And then Brownie lied about it yesterday. What is this? If you look at FEMA's map on their site they leave out not only the 3 most vulnerable counties (parishes) but damn near every county in Southeast Louisiana.
We need an independent non partisan commission to get to the bottom of this and recommend ways to fix FEMA and DHS. This isn't about race or class but it sure looks like it's about politics. We all know they're trying to pin their deliberate withholding of aid on Blanco and Nagin. But does anyone have a electoral map to overlay on FEMA's aid map on their homepage?
More on the flip.
I don't want to jump to any conclusions but why would Bush and FEMA leave out these counties and then have Brownie point the finger at Blanco?
Yesterday during the Katrina whitewash hearing there was the following exchange courtesy of http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/27/brown-false-smear/. Buyer is Congressman Steve Buyer (R-IN) Brown is of course former FEMA head Michael Brown.
"BUYER: So I'd like to know why did the president's federal emergency assistance declaration of August 27th not include the parishes of Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines?
BROWN: ...[I]f a governor does not request a particular county or a particular parish, that's not included in the request.
BUYER: All right.
Orleans Parish is New Orleans. I was listening to my colleague, Mr. Jefferson's, questions about when they talked about, you know, they asked for this assistance for three days and then president responded the very next day, not the day that it was made -- the request -- but the governor of Louisiana actually excluded New Orleans from the president's federal emergency assistance declaration?
BROWN: Again, Congressman, we looked at the request.The governors make the request by...
BUYER: Let me ask this. Since you went through the exercise in Pam, was that not shocking to you that the governor would excluded New Orleans from the declaration?
BROWN: Yes.
BUYER: When that request came in excluding these three parishes, did you question it?
BROWN: We questioned it. But I made the decision that we were going to go ahead and move assets in regardless because we have the ability to add those parishes..."
Here is Gov. Blanco's written request released on 8/27 following up her phone request to Bush on 8/26.
http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976
The pertinant paragraph:
"The affected areas are all the southeastern parishes including the New Orleans Metropolitan area and the mid state Interstate I-49 corridor and northern parishes along the I-20 corridor that are accepting the thousands of citizens evacuating from the areas expecting to be flooded as a result of Hurricane Katrina."
The truth is Bush's Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana of 8/26 specifically EXCLUDES Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines and most of the Southeast parishes as does FEMA's declaration on 8/27. Why is that?
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html
"The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena, St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana, and Winn.
Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding."
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18447
Write your congressional reps. Demand an indpendent investigation of this. If, and it's a big IF they did this based on the electoral map it's an obscene abuse of power.