean-spirited, ain't we? :-)
With all the Cat Houses, Nudie Bars and expensive Restraints NOLA would be perfect for the hard partying UN delegates and bureaucrats. A corrupt organization for a corrupt town.
As much as it would probably save her career, I think the proper thing, and what I hope, Blanco does is to come out friday upset at Bush for trying to take over the building of New Orleans.
Then she should announce that Loiusiana can take care of its own, and will take the lead in finishing up cleanup and rebuilding of New Orleans -- of course with money from the feds, just like New York used disaster money.
I thought it was sad that she sat around a week waiting for FEMA to sign a contract to remove bodies from New Orleans. She finally stepped up and said the state would sign the contract -- just the way it should be.
Ultimately, those who were able to leave (they have legs and feet) are to blame for their choice to stay. However, the people who couldn't leave on their own are the responsibility of their local government to be evacuated.
Not following the established plan is at state and local level as with their Clinton cronies (Witt and Clarke). Not allowing relief to come in prior to the storm is state and local level (Blanco-Nagin). The failures of the first responders fall at the state and local level (Eddie Compass). These bums are no heroes and didn't deserve any of the accolades given to them by the President today.
Guv. Blank-O and Mayah Noggin are the ones who sat on their hands when decisions needed to be made. When the storm hit, they fled in the face of danger and responsibility and neither were concerned about their consituents. I doubt either were within 100 miles of the storms predicted path.
They and their DUmocrat minions came out on every network to play the blame game rather than coordinate relief efforts, and still have not visited any of the affected areas without tagging along with the President. They don't care about their cesspool of a city, so why should we shoulder the burden of their neglegent homicide.
The President can remain above the fray and still be a leader in all this. Put those in charge (Blanco, Nagin, Compass & Co.) on trial for neglegence and deriliction of duty.
If they don't want to put blame where it goes, I'd choose to blame DUmocrats who created the nanny/welfare state in the first place.
Maybe, but IronMan04 (my original post) was implying that both MS and LA were negligent in protecting there citizens. I do not agree. LA & NO didn't even try to execute the plan they had on paper. MS and AL did, I think, execute the plan but still many people chose to stay behind.
Buy 'em each a van, if it's good enough for Matt Foley...
I read the other day there is still hundreds in FEMA housing and care from the 1992 hurricane Andrew mess.
"I thought that Bush said he takes personal responsibility for ANY failure in the federal government's response"
exactly,
Whatever you all say, President Bush is brilliant. Think about it, all the du'rs can do is look for what the feds did wrong,, can't find anything huh? WOW they may have to look at the state/city level for failures!!!!!
According to this post, he certainly did.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1483434/posts
Article referenced is here:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,169194,00.html
I like that idea.... how about in the 9th ward?
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