archived: 18 - 24 Sep, 2005 Back Next
UPDATED: September 20, 2005
PROOF
Mike Brown, former head of FEMA, founded his resignation in honorable terms:
"I think it's in the best interest of the agency and the best interest of the president to do that and get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead of me," he said. – Washington Post
As a “Roman commander,” Brown’s resignation was symbolically throwing himself on his own sword. It was a symbolic acceptable of blame for the failures of FEMA during Katrina and to absolve the President.
The truth is far different. The Republican Party bears responsibility for FEMA’s failures in the face and aftermath of Katrina. Here is the proof.
The Association of State Flood Plain Managers (ASFPM) addressed a letter to Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives, on January 6, 2005. ASFPM forthrightly warned Speaker Hastert that FEMA’s ability to combat natural disasters was being threatened by Republican policy.
FEMA, since its creation, had matured into an organization that became recognized for effectiveness in carrying out its mission – preparing for, responding to, recovering from, and mitigating against all hazards. Natural disasters are the most frequent and, cumulatively, most costly disasters, including terrorist events. . . . After the terrorist attacks on September 11th and FEMA’s inclusion into the Department of Homeland Security, this began to change.
The ASFPM has been concerned from the beginning that inclusion of FEMA in DHS might not bode well for the progress the nation has made in reducing the nation’s risk to natural hazards. We fully recognize the need for our national emphasis on terrorism; however, the effectiveness of natural hazards programs and the all-hazards concept must not be sacrificed in the process. Due to the sheer number magnitude of impact of natural disasters, FEMA's work is more heavily focused on these events.
. . .
Since FEMA has become part of the Department of Homeland Security, it has been a struggle. Funds have been raided, staff have been transferred into other DHS functions without being replaced, slowdowns because of added layers of bureaucracy for nearly all functions have dramatically increased, and there is the constant threat of reprogramming appropriated funds. Strongly felt worries about such matters led the ASFPM Board of Directors, in August 2004, to pass a resolution recognizing FEMA’s accomplishments and its challenges. The resolution calls for FEMA to be removed from the Department of Homeland Security and for its ability to report directly to the President to be restored.
ASFPM’s warnings were unheeded by the Republican administration – New Orleans paid the price of Republican values and policy.
TPJ views Katrina from two additional perspectives today. Junkie Editor Michael Carmichael makes the case in his section of TPJ that Katrina may represent the demise of power of the Republican neoconservative movement. Jay Greene, a frequent contributor to TPJ, makes the case in JUNKIES SPEAK that Republican policy failures surrounding Katrina may fade opaquely into history.
Two fascinating and imperative perspectives. Which one will Democrats choose?_____________________________________________
WHAT CAN ONE PERSON DO?
March next Saturday.
An "End the War on Iraq" peace march and rally in Washington, DC is being organized by United for Peace and Justice. Public polling indicates that a strong majority of Americans want troop reductions or troops out of Iraq. Current attitudes represent a dramatic shift in public opinion from just two years ago.
That shift has happened only because citizens have made the case against the war. A massive march in Washington next Saturday could be the act that forces the Republican leadership to define a plan to exit Iraq. Turn out is critical.
Transportation is being organized around the country. Just click here for all the details:
FISCALLY REPUBLICAN
"There has never been a time where there is more total spending and more wasteful spending in Washington than we have today,"
-- Pat Toomey, Former
Republican congressman
Head of the conservative Club for Growth
Americans can thank Bush’s Republican Party for that achievement. Republican mismanagement of the economy continues at every turn. Consider these developments:
While Republicans touted a 19% drop in the Federal deficit this year, US Comptroller General David M. Walker stated, "Don't be deceived[.] We face large and growing structural deficits in the long term that are getting worse every day, and it's time that we start to address them." – Washington Post
The independent Congressional Budget Office analyzed Bush’s economic plan and reached these conclusions: “that the $331 billion budget deficit projected for the current budget year would rise to $370 billion by 2009, the year Bush has promised to cut the deficit to at least $260 billion. Bush promised to cut the deficit in half from a projection in February 2004 of a $521 billion deficit for 2009. By 2015, the deficit would hit $640 billion under CBO's study.” – Associated Press
_______
The trade deficit already is
running at an annual rate of $693 billion, up 12% from last year's already
dismal figure. That's equal to roughly 6% of total U.S. economic output —
near levels that triggered financial crises in Mexico in 1994 and Southeast Asia
in 1997. . . .
