George just put the blame on the Katrina disaster response on Louisiana's Governor

[glarius]

After Arnold introduced him he said "it makes a big difference in getting things done when the governor of a state is a good leader."
What nerve!...Passing all the blame of what didn't get done after Katrina on to others.

[aquart]

1. Funny how one's Republican and the other was a Democrat.

I guess he thinks people won't notice.

[janetblond]

6. Pretty Obvious

Just heard shrub's press conference.
One standard for people who have a republican governor, another standard for people who have a democratic governor.
Oh!
And clearly .... if most of the victims are black ....
well, you can expect to die in a formaldehyde-laced Fema trailer.
This whole thing puts South Africa's apartheid system to shame!

[robinlynne]

2. surprise.... republican governors get 'bushcare"...

[bdamomma]

3. * always points the finger at someone else, plus Arnold is a repig too.

[catmandu57]

4. Well we know better

Wait and see what the future brings.

[glarius]

5. Does he really think everyone has forgotten the fiasco of his "response"?

LOL

[azureblue]

24. Bush wants us to forget

That he was responsible for the flooding of New Orleans..


February 2002- Bush unveiled his new budget, with a $390 million cut to the Army Corps. The cuts were devastating. The administration provided just $5 million for maintaining and upgrading critical hurricane protection levees in New Orleans—one fifth of what government experts and Republican elected officials in Louisiana told the administration was needed. Likewise, the administration had been informed that SELA needed $80 million to keep its work moving at full speed, but the White House only proposed providing a quarter of that. The cuts stopped work in progress on the Canal & lake levees- the ones that broke.

[pansypoo53219]

29. yes.

the gnews HAS to stop saying katrina. new orleans dodged a bullet with katrina, then got pistol whipped by the levees!

[951-Riverside]

7. Blanco was an incompetent ass who was more concerned about looters than lives

She is no better than Bush, FEMA, The Red Cross, National Guard and the rest of the assholes who sat on their hands instead of helping those poor people.

[rodeodance]

9. I would not be that harsh on her.

[leftynyc]

10. I also believe her response was poor, however,

the two situations bear no comparison. There is still electricity, running water, transportation in southern CA. This isn't the first time for fires in CA - this happens a lot - Katrina was a whole new animal.

That doesn't mean that bush isn't being a dick (pun intended).

[glarius]

16. But HE is the president and if he wasn't so graceless he wouldn't be passing the blame!

Everyone knows what a joke he was during the Katrina disaster. All he had to say today was how the government was helping California. There was no need for him to make a reference to Katrina.

[Virginia Dare]

18. She deserves props for telling Bush to fuck off on ...

the Insurrection Act. I still think that took guts.

[azureblue]

25. Bush apologist & lair

From Blanco's testimony, and her pre Katrina actions:

Documents Highlight Bush-Blanco Standoff

GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA:
“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.”
The Governor’s request for help on August 28, 2005 as can be seen by viewing her official request at:
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster Relief Request.pdf


By Spencer S. Hsu, Joby Warrick and Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 5, 2005; A10

Shortly after noon on Aug. 31, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) delivered a message that stunned aides to Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D), who were frantically managing the catastrophe that began two days earlier when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.

White House senior adviser Karl Rove wanted it conveyed that he understood that Blanco was requesting that President Bush federalize the evacuation of New Orleans. The governor should explore legal options to impose martial law "or as close as we can get," Vitter quoted Rove as saying, according to handwritten notes by Terry Ryder, Blanco's executive counsel.

Thus began what one aide called a "full-court press" to compel the first-term governor to yield control of her state National Guard -- a legal, political and personal campaign by White House staff that failed three days later when Blanco rejected the administration's terms, 10 minutes before Bush was to announce them in a Rose Garden news conference, the governor's aides said.


Former FEMA head in NYC: party politics played role in Katrina
1/19/2007, 11:59 p.m. CT
By NAHAL TOOSI
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Party politics played a role in decisions over whether to take federal control of Louisiana and other areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, with some in the White House suggesting only Louisiana should be federalized because it was run by a Democratic governor, former FEMA Director Michael Brown said Friday.


