The lead:
Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina cut its devastating path, FEMA--the same federal agency that botched the rescue mission - is faltering in its effort to aid hundreds of thousands of storm victims, local officials, evacuees and top federal relief officials say. The federal aid hot line mentioned by President Bush in his address to the nation on Thursday cannot handle the flood of calls, leaving thousands of people unable to get through for help, day after day.
Federal officials are often unable to give local governments permission to proceed with fundamental tasks to get their towns running again. Most areas in the region still lack federal help centers, the one-stop shopping sites for residents in need of aid for their homes or families. Officials say that they are uncertain whether they can meet the president's goal of providing housing for 100,000 people who are now in shelters by the middle of next month.
. . . The top two federal relief officials in charge of the effort both acknowledged in interviews late this week that they too have listened to the frustrated voices of local officials and citizens alike, and find their complaints valid.
Meanwhile, Bush Rules Out Raising Taxes for Gulf Relief. Apparently he hasn't figured that he's maxed out the national credit card. But, then again, Congress, if it has an ounce of compassion, something the Bush mal-administration lacks, will have to pass relief for the entire disaster area and the rest of us will have to clean up Bush's and Congress's mess.
I only hope that somebody in the House of Representatives who still has a spine, like Nancy Pelosi (D-CA, 8), Barney Frank (D-MA, 4), Charles Rangel (D-NY, 15), or John Conyers (D-MI, 14), will introduce the bill, not some Paleo-Con trying to make amends for all their past transgressions on the Constitution and the people who were harmed in this debacle. Remember, the Government paid the families of the victims of 9/11. Was it compassion or guilt? Or was it both?
But Bush told us that Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) will have a better beach house. He said he would see to it. And we know that Bush is always a man of his word, but only to the rich.