The resulting deficit is putting additional downward pressure on the dollar,
which already has fallen roughly 25% against major currencies the past two
years.
Likewise, the most politically potent aspect of the trade data — the yawning gap
in trade with China — continued to worsen. Imports from China in July exceeded
sales of American goods to China by $17.7 billion. So far this year, the deficit
with China is running 29% above last year's $162 billion. . . .
For every $6 in imports from China, the U.S. sells $1 worth of goods to
China. –
USA Today
_____
Energy prices are starting to push up inflation. The latest numbers reported from “the Labor Department [reveal] consumer inflation grew by 0.5 percent in August, after a similar jump in July. Both increases were driven by surging energy prices. Economists said the September figure is likely to be worse, noting that gasoline reached its record high of more than $3 a gallon this month and other fuel prices increased as well.” – North Country Times
ROBERTS
Republicans suffered a major defection in the Roberts nomination. NYC Mayor Bloomberg:
opposed John Roberts' nomination to be U.S. Supreme Court chief justice, making him the first noted Republican to break with the Bush administration over who should lead America's top court.
Bloomberg, a former Democrat seeking re-election in a heavily Democratic city, said Roberts had failed to show a commitment to upholding the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision establishing a right to abortion.
"I am unconvinced that Judge Roberts accepts the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling as settled law," Bloomberg said.
Roberts' answers to questions in Senate confirmation hearings "did not indicate a commitment to protect a woman's right to choose," he said. "For that reason I oppose the nomination of Judge Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court." -- Breitbart
Ralph G. Neas of People for the American Way sums up Roberts presentation:
Any Supreme Court nominee should be expected to demonstrate a commitment to the constitutional and legal principles that protect Americans' rights, liberties, and legal protections.
John Roberts started his confirmation hearing with two major obstacles to overcome: a long record of advancing legal positions that would undermine protections for Americans' rights and liberties; and the White House's refusal to release information about Roberts' role as the powerful second in command at the solicitor general's office in the first Bush administration at a time when the office worked to undermine legal protections for privacy, civil rights, women's rights, and religious liberty.
Roberts had an opportunity - dozens of opportunities actually - to address both his troubling record and the lack of clarity about his role and positions on critical cases. But he chose instead to evade, mislead, and stonewall. He refused to answer over a hundred questions posed by Senators from both sides of the aisle - unacceptable obstructionism from a Chief Justice nominee. He repeatedly distanced himself from his own record by claiming to have been just doing his job - but often without telling senators what he thought then or thinks now about the positions he was advocating.
Silence is normally golden, but in the case of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, it's downright ominous - especially given his long record of using his political positions to weaken Americans' legal protections. – People For The American Way
Simply stated, Roberts’ recalcitrance should preclude his confirmation to the Supreme Court.
ANOTHER REPUBLICAN FIRST
TPJ has featured a number of radical Republican “firsts” in recent weeks. Bush’s administration is the first to have five straight rising years of those living in poverty. Bush and Republicans have reversed fifty years of declining infant mortality rates and the US is now experiencing an increasing infant mortality rate.
The Republicans have achieved a new first:
The average cost for a family health insurance policy topped $10,000 for the first time this year, although premium costs rose at their slowest rate since 2000, a closely watched survey of employers released Wednesday shows. . . .
Rising health care costs are pricing more consumers and employers out of coverage.
The Kaiser survey found three out of five employers (60%) offered coverage, down from 69% five years earlier, with most losses in small companies. Among employers with 200 or more workers, 98% offer health coverage.
Growth in health insurance costs outpaced inflation and wage growth. . . .
