Obama's FEMA versus Bush's FEMA

[Phokus]

Lets take a look at who is heading FEMA right now versus Bush's head of FEMA before:

Obama's head of FEMA:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...iYHAAg&usg=AFQjCNGMJkwdqTBE89L2DCxlkEnfSIib4w

Why He Matters
Fugate has been repeatedly described as the "calmest guy in the room." It's high praise for a man who has spent most of his career in life-or-death situations. And it should be a major asset in his new job as the nation's top disaster cop managing a troubled agency struggling to regain its reputation after Hurricane Katrina.
Fugate became a volunteer firefighter in high school and was named emergency manager of Alachua County in 1987. He was named to Florida's Emergency Management division as deputy director in 1997, and became the division's head in 2001. In that role, Fugate has coordinated the response to more than 23 hurricanes, fires and storms. He also developed long-term responses for the state's potential terrorist attacks and nuclear explosions, earning him national recognition.
Fugate will take his expertise to an agency sorely in need of it as administrator for FEMA, a part of the Department of Homeland Security.

Administrator
Federal Emergency Management Agency

Director
Florida Division of Emergency Management

Chief
Florida Division of Emergency Management -> Bureau of Preparedness and Response

Bush's FEMA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Brown

Before joining the DHS/FEMA, Brown was the Judges and Stewards Commissioner for the International Arabian Horse Association, (IAHA), from 1989-2001. After numerous lawsuits were filed against the organization over disciplinary actions that Brown took against members violating the Association's code of ethics,[6] Brown resigned and negotiated a buy-out of his contract.

A March 2000 two-part report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, chronicling one of the disciplinary actions, lauded Brown for pursuing an investigation against David Boggs, "the kingpin of the Arabian horse world", despite internal pressure to end the inquiry.[7] The Brown-led investigation found Boggs performed medically unnecessary surgery on horses to enhance their visual appeal. An ethics board suspended Boggs for five years. Boggs protested through multiple lawsuits against both the organization and Brown, alleging slander and defamation. Brown and the IAHA prevailed in each of the lawsuits brought by Boggs but the lawsuits nonetheless took a financial toll. Some members interviewed felt Brown showed an imperious attitude, and nicknamed him "The Czar."[8]

Brown started his own legal defense fund before resigning, a move he said was necessary to protect his family's assets.[9] However, some IAHA insiders claimed that this was what really led to his ouster. He raised money from breeders for the fund as well as IAHA, creating what some called a conflict of interest. Despite his contract stipulating that IAHA was to pay all his personal legal expenses, on top of his $100,000 annual salary, the Association refused initially to pay the legal bills, and Brown created the legal defense fund on the advice of IAHA's own legal counsel.

After Bush entered office in January 2001, Brown joined FEMA as General Counsel. He was the first person hired by his long-time friend, then-FEMA director Joe Allbaugh,[10] who also ran Bush's election campaign in 2000. Allbaugh later named Brown his acting deputy director in September 2001. Bush formally nominated him as deputy director on March 22, 2002, and the Senate confirmed him many months later after the recovery efforts in New York had subsided. Brown oversaw the recovery efforts for New York and surrounding states with the White House Office of Domestic Policy's Reuben Jeffery III who later became chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. After Bush announced the creation of the Department of Homeland Security Allbaugh left government and Bush nominated Brown again in January 2003 for the directorship. Brown was sworn in to his position on April 15, 2003. Prior to his nomination as Under Secretary, the White House appointed Brown to head a transition team creating the Emergency Preparedness & Response Directorate within DHS.

Before that, shortly after the September 11 attacks, Brown served on the Consequence Management Principals' Committee, which acted as the White House's policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks. Later, Bush asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan. In August 2002, Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division. As undersecretary, Brown also directed the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration Center, the National Disaster Medical System and the Nuclear Incident Response Team.

Oh look, real actual emergency management experience (a lengthy one at that) versus a crony who doesn't know what he's doing. This is the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Republicans have an extremely cynical view of federal government, they don't believe in it, so why appoint anyone other than a crony like Bush did to head FEMA? If 'government doesn't work', then you can appoint a monkey to head FEMA if you want. Under both Obama and Clinton, FEMA got high marks, whereas FEMA was absolute shit under Bush (see: Katrina). That's really the difference between Democrats (loves their country) and Republicans (doesn't give a shit about their own countrymen dying) right there.

