"All the Presidents Friends": many agencies crippled by bush.

[dajoki]

read entire article(very short)
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NYThttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/12/opinion/12krugman.html?th&emc=th

All the President's Friends

By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: September 12, 2005

The lethally inept response to Hurricane Katrina revealed to everyone that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which earned universal praise during the Clinton years, is a shell of its former self. The hapless Michael Brown - who is no longer overseeing relief efforts but still heads the agency - has become a symbol of cronyism.

But what we really should be asking is whether FEMA's decline and fall is unique, or part of a larger pattern. What other government functions have been crippled by politicization, cronyism and/or the departure of experienced professionals? How many FEMA's are there?

Unfortunately, it's easy to find other agencies suffering from some version of the FEMA syndrome.

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. "All the President's Friends."

God, I love Krugman.

[Liberty Belle]

2. Kicked and nominating. Lots of Bush cronies heading other agencies!

[dajoki]

15. just as qualified as brown. n/t

[Divernan]

3. 900 empty job slots at FEMA - ranked worst govt. agency

to work at in annual (annonymous)survey of govt. employees.
Most retirements were early ones; the employees with the most longevity and the greatest and most valuable institutional knowledge were driven out by Allbaugh's active hostility, Brown's incompetent indifference, and the frustration of working for ignorant, inexperienced but arrogant political hacks and/or the self-important adult children of Bush donors. Their resumes are basically variations on "My daddy is a bigwig in the GOP and a friend of George".

I wish the media would look at the fat bonuses handed out to the political appointee level employees at these agencies (around 30% of their salaries, versus the paltry couple of hundred dollars to the civil service employees. The professional, civil service employees would prefer a flat out merit raise. I think the whole purpose of this bonus program was to give fat rewards to the politically connected, so they had to throw a few bucks at the mass of non- connected workers, too.

[dajoki]

4. they're screwing civil service employees...

raises and firings based on "performance" which i take to mean the best ass kissers get the money and good employees get the boot.

[FreedomAngel82]

23. Well of course!

That's what George does for everyone. He promotes those who have helped him and his administration. Look at John Roberts for example!

[philly_bob]

5. How 'bout Amtrak?

I attended a Senate confirmation hearing in 2004 and there was one Bush nominee, Enrique Sosa, that had the reporters' table snickering because of his obvious unfitness for the job. The job was a spot on the Board of Directors of Amtrak.

One reporter, Al Kamen, even wrote it up in his column: See "Nominee Needs Training" in The Washington Post.

Sosa was a retired oil company executive from Florida who had never ridden a train, never commuted on a train in the Northeast Corridor, didn't provide a statement or biography to the committee, and was fuzzy when questioned about budget matters.

Why was Sosa nominated? You may want to check his record of campaign contributions under Donor Name Lookup at the Political Moneyline database.

Oh, and on Sept. 10, Amtrak announced that it was doubling the cost of monthly passes on the Northeast Corridor.

Government is not the problem. Conservative government is the problem.

Bob=

[newyawker99]

13. Hi philly_bob!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[dajoki]

14. funding cuts...

that's why prices went up. i clearly remember santorum saying that he would fight bush on any cuts for amtrack. one week later he voted to approve the cuts.

[FreedomAngel82]

24. As the old saying goes

follow the money. Everything with Bush is follow the money. From the truth about 9/11 to Katrina. Follow the money. It's so obvious.

[indepat]

6. The whole smear has been crippled by politicization, cronyism, and old-

fashioned material greed IMHO.

[smb]

7. As The News Inadvertently Revealed

[dajoki]

8. how true!!

[Supersedeas]

9. but can/will the Corporate Media have the courage to reveal the pattern?

[Toots]

11. They sure as hell haven't yet and it has been five long years.

Incompetence is a Republican family value.

[dajoki]

12. no they haven't

"He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions." (August 19, 1785)-Thomas Jefferson

[Supersedeas]

10. but can/will the Corporate Media have the courage to reveal the pattern?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. Troubling.

...that the F.B.I. somehow missed, just as it somehow didn't turn up the little problems in Michael Brown's résumé. How many lesser Keriks made it into other positions?

[LiviaOlivia]

17. kick

[Karenina]

18. They've placed incompetent

unschooled nincompoops into sensitive government positions WORLDWIDE.

[dajoki]

19. and they will continue...

to do so until yhey are out of office. the question is can the damage they are doing be repaired?

[bigbrother05]

20. Started this thread earlier

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2089599
refers kinda as to what is going on

[donkeyotay]

21. The "lethally inept response" is just a symptom

The point is that Katrina should serve as a wakeup call, not just about FEMA, but about the executive branch as a whole.

The right wanted to drown government in a bathtub because it was corrupt and inefficient. They wanted American workers to be more competitive and for everyone to take responsibility for themselves.

Well. That's worked out well. Now the Republican contractors are so busy looting the agencies they don't even function minimally. We're still pay taxes, but they go to private entities through public ones. We still can't compete with Chinese labor, but our CEOs are doing quite well. And everyone is responsible for themselves except the president and his GOP crime family.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. If this isn't a wakeup call I don't know what is

It appears to me that a lot of people who once were proudly known to support Bush and the republicans are now taking a lot of heat for it. Very good. It's about time they have some accountability.

[AX10]

25. Bush a done a "Charles Manson" on the Government's....

most important agencies. FBI, CIA, FEMA, Courts, Schools, Treasury...all ruined by George Walker Bush.

[Pluvious]

26. Here's why Pres. Nero sees it as ok to appoint cronies

He truly doesn't see any problem with it.

After all, our National Accountability Moment affirmed hisself as our Leader.

And he knows he's able to do a FINE job without "real" qualifications, therefore so can his loyal pals !

From his own words:

"You know, I could run for governor but I'm basically a media creation.
I've never done anything. I've worked for my dad. I worked in the oil business.
But that's not the kind of profile you have to have to get elected to public office."
-George W. Bush, 1989

[dajoki]

27. great quote...

as true today as it was then.