Plus, we haven't actually seen evidence of belt-tightening coming out of the White House-

Yes we have. eg:

FEMA is not the only agency that found itself bled of required funding by White House decisions after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. Shortly after the attacks, the Army Corps of Engineers found itself facing deep cuts in funding for the largest flood control and drainage program in the New Orleans area. In the first full budget year after the attacks, the Bush administration funded the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA, at only 20 percent of the Corps' request of $100 million. In fiscal year 2004, the White House funding came in at 17 percent of the request.

I actually don't blame Bush directly for the lack of funding for the levee repair projects. The reports are out there that Federal money for the levee projects was slashed and that FEMA identified New Orleans as one of the three greatest potential disasters, however I don't think that necessarily leads to Bush. It leads to a breakdown of communication where A didn't get tied to B.

bon, I am about sick and tired of your rational thinking and balanced reaction to everything.

Secretly, bon is hysterical, and bob bob is writing everything for her while she cooks, cleans, and works on her modeling portfolio.

I actually don't blame Bush directly for the lack of funding for the levee repair projects.

The cuts to funding came from White House budgets.

Congress, when it returns, should rise above the blame game and instead probe the state of the nation's preparation for handling major natural catastrophes, particularly those that threaten crucial regions of the country.

Yeah, this.

I have not yet been able to finish the LA Times article linked upthread. That is some sobering shit right there.

But I do want to note...there is a reason why the governor and mayor were so adamant that people needed to be moved out of the Superdome. I think I'm beginning to understand that it wasn't just a case of backed up toilets.

bon, I am about sick and tired of your rational thinking and balanced reaction to everything.

Secretly, bon is hysterical, and bob bob is writing everything for her while she cooks, cleans, and works on her modeling portfolio.

Well, women are like that.

Yeah, this.

Perhaps a color coding system? A brown alert will mean the shit has hit the fan. Blue will be water up to our eyeballs, red will be the oceans turning to blood, green will be the locusts and frogs, yellow will be, "the POTUS just pissed himself when he heard the news."

Perhaps a color coding system? A brown alert will mean the shit has hit the fan. Blue will be water up to our eyeballs, red will be the oceans turning to blood, green will be the locusts and frogs, yellow will be, "the POTUS just pissed himself when he heard the news."

Hee!

I don't deny that the President's proposed budget didn't give Louisiana the funding it asked for and now, it seems, it desperately needed. But he's ultimately not the one who makes the budget, Congress is.

As far as the war and individual budget items being blamed, I am thinking of the Editor & Publisher & WashPost articles that cite the Times-Picayune articles that directly blamed the war for La's underfunding (sorry for all the prepositions). It's nice to blame one unpopular policy, but it's a whole lot of factors that went into the underfunding, not any one. I just hear political opportunism on both sides-- from conservatives that think of flood insurance as welfare to liberals who think the war-- or environmental, or fiscal, or Dept of Homeland Security policy-- is responsible.