In the midst of the Hurricane Katrina crisis, there are two equally-important but completely independent ways of considering the president’s performance — what he did before the disaster and what he did after it. Let’s first look at the prior.
The devastation that we’re seeing is not in any way unexpected. On Good Morning America today, Bush said, “I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees.” This is among the most breathtakingly stupid things the president has ever said. Everyone anticipated the breach of the levees. If Bush really believes this, he’s further gone than I thought.
Indeed, Sidney Blumenthal explained almost too well that this was a crisis that many saw coming, but which the president and his administration decided not to take seriously.
A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken. After a flood killed six people in 1995, Congress created the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, in which the Corps of Engineers strengthened and renovated levees and pumping stations. In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring freeze.
That, I’m afraid, is just the beginning.
Among the other things we’ve learned in recent days:
* Louisiana’s wetlands, which would have helped absorb some of the brunt of the storm, were making a comeback — until Bush turned over the wetlands to land developers in 2003.
* Last year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers essentially stopped major work on the levee system that has now been breached after the Bush administration cut funding for the project. It was the first such stoppage in 37 years.
* Federal flood control spending for southeastern Louisiana was chopped from $69 million in 2001 to $36.5 million in 2005. When area lawmakers fought to restore the funds, the White House rebuffed the requests.
* In 2001, the New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers had $147 million to spend on flood and hurricane projects. This year, after budget cuts, the district has about half that. In fact, the Bush administration proposed further cuts for the district for fiscal year 2006.
* Bush has almost completely decimated the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since first taking office. In particular, the Bush White House slashed funding for the agency’s “mitigation” programs, which include measures taken in advance to minimize the damage caused by natural disasters.
* After years of steady leadership under former FEMA chief James Lee Witt during the Clinton years, Bush tapped two completely inexperienced FEMA heads since taking office. Indeed, the current head of FEMA was an estate planning lawyer in Colorado before taking over the agency.
* The New Orleans district of the Army Corps of Engineers was preparing a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane. Due to budget cuts, the study was shelved.
A devastating report from Editor & Publisher yesterday set the record straight.
I’d say the president is due for another “accountability moment.”