 

[michal1980]

moveon

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

In fairness, while I agree that Michael Brown was a fairly shockingly unqualified person to hold this position, President Obama and FEMA have the benefit of handling Hurricane Sandy with the benefit of hindsight regarding the failures in the handling of Katrina. Regardless I am pleased that this present disaster seems to have been handled with a great deal of thoroughness and professionalism - it's remarkable that even Chris Christie has gone out of his way to praise the President's handling of it.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

In fairness, while I agree that Michael Brown was a fairly shockingly unqualified person to hold this position, President Obama and FEMA have the benefit of handling Hurricane Sandy with the benefit of hindsight regarding the failures in the handling of Katrina. Regardless I am pleased that this present disaster seems to have been handled with a great deal of thoroughness and professionalism - it's remarkable that even Chris Christie has gone out of his way to praise the President's handling of it.

^This.

 

[ivwshane]

In fairness, while I agree that Michael Brown was a fairly shockingly unqualified person to hold this position, President Obama and FEMA have the benefit of handling Hurricane Sandy with the benefit of hindsight regarding the failures in the handling of Katrina. Regardless I am pleased that this present disaster seems to have been handled with a great deal of thoroughness and professionalism - it's remarkable that even Chris Christie has gone out of his way to praise the President's handling of it.

Hindsight? There werent any natural disasters before Katrina? Sorry I'm not buying it.

 

[Matt1970]

FEMA in Northeast: Aid should have no problems being brought in safely.
FEMA in New Orleans: Shot at trying to deliver aid.

 

[xBiffx]

In fairness, while I agree that Michael Brown was a fairly shockingly unqualified person to hold this position, President Obama and FEMA have the benefit of handling Hurricane Sandy with the benefit of hindsight regarding the failures in the handling of Katrina. Regardless I am pleased that this present disaster seems to have been handled with a great deal of thoroughness and professionalism - it's remarkable that even Chris Christie has gone out of his way to praise the President's handling of it.

+1

I will only add that geography is also on our side this go around.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

One thought. Is this event really comparable to Katrina? I think not.

 

[Jaskalas]

Hindsight? There werent any natural disasters before Katrina? Sorry I'm not buying it.

First we should define the failure during Katrina.

What did they do poorly, response to help trapped victims in New Orleans? Please cite similar circumstances where a major city was left flooded and uninhabitable.

Also note that it was the Louisiana Governor's job to request / allow federal troops into the state. They were bound by law not to intervene until the State stepped up.

 

[woolfe9999]

In fairness, while I agree that Michael Brown was a fairly shockingly unqualified person to hold this position, President Obama and FEMA have the benefit of handling Hurricane Sandy with the benefit of hindsight regarding the failures in the handling of Katrina. Regardless I am pleased that this present disaster seems to have been handled with a great deal of thoroughness and professionalism - it's remarkable that even Chris Christie has gone out of his way to praise the President's handling of it.

I thought it was very classy of Christie to put aside politics for this.

 

[Farang]

First we should define the failure during Katrina.

What did they do poorly, response to help trapped victims in New Orleans? Please cite similar circumstances where a major city was left flooded and uninhabitable.

Also note that it was the Louisiana Governor's job to request / allow federal troops into the state. They were bound by law not to intervene until the State stepped up.

I'm sure there is more things that can be pointed to than this, but one thing I saw recently comes to mind. Bush is on a conference call with someone who tells him 'There is no way of knowing whether or not the levees will hold,' and then cut to an interview on network TV where he is saying 'nobody expected the levees were going to break.' They also mention that on the entire call Bush didn't say anything substantive or give any orders.

 

[Farang]

I thought it was very classy of Christie to put aside politics for this.

Yea but I've got to think he got a call from the Romney campaign asking him to tone it down a bit. You can deflect the question or give some praise but he was very effusive.

 

[Nintendesert]

Oh man it must suck being stuck in 2000.

 

[corwin]

Wait...how did Bush get an exemption to be able to run for president again?

 

[davmat787]

I thought it was very classy of Christie to put aside politics for this.

No doubt Christie recalled how the governor of Louisiana handled Katrina at the time, and learned from that as well.

It is sad that it takes a multi state natural disaster to get people from both sides of the aisle to put aside their partisan bs.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

In fairness, while I agree that Michael Brown was a fairly shockingly unqualified person to hold this position, President Obama and FEMA have the benefit of handling Hurricane Sandy with the benefit of hindsight regarding the failures in the handling of Katrina.

