No Shortage Of Republicans Criticizing Katrina Response

[JABBS]

Is the much-noted "blistering criticism" of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort coming solely from the left?

Hardly. That's just empty conservative spin.

A sampling of what major Republicans are saying shows that if there's one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on, it's that the Bush Administration's response to Hurricane Katrina was inadequate.

Consider these quotes from around the country:

-- Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) said the federal response suggested flaws in the nation’s preparedness for another terrorist assault. “This damage could just as easily have been caused by a terrorist attack, and many if not most of the same elements are involved in responding to natural disasters,” Kyl said.

“There has to be a plan in place — along with adequate resources — to be able to evacuate people, or at least provide relief supplies before panic sets in. None of this appears to have been done in Louisiana.”

-- House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) said he agreed with President Bush's remark Friday that the response had been "unacceptable."

"Hard lessons have been learned, tragic lessons have been learned," Blunt said.

"We have to respond more quickly; we have to respond in the right ways and be sure our priorities are right."

-- Tom DeLay (R-TX), the House majority leader, said that poor leadership and poor communications between local and federal officials was hindering the relief effort. "No one knows who's in charge," he said.

-- Rep. David Vitter (R-LA), said the federal government had been “completely ineffective“ in its rescue and relief efforts. “I think everybody involved has been a day or a half a day late,” he said.

-- Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX), where thousands of evacuees from New Orleans are ending up, points to bureaucracy he says hampered a more effective response. "Trying to get assets and food and supplies to where they are needed has been too laborious, it has taken too many steps, and we need to eliminate those barriers now and get those assets where they are needed," he said.

-- Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) urged a top-to-bottom review of FEMA operations, saying the agency is stuck in what he calls a top-heavy bureaucracy. He will introduce legislation to remove FEMA from the homeland security department.

-- "<strong>No one can be happy with the kind of response which we've seen in New Orleans</strong>, and whether that's law enforcement or whether it's a provision of resources to help those in need, it has been an undermanaged setting," said Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

-- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the pace of the federal disaster response puts into question Homeland Security and Northern Command planning over the last four years. He rhetorically asks why the government believes it's prepared for a nuclear or biological attack when it can't respond to an event that was predicted days in advance.

***

This article first appeared at Journalists Against Bush's B.S.

[TheDebbieDee]

1. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) said he agreed

with President Bush's remark Friday that the response had been "unacceptable."

"Hard lessons have been learned, tragic lessons have been learned," Blunt said.

"We have to respond more quickly; we have to respond in the right ways and be sure our priorities are right."

F^ck Roy Blunt and his POS son. His son is the Governor of Missouri, Matt Blunt, The heartless bastard that has kicked about 70,000 Missourians from the Medicaid rolls starting in August.

[Canuckistanian]

2. Wow.

Quite a list. I'm especially surprised at Mr. Newt's response.

Are the daggers out?

[leveymg]

3. The GOP should be seriously concerned that this breaks their hold

on power. Look at what gas lines, stagflation and the Iran Hostage "Crisis" did to Jimmy Carter and the Dems in the 1980 and '82 elections.

The Repugs may not know squat about how to deal with real emergencies, but they do understand their politics.

There's going to be a move to try to convince Bush to resign for the good of the Party.

[spooky3]

4. recommended

[Benhurst]

5. Recommended NT

[OneTwentyoNine]

6. I agree,Kansas is full of Republicans,their outraged at this disaster...

Being self-employed and in different homes all the time I've talked to many people about this. I've yet to have one saying that Bush did all he could in a timely manner.

They've seen the horror on TV and the people wanting to know where Bush and the Feds are. You can fool some of the people some of the time.....

[spooky3]

7. kick