That is ridiculous!
This is a state issue unless and until Federal assistance is requested. Note the FOUR hurricanes which hit Florida last year. Everything worked fine and it was because our STATE had a plan to deal with disaster and Federal assistance was requested in a timely fashion. It all comes down to leadership on the state and local level, which was clearly lacking in this case.
You call yourself "GraniteStateConservative" while advocating for Federal interference in a state issue. You say we "knew" what was going to happen. Many hurricanes veer off the predicted path at the last minute (c.f. Hurriciane Charley) or weaken considerably before landfall (c.f. Hurricane Lili). To say Federal resources should have been mobilized in advance of this storm is ludicrous! The state needs to make the preparation and deal with the evacuations and immediate aftermath. Everyone knows you must be prepared for at least three days because that is how long it takes for private and government assistance to reach a stricken area, generally!
I'll say it again, this situation is a total failure of local and state preparation and leadership. The Feds are NOT to blame!
Bush made this a federal issue. Take your complaint up with him. He declared a state of emergency in Louisiana on SATURDAY! He knew what was about to happen to the Gulf. Bush has the authority to mobilize the NG for national emergencies (The National Defense Act of 1916), and a hit to NOLA is a national emergency.
Agreed. Now have a look at how guick things got right once they got there yesterday (Friday) morning. Which, I might add, is a mere three days since the second catastrophe of the city flooding. When they got there, they got there in a very large way. Whether they were asked by LA Sunday or not, the response time is a logistical miracle. Pretty dang good in my book.