Everytime he gets caught politically flat-footed, he opens up our collective wallet to buy himself out of trouble.

Compassionate conservatism. Catch the fever!

I'll admit it - I'm not going to watch the speech. It's going to be depressing, listening to my wallet get lighter.

Plus, the extras on the Shaun of the Dead DVD are pretty good. Maybe I'll spend some quality time with zombie-killing slackers.

I'm resigned to the spending, but for Christ's sake, can we skip the fucking platitudes for once? Blah blah New Orleans you're one of a kind, blah blah we gotta do somethin' about this here poverty.

Just cram it. Here, here's another twenty percent of my income. Just shut the fuck up.

Plus, I swear to all that's good and holy, if the plan is to rebuild New Orleans just like it was...

Just give me the vaseline now and remind me when it's time to wear my boxers backwards, okay?

Seriously, we're going to solve poverty this time. We're going to get it right.

Hear that, poverty? YOUR MUTHAFUCKIN DAYS IS NUMBERED.

So I won't be liveblogging.

I didn't listen, so I found your liveblogging useful. It lends a coherency that following the comment thread can't supply.

Yes...this movie has one of the best opening sequences...

Bush just said "economic revival of the gulf region".

*liveblogging over*

Here's something not entirely unrelated to tonight's speech: Erick from RedState says Larry Thompson has moved to the top of Bush's shortlist for the O'Connor vacancy.

Not good enough? Another topic of discussion, then: Has Gawker ever been funny?

Who's Larry Thompson? Is this a good or a bad thing?

You were right.

Larry Thompson is a former deputy AG. Here's a photo.

See why it's sort of related to tonight's speech?

Tsk tsk...so cynical.

Is Gawker supposed to be funny? For that matter, is Wonkette supposed to be, um, readable?

Can't watch -which is to say what ace said.
I fear Mr.Bush has chosen the path of least resistance in the Legacy sweepstakes- act like a liberal in hopes people who hate your guts will hate your guts a little less.
It's a bad day when the president thinks he can impress people of ill will and invincible ignorance.
And it's a sign of weakness before a pack of wolves- you don't cower, you unload on the perps at the state and local level, the lying media and walk away.
At least your supporters will respect you.

Is Gawker supposed to be funny?

According to Wikipedia, yeah.

Re: Thompson, did you see in the article I linked that the Times thinks he's a "moderate"? They think Hillary's a "moderate" too, don't they?

Looks like Kanye West really got into Bush's head. Well, nominating Thompson will show him, now won't it?

Sounds like a ressurected LBJ great society speech so far...

ABC's after-the-speech interview with the audience is NOT GOING as I am certain they had expected.

Upon asking the locals how they felt about the speech, they were utterly enthusiastic. When asked about whether they thought the speech was "Nice rhetoric"? One woman flatly said "No!"

Another said that she had the opportunity to leave, and didn't do it...

And...wait...did I just hear another local blame the mayor?!

Oh please tell me that someone else is watching this...

Re: Thompson, did you see in the article I linked that the Times thinks he's a "moderate"? They think Hillary's a "moderate" too, don't they?

I noticed that. My only reaction?

Oh, shit.

Ted Koppel to Mr. Broussard..."Your mother was one of those who died in the nursing home"

They still can't get it right...hell, they don't want to.

Broussard's interview is also not going as they might have liked.

State Sen. Cleo Fields (D-La)...ditto...positive, positive, positive...

Huh..

Oh, the ABC interviews were hilarious. You know that reporter was not expecting a group of poor, black, female New Orleaneans to tear local and state officials a new one while defending and praising the president.

When I saw the make-up of ABC's instant reaction audience, I wearily thought "Oh Christ, here we go."

They absolutely floored me. I was clapping and punching the air by the time they finished.

Is Bobby John the biggest pussy in the world or what? Steph rocks though!

Oh, the ABC interviews were hilarious. You know that reporter was not expecting a group of poor, black, female New Orleaneans to tear local and state officials a new one while defending and praising the president.

SHIT. I missed it. Instead I've been drinking Livingston's Red Rosé and doing laundry. (So far everything seems to be the color it started out...)

I hope someone taped that. Can you spell "posterity"? I knew you could.

Bang, zoom! Out of the park! Bush grinds the crazies under his heel by being able to show how to do government assistance RIGHT, for a change. Ownership society baby! the Republicans pick up a new generation of voters while the Deaniacs get even kookier!

Ace, not to suggest that you defer any Survivor-watching when Survivor-watching is on your to-do list, but your live-blogging is much appreciated by at least some among your overseas readers lacking (somewhat happily) American t.v.

Greta just pointed out Texas doesn't have an income tax while discussing refugees with Newt, specifically that it might encourage people to stay.

Am I the only one who thinks that might not be real high on the list of criteria for the unemployed dispossessed, or is there something about the Louisiana income tax that I don't know?

And yes, I recognize not everyone who ended up here is unemployed.

It just seemed wierd to me.

Dave in Texas,

It's the journalist mindset - everything is filtered through politics/taxes.

I didn't listen to the speach - what's the overall opinion here - is he just going to throw the taxpayer's wallet at this? Any mention of any spending restraint in any other areas?

And yes I like italics.

Dave, she was referring to all the companies who have relocated to Houston. She was questioning if they would want to leave Texas, with its pro-business atmosphere.

Bobby John is just pretty to look at, but there is not much going on upstairs. Alot of the men were wimping out on his team, but the farmer had that wiry strength that outdoes gym muscles everytime. One of those wiry types were moving our couch and lifted it under one arm. We'll see how Stephanie will do with a better team this year.

"Bush grinds the crazies under his heel by being able to show how to do government assistance RIGHT, for a change. Ownership society baby!"

And look at how well they've learned to do it in Iraq! Let's put Grover Norquist in charge!

What are you trying to say?

Thompson is the most obvious smokescreen ever. But it would be a waste of a pick -- no judicial record and he's 60? Bush isn't that dumb.

Erick never tires of being used... but it's fun to have at least some disinfo.

I hope someone taped that.

I do to - it was definitely a classic!
ABC's Dean Reynolds kept asking them leading questions trying to get them to blame Bush, but instead they slammed the state and local government for not doing what they were supposed to do.

Something like:
Reynolds - "Do you think the president is to blame for the slow response?"
Woman - "No...Lord, no. The local government didn't do their job. Why did they let those RTA busses and school busses and Greyhound busses sit there and go under water instead of using them to evacuate people?"

I'd love to see a replay or at least a transcript - it was great stuff and definitely not the response that ABC hack was looking for.

Here's some other responses round about:
Dean Reynolds...no relation

Hell Yes!

I saw it too. Would have hugged her but couldn't fit through the tv screen. :)

On another note, our wallets will get hit, but at least he was also stressing the role of entrepreneurship and the private sector in the recovery efforts.

"You know that reporter was not expecting a group of poor, black, female New Orleaneans to tear local and state officials a new one while defending and praising the president."