Katrina wasn't the first hurricane we've had to deal with in the US.

And I don't think Obama and FEMA really needed to learn the two main lessons from Katrina, which were "actually give a shit about people struggling with a disaster" and "hire leaders who are at least somewhat competent".

 

[corwin]

Katrina wasn't the first hurricane we've had to deal with in the US.

Good point, so when was the last hurricane of Katrina's scale of devastation? When was the last natural disaster of that scale in general here in the US?

Try looking at these to get some idea http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1994373,00.html

 

[Zargon]

Lets take a look at who is heading FEMA right now versus Bush's head of FEMA before:

Obama's head of FEMA:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...iYHAAg&usg=AFQjCNGMJkwdqTBE89L2DCxlkEnfSIib4w





Bush's FEMA:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Brown



Oh look, real actual emergency management experience (a lengthy one at that) versus a crony who doesn't know what he's doing. This is the difference between Democrats and Republicans.

its a bit shocking brown had no qualifications for EMA stuff before being the general counsel

oh wait, he was a lawyer and has hired to be a lawyer, not an unrelated cronie hire(and apparantly good at it, and sued over how good he was at it from your quote)

from that position he supposedly oversaw lots of EMA stuff, and apparantly was good at it(or not and just a crony like you asserted while misdirecting about his hiring and experience) and maybe did a great job with all that, so they decided he could head the agency?


the last extreme huricane before Katrina, was what? Andrew?

 

[Pens1566]

I thought it was very classy of Christie to put aside politics for this.

I assume you're unaware of the pissing contest he got into this morning with the D mayor of Atlantic City? The gist of it was that the mayor made shelters available for those that chose to stay and ride out the storm. As there are always some (foolish or not) that take this route. Christie went after him for it as it "encouraged residents to disobey the evacuation". Really seemed quite petty.

 

[Lemon law]

No doubt Christie recalled how the governor of Louisiana handled Katrina at the time, and learned from that as well.

It is sad that it takes a multi state natural disaster to get people from both sides of the aisle to put aside their partisan bs.

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Maybe Damat787 put his finger on the issue in exactly the wrong way.

Its all well and fine to say, well after the fact, that what we need is more bi-partisan in the US congress and in the US White House. And when Katrina hit, and a competent FEMA director was missing in action, the correct response is to blame local officials for the tardiness of the response after Katrina. And that GWB was right in saying you are doing a heck of a job Brownie. Because local officials and not FEMA are responsible for co-coordinating among State governors to at least see that things like national Guard troops and boats are available and able to respond immediately to natural disasters like Katrina that gave at least 3 days advance warning.

Well look at it on the bright side now that Mitt Romney has said we should turn FEMA over to the individual States, so that a potential President Romney FEMA director will be every bit as inept of Brownie. And then maybe the US congress will finally back a strong FEMA director.

Brilliant simply Brilliant Davmat787, as we need to keep learning from the same mistakes at least 5 times before we finally learn. And with the president GOP congress, it will require a round dozen or more.

 

[xj0hnx]

Oh man it must suck being stuck in 2000.

Wait...how did Bush get an exemption to be able to run for president again?

No shit. Phokus has lost focus.

 

[KMFJD]

No Worries, Bush's appointee Michael Brown has already stated that Obama acted too quickly in regards to Sandy

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2...-director-katrina-hits-obama-sandy/?mobile=nc

 

[CADsortaGUY]

In fairness, while I agree that Michael Brown was a fairly shockingly unqualified person to hold this position, President Obama and FEMA have the benefit of handling Hurricane Sandy with the benefit of hindsight regarding the failures in the handling of Katrina. Regardless I am pleased that this present disaster seems to have been handled with a great deal of thoroughness and professionalism - it's remarkable that even Chris Christie has gone out of his way to praise the President's handling of it.

This.

To suggest a comparison without the benefit of history is asinine. I think EVERYONE is keenly aware of disaster response and such now where before it was just another messy bureaucracy. So no doubt there was an agencycleanup after katrina and it continues. So the gov't got better at something, I suppose a cookie is in order. go team!

 

[Charles Kozierok]

There have been many hurricanes in the past. Katrina is the only one that stands out in recent memory for having been massively botched.

 

[xj0hnx]

There have been many hurricanes in the past. Katrina is the only one that stands out in recent memory for having been massively botched.

It stands out more as causing mass destruction, unless you can think of another in the last 60 years that caused as much damage.