Deja vu: After having botched their response to Hurricane Katrina, it’s shocking that Team Bush appears to be dropping the ball again in New Orleans. And yet, despite his near-weekly trips to the soggy ruins of the Big Easy, the President has no actionable plans for the rebuilding of the city.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the Administration’s mañana attitude is causing alarm among local government officials and returning evacuees. It has gotten so bad that that even Republicans are complaining:
[A] variety of prominent Republicans warn that the president’s approach is a recipe for trouble.
“So far, all we’ve done is shovel money out the door to meet the humanitarian needs,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). “But henceforth, we’ve got to be very careful how we spend the money, and that means we’re going to need a plan and somebody in charge.”
A former Cabinet member had similar concerns.
“With all due respect to the president, things are not going to bubble up from the bottom,” said Jack Kemp, who was Housing and Urban Development secretary under President George H.W. Bush. “There has to be some federal leadership here.”
And then there is this ominous portent:
“The White House has studiously avoided making any choices about what should be rebuilt, and the corps has taken that to mean rebuild everything,” said David R. Conrad, a senior water resources specialist with the National Wildlife Federation and a veteran corps watcher.
If the pressure he is under is impairing President Bush’s ability to govern, he must put the interests of the country above his own and resign.