I gotta ask: other than the promise to spend a couple hundred billion, what part of the president's behavior do you find praiseworthy in handling Katrina?

I'm still trying to understand why Bush’s declaration of emergency on Aug. 27 named all the wrong parishes, or rather left out the most important ones?
http://tinyurl.com/8lpgw

I honestly don’t understand this, though I’ve been looking for a while. The Hurricane Cindy explanation (the other parishes were already named from previous alert) doesn’t explain it, so don’t bother with that.

"Why did they let those RTA busses and school busses and Greyhound busses sit there and go under water instead of using them to evacuate people?"

For still more on those buses, read this:
http://tinyurl.com/dj52v

Seriously, dude. Consider this an intervention.

It's getting old. Saying the same thing over and over in different (sort of) ways doesn't make your argument any more compelling.

I've got serious misgivings about the oversight in this grand dispensing of federal funds. Much of this situation came about in the first place due to the combination of incompetence and theft by state and local officials. How much of this new influx of funds is going to go into a few pockets in return for nothing?

As for construction jobs, the question becomes what happens after the bulk of the work is done, especially that which can be performed by those who can only be considered unskilled labor? There are construction jobs that can be filled by any able bodied person with an IQ of 80 or above, and then there are those jobs that required some smarts and training. How much of the former will there be for the dispossessed of Lousiana?

Tubino:

If you're going to keep linking tinyurl.com - just give it up. Rife with prejudice and inaccuracies, (s)he presents a facade of reason over a core of partisan analysis. And I don't know why (s)he claims that they're a libertarian - there's not a hint of it in the few articles I read.

In short, I for one am not going to read anymore crap from tinyurl.com. And every time you reference it, it intrinsically poisons your arguments.

I'm still trying to understand why Bush’s declaration of emergency on Aug. 27 named all the wrong parishes, or rather left out the most important ones?
http://tinyurl.com/8lpgw

Don't give up - keep on working on it - I'm sure this is the smoking gun that will bring Bush down and take the undeserved heat off of poor ol' Blanco and Nagin.

Hm. John Kerry didn't like the speech, which brings up an important question.

Who the hell cares what John Kerry thinks?

For still more on those buses, read this:
http://tinyurl.com/dj52v

Sorry, dude, those displaced women at the Astrodome probably don't have easy access to the Internet at the moment. Besides, they already know the truth and stated it boldly on national television. To which I say: "Preach it, sister!"

Allah, I got here late, so I didn't read this until now:

"Seriously, we're going to solve poverty this time. We're going to get it right.

Hear that, poverty? YOUR MUTHAFUCKIN DAYS IS NUMBERED."

---
I haven't laughed that hard since my doctor touched my bathing-suit area with cold hands.

All that was missing from that was ". . . AND HELL'S COMING WITH ME!!!"

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

Oh, and I didn't see the speech.

But I'm guessing Kathryn Jean Lopez thought it was the best speech since the Gettysburg Address.

I'll go look now.

uh... tinyurl is just a trick to make a long url into one you paste into a comment field, for example.

It's a tool, not something you can disagree with.

But for the record, I will NEVER vote for Blanco OR Nagin! Or Bush! :)

Oops, the "Preach it, sister!" post was mine...not trying to be anonymous or anything. Must be time for another beer.

Dave, don't bother. I checked. I think tonight is their big 'raise money and get drunk with Tom Selleck' thing.

Egad, I hate the way they pimp those fundraisers all the time.

Kerry: "We are concerned by Bush administration initiatives this week waiving wage protections, environmental safeguards and protections for veterans, minorities, women and the disabled."

Translation: We're very upset this is going to happen before another democrat gets in the whitehouse so we can go back to business as usual and steal 50% of the relief money.

So, let me see if I understand this:

1. People set up housekeeping in a flood plain.
2. They elect corrupt and inefficient mayors and governors.
3. The State of LA. is allocated about 2 BILLION dollars of tax money to shore up the levee system - the money is spent on other things.
4. And now, the President is proposing to give these same people MORE tax money, a lot more it seems.

OK, I have just one question: Does this sound insane or is it just me?

Dave, she posted excerpts (previews) a few hours before the speech.

So I won't be liveblogging. Liveblogging something being broadcast on the radio or tv is just, how you say, moronic.

Tubino:

All right, then stop linking to "BadTux: The Snarky Penguin." I'll give your links one more shot, and then I'm done.

...browsing...

Hey, the Bob Harris link (about the parishes) wasn't too bad - he's obviously got an agenda, but he phrases it as a reasonably honest question. I suspect it's a dumb question, but we'll see.

Battle, that was the most depressing post of the night.

Because it's true.

Hold onto your wallets, this is going to be bad.

Tubino:

As I suspected, Harris is nitpicking. The original declaration named the wrong counties, it was corrected two days later (8/29). The aid, of course, was never sent to the wrong parishes (this is why I say Harris is nitpicking). FEMA now has this map, dated 9/4/05.

Anyways, who in the world expected Bobby John and Steph to be back!!!? I mean I was shocked. But I'm sure we have more suprises in store for us.

geoff,

I actually noticed the deal with the parishes when I was reading the Aug. 27 declaration... but didn't think much of it. Others noticed it too, but I never came across an explanation. I even mailed the question to some big-name folks with timelines, but no explanation. Bob Harris put it on a map with that post, and then it really nagged me.

I know that the bigger declaration two days later made it a moot point, mostly, but... where do you see any statement of correction?

And why is it nitpicking? See, I think you're conflating a promise of ASSISTANCE with the assignment of responsibility for coordination to FEMA. The Aug. 27 declaration was the latter. Your map link is the former.

If one is trying to understand a timeline for assignment/claim of responsibility, to figure out when the Feds made it THEIR problem, it's really not nitpicking.

But I still can't explain it. If it was a goof, it was a rather large and obvious one for such a high-level document, and it should have been reissued with a correction, no?

What didn't you like about the BadTux deal on the buses? He sure doesn't say Nagin did all the right stuff, but seems a pretty fair assessment. I still have no clear idea how many people wanted out early enough that more buses were the solution... Some people were gonna stay, period, and some couldn't just be loaded (medical problems, life-support, etc.).

Battle and Slu are RIGHT. Geez, I really don't like living in Louisiana.

Later,
bbeck

All I want to know is, does Trent Lott get the new house with the porch by Christmas?

All I want to know is, does Trent Lott get the new house with the porch by Christmas?

To hell with that. What Lott really needs is a new hairdo.

I mean, honestly. Who here has actually seen Trent Lott's hair ever move?

Egads, I have such an irrational dislike for that guy.

Who here has actually seen Trent Lott's hair ever move?

Its just a generational thing...he's from an age when men combed all sorts of stuff into their hair. (James Dean, Elvis, etc..)

I did meet him at some conference in D.C. about 10 years ago. Had the same hair then too. In person he's a pretty personable likable guy.

In person he's a pretty personable likable guy.

That's good to know. Because for some reason, he makes me edgy when I see him on television.