Saturday, September 3
SENIOR BUSH ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL LIES TO WASHINGTON POST, CLAIMS GOV. BLANCO NEVER DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY:
The Post reported in their Sunday edition “As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.”

Saturday, Dec. 3

Blanco defends actions in storm
From the Times Picayune:

“The Blanco administration released the mountain of documents to U.S. House and Senate committees investigating the response to Katrina on Friday evening, with the governor saying in a statement that they will show the hard work of her administration during its greatest crisis.
"I requested massive federal assistance in letters to President Bush on Aug. 27 and Aug. 28 -- before the storm's landfall," she said in one. "I spoke with President Bush on Sunday (Aug. 28) and Monday (Aug. 29) and told him I needed everything he had. I believed FEMA officials who told me that every federal resource was at my disposal. I believed this meant every single available resource."
Later on in the talking points document, she responds to a hypothetical question about what she did wrong in response to Katrina.
"I believe my biggest mistake was believing FEMA officials who told me that the necessary federal resources would be available in a timely fashion," she said.”

[rodeodance]

8. typical. Blame is their game

[spanone]

11. he meant a good republican

[Bitwit1234]

12. Of course it will be picked up over and over by the republican press

If he hadn't gutted the excellent FEMA organization that President Clinton had build up, he wouldn't have had trouble during Katrina.

[Blue Diadem]

13. It really bothers me that the two situations are being compared.

They are completely different. What would California be doing if the people in the entire region could not go home for weeks on end? Yes, some people may not have a home to go back to, but their property isn't under water. California evacuation centers also were not in the same dire conditions, they had power, water, bathroom facilities etc.

[notadmblnd]

14. Of course it was Gov Blanco fault the feds didn't respond

she refused to sign authority over to them so they refused to help. It was all her fault:sarcasm:

[book_worm]

15. Katrina and the fire in CA are totally different, imo

[Kagemusha]

17. This is not a new statement by the Bush admin.

This has been their position since the hurricane hit.

[Virginia Dare]

Agreed...

didn't we hear ad nauseum about the unused school busses?

[iamthebandfanman]

19. whats crazy is what makes him a 'good leader'

it wasnt really his response , but rather the fact that he learned that you gotta be out with the people when something happens like this...

weve been living in country where politicians dont give a shit about the people for so long we get excited when one shows interest ...
not suprising

[Retrograde]

30. plus, he inherited a working emergency response system

fall fires are common in California, and firelines don't pay attention to political boundaries as a rule, so California has a reasonably working emergency system that lets people from different jurisdictions work together. They get a lot of practice, unfortunately. We get constant reminders about emergency preparations, usually for earthquakes, and well-publicized emergency response drills. Plus, I think there's an attitude that expects the government -at least on the state and local level - to be halfway competent.

Most importantly, a fire is not a flood. After the fire, your residence is either standing or it isn't: if not, there are years of problems getting it rebuilt, but if it is you can usually move back without worrying about mold and rot and disease-carrying sludge - not pleasant, but livable. Not like after Katrina.

[SoCalDem]

20. Slimeball never misses an opportunity to blame someone else

He's worse than despicable..

The message of the day, kiddies is:

Wimmin shouldn't be governors..especially democRAT wimminfolk

only big-strong-decisive men ..republican men.. should be governors

[blogslut]

21. What a vindictive, hateful man

No remorse, no no empathy, no soul

[SoCalDem]

22. and he will probably die a peaceful death at 95..in his own comfy bed

holding his Mamma's hand (Babs is too evil to ever die):)

[MasonJar]

23. No one has more bu____it in his veins than the Stump; however,

there are very few citizens still listening to the propaganda.

[adadem]

26. I figured this was coming

when I saw all the supplies and stuff outside the stadium. what bs

[spanone]

27. of course HIS fema program was spot on.....fuckhead

[spanone]

28. today on NPR they said at the stadium they were receiving Starbucks coffee, massages, accu-puncture

i think the poor people in NOLA just wanted some drinking water and a place to relieve themselves

[nadinbrzezinski]

32. Local businesss has donated heavily

and I mean heavily

Rememer, wally mart tried to donate water and food too, but they were stopped

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. Funny, Blanco asked for hte help and you refused

she is a dem

Arnie is a pug, even if liberal...

HMMMM