FEMA Declares Victory

...and leaves town.

If only the FEMA folks were running things in Iraq...we'd already be bringing the troops home:

In the midst of long-running disputes with state and local officials, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced it is closing its last New Orleans office...

City officials accused FEMA of abandoning New Orleans, which remains overwhelmed by its shattered infrastructure and slow pace of recovery. City Hall and FEMA have long tangled with each other over issues such as where to place trailers for temporary housing, and the two sides disagree over which is responsible for paying the planning bill.

U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., said it is absurd to think issues will be resolved more smoothly if FEMA cuts and runs, which he believes the agency is doing. He argued that FEMA's position that the Stafford Act does not allow it to release planning money is a too-rigid reading of the law. It simply takes responsible thinking, not an act of Congress, to cut these knots, he said.

"It's almost childlike on the part of FEMA if you ask me," Jefferson said. "The Stafford Act is broad enough to cover reasonable costs here, and closing is just not a responsible way to deal with a dispute. It's like a kid who has all the marbles saying he's going home."

Seriously though, this is just another example of Bushista ineptitude--and until the dysfunctional government is replaced, it probably doesn't matter all that much, to be honest...although symbolically, FEMA bolting is both typical incompetence of the kind we might as well expect...and frustrating.

A GENUINE government effort would involve, at the VERY least, several dozen if not several hundred people on site coordinating and/or assisting on the basis of a master plan drawn up by national, state, and local officials. But that assumes a basic level of ability at the top...