Katrina

Liberal Blogs for Hurricane Relief is a great place to donate money to help the people devastated by Katrina.

I can't watch the news. I get too upset. I've been reading what other bloggers have said about the mess Bush has made of this disaster due to his usual lack of action. He took the time to pose in a photo-op playing a guitar! I've known since he was appointed that he was no leader, but his lazy, unconcerned way of handling this disaster has only shown me how sadly and infuriatingly right I am. Because so many of our troops are busy fighting in Iraq, we don't have enough people on hand to help survivors get out of the flooded areas. I've read about the potential for disease - cholera, dengue fever, West Nile virus. It's very hot down there, and people have no drinkable water. No electricity. When is Bush going to get off his privileged ass and do something?

I've also read how black people who go into flooded stores to get food, baby food, diapers, shoes, soft drinks, and water are described as "looters", but white people who do the same merely "find" things. I'm very angered by the way race has played out in discussions and coverage of the aftermath of the hurricane.

It seems that Bush is more concerned with oil wells than the people who are caught up in this disaster. Gas prices are rising again. I hope that his less-than-stellar performance in taking action to deal with the hurricane aftermath finally wakes up Americans so that they can see what an ass he really is. His speech about the hurricane was the worst thing he has ever said. Gee, he's going to "tour" the region hit by the hurricane. What a leader! He and his economic advisers view the impact of Hurricane Katrina as a "temporary disruption".

Gee, I'm so sorry he had to interrupt his vacation to deal with the hurricane.

Congress provided a $10.5 billion down payment in relief aid for Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina. I'm glad to hear it. However, "Bush-administration policy changes and budget cuts[...] are sapping FEMA's ability to cushion the blow of hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires and other natural disasters. [...] Post-disaster mitigation efforts, specialists say, are a crucial way of minimizing future losses. It's after a disaster strikes, they argue, that officials and storm victims are most receptive to change. Yet in 2003, the White House cut FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program in half. Bush administration officials have said the new formula puts more of the burden on state governments, where it belongs. But now more than ever, cash-strapped states cannot afford to pick up the tab. "The federal focus on terrorism preparedness has left states with an increased responsibility to provide support for natural disasters and emergencies," noted a report released by the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) last summer. "State budget shortfalls have given emergency management programs less to work with at a time when more is expected of them." The administration also argues that its new pre-disaster mitigation grants, which are awarded on a competitive basis, will help states pick up the slack. But in recent congressional testimony, a NEMA representative noted that "in a purely competitive grant program, lower income communities, those most often at risk to natural disaster, will not effectively compete with more prosperous cities."

Bush cut funding to FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. He focuses on the disaster he created in Iraq, and there are so many troops over there fighting a bogus war for oil and Bush cronie contracts that there aren't enough resources to help with the hurricane aftermath. This administration is showing itself for the disaster it really is.

Well, that's my rant for the day. I'm glad I got that out.