Because for some reason, he makes me edgy when I see him on television.

Probably a reflexive response to the generic category "southern politician with strong accent".

Do you grab for your wallet at the same time to make sure its still there?

Do you grab for your wallet at the same time to make sure its still there?

Only when the southern politician is Robert Byrd.

With Lott, it's more just a general feeling that the guy seems too slick for his own good.

Writing from Houston here

Hey, the folks at our megashelters do too have access to TVs and the internet. They've got TV's in the various seating sections, large internet hookups w plenty of computers ... going to Houston's megashelters was a bad call for a place to find someone disgruntled. I'm not usually one to praise the city government but dxmn they've done a good job with this one.

"The original declaration named the wrong parishes"? 8/27 was BEFORE LANDFALL. The storm turned somewhat. So different places were named AFTER LANDFALL. I'm just guessing the complaints are coming from people who don't live in hurricane country. If the forecast was only 95% accurate instead of 100% accurate, then the places named are going to change. FEMA is a storm-chaser. It's how it works.

going to Houston's megashelters was a bad call for a place to find someone disgruntled.

Hard to go wrong betting on MSM ineptness. Tards can't even get their bias straight even when they try...

To bad Rather didn't take a job with ABC and do those interviews - THAT would have been true gold.

I heard enough to get the impression that that he's going to let people go back in to a sewer sump and pay to build their homes. If I'm wrong, sorry. But I think this is an assinine idea. If you build your home over a sinkhole, and someone pulls you out, don't expect him to put you back. Find another place to live. The people who can't build new homes or buy them, should be helped to reestablish themselves, but don't their families have any responsibility to do what they can first?

I've always supported Bush, but this strikes me as setting a bad precedent, both financially and in terms of giving the federal authorities too much power. Sending the military into an area without the say so of the governor is not a good power for the feds to have.

Anne ponders, ""The original declaration named the wrong parishes"? 8/27 was BEFORE LANDFALL. The storm turned somewhat."

Yup, that's what I figured at first. Weather's an inexact science etc. But NO! Check the map! Would ANYONE predict that the parishes hardest hit from ANY incoming hurricane would ALL be the ones NORTH of the coastal parishes??? Check the map!
http://tinyurl.com/8lpgw

Also, Bush's declaration came -- as the law dictates -- after the request from Gov. Blanco. Compare Blanco's request to Bush's list, and IT MAKES NO SENSE. Bush's declaration leaves off all the critical ones on the coast, and enumerates the non-critical ones, in short.

Compare the other governors' lists to the declarations, and they DO make sense.

Still a mystery.

Make no mistake, this is no FDR plan.

Instead of tax-and-spend, we're looking at BORROW-and-spend.

Oh yes, big government is back with a vengeance, AND a claim to need to more rights to impose use of the MILITARY after disasters.

You say preparedness, I say totalitarianism on a credit card.

You small-govt conservatives can take heart: Bush promised aid to NYC, AIDS funding, No Child Left Behind, and Mars(!).

All promises that were insufficiently funded. So what are the odds he'll follow through on this one?

Tubino, you do your argument no favors wording that as though a monkeystupid Bush vowed to send aid to mars. It makes you look at tad...you know...DUish. But if you regard all those projects as underfunded, I do take heart. Perhaps they weren't quite the giant, rolling porkfests I feared.

Just kidding!

You say preparedness, I say totalitarianism on a credit card.

Ah, heck, that's nothing. You should see some of the stuff I put on my credit card.

Oh yes, big government is back with a vengeance, AND a claim to need to more rights to impose use of the MILITARY after disasters.

Right. Bush gets beaten with sticks for two weeks about not wresting control from the state. Suggests finding a way to streamline command and control when the locals are overwhelmed using something a little less drastic than the Insurrection Act, and predictably, gets accused of a power grab.

The cognitive dissonance on the left doesn't even surprise me anymore. The only rule you have to follow is WHATEVER HE DOES IS WRONG!

Tubino:
I know that the bigger declaration two days later made it a moot point, mostly, but... where do you see any statement of correction?

It was quietly amended here.

I think you're conflating a promise of ASSISTANCE with the assignment of responsibility for coordination to FEMA. The Aug. 27 declaration was the latter.

The orignal emergency declaration was for both assistance and coordination. From the President's 8/27 emergency declaration letter to FEMA:

You are authorized to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act to save lives, protect public health and safety, and property or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the designated areas. Specifically, you are authorized to provide debris removal and emergency protective measures (Categories A and B) under the Public Assistance program, including direct Federal assistance, at 75 percent Federal funding. This assistance excludes regular time costs for subgrantees’ regular employees. In addition, you are authorized to provide such other forms of assistance under Title V of the Stafford Act as you may deem appropriate.

Gotta go.

Dave forgets all about 9-11 and declares: "Right. Bush gets beaten with sticks for two weeks about not wresting control from the state. Suggests finding a way to streamline command and control when the locals are overwhelmed using something a little less drastic than the Insurrection Act, and predictably, gets accused of a power grab."

See, here's what you don't understand. The National Response Plan, crafted by this administration in reaction to 9-11, was designed to cut through all the state vs fed red tape. It was accepted Dec 04, took effect in March 05 I think. In any case, it created a "way to streamline command and control when the locals are overwhelmed using something a little less drastic than the Insurrection Act".

And the NRP was invoked, albeit in a way that suggested that Chertoff and Bush didn't understand their roles, clearly marked on a one-page flow chart in the NRP.

Basically, if DHS/FEMA had done its job, there woudl have been no discussion of deploying active troops.

Bush is using his own administration's failure to use its own plan as a pretext to claim more power, less coordination.

What it should have made completely unnecessary is any NEW talk of ways to streamline etc. Earlier I pointed this out:
--------------------
If in a disaster in which the Stafford Act has been invoked, the state governor is:

/in a fetal position under the desk/
/dead or incapacitated
/gone on vacation
/grossly incompetent

then which of these two ways does DHS/FEMA respond?

1) Well, let's let things deteriorate, and we'll know who to blame later. But schedule some photo-ops, okay?

2) Since the NRP and the President's declaration puts FEMA in charge of coordinating the response, we'll have to do the best we can to work with whoever is competent/alive/responsive.

The problem is that FEMA is admitting it went with #1, when the only responsible reaction was #2.

IOW, Blanco may have failed (though I don't see it), but the coordination was up to DHS/FEMA -- and it failed miserably.
------------

Now I have to add #3:
Pretend the NRP doesn't exist, then after the disaster claim it shows the need for still greater executive control, and use of the military, and credit-card spending.

THIS IS NOT CONSERVATISM, FOLKS.

Jesus, tubino. You're just not going to get the hang of this medium, are you?

geoff,

Looks like you nailed it on the parishes. In a perfect world the original declaration would carry a link to the later amendments and corrections. This is how it works with some CFDA notices I work with, as posted on sites.