The Kaiser study showed premiums paid by employers increased an average of 9.2% in 2005, less than the 11.2% rise in 2004, and the lowest since 2000, when they rose 8.2%.
This year, the average annual premium for family coverage hit $10,880, with employers paying an average of 74% of that cost and workers paying the rest. Workers this year paid on average $2,713 toward family coverage, or $1,094 more than they paid five years ago, the survey found. . . .
Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, speaking at a health costs roundtable sponsored by cable channel CNBC, called on companies to offer health insurance, saying it's a "moral obligation."
Earlier, he told Washington state congressional representatives Starbucks will spend more on health insurance for employees this year than on coffee, according to the Associated Press. – USA Today
RESPONSIBILITY – REPUBLICAN STYLE
"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”
President Bush
September 1, 2005
This one statement encapsulates the incompetency of the radical Republicans. Bush, who admits he does not read newspapers, was obviously ignorant of the multiple warnings being issued in advance of Katrina as documented by the New York Times.
Senior staff within FEMA is openly discussing the warnings they repeatedly issued to Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff and former FEMA Director Brown:
Leo Bosner, an emergency management specialist at FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., is in charge of the unit that alerts officials of impending crises and manages the response. As early as Friday, Aug. 26, Bosner knew that Katrina could turn into a major emergency.
In daily e-mails -- known as National Situation Updates -- sent to Chertoff, Brown and others in the days before Katrina made landfall in the Gulf Coast, Bosner warned of its growing strength -- and of the particular danger the hurricane posed to New Orleans, much of which lies below sea level.
But Bosner says FEMA failed to organize the massive mobilization of National Guard troops and evacuation buses needed for a quick and effective relief response when Katrina struck. He says he and his colleagues at FEMA's D.C. headquarters were shocked by the lack of response.
"We could see all this going downhill," Bosner said, "but there was nothing we could do." -- NPR
Yet, the Rove/Republican spin machine is actively trying to shift the blame for the catastrophic disaster in New Orleans to environmentalists:
Federal officials appear to be seeking proof to blame the flood of New Orleans on environmental groups, documents show.
The Clarion-Ledger has obtained a copy of an internal e-mail the U.S. Department of Justice sent out this week to various U.S. attorneys' offices: "Has your district defended any cases on behalf of the (U.S.) Army Corps of Engineers against claims brought by environmental groups seeking to block or otherwise impede the Corps work on the levees protecting New Orleans? If so, please describe the case and the outcome of the litigation."
Cynthia Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department, said Thursday she couldn't comment "because it's an internal e-mail." – Clarion Ledger
Media attention on the critical administrative failures and the Republican attempt to deflect responsibility for the catastrophe mask a more fundamental reality of radical Republican philosophy for which the Republicans are not accepting responsibility:
[The United States] spent the '90s building up a projected $5 trillion surplus as a rainy-day fund. But when it came time to prepare for the rainiest day of them all, the money we had socked away was, instead, used to pay for trillions of dollars of tax cuts -- tax cuts that Americans have never wanted to supercede [sic] other pressing priorities. Here are the facts.
In 2001, Republicans passed a $1.3 trillion tax cut at the same time they pushed massive cuts to America's flood and hurricane protection programs. In 2003, President Bush pushed a $125 billion plan to eliminate taxes on stock dividends while cutting funds that his own Army Corps of Engineers said were needed to maintain flood-control infrastructure in southeast Louisiana. The next year, the White House pushed a $1 trillion plan to make the president's previous tax cuts permanent -- the same year the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that "for the first time in 37 years, federal budget cuts have all but stopped major work on the New Orleans area's east bank hurricane levees." Even this year, as the White House pushed to repeal the estate tax on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, it proposed a budget that would provide almost $300 million less than the Army Corps of Engineers said was needed to complete critical infrastructure improvements in and around New Orleans.
[T]hese tax and budget decisions happened while experts such as Bush's own Army Corps chief warned that leaving these infrastructure priorities unaddressed could lead to a disaster. – SF Gate
That is the message Democrats need to take to the people of the United States.
Last Update: 03/23/2006