Chertoff to proceed with Dept of Homeland Security reorg

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Chertoff will proceed with DHS reorganization
From CongressDaily

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will not delay plans to reorganize the department next month, despite relief efforts in the Gulf Coast region and a congressional investigation into the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Chertoff announced in July that he would rearrange the department by Oct. 1, saying he wanted to eliminate the directorate for emergency preparedness and response, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Under Chertoff's plan, a new emergency preparedness division would focus solely on preparedness activities, while FEMA would report directly to the secretary and be the "response" wing of the department.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=32239&dcn=e_gvet

It is scary to think of this guy doing anything else, especially in view of what he DIDN'T DO

[rodeodance]

1. Chertoff delayed federal response, memo shows

Chertoff delayed federal response, memo shows

WASHINGTON - (KRT) - The federal official with the power to mobilize a massive federal response to Hurricane Katrina was Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, not the former FEMA chief who was relieved of his duties and resigned earlier this week, federal documents reviewed by Knight Ridder show.

Even before the storm struck the Gulf Coast, Chertoff could have ordered federal agencies into action without any request from state or local officials. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown had only limited authority to do so until about 36 hours after the storm hit, when Chertoff designated him as the "principal federal official" in charge of the storm.

As thousands of hurricane victims went without food, water and shelter in the days after Katrina's early morning Aug. 29 landfall, critics assailed Brown for being responsible for delays that might have cost hundreds of lives.

But Chertoff - not Brown - was in charge of managing the national response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan, the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle major natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security director.

But according to a memo obtained by Knight Ridder, Chertoff didn't shift that power to Brown until late afternoon or evening on Aug. 30, about 36 hours after Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi. That same memo suggests that Chertoff may have been confused about his lead role in disaster response and that of his department.

Chertoff's Aug. 30 memo is posted at www.krwashington.com

[electropop]

2. Step 1: Get rid of Michael Jerkoff

Step 2: Fire the dope who appointed him.
Step 3: Find out where all the money went.

[Divernan]

3. Chertoff has already promised patronage jobs to new set of hacks

Figure at least the three top levels of political patronage jobs in the new division. Those hacks have been promised these payoffs for themselves or their arrogant, otherwise -unemployable- at- more- than- minimum -wage relatives. Why should Chertoff now inconvenience the big donors; or bother his beautiful mind, because of the biggest natural disaster to this country (and the clusterf__k he made of it), or because those peasants in the US Congress asked him to wait?

This also explains Brown's plans to leave FEMA by the end of the year. I'm sure it was all part of Chertoff's plans for change, and Brown already had a more lucrative job lined up. FEMA used to do great things with preparedness. No reason to take that away from the agency. Except to show how POWERFUL Chertoff is, and generate more jobs for political hacks.

[Trillo]

4. lemme see if I understand this

"new emergency preparedness division would focus solely on preparedness activities"

"FEMA would report directly to the secretary and be the "response" wing of the department."

So, if they're lateral organisations, and one isn't prepared, how can there be any 'response' from the other? For that matter, how can one organisation prepare for another one?

This seems to be BS.

[struggle4progress]

5. All hands on deck! Rearrange the deck chairs! eom