So the original list of parishes was just a screw-up, right? And it took two days to fix it... That's not evil, but it's not reassuring competence, either. If I did that in my job, I'd get called on the carpet -- and the stakes are much much lower in my job.

"Blanco may have failed (though I don't see it)"

Remove your head from your ass and you will see it. I promise.

"Jesus, tubino. You're just not going to get the hang of this medium, are you?"

It's the amnesia part I can't seem to master. That, and the screaming.

It's the amnesia part I can't seem to master. That, and the screaming.

Hm. Newer people are always surprised by this.

Like I've said before, wait until a flame war erupts and you see what all of the regulars say about each other.

Trent Lott may be another washed-up Southern politician, but his daughter was just smoking kind of hot. She was at Ole Miss the same time I was.

BTW, tubby, we can use the $8.8 billion you claim was missing, which never was. Oops, you were wrong again!

Oh wait. You didn't say 'missing' did you tubby. You said stolen! By Halliburton (or was it Dick Cheney?).

Suddenly, all of Ace's commenters disappear and Google notices a sudden spike in requests for "Trent Lott family photos"

"BTW, tubby, we can use the $8.8 billion you claim was missing, which never was. Oops, you were wrong again!"

Ah, the smell of DENIAL in the morning!

Here's the FOX NEWS account from one year ago.

Here's a simple google search

Here's CNN

Damn, I give up tinurls to use a href= and it all goes up in smoke. I guess weasel is right about me and the medium.

Okay, google yourselves iraq+$8.8b and pick your fave source.

BrewFan wants to parse the meaning of stolen. You go girl.

See, here's what you don't understand.

Um, what you don't understand is federalizing the Guard or using regular troops requires legislative authority, without which it's illegal.

And you didn't at all address the second point, which is the very damn thing you say he should have done is now going be a 'power grab' to you.

If the gov is incapacitated, he/she has no succession plan in place? no one to delegate authority to?

riiiight.

Blanco wasn't incapacited. She had and kept her authority until she (finally) realized she had to give it up.

How come she finally saw it and you still don't?

Tubino:

if you followed the earlier thread where you brought up the $8.8 billion, you'd have seen the debunking via the congressional testimony of Sturt Bowen, June 21, 2005. He says that they never meant to imply that the money was missing or misused - just that the controls on the money were not adequte. He says specifically that there has been a lot of confusion on this in the press, and that there is no 'lost taxpayer money.'

geoff,

That was a good catch in the earlier thread. Thanks. I had assumed tubby had read it. Silly me.

Tubino:

Ah, now I have time to get to that Snarky Penguin link on the buses. BadTux says that Nagin didn't have the authority to use the buses because the city hadn't consummated an agreement with the Orleans parish school board. Then he says that they wouldn't have been useful even if he'd had them, since they only had time to make one trip.

Let's start with criminally poor preparation: the evacuation plan calls for the use of buses, but the city and parishes can't come to an agreement on their use? Does this reflect well on the local governments' foresight or its commitment to emergency management?

Second, did Nagin even *ask* the parishes for their buses when the emergency loomed? When he gave the evacuation order?

Third, BadTux says that during the 36 hour evacuation, since it would have taken buses 7 hours to get out of the city, they could have only made one trip, and that wouldn't have evacuated enough people to help the situation. That seems too conservative to me, but it's really moot. The point with the buses has always been: NOLA had an evacuation plan, and they didn't follow it. And they weren't very creative or responsive with their use of resources.

I actually have a lot of sympathy for Nagin - it took a lot of guts to evacuate a city the size of New Orleans. And the fact that they did it in half the time they had counted on speaks for some decent civic management. And Nagin's plan of using the Superdome would have worked well if the levees hadn't failed.

But blaming Bush and/or FEMA for the entirety of the disaster is ridiculous and unproductive. I'd welcome a serious after-action review of the disaster response: it seems that DHS and FEMA could use some serious overhaul, and that every state and municipality should look at their emergency planning with a new sense of urgency. Please note, though, it should be an after-action review.

The left has been trying to use this disaster to tag Bush from the beginning: it's his budget (FEMA and the levees); it's his environmental policies (global warming and the marshes); it's his racism, elitism, or hatred of Democrats; it's his management style; it's his stupidity; it's his cronyism. Most of these have been debunked (some will have to wait until more evidence is in), and debunked at the expense of the left's credibility. Their motivations are transparent and their methods are despicable.

at the expense of the left's credibility.

now THAT'S deficit spending!

geoff,

For what its worth, between the school buses and city buses there was enough capacity to evacuate 10,000 people IN ONE TRIP!

Ace,

Interesting that Andrew Sullivan is citing you as feeling the same way as he does about Bush.

I guess the thinking is that since you said Bush is spending his way out of trouble, you must agree with the entirety of Sullivan's complaints:

...sick of the glib arrogance and excuses for failure that dot the landscape from Biloxi to Basra. I'm not the only one. See here, here, here, here, and more generally here.

You're one of the "here" links. I'm glad it wasn't meant to be misleading.

Apparently the city govt is supposed to be on a WHOLE DIFFERENT PAGE from the FEMA head who is ostensibly in charge of coordinating it all.

Here's a BBC story from the early days with a telling quote from Mike Brown on evacuating. Will you please STFU about the buses now? FEMA had responsibility for coordinating, and didn't do it.

http://tinyurl.com/djfet

Mr Brown even told the Associated Press news agency that the evacuation had gone well. "I was impressed with the evacuation, once it was ordered it was very smooth," he said.

Yet on Saturday 28 August, the day before the evacuation was ordered, Mr Brown did not say that people should leave the city. All he said was:
"There's still time to take action now, but you must be prepared and take shelter and other emergency precautions immediately."
-------------------

Apparently the city govt is supposed to be on a WHOLE DIFFERENT PAGE from the FEMA head who is ostensibly in charge of coordinating it all.

Here's a BBC story from the early days with a telling quote from Mike Brown on evacuating. Will you please STFU about the buses now? FEMA had responsibility for coordinating, and didn't do it.

http://tinyurl.com/djfet

Mr Brown even told the Associated Press news agency that the evacuation had gone well. "I was impressed with the evacuation, once it was ordered it was very smooth," he said.

Yet on Saturday 28 August, the day before the evacuation was ordered, Mr Brown did not say that people should leave the city. All he said was:
"There's still time to take action now, but you must be prepared and take shelter and other emergency precautions immediately."
-------------------

And I suppose it never has occurred to anybody that even the best plans and preparations can be ovrewhelmed in a crisis by the sheer size of the crisis.

Nah, it's just easier to blame Bush.

Dave in Texas still doesn't get it.

Active troops is the LAST resort. It would have been terrible for Blanco to see it as her FIRST resort.

Second, you don't understand the chain of responsibility in the National REsponse Plan.

Third, the federal role was defined primarily by obstructing, delaying, and confusing. Why did it take till Thursday for Feds to approve request for the Natl Guard offered by New Mexico, for example? It sure looks like they wanted to force Blanco into asking for the worst possible scenario: deployment of active troops under fed control, but in any case the FEDs saw their role as adversarial, not one of coordinating WITH state govt. Disastrous.

And geoff, I almost totally agree with you about Nagin and the buses. Point of disagreement is the role of FEMA now, which I think is very clearly COORDINATING agency as of Aug. 26, according to Bush's declaration. The Feds had the responsibility to straighten out all local deficiencies, PERIOD.

"And I suppose it never has occurred to anybody that even the best plans and preparations can be ovrewhelmed in a crisis by the sheer size of the crisis.

Nah, it's just easier to blame Bush."

--------------
Or Blanco. Or Nagin.

One key difference is that Bush was -- according to WH accounts -- not 'engaged' till Thursday. He hadn't seen the TV coverage till a staffer made a DVD selection for him. If you look at the timelines, Bush made no calls to Blanco (vs. 3 to Haley Barbour), and was more concerned with jailing immigrants than with Katrina (urgent talk with Chertoff).

Blanco and Nagin were at least INVOLVED.

Also, you can blame the voters for Blanco and Nagin, but you can only blame Bush for putting in Brown and letting FIVE of the top EIGHT officials at FEMA be unqualified hacks. The reason it keeps coming back to Bush is that people want to hear that he will no longer leave security and other key posts up to unqualified political appointees. So far, zip.

I'm all for a real review of the kind geoff suggests.

Tubino thinks he's got a "smoking gun" based on the PRESS RELEASE that uses the word "coordinate" without actually reading Title V of the Stafford Act... Nice try, buddy, but that debating technique only works in grade school.

JFH,

Good point. BTW, ask tubby about the $8.8 billion Chimpy McBushitler's Halliburton pals stole to give to the robber barons of the oil industry.

JFH shows how pre-9-11 he is: "Tubino thinks he's got a "smoking gun" based on the PRESS RELEASE that uses the word "coordinate" without actually reading Title V of the Stafford Act."

The law of the land is the National Response Plan, accepted Dec. 2004. When you get to the part about Incident of National Significance, let me know.

All of which I mentioned above.

BrewFan shows how much he likes to give away his tax money without accountability: "Good point. BTW, ask tubby about the $8.8 billion Chimpy McBushitler's Halliburton pals stole to give to the robber barons of the oil industry. "

BrewFan, how's that investigation coming along? Got a link that explains the outcome?

What about the other documented overcharges by Halliburton?

Why was Bunnatine Greenhouse demoted?

Do you REALLY want to open the can of corruption? Really?

Do you have any idea what is coming out about corruption and waste from Iraq?

Active troops is the LAST resort. It would have been terrible for Blanco to see it as her FIRST resort.

He still needs her consent, or has to invoke the Insurrection Act, to assume control of the LA guard.

Now, if you want to argue there's a hole between the NRP and Posse Comitatus, fine. Bush made that argument last night. But waving the NRP strawman around doesn't trump legal chain of command.

tubby, don't try and change the subject. You asserted $8.8 billion has been stolen. geoff gave you a link refuting that. What part of Bowen's testimony in June are you having problems comprehending? Admit you were wrong and we'll move on to the next talking point and debunk that one also.

Will you please STFU about the buses now?

As I recall, *you* brought up the buses in response to a quotation by one of the interviewees. Historically, FEMA has had little to do with evacuations - that's been the responsibility of local and state authorities. The 8/27 directive says:

The funding and direct federal assistance will assist law enforcement with evacuations, ...

So FEMA role was to assist the evacuation, not take it over (talk about another prospecive federal vs. state tussle). I looked up the NRP fact sheet - note the following excerpt:

Emphasis on Local Response

* The Plan identifies police, fire, public health and medical, emergency management, and other personnel as responsible for incident management at the local level.
* The Plan enables incident response to be handled at the lowest possible organizational and jurisdictional level.
* The Plan ensures the seamless integration of the federal government when an incident exceeds local or state capabilities.

The reason it keeps coming back to Bush...

...is because without tying all this back to Bush, the left would lose interest in this story overnight.

Tubino:

Also, you can blame the voters for Blanco and Nagin, but you can only blame Bush for putting in Brown and letting FIVE of the top EIGHT officials at FEMA be unqualified hacks. The reason it keeps coming back to Bush is that people want to hear that he will no longer leave security and other key posts up to unqualified political appointees.

While I agree with you that FEMA should not be under the leadership of or staffed by those who are strictly political appointees who don't possess the necessary qualifications for the job (hell, no government agency should be, but let's be realistic) do you have any kind of support as far your "5 of 8" claim goes; comparisons of their qualifications to those of prior FEMA leadership, background, hiring recommendations, etc?

Turbino,

Are you saying the NRP supersedes the Stafford Act? If so why was the Stafford Act and not the NRP referenced in the press release.

You remember President Bush. He's the one that doesn't look at the polls to govern.
(LOL)

Ah cripes, did I forget to close the first blockquote above? Oh well, if anybody cares I'll try to clarify it.

JFH: The NRP is the new over-arching plan, and it references the Stafford Act. It has the exact language on how the invocation of the Staff Act sets in motion events in an Incident of Natl Significance.

Really, it seems a pretty good solution. Too bad it wasn't followed.

Instead, Bush is claiming a need for MORE AUTHORITY. For Dave in Texas, Josh Marshall nails it here:

----------
Then there's the president's great line from the speech: "It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces."

No, it's not. Actually, every actual fact that's surfaced in the last two weeks points to just the opposite conclusion. There was no lack of federal authority to handle the situation. There was faulty organization, poor coordination and incompetence.

Show me the instance where the federal government was prevented from doing anything that needed to be done because it lacked the requisite authority.

This is like what we were talking about a few days ago. This is how repressive governments operate -- mixing inefficiency with authoritarian tendencies.

You don't repair disorganized or incompetent government by granting it more power. You fix it by making it more organized and more competent. If conservatism can't grasp that point, what is it good for?
---------------------

This whole smokescreen that the poor feds didn't have enough authority is more than blame-shifting. It's the setup for declaring a NEED for MORE AUTHORITY, now involving the military.

And that's enough for me to say it is DANGEROUS. There are GOOD REASONS why our system of govt has always imposed strict regs on exec authority and use of the military. How many lousy regimes do you need to see to realize we do NOT want that here?

geoff, the operative sentence is:

"* The Plan ensures the seamless integration of the federal government when an incident exceeds local or state capabilities."

Would you say that there was a seamless integration of the federal government?

I would not. The truly sad thing is that the integration was in fact BETTER yes BETTER, BEFORE the NRP. And that's about leadership and competence, not legal obstacles. Here's what I'm talking about (http://tinyurl.com/aedyw):
--------------
On Aug. 28 -- the day before Katrina made landfall -- Blanco followed her declaration with an official letter (PDF) to Bush that requested all manner of emergency supplies her state would need for the aftermath.

