Since this is still very close to the anniversary of Katrina, let me ask this question to those of us that lived through it:
"What COULD the US Federal Government have done that would have substantially helped you recover from the hurricane, both immediately and in the longer sense of the word?"
It never ceases to amaze me that Bush is blamed for as much as he is blamed for. The Administration (Bush's, I mean) took the heat for many failings, mainly in the FEMA and DHS areas of responsibility, and many of these failings were real, I don't doubt. But was it the Fed's "responsibility" to make sure the shelters were safe? That transportation from the shelters was there, if it was needed? That PODs were safe and available for those that needed them? Or was that the PRIMARY responsiblity of the municiple, county and State authorities?
To this day, we stil hear people blame Bush... while Nagin is still Mayor of New Orleans and Blanco's name is never mentioned at all. FEMA's failures are listed ad nauseum, while the failures of the State and municiple authorities in LA and elsewhere are (seemingly) never considered. People still shed tears when recalling the devestation of the 9th Ward and Lakeview districts, but not one thought is given to the fact that more than 1 million people and nearly half of the State of Mississippi was impacted (in one way or another) by at least a Catagory 1 Hurricane over the course of 36 hours.
I have thought on this an awful lot in the years since, and seeing as I never received a $2,500 FEMA check (or any FEMA money at all), that I never got a dime from Red Cross, and that the only Federal "relief" I ever received at all was in the form of a $20k LOAN from the SBA, the first thing I would have asked for was instant and complete exemption for income taxes for one calendar year. Imagine what an impact that would have had on YOUR life in the region, had that been an option. I know it would have made the rebuilding of my home and property a whole hell of a lot easier, and I wouldn't have had to sacrifice the bulk of my retirement savings to compelte the job.
Just one year's taxes returned to me in total, and the course of MY life would have been dramatically different... and very possibly much easier. If that kind of tax "relief" would help in a time of disaster, what could it do to the national outlook WITHOUT the need of a sweeping event like a hurricane, earthquake or flood?
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Dang thing won't let me post. Well I am already on bund record stating that I don't believe the federal government has any responsibility to the individual citizen, but they do have a responsibility to the states that make up our great republic.
Since all of us are in the casino biz we should all be familiar with the MGM Grand Casino fire. That was a disaster that neither the current fire codes or the Las Vegas Fire Dept were prepared for at the time. That incident changed fire codes and Department procedures nation wide. To make my point it was through a huge disaster where lives were lost that changed the status quo . Katrina was that incident for the federal government and FEMA in particular. Noone and I repeat noone was prepared for what hit is that morning and it won't be forgotten at least in our lifetime. We were lucky in our area that the people were prepared to do what had to be done without assistance from the feds, and we did get insane assistance from the population of the country in general (private business and citizenry).
FEMA was designed to assist with disaster management, the national guard from the state in the middle of a disaster is responsible for response. That means the Governor and the State disaster management agency is responsible for asking FEMA and the feds for their assistance, and that means they had better be able to assess their needs very quickly and accurately so the federal government can react to the requests in a timely manner.
We won't know for sure if corrections were made for the federal response to a major disaster until another on happens. To answer you question...no I don't ever want to rely on government for my basic needs.
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