Lots of interesting stuff in the "Progress Report" today, so I decided to post the whole thing.

**********************************

From: American Progress Action Fund
Date: 09/08/05 08:01:19


GOOD NEWS

The budget reconciliation process in Congress was likely to hit the poor extremely hard, slashing millions of dollars of funding for Medicaid, Medicare, student loans, and other forms of assistance. Now, the Hill reports, a parliamentary ruling to extend debate on the reconciliation will likely have the effect of delaying those cuts for good.

DON'T MISS TALKING POINTS: Right-Wing Congress Stacks Investigative Body and Loots Katrina Aid

KATRINA: Funeral home told "expect up to 40,000 bodies.
KATRINA: The myth of President Bush's call to New Orleans Mayor Nagin.
IRAQ: Endless attacks on pipelines lead to once-unthinkable gas rations.
ADMIN: Even FEMA's spokesmen worked for the Bush-Cheney campaign.

DAILY GRILL
"America, at its best, is a place where personal responsibility is valued and expected."-- President Bush, Inaugural Address, 1/20/01VERSUS"On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, sought to deflect criticism of the federal response before announcing that House hearings on the issue had been canceled."-- CNN, 9/7/05

DAILY OUTRAGE
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to veto historic legislation that would have legalized same-sex marriage.

ARCHIVES
Progress Report

STUDENTS
Politics with an Attitude: Everyone from Barack Obama to Stephen Colbert talks to Campus Progress. Right-wingers seem scared of us. Find out why here.
by Judd Legum, Faiz Shakir, Nico Pitney, and Christy Harvey
September 8, 2005
KATRINA
If Louisiana Was Florida
KATRINA
The Politics of $52 Billion
UNDER THE RADAR
Go Beyond The Headlines
For news and updates throughout the day, check out our blog at ThinkProgress.org.

Sign up Contact us Permalinks/Archive Mobile RSS Print

KATRINA TIMELINE: In the blitz of media coverage surrounding Hurricane Katrina, it’s hard to wrap your head around exactly what happened. ThinkProgress has created a Katrina timeline that catalogues the most important events. Check out the timeline here.

KATRINA: If Louisiana Was Florida
Between August and September of 2004, four hurricanes -- Jeanne, Charley, Frances, and Ivan -- belted the Florida coast. At the time, President Bush was engaged in a close campaign, with Florida shaping up to be a key battleground state that would swing the election. The Bush administration's response to the four hurricanes was quick and generous; it requested over $12 billion in emergency aid for the state (the outpouring of aid was so generous that the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security later found millions of dollars in unjustified disbursements, including $8 million given out to people for temporary housing even though they hadn't asked for it). By comparison, prior to yesterday's supplemental request for additional hurricane relief due to Katrina, Bush initially asked for $10.5 billion for the most damaging hurricane in history, four days after Katrina made landfall. Across the board, the comparisons between the administration's actions in the aftermath of the 2004 Florida hurricanes and the recent Katrina catastrophe indicate an uneven response.BUSH ADMINISTRATION RESPONDED WITH FINANCIAL AID QUICKLY AFTER FLORIDA HURRICANES: Almost immediately after the four Florida hurricanes made landfall, the Bush administration was quick to call on Congress to provide massive resources to the state. The total amount of aid, the New York Times noted, was "more than three times as much as the administration [was] channeling into an urgent effort to provide more security and create more public works jobs in Iraq before the elections scheduled for January there." White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan tried to tamp down allegations that political motivations may have been at play in the quick disbursement of financial aid by citing the enormity of the disaster. "Florida is the first state in 120 years to be hit by four hurricanes," McClellan said. "The people of Florida have been hit hard by these hurricanes, and it's important that the federal government do everything it can to assist and recover in those efforts." Four days after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, the White House, according to McClellan, was still "making an assessment of what additional funding may be needed," and he could not even offer a ballpark estimate for its initial request.

ADMINISTRATION PREPARED FOR DISASTER IN FLORIDA: While the administration demonstrated through Katrina how not to prepare for a hurricane, Florida offered the opposite lesson. The St. Petersburg Times noted in August 2004 that Bush approved federal assistance for Hurricane Charley "about an hour after the hurricane made landfall." Rescue teams and National Guard troops were on the move to the hardest-hit counties; 11 truckloads of water and 14 truckloads of ice were immediately available. Federal and state officials applauded their increased coordination in responding. One former Florida director of emergency services remarked, "It amazed me how they got over 4,000 National Guard troops in there that quick." As Hurricane Frances followed, FEMA sent out a press release noting that it had pre-positioned disaster response personnel, equipment and supplies "to help those who are displaced or suffer losses." And FEMA made the same preparations for Hurricane Ivan after that. The response to Katrina, however, has left the American public, the media, and members of Congress questioning why those same actions weren't taken in the Gulf Coast as quickly as they should have been.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION PATTED ITSELF ON THE BACK FOR A JOB WELL DONE IN FLORIDA: The White House sought to take credit for the federal response to the Florida hurricanes. McClellan said at the time, "[T]he President has a responsibility to make sure that the federal government is assisting in every way possible. And that's what he's here to do." Bush made five storm-related visits to the state. The White House put out a fact sheet extolling presidential action in response to the Florida hurricanes. In response to Katrina, White House officials have tried to shift blame to state and local officials. Now-embattled FEMA Director Mike Brown gave a commencement address at the Florida Institute of Technology in December, in which he dedicated a large opening section to applauding the work of FEMA in meeting the needs of Floridians. By contrast, Brown "waited a mind-boggling five hours" after Katrina hit to contact Secretary Chertoff, despite identifying the storm as a "near-catastrophic event."

POLITICS PLAYED A PART IN FLORIDA RESPONSE: The Chicago Tribune noted yesterday that top-level FEMA officials have "little or no experience in disaster management," but they do have "strong political connections" to Bush. That experience seemed to help Florida out in 2004, and it may explain why Louisiana was not treated similarly over the past few weeks. The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel revealed official records in March that suggested Bush's re-election concerns played a part in FEMA aid. FEMA consultant Glenn Garcelon wrote a three-page memo on Hurricane Frances, against the backdrