"My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown said
This is exactly what I was saying by the end of that first week. It was so clear that was the situation. FEMA needed to step in and fill the empty shoes of the governor and mayor. Something they hadn't had to do before, because normally the state & local goernment isn't so darned incompetent.
As Brown went on to say, he's not a dictator and he can't force the state & local government to cooperate with each other and do the jobs they should be doing.
These idiots at the Oregonian still don't seem to realize that FEMA is a response agency. If the state & locals don't tell FEMA what they need, then FEMA can't respond. Why is it so hard for people to understand that?
It is apparently next to impossible for almost anyone (except Freepers perhaps?!) to understand this, judging from what I keep hearing on TV. Apparently our congresscritters don't understand that either. Woe to us!
susie
So, you're saying that it was the Louisiana state/local officials who ordered up the $2,000 debit cards FEMA issued?
That's funny. I could've sworn it was Bush/Chertoff/Brown/FEMA's idea.
FEMA to give families $2,000 on debit cards:
..."Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff held a conference call with several governors to describe the plan. While many details remained to be worked out, the plan was to quickly begin distributing the cards, starting with people in major evacuation centers such as the Houston Astrodome"...
...The cards are meant to help victims purchase food, transportation and other essentials but won't come with any restrictions."
"The administration estimated the cost of the program for 320,000 households at $640 million."
"Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, a Republican, said he had concerns about the potential for abuse. "That's a lot of money. The question is how do you separate the needy from those who just want a $2,000 handout," he said"...
Storm-relief money spent at strip clubs
..."Restrictions on the cards say they can't be used to purchase alcohol, tobacco or firearms..."
..."According to a report by KPRC, Channel 2, in Houston, a manager at Caligula XXI Gentlemen's Club said he has seen at least one debit card used at his club. A bartender at Baby Dolls, identified only as "Abby," said she has seen many of the cards used at her establishment."...
..."A lot of customers have been coming in from Louisiana and they've been real happy about the $1.75 beers and they're really nice," she said."...
..."She couldn't say for sure whether the cards she has seen were from the Red Cross or from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but she found no fault in using federal dollars to guzzle beer at a strip club."...
..."You lost your whole house, then, why not?" she said "You might want some beer in a strip club. There are a lot of guys out there that like to do that."...
..."The wife of the manager of another strip club told KPRC that her husband has seen patrons from Louisiana offering Red Cross and FEMA debit cards, but she declined to reveal the club's name."...
..."The clerk at the Louis Vuitton store said: "There's nothing legally that prevents us from taking it, unfortunately – other than morally, it's wrong." The unnamed employee told the Daily News two women who had made purchases with the card each bought a signature monogrammed Louis Vuitton handbag in the $800 range."...
..."Meanwhile, in Memphis, Tenn., residents told News Channel 3 they saw Hurricane Katrina survivors purchase designer jeans, high heels and purses with their $2,000 emergency debit cards. According to the report, one Katrina victim was spotted at a Cordova clothier buying stacks of $65 designer jeans. Another viewer reported spotting a survivor buying "over $700 in high heel shoes and purses" at a Memphis department store "while (her) younger children, most of them looked under the age of 3, looked like they haven't showered in weeks."...
..."If they make an inappropriate decision as to what to purchase, the whole issue of victims' rights comes into play," said Bill Hildebrandt, chief executive officer of the Mid-South chapter of the Red Cross. "They have a right, I guess, to be inappropriate."...
..."Hildebrandt conceded that the purchases could be traced, but he said if the receipts just said "shirt" or "jeans" or "clothes," there would be nothing the Red Cross could do. He said the Mid-South chapter stopped using the cards because the process became too cumbersome."...
..."FEMA reportedly issued about 10,500 cards in the pilot program, with a total value of $20.6 million"...