I'm no Bush fan. However, I don't think the "blame" for a poorly managed response lies directly on his shoulders, either.
Many armchair critics can plainly use 20/20 hindsight to point out that we've known for at least a decade the risks involved in a Category4 or Category5 hurricane in the region - broken levys, services shutdowns and flooding. Local and national officials also had more than 72 hours lead-time prior to landfall to act on plans that should, presumably, have already been in place. Wouldn't it be nice if the next earthquake or tsunami gave so much warning?
Bush is no hero to have so blatantly and cavalierly kept his speaking engagments and schedule intact - even to the point of resting at his TX home before returning to "work" almost 24 hours after the Hurricane. His poorly-timed comments about looking forward to rebuilding Trent Lott's house and enjoying his new patio are an outstanding example of how out-of-touch the man is.
But let's be realistic. There's only so much a President can, or should be tasked with doing in the face of a natural disater like this one. I don't see the point of his mercy missions and hand-shaking and I'm miffed at the commentary that faults him for not getting on the scene earlier.
What did go wrong? Too many folks were left in town and should have been evacuated while that was still an option. FEMA didn't react soon enough. National Guard and the military weren't on the scene fast enough. Obvious "first priorities" such as food and hydration seemed to be forgotten for 2 or 3 days. Etc... Etc... Etc...
Just when I thought I couldn't be more surprised or confused I read an article announcing that the FedGov is going to distribute $2000 debit cards to adult victims of the hurricane. Certainly, an unprecedented move. There is no question in my mind that this is one goup of victims who could use a little more cash - but to distribute prepaid debit cards seems to treat the victims like a group of cheap-ticket lottery winners.
As someone whose work experience has involved card distribution and the related logisics, I immediately question how the Fed plans on identifying the appropriate list of card recepients. Will the cards be embossed with the cardholder name? If not (and I don't see how the embossing would be possible), aren't we igniting a potential dangerous crime situation? Think there was chaos around the airlifted relief supplies such as water and food? Wait till they start handing out $2000 at a time in unmakred debit cards!
If we assume for a moment that distribution goes off without a hitch, how does this $2000 help? From all I've read, there will be no limitation on how the cards are used. Do lottery winners use thier winnings wisely? Typically, no. Of course, I hardly trust the Fed to spend the money any more constructively than the victims, so this solution probably wins out on the merit of boosting morale while not doing any worse harm.
======= 20060614 UPDATE =======
I hate to say "I told you so...", but I just had to stick an edit in this blog entry when I recently read the news that the GAO (General Accounting Office) for the US Federal Government has discovered 1.4 BILLION dollars worth of fraudulent spending which occured on the handy credit cards they distributed!
"Our forensic audit and investigative work showed that improper and potentially fraudulent payments occurred mainly because FEMA did not validate the identity of the registrant, the physical location of the damaged address, and ownership and occupancy of all registrants at the time of registration," GAO officials said.
See the full Times Online article here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-2225756,00.html#
