Hank,

You'll never balance the budget or pay off the debt with that approach. I think pluralism is so deeply entrenched that it is incapable of deciding that some cows are more sacred than others. Which is why I think partisanship has become so extreme and unable to compromise. We may need a benevolent Czar or dictator.

This is why sequestration might work. Each side gets to gore the other's ox, [Bleeeeep!] for tat, until there are no oxen left to be gored. Of course the nation won't function, but at least we'll have a balanced budget.

Sg

Yeah, 'cuz defunding FEMA and distributing their money to the states, and hopefully after that making sure it all ends up in the hands of private contractors without any of that pesky government oversight, doesn't count as abolishing FEMA.

Fish on...

Todd

Was Todd critical of Fema or just Bush when Katrina help was so slow?

Bitch about private enterprise, but I guarantee, either walmart or any of the large trucking companies could deliver all sorts of goods and food within 36 hours. Most airfreight is run by 2 driver trucks, that only stop for piss, food and fuel. It takes about 23-25 hours for a team to drive from Seattle to LA 1150 miles at 50 mph average. Add a couple hours for food and fuel.

Between police, national guard and private security and (military if they changed the laws), there is no need for a homeowner to try and guard his home while starving, freezing and standing in line for 10 bucks of fuel.
They would then have the opportunity to get a motel, while looking for an apartment somewhere. Its took new york to begin using fuel trucks about 4-5 days to dispense fuel. Thats a no brainer. I know a guy who delivered water to homes for lawns, by tanker, during one of our summers in seattle.

They wont be moving back in for 3-6 months or more and thats if they are not burdened by the costs of red tape and permits to do the demolition, which for most homes is under 10,000. Container hauling on Roll off trucks is about 100 dollars a ton here. So figure triple that for most homeowners tossing their possessions.

They dont need to solicit help from seattle to get all the demolition done. Its takes about 2-3 days on site for each home. All you have is dirt. Plenty of contractors can hire the right people to get it done.

The biggest issue is how to get them paid. So dont wait until the day of the storm and in a week, the reporters will go home.

Is it FEMA's job to handle unnatural disasters?...just asking

Why didn't BP just clean it all up themselves?

I imagine there would be a FEMA response to most federally declared emergencies. Don't know if they automatically get involved with every state declared emergency. Did they respond to the Exxon Valdez spill? I know, lazy scholarship on my part...

The first part is just fundamentally flawed in accuracy. The money isnt going to change. The states can come up with their own recovery plans for the various type of Disasters. I believe Washington did it for the Green River and they did it for earthquakes and storm. The Feds dont need to write a massive check to each coastal state and have the money siting around, while we pay interest on it.

I suspect, like many other govt jobs. Fema is probably "FULL" of patronage positions. If we are going to have FEMA, then it needs to be staffed with professionals that are not subject to politics. Given that we dont have a monthly need for FEMA, there is no need for massive numbers of employees, like trucks and truck drivers when the private sector is available 24 hours a day. Electrical workers traveling state to state and fire fighters going from state to state are the basis, for this type of work. They just need professsional experience managers, to be on site The day of the disaster and coordinating with local and state officials and vendors. I dont care if they stay in a 200 dollar a night room with hookers, but the need to be there until the job is done. They can trade out every two weeks or so, if needed, but they should not leave.