Nearly
three weeks after Hurricane Katrina cut its devastating path, FEMA –
the same federal agency that botched the rescue mission – is faltering in its effort to aid hundreds of thousands of storm victims, local officials, evacuees and top federal relief officials say.
The federal aid hot line mentioned by
President Bush in his address to the nation on Thursday cannot handle
the flood of calls, leaving thousands of people unable to get through
for help, day after day.
three weeks after Hurricane Katrina cut its devastating path, FEMA –
the same federal agency that botched the rescue mission – is faltering in its effort to aid hundreds of thousands of storm victims, local officials, evacuees and top federal relief officials say.
The federal aid hot line mentioned by
President Bush in his address to the nation on Thursday cannot handle
the flood of calls, leaving thousands of people unable to get through
for help, day after day.
Doesn’t sound like they’re trying overly hard, does it?
Visits to several towns in Louisiana
and Mississippi, as well as interviews with dozens of local and federal
officials, provide a portrait of a fragmented and dysfunctional system.
Bush’s reaction? No new taxes,
instead he will use this as an excuse to gut social spending. It’s
quite contemptible, isn’t it, using a disaster as a pretext to slash
spending on schools, health care, highways, infrastructure, etc.
Meanwhile the Halliburtons will make billions of the rebuilding. This
will be a huge transfer of wealth from the public to an already wealthy
few.
All the more reason to get in the streets on Sept. 24.