[quote:8bac5]The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a Cabinet department of the federal government of the United States that is concerned with protecting America's people from harm and its property from damage. This department was created primarily from a conglomeration of existing federal agencies in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.[/quote:8bac5]

[quote:8bac5]Homeland security or homeland defense is a neologism referring to domestic governmental actions justified by potential guerrilla attacks or terrorism. The term became prominent in the United States following the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, although it was used less frequently before that incident.

Such domestic governmental actions include:

* Emergency mobilization, including volunteer medical, police, and fire personnel
* New domestic surveillance and spying efforts, particularly with respect to immigration, transportation, military installations, and utilities
* Secret arrests and detentions
* Infrastructure protection
* Border control
[/quote:8bac5]

[url=http://rawstory.com/news/2005/July_2005_article_reveals_Red_Cross_told_poor_Your e_on_your_o_0902.html:8bac5]Revealed: New Orleans told poor: 'On your own'[/url:8bac5]

[url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm:8bac5]Red Cross Barred by Homeland Security][/url:8bac5]
[quote:8bac5]"The Homeland Security Department has requested and continues to request that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans," said Renita Hosler, spokeswoman for the Red Cross.[/quote:8bac5]

TGB! your right, the State Government did fail on some levels, but to say that the Federal Government is immune to any criticism is an obvious sign of your blind support for your own party and your un-willingness to challenge your own ideals or even put things into perspective. The US Government on a Federal and State level failed in a big way, 100 Billion dollars (Which we don’t have.) and possibly ten-thousand dead (Mostly poor people who didn’t have means to leave.) FEMA is part of Homeland Security; FEMA has to run through Homeland Security not the other way around. Besides FEMA is run by a Bush crony who has been criticized before.

Michael D. Brown
[quote:8bac5] In January 2005, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler publically urged President Bush to fire Brown, citing reports that FEMA disbursed $30 million in disaster relief funds for Hurricane Frances to residents of Miami, Florida, a city which was not affected by the hurricane. Brown admitted to $12 million in overpayments, but denied any serious mistakes, blaming a computer glitch. Wexler repeated his call in April to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, citing new reports that FEMA sent inspectors with criminal records of robbery and embezzlement to do damage assessments.
In the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina being named an "Incident of National Significance", Brown was named the Principal Federal Official and placed in charge of the government's response by Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff. CNN is reporting increasing anger filling the region due to what seems like complacency and tardiness from FEMA, coupled with an unsympathetic response from Director Brown, who lays some of the blame on the victims for their suffering.
In a September 3, 2005 editorial, New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called Brown a "blithering idiot" for not being aware that 15,000 hurricane victims were stranded in the New Orleans Convention Center, after this had been widely reported. [11][/quote:8bac5]
[url=http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/politics/12554958.htm:8bac5]Unlikely Background[/url:8bac5]

TGB! About the school busses let’s see you send a fleet of buses out of a city that’s already in the processes of a mass “exodus” while Gas stations are swamped full of people trying to get gas, and when did the Mayor call for Greyhound busses? . Besides would you want to sit on a bathroom less uncomfortable school bus five hours to Texas? Plus were would you find these bus drivers? Chances have it a lot of them either left town. And how would get these people together? The plan at the superdome was to get people in so that for one they would be somewhere safe and two so that they could have hub were survivors could come and were the supplies could be given. Obviously if that was their intention it didn’t work out.


TGB! Stop pretending you’re the undisputed overlord of the political forums, people who participate in this forum for the most part find a way to rebut others points of view without acting like some elitist.

[quote="TGB!":f049d]The US Gov. isnt on a state level. It is the feds. State Gov. is the stave level. [/quote:f049d]

Yeah? I’ll admit I made a mistake in wording and in my train of though. I know that the Federal Government is separate of State Government. But it’s not like they aren’t un-related and have no association with one another. In any case they both failed.

[quote="TGB!":f049d]We "dont have" alot of cash - are you going to blast the Department Of Education for taking money that could have gone to NO (nevermind that arguing about the Leeve project is moot as the project WOULDNT have been completed anyway)? [/quote:f049d]

No I was going to bash Bush and his Iraq war, I was also going to bash the billions of pork barrel spending, and while I’m at it I’ll bash the “Republicans” in the Senate, House, and White House who call themselves Republicans but don’t hold the standard of being “fiscally conservative”. Oh and a shining example of gross pork barrel spending would be the High Way Transportation bill passed not to long ago.

[quote="TGB!":f049d]And who should know the locations of transients - the FEDS. . .or City Government? [/quote:f049d]

Obviously the city but I doubt the city even cared about them anyway, and you seem to think I’m defending the State Government, I’m not.

[quote="TGB!":f049d]I dont know how things work in your state, but school buses (along with Firetrucks, Cop Cars, Ambulances) dont "load up" at the pump. They have private facilities to do that. As for the rest of your response - youre making excuses for why the government most famaliar to NO residents DIDNT have an immediate evacuation plan available. [/quote:f049d]

I was wrong about the gas stations, I overlooked that. That still doesn’t change anything. Try massing thousands of busses and people in a day and get them out of a city that’s already in the process of departure. Besides what would your evacuation plan be TGB if you were in charge? I really don’t feel like defending Louisiana state government because obviously they messed up too. It was really never my intention to defend them.


[quote="TGB!":f049d]Prove me wrong and sure - I will. . .until then -[/quote:f049d]

Thanks for proving my point in the same thread.

Wow - That is VERY cool of the EU....I'm impressed.

they didnt kill the contractors , they killed a bunch of thugs that opened fire on the contractors. why are the thugs shooting at people trying to help ?

There's two parts here. Before and after. The quote from HS is obviously after the fact.

I'm not sure what is being debated here.[/quote:5a40e]
It would be illegal by US law for the president top have used federal troops to police or aid the hurricane area. Only the national guard can do that, and because the national guard is not a federal branch, only the governer of a state can order the use of NG troops. The MAyor didnt evenm begin an evacuation until the president ordered him to, and then ignored his fleet of 500+ buses, which are now swamped, and sent people to the superdome. Then he failed to provide food or facilities at the superdome. WHy is this the presidents responsibility, when the fault lies at the local level?

It is easy to blame the federal government for any problems that overwhelm a local government

It would be illegal by US law for the president top have used federal troops to police or aid the hurricane area. Only the national guard can do that, and because the national guard is not a federal branch, only the governer of a state can order the use of NG troops. The MAyor didnt evenm begin an evacuation until the president ordered him to, and then ignored his fleet of 500+ buses, which are now swamped, and sent people to the superdome. Then he failed to provide food or facilities at the superdome. WHy is this the presidents responsibility, when the fault lies at the local level?[/quote:45ce3]

Look, people died. A lot more people died than should have. I'm sure a lot of people died due to red tape. Frankly, I don't care if it was local or federal governments fault. They both shit the bed.

The local government had already requested support from teh federal government before the hurricane hit. They had said their resources were overwhelmed. In the aftermath, the federal agencies failed to respond in an appropriate fashion. I think most would agree.

Here is the City of New Orleans official "Emergency Preparedness" site. It outlines what they are supposed to do in emergencies and what their official plan was in case of a hurricane. Intersting reading.

http://www.cityofno.com/portal.aspx?portal=46&tabid=26