Quote Originally Posted by b18hb
its not bush's responsibility to react. this shouldn't be a federal issue. new orleans is a coastal city, you would think they had some sort of plan in place for something like this, especially since they knew it was a possibility. also days later, and neither the local or state government have done anything but point fingers at the federal government. where is the backbone? where are those officials now?

west coast cities have plans for earthquakes and very rarely does the federal government get involved, and when they have, they haven't needed the large numbers they are being criticized for not providing now. northern cities have plans for snow/blizzards and what the cities can't cover, the state does. where's the plan in new orleans/louisiana? why does the federal government have to build the levees? where has their tax money been going for the last 20 years? did mardi gras need more funding? also, where is the police/fire/medical personel in the area and why don't they have the equipment to do their job in a situation like this? sure its never happened to this degree, but they can still institute some kind of attempt to formulate a plan.

i think its ridiculous that the growing mentality is that the federal government needs to do everything. seriously, why don't we go ahead and convert to a socialist state and relieve all the stress that comes with decision making, thought, and dignity? Democracy, yes, but first a powerful government. Yes, lets do that and forget about the concept this country was founded on.

The local and state government should be figureing this out, heck raise taxes till you can pump the stuff out, but they should not be complaining because the federal government is taking too long to fix a problem they should have prepared for.
well said.