Delay in Aerial Water Drops Is Criticized ( more on Repubs blameDavis)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

(Read closely though and one can see Davis actually requested that Bush declare a state of emergency last August for a condition that was predictable)

SAN DIEGO — As fire continued to destroy large portions of San Diego County, the dispute between some local officials and the administration of Gov. Gray Davis intensified Tuesday over why aerial tankers and water-laden helicopters were not available in the first two days of the blaze.

snip
A spokesman for Davis said the supervisors were distorting what he characterized as the governor's long-standing support of fire prevention and fire suppression in Southern California.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine), whose home was destroyed by fire Monday, said federal legislation that would smooth the way for the military to use its helicopters to fight fire on public and private land is being stymied by private companies that lease firefighting planes to state governments.

snip
Fire protection has been a priority of the Davis administration, officials said. In March, Davis directed the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) to begin working with landowners to clear dead trees and to prepare evacuation routes as well as fire-safe evacuation centers for people who aren't able to flee fire-affected areas.


snip
On April 16, Davis sent a letter to President Bush asking him to declare a federal state of emergency and to provide federal funding to address the fire danger problem in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Bush never made an emergency declaration.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sandiegooct29,1,5044079.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Wickerman]

1. Privatization Bad?

Guess it is when your own home burns. How Repuggly of him...

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine), whose home was destroyed by fire Monday, said federal legislation that would smooth the way for the military to use its helicopters to fight fire on public and private land is being stymied by private companies that lease firefighting planes to state governments.

Lot in this piece, seems Bush* played some fatal politics to make certain nothing got in the way of making certain Arnie got rushed into office.

[leesa]

10. Yes, very interesting. Duncan has been whoring for privitization

of everything on the planet. Could this be what is known as Karma? Also worked hard to negate federal "hamstrings" to private businesses. Nasty man.

[Grins]

11. Damnit you beat me to it!

These bastards privitze and de-regulate and hate government and we pay dearly for it. But when it is their fat in the fire it's another story.

Hypocritical bastards!

[Wickerman]

13. Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican

sorry Grins, it is just SO obvious hanging out there and all, huh?

bastards.

:hi:

[denverbill]

2. We need to start throwing this in the pukies face.

"On April 16, Davis sent a letter to President Bush asking him to declare a federal state of emergency and to provide federal funding to address the fire danger problem in Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. Bush never made an emergency declaration."

God damn it. Why do Democrats just sit there and take it when the facts would kick the pukies in the nuts?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. Given that that paragraph made it into the paper it isn't fair yet

to say that they sit there and take it...Duncan Hunter obviously didn't supply them with that info.

[denverbill]

8. Well, imo, if Davis wants to salvage his career,

he should go down fighting.

Every right-wing talk show host in the country is blasting Democrats on this issue right now. Every Republican Congressman that can get his smirking ass on TV is doing the same. If Democrats don't have the balls to make sure 'we asked Bush last year' gets the same headline space, then imo, they are sitting there and taking it.

[madrchsod]

4. i was listening to davis

the other night and a reporter asked him where the money was coming from for this...he pointed out that the car tax was put right back into the local county and cities for fire and police protection. the state doesn`t take any of this money. so for all you dumb asses in cali that voted for arnie cause he is going to get rid of the car tax- well good luck putting out the next fire with your garden hose....

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Exactly but whatever you do don't call them stupid

the truth hurts and is ELITIST!

[sendero]

15. they call me...

... Mr. Elite. In fact my best friend called me an elitist. I think I prefer 'elitist' to 'dumbass', but that's just me. :)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. Yeah for some reason I'll be an elite loser over an ignoramus who THINKS

they won as they vote to fuck themselves any day of the week.

[BearFlagDemocrat]

12. This is absolutely right...

And another thing most people don't know is that Homeland Security money can't be put into personnel, only infrastructure. So they only way most cities can pay for fire or law enforcement personnel is through the VLF (car reg. fees).

Jesus Christ in a chicken basket, can't Repugs wait even 48 hours before pulling out the partisan knives?!

[gasperc]

5. 11,000 firefighters, air drops every 5 minutes

I been talking to my mom all weekend who lives in Rancho Cucamonga and I could hear the airplanes dropping water. Now I bet Mr. Duncan lived in one of those high priced houses surrounded by brush, trees and alot of open land. So, uh, did you want the taxpayers to fund your own personal fire department?

GOP=grand offending pricks

[Mountainman]

7. Hopefully we will learn that playing politics is not in our best interest

We have to learn to work together for our own best interests. Playing politics with every issue that comes up just so we or they can win one is hurting us because we are not solving the problems, just blaming each other for them in order to get votes.

These fires will happen and people will get hurt. You can't say they are the fault of one party or the other.

[Deere_John]

9. I agree that we shouldn't play politics here.

What I've always thought we should do is to get some people with expertise in these things to come forward and propose some policies and practices that can help some of these problems. Then all of us could have a discussion about which person's proposals seem the most promising. The experts could join in, critiquing the others' ideas and defending their own. Other people could do research into the backgrounds of each of these people to find out how well their ideas have worked in the past and whether they can be counted on to actually carry them out and make that information available to the rest of us. Then we could have a process to select the person in the group who is acceptable to the greatest number of us, and then delegate authority to that person to implement the proposed ideas.

I'd agree that endless rants about blowjobs and snappy one-liners from movies are pretty useless here.

[haymaker]

14. How is Davis to blame?

I need a little help here. They are saying didn't do what? Or did what?

I tell ya, these guys never stop crying.

[SoCalDem]

16. Davis should have NOT waited to be attacked.. He had nothing to lose

bu attacking FIRST.. He should have come right out with.....

California has been IGNORED for THREE YEARS.. Ignored when Bush buddies SCREWED us on energy.. Ignored when we lost jobs due to the "outsourcing" of the IT workers..
The only time California was not ignored, was when the Bush-selected candidate lost in 2002, and then they overthrew our duly elected governor, so they could stack the commissions with anti-environmentalists and finish the job they did on us with deregulation..

He should have lobbed the first grenade,instead of catching the one they threw..

We KNEW they would not wait long to start whining



all we hear now is the loaded language..

"extreme" envirnomentalists
man fined for clearing brush because of the k-rat

they are having a heydey, dragging up all their anti-environment rhetoric, and it will play to the people who lost or nearly lost their homes.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. So then let them pass their environmental disaster and when their homes

all burn again.. :shrug:

It really is hopeless with Goebbel's playbook in control of the media.

[realFedUp]

18. Davis just said on TV

that according to Federal law, all civilian air has to
be hired first before military air can be used. Rep. minority
leader Jim Brulte concurred.

This should be on a newslink soon. Channel 2 (CBS) news
aired the interview with the Governor who flew over the
Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear area today.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

19. Good somebody tell Roger Hedgecock that..apparently Roger the fraud

is spreading this bullshit too.