Haddow [deputy chief of staff at FEMA under Witt] says that these requests should have been enough -- more than enough -- to prompt a full-scale federal response. Under the Clinton administration's FEMA, with Witt as the head, a storm of Katrina's magnitude would have prompted federal and state officials to actually meet in order to coordinate their response. "You were all working together to anticipate needs," Haddow says. "You're all sitting in the same room when the things happened -- the Midwest flood, the Northridge quake, the Oklahoma City bombing and all the disasters we responded to. We were in the same room together and nobody had to point fingers."

Close coordination with state officials was key to the Clinton administration's capacity to act quickly in the heat of a disaster, Haddow says. "We had a really solid partnership, so we received solid, timely information from the ground. Then we managed that information and turned it into a mission assignment." In other words, when people on the ground needed something, they knew who in the federal government to ask, and when the federal government had extra resources at the ready -- cops from Chicago, say, or water from Wal-Mart -- it would know where to send them. Contrast that situation to what happened after Katrina, when both Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security, and Michael Brown, the FEMA director, admitted to several reporters that they had no idea that people were starving at the New Orleans Convention Center, even though the grim scene there had been played and replayed on television all day.

The Bush administration's distance from local disaster-relief officials is by design. From the moment Bush stepped into office, he's been determined to move away from the coordinated state/local/federal disaster-relief approach used by Clinton.
--------------------------

BrewFan: so let me get this straight. An audit turns out that $8.8billion is not properly accounted for, due to mismanagement, bad management, and we have testimony of duffle bags of cash being distributed to contractors without receipt.

And you want to discuss the meaning of "looting"? You want to say it depends on what the meaning of "stolen" is?

Have I got this straight? I just want to make sure I understand the conservative view of good government. Because you seem to be saying you're basically okay with it, as is.

Is that right? As a taxpayer, you're satisfied with the situation as is?

The NRP has ultra-superconstitutional powers, including xray vision and can fly faster-than-light. NRP is the newest member of the Justice League, however it's a non-voting member for 2 years, and does not have a reserved parking space.

In a contest between Superman and the NRP, the NRP would easily have the upper hand, not being susceptible to kryptonite. However in a fight between Aquaman and the NRP, Aquaman would prevail, provided he could convice Neptune the sea-God to whip up another cat-5 hurricane.

In some parts of the American political left, the NRP is worshipped as a deity. Offerings typically consist of burning incense and strawmen, and repeated, almost-hypnotic chanting of "NRP". Worshippers in this trandescent state are nearly catatonic, and unable to engage in meaningful dialogue or process factual information.

Tubino:

Once again you're misinterpreting the $8.8billion situation. They said that it had not been tracked using the proper procedures, not that it had been lost or stolen. The primary complaint seems to be that they used a simple ledger for the funds, rather than double entry bookkeeping. The money is not missing, unaccounted for, stolen, lost, or anything like that.

Tubino:

Would you say that there was a seamless integration of the federal government?

Again, I'll repeat in a redundant and reiterating sort of repetitive fashion - the federal government is not blameless, and I would welcome a post-mortem on the relief effort. But the local and state governments should get plenty of blame as well. Bush, too, should probably get some, though nowhere near to the degree that you would like.

As far as FEMA's cooperation: the Bush administration was in place during the past five years, and every disaster that occured during those years was handled by Bush's FEMA. They handled Hurricane Dennis, the Katrina situations in other coastal states and earlier flooding disasters in 19 states - this year alone. It is when they encountered the inept, corrupt local and state governments, combined with an unparalleled disaster in an area with limited access, that they have had these complaints.

Finally, note that Bush had been pushing for localization of the responsibility for disaster relief. Louisiana doesn't seem to have recognized this.

tubby,

I can't say it any better then geoff so I won't. Admit you're wrong and come over to the dark side.

I'm spent on this subject: Tubino, last word's yours if you want it.

geoff, you're an eminently reasonable guy. You point out: "They handled Hurricane Dennis, the Katrina situations in other coastal states and earlier flooding disasters in 19 states - this year alone. It is when they encountered the inept, corrupt local and state governments, combined with an unparalleled disaster in an area with limited access, that they have had these complaints."

Correlation is not always causation. Louisiana is also very poor as states go. Bush made MUCH more of an effort to coordinate in MS with Barbour, and zero with Blanco, though LA was obviously the more serious case. Why?

You're right about the vast difference in dealing with Florida's hurricanes, in an election year. Very very big differences in the resources pre-positioned, the funding available right after. The more one looks into it, the more striking the difference.

As far as I can see, none of you can respond to the quote in the BBC story, where the head of FEMA is quoted about how well and smoothly the evacuation went -- before his whole story changed.

That doesn't mean he was RIGHT the first time, but it sure as hell shows that FEMA was either just as wrong/incompetent as Nagin, or was setting up a disaster.

You are both amazingly willing to discount a mountain of evidence on the word of Bowen. I'll look into it. But why are they still doing things like demoting Bunnatine Greenhouse? Google her, with a name like that you can't miss.

Holy s***, you guys are FULL OF IT.

What do you think Bowen's report says? "The report says that on one payroll, for example, only 602 of the 8,206 names could be confirmed, with no paper trail existing for the rest of the cash. "

ON and on. And you can read that and then claim, "The money is not missing, unaccounted for, stolen, lost, or anything like that"????? What do you think UNACCOUNTED FOR looks like???

Man oh man I'd sure like to have YOU guys checking on MY work. Oh yeah, I'll be watching YOUR claims from now on!

Holy s***, you guys are FULL OF IT.

It's okay. You can use the 's' word around us.

No one will be offended.

Well, maybe Michael. He's sensitive.

Here's the relevant Bowen quote again:

This audit addressed $8.8 billion in Iraqi funds overseen by the CPA. The number attracted a lot of attention and led to some misunderstanding. To be clear: our audit report did not say that the DFI was “lost taxpayer money,” nor did we allege or imply that U.S. officials had engaged in any fraudulent practices. Here’s what our January 30, 2005 audit report said: • the Coalition Provisional Authority provided less than adequate controls for approximately $8.8 billion in DFI funds provided to Iraqi ministries through the national budget process; • specifically, the CPA did not establish or implement sufficient managerial, financial, and contractual controls to ensure DFI funds were used in a transparent manner; • and, consequently, there was no assurance that funds were used for the purposes mandated by [United Nations Security Council] Resolution 1483.

So what is the problem? A bit later:

After many months of careful interviews and scrutiny of the documentation available, my auditors concluded that there were not adequate systems in place to ensure that the CPA knew what happened to the DFI funds after they were disbursed to the Iraqi ministries.

The CPA should have established controls and provided oversight over the financial management of the DFI funds precisely because there was no functioning Iraqi government, no experience within the Ministry of Finance in managing the national budget, no budget or personnel records, and the payroll systems were corrupted by cronyism and ad hoc fixes.

Note that this complaint is made concerning DFI money, not US aid dollars. And note that their real concern is not that the money was improperly allocated, but that after it was handed to the Iraq ministries, it may not have been used for the designated humanitarian purposes.

