Finally! Bush Admin shown to be responsible by National Response Plan!!!

[Wordie]

The following was gleaned from an article at DailyKos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/7/03232/64789

This info COMPLETELY debunks all the claims by the Bushies that it was local/state people who screwed up, and puts the onus on the feds for not responding. It's long, I realize, but REALLY IMPORTANT. In a nutshell, what this says is that once the Prez declares an incident of National Significance, the feds become responsible, and there is NO LONGER a need for specific requests for assistance by state/local people.:

...from the United States National Response Plan http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interweb/assetlibrary/NRP_FullText.pdf :
"All PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES UNDER THE STAFFORD ACT ARE CONSIDERED INCIDENTS OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE." (NRP, 7) (This is a CRITICAL piece of information which your reporters don't seem to have noticed. In fact, the initial emergency declaration from the White House mentions the Stafford Act by name.)
"When an incident or potential incident is of such severity, magnitude, and/or complexity that it is considered an Incident of National Significance, the Secretary of Homeland Security initiates actions to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the incident." (NRP, 15)
"The President leads the Nation in responding efficiently and ensuring the necessary resources are applied quickly and effectively to all Incidents of National Significance. (NHP, 15)
"The Secretary of Defense authorizes Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) for domestic incidents as directed by the President or when consistent with military readiness operations and appropriate under the circumstances and the law.
"Imminently serious conditions resulting from any civil emergency may require immediate action to save lives, prevent human suffering, or to mitigate property damage.
"When such conditions exist and time does not permit approval from higher headquarters, local military commands and responsible officers from the DOD are authorized by DOD directive and pre-approved by the Secretary of Defense to take necessary action to response to the request of civil authorities." (NPR, 42)
"Standard procedures regarding requests for assistance may be expedited, or under extreme circumstances, suspended in the immediate aftermath of an event of catastrophic magnitude." (NRP, 44)