it's amazing how certain politicians are desperate to get rid of things that help poorer people and/or those who aren't able to do things for themselves.
Well, he might want to do some research on the history of FEMA and how it came to be. Before FEMA it was the US Army that would handle disaster response and recovery. The reason why FEMA has been such a failure is because Clinton is the only President to actually take it seriously. He appointed an actual emergency manager as the head, rather than put some campaign advisor into the director slot like the Bush boys. Disaster preparedness, response, and recovery is crucial and there isn't a state that is equipped to handle a disaster on the level of Katrina. The Feds have to help, but there needs to be leadership in place that knows what the hell they're doing. Little known fact though, since Bush Jr took office, FEMA is no longer an agency and is actually now just an office in the Department of Homeland Security. It doesn't have anywhere near the funding or power it once had under Clinton.
amazing what taking something seriously does to things, ain't it? I'm both amazed and bothered by how many positions in BOTH cabinets (Bush/Obama) were given to people who had absolutely no business running them. Say what you want about both Bush and Obama in as far as their experience, some of the people they've put in charge of vital and important roles have been nincompoops.
Emergency management isn't just taken lightly on the federal level. It's also a joke on the state and local level. Multnomah County is actually pretty squared away, but the Portland Office of Emergency Management sucks. Most of the time they hire someone who has experience in government, but zero experience in the field. It's always been an office that a mayor, governor, or president has stashed away someone they owe a favor. It's only exposed when something catastrophic happens like Katrina.
Ron Paul lost my vote when he said he would eliminate e-verify because it makes businesses act like agents of the police. Personally I think e-verify use should be mandatory by all businesses in the USA.
FEMA is a bunch of accountants who write checks. If you actually read what Paul was saying, his position makes a whole lot of sense. If you love government, it sure is swell that you guys in Portland are paying taxes to rebuild rich peoples' houses on the beach on the east coast. Nowadays, we're borrowing $.42 of every dollar FEMA spends from the Chinese. Think about it. http://news.yahoo.com/ron-paul-thinks-fema-real-disaster-170345307.html Paul criticized the agency's flood insurance program, which allows property owners to purchase insurance from FEMA for homes private insurers were not willing to back. "The whole idea of FEMA is a gross distortion of insurance", Paul argued. “It's so far removed from the market and what insurance should be about.” "It's a system of bureaucratic centralized economic planning that is a policy that is deeply flawed. They contribute to deficit financing and, quite frankly, they don't have a penny in the bank." Paul said on Fox News Sunday. He argued that FEMA had one of the worst reputations for a bureaucracy ever. FEMA has been under considerable scrutiny since its ineffective response to Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans. Some people have referred to it as the "secret government" of the United States. It is not an elected body, it does not involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a quasi-secret budget in the billions of dollars. Paul stressed that FEMA was in big trouble financially, noting that their flood relief program was $20 billion in debt and cast doubt that additional emergency funds could be found for FEMA. So far in 2011, FEMA has responded to “major disasters” 65 times, among the highest in the agency's history. The unprecedented demand has stretched the agency and its budget increasingly thin.
But that doesn't mean you get rid of FEMA, it means you actually start running it efficiently and use certified emergency managers instead of government pogues.
What exactly do you think these emergency managers are going to do? The agency is a bunch of accountants who are really good at sitting at desks with adding machines. All they're really good at is writing checks they can't cash.
Emergency managers are trained in the most effective ways to promote awareness, respond, and operate a recovery process. To date, FEMA has only had one actual emergency manager as its director. Whether or not FEMA should be involved in the actual rebuilding of a disaster zone is another issue entirely, but the existence of FEMA is critical. If it's run correctly, it is supposed to facilitate the response and recovery of a disaster for multiple agencies, including the military, state, local, and federal. I'm just saying, if a President wants to be re-elected after a major disaster, they should seriously consider appointing an emergency manager. Bush Sr was hurt badly by a hurricane in Texas and Bush Jr would have probably lost the re-election if Katrina had happened before his second term.
And most of them are under-staffed and under-funded. Most cities and states aren't willing to dedicate the resources to disaster preparedness that they should be. You'll see if Oregon has the super-quake that has been predicted. Our State, county, and city programs are a joke.
A candidate that is serious about cutting spending at the Federal level is doomed for the foreseeable future because of one-issue voters like Nate. Almost everyone has some agency or role that the feds fill (or should fill), and in order to make serious cuts, it's going to mean cutting things that someone, somewhere likes. Until and unless we are in meltdown mode, I don't think that a serious cost-cutter has a prayer at winning the White House. Ed O.
FEMA is like many other government programs that need a bit more oversight, transparency and accountability. I think there is a place for FEMA, but it is grossly mismanaged.
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-11921.htm Executive order 11921 Seems to read as claimed in Haak's post. It's downright scary.
He's poking the bear and he's too dumb to realize it. If Ron Paul gets any traction in his campaign, DHS will simply have him killed.
Terrifying! Also, have you read the label on a mattress lately? Or the instructions on a shampoo bottle? What does "rinse and repeat" really mean? barfo