Okay, I finally got a few minutes to go back over this CPA stuff. It is UGLY. See, the $8.8 BILLION was not the first major discrepancy. Some had claimed much bigger problems:

"Last June, the British charity Christian Aid said that at least 20 billion dollars in oil revenues and other Iraqi funds intended to rebuild the country had disappeared from banks administered by the CPA."

But sticking to the money allocated very very quickly by the CPA in its last months, keep in mind that the CPA obligated the hapless in-the-womb Iraqi govt with obligations to pay all kinds of exorbitant contracts. Just about one week ago, the airport at Baghdad shut down for a day as a result of the Iraqi govt not paying the extremely high salaries of the US company contracted by the CPA to guard the airport. The Iraqis, arguing that maybe sovereignty gave them some say in the contracts, wanted to pay Iraqis a lot less money to do the same work. Nope, sorry, a deal is a deal, even if it's the rotten one the CPA stuck you with.

This was reported in the Guardian and in some US papers, just about one week ago. I remember that the $ amounts seemed absurdly high, though I admit there is probably a lot of risk involved.

So then people wonder why those Iraqis are not a little nicer to us, even though the Bush admin's manuevering was designed for a long-term bleeding that far exceeds the $$$ in the UN oil-for-food scandal.

And that's just ONE STORY out of money. Oops I mean out of many.

Is it theft? Looting? Or just what is due a conquering imperial occupier? The full story of the longterm screwing of Iraq by Bremer and the CPA has yet to be written, AFAIK, but you barely get glimpses in the US MSM. Much more visible in the British press, for example. I quoted that story with all the Jay Garner quotes addressing it, but not one here had the guts to even acknowledge it. All BrewFan could focus on was the $8.8 billion, as if I didn't give him a few hundred words on the topic, completely unrelated to the $8.8B.

Another day.

Why the above relates to Katrina, in case anyone is still reading this...

Iraq was the blueprint, and now there's New Orleans.

If the model is followed, federal authority in spending will ensure that most of the money goes NOT to the local economy, but to large corporations paying peanuts wages to locals, or high salaries to their own. The hyperquick suspension of Davis-Bacon (protecting profits so quickly it makes your head spin, after taking a week to gather the dead) shows the way.

Putting Karl Rove in charge of it all lets you know the real disaster to recover from is Bush's falling poll numbers. It will be ugly.

Meet your regional FEMA director:

http://tinyurl.com/dyh52

Feel better now?

tubino= Hitler's enema

tubino = tub girl?

Tubino is mad
And not in an angry way
He's just plain crazy

wOOt!

Tubina (if you know Spanish, this misspelling is a joke) can't pass a Turing test, so attributing any sort of human traits would be an error.

It is just an auto-posting A(not so)I.

Here I come to save the daaaaay

All you NRP fans can take heart from this story. It's, ah, just a LITTLE more important than the buses. It also shows that Bush appoints people who don't know their jobs, and can't perform them anyway. (BTW, how many of you know that Karl Rove is now in charge of the $200b plan?)
---------------------
With the spotlight now on Chertoff, officials at the Department of Homeland Security this week have begun issuing new versions of events surrounding his role in the botched federal response to Katrina.

What they are saying this week contradicts many of their previous statements and actions.

Knocke said Thursday that Chertoff's Aug. 30 memo, first obtained by Knight Ridder, created "an administrative paper trail" for an incident of national significance. He said that the department had been acting "under the auspices of an incident of national significance" since President Bush issued an emergency declaration on Aug. 27, the Saturday before the storm.

But the National Response Plan says that it's the Secretary of Homeland Security who designates an event an incident of national significance. When asked if Chertoff had made the designation earlier than Aug. 30, Knocke refused to answer the question directly.

After Chertoff made the designation in his Aug. 30 memo, federal troops began to file into New Orleans, bringing much-needed supplies to residents. But many people remained stranded on their rooftops seeking help from passing helicopters and boats.
----------------
Read it all here:
http://tinyurl.com/dqwq5

Spot the loopholes in Bowen's quote:

"be clear: our audit report did not say that the DFI was “lost taxpayer money,” nor did we allege or imply that U.S. officials had engaged in any fraudulent practices."

Right. It was IRAQI funding, not taxpayer money. Smokescreen. That doesn't make it right, just because the funding was from Iraqi assets.

No, no allegation or implication that US OFFICIALS had engaged...

The allegations and implications are that PRIVATE CONTRACTORS claimed much higher compensation than could be justified (ghost payrolls), and no bidding process, plus bidding was restricted to US firms.

Another CYA smokescreen.

This is very similar to lot of the stuff Rumsfeld said after Abu Gharaib photos. Words to the effect that "no enlisted personnel engaged in or directed others to torture blah blah blah."

Uh, Don, what about the PRIVATE CONTRACTORS???

But again, geoff and BrewFan choose only to look at one story. They do NOT look at the bigger picture of what Bremer and the CPA did longterm to Iraqi assets and contracting. Sure, it survives an AUDIT, but it doesn't pass the smell test.

But hey, if you guys liked it in Iraq, you'll LOVE IT here in the US, with Rove in charge of NOLA reconstruction!

One more time, on the topic of this post on Katrina: Karl Rove is in charge.

And here's why we can expect more smokescreens from the Bowens who are charged with oversight: Rove can get them fired. Read this one:

http://tinyurl.com/djrpz

You've been warned.

wherever evil lurks, I will be there, defending freedom, and fighting for justice

More on how CPA-style accounting is a screw job, without vaseline.

As geoff inadvertently points out, the CPA was given the responsibility not only to allocate US tax dollars, but also Iraqi funds. What geoff is probably unaware of is that the CPA gave huge contracts to US firms like KBR, who then subcontract, and hire large crews from SE Asia (rather than Iraqis) and pay very low wages. Well, maybe at least some of those low wages went into the local economy, for food, lodging, etc.? NO. The subcontractors also got to provide accomodations, food, everything, for the displaced crews.

Now how does that look to an Iraqi? It's YOUR MONEY, going to big US firms and SE asians. Iraq is being bled by the so-called liberators.

Is it theft? Looting? Oh no, say BrewFan and geoff --let's be civil here! It was all legal and approved!

The right use of Iraqi assets would have been to pay for reconstruction in a way that would have aided Iraq's economy too. Bremer replaced Garner in order to carry out the actual horrible agenda.

I gave you the info before, but BrewFan ignored it.

Ah what you don't learn in the MSM...

"Sure, it survives an AUDIT, but it doesn't pass the smell test."

That's a funny one.

tubby,

1) I will not click on a tinyurl link. I like to know where I'm going. Use this html to put a link up;

<a href="www.urlhere.com">SomeText</a>

2)You're still wrong about the $8.8 billion. Get over it already.

tubino = the new cedarford

minus the jew part

I guess you all are ready for the rest of the story -- the part BrewFan doesn't want spread around.
--------------------
Then, when the shipment date changed, officials had to scramble to line up U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo planes to hold the money. They did, and the $2,401,600,000 was delivered to Baghdad on June 22, 2004.

It was the largest one-time cash transfer in the history of the New York Fed.
Disclosure of the frantic transfer in the final days of U.S. control over Iraq came during a daylong hearing Tuesday that indicated growing worry from Congress over U.S. oversight of spending in Iraq.

Both Republicans and Democrats appeared taken aback by the volume of cash sent to Iraq: nearly $12 billion over the course of the U.S. occupation from March 2003 to June 2004, said a report by Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), who had reviewed e-mails and documents subpoenaed from the bank.

The cash — a total of 363 tons, generated mostly from oil revenues — was Iraqi funds that had been held in trust by the Federal Reserve under the terms of a United Nations resolution.

Bowen's office has referred three criminal cases to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the past two weeks for misuse of funds. Bowen declined to provide details at the hearing. In one e-mail released in Waxman's report with the subject line "Pocket Change," a CPA official stressed the need to get money flowing fast before the handover. Rep. Stephen Lynch (news, bio, voting record) of Massachusetts, a Democrat, questioned why so much money had to be transferred so fast. Senior defense official Joseph Benkert said an infusion of funds was needed to address a wide variety of needs before the new Iraqi government took over. Part of the challenge in tracking how money was spent was the cash environment and lack of electronic transfers. Contractors were told to turn up with big duffel bags to pick up their payments and some were paid from the back of pick-up trucks. One picture shows grinning CPA officials standing in front of a pile of cash said to be worth $2 million to be paid to a security contractor.

----------------

This all came out ONLY because of Waxman digging it out, but now the testimony is part of the Congressional Record, I suppose. Lots came out only last month (Aug 05).

Keep in mind that there was a FRANTIC RUSH to get the CASH (Iraqi assets) from NYC to Iraq so the CPA could "distribute" it before turning over sovereignty.

BrewFan points out helpfully, that technically, legally, it wasn't really STEALING or LOOTING. Just a little sloppy accounting, that's all.

Read the PDF report, which cites the emails etc. It's 25 pages with title page etc. Includes lots of graphs and charts, and swell photos of guys standing by $2M in cash.

Iraq is being bled by the so-called liberators.

This is outstanding news!

If I'm going to be an "imperialist" I damn well want to get some concrete exploitation out of the deal.

Its good to know the neocons can actually deliver the promised goods.

Tony rejoices: "If I'm going to be an "imperialist" I damn well want to get some concrete exploitation out of the deal."

What makes you think YOU get anything out of it? You and I are stuck with the credit card bills for this and the NOLA reconstruction! The DFI funds sucked up above are still small potatoes compared to the US taxpayer portion. Iraq Revenue Watch has some info on that.

We're all Iraqis now. We get to applaud while a ruling elite sucks up our assets to distribute among their friends. Loyalty is rewarded, criticism is punished. Enjoy!

What makes you think YOU get anything out of it?

I've already been paid in full. The irritation to moonbats like you is more than enough satisfaction to last me a lifetime.

It would be a bargain at twice the price.

Tony proudly bends over and grabs his ankles thusly: "I've already been paid in full. The irritation to moonbats like you is more than enough satisfaction to last me a lifetime."

Well there you have it. Apparently federal fiscal irresponsibility and massive govt corruption is not only acceptable, it's DESIRABLE to the real Bushistas.

The only problem, Tony, is that the massive DEBT that YOUR gang is running up will be crippling the country that our kids will grow up in. And that's worth it to you for the perverted pleasure you get from the pain of those who hate to see the US turned into a third world country?

Wow. That's really really twisted. Here's a nice cartoon for you to work on.

After that, you can think about how many US soldiers are facing much worse circumstances in Iraq due to the resistance to US theft of Iraqi assets. They are being asked to enforce a power structure that is corrupt and greed-driven. I guess that will drive you wild with pleasure, you sick POS.

I guess it really matters if you put the url in " " . Another attempt:

Here's a nice cartoon for you to work on.

OOPS it was 'smart' quotes. Last try:

Here's a nice cartoon for you to work on.

nrp!

anybody here?

Apparently federal fiscal irresponsibility and massive govt corruption is not only acceptable, it's DESIRABLE to the real Bushistas

Umm, I didn't vote for Bush. Badnarik was my man.

I am intelligent enough to recognize corruption and irresponsibility as being part of the human condition for at least the past 5,000 years of recorded human history.

I'm also pragmatic enough to realize there is little in anyone's arsenal of political weapons that will ever change this.

Times change, people don't.

Tony defends his defense of the indefensible with this twist: "I'm also pragmatic enough to realize there is little in anyone's arsenal of political weapons that will ever change this. "

I guess that whole democracy experiment is a failure for you, huh? I'm guessing you are completely ignorant of the brilliant efforts by Jefferson and the others to create a country in which checks and balances would keep corruption and govt irresponsibility to a minimum. I'm guessing you are also completely ignorant of the notion of civic responsibility that entails, also made clear by the founding fathers.

Even that doesn't explain why you CHEER for ever-greater examples of corruption. You say it pleases you, because of how it bothers others with a civic conscience and sense of history.

Why do you hate America so?

People who are so willing to trade the core values of this country for a perceived short-term partisan gain DiSGUST me. People like you have gotten the upper hand in a democracy before -- and if you know any history you know the results.

"But, the 1960 debt he held up as "smaller" was 56.1% of our national income. As seen below Bush II has imitated Reagan and turned the debt upward once again. The White House, in OMB's 2006 Budget, predicted a 47 year high in 2006."

See the graph, read the story based on White House data. Do it for your kids!

Here's how Katrina reconstruction is going to work:

1. White House authorizes up to 200 billion in rebuilding aid.

2. White House gives lion's share of aid funds to KBR, Halliburton, Bechtel, et al., who will coordinate the construction efforts with these no-bid contracts.

3. White House exempts said corporations from minimum wage law.

4. Said big guys estimate the cost of rebuilding a given home in a given neighborhood at maybe $130,000. They purchase substandard materials from their own corporate umbrella, pocketing that profit. They charge the government $60/hour in labor and pay local builders $10 or less, pocketing the $50 difference as a pass-through, administrative expense.

5. Said big corporations favor their own construction firms, only doling out as little as possible to local NOLA companies, satisfying a mandate to use local resources to the minimum degree.

You get the idea. So far, everything I'm seeing indicates that not only is this apparently the official plan, but in fact its even worse of a picture than I'm painting. It doesn't have to be this way, but yes, it's corporate welfare and we get stuck with the debt burden. Gracias, Senor Bush!

2. White House gives lion's share of aid funds to KBR, Halliburton, Bechtel, et al., who will coordinate the construction efforts with these no-bid contracts.

And, once again, it all comes back to Halliburton.

It's like an all-purpose liberal template to cast doubt on the administration's motives. Too bad Enron went under, huh? They really were a much better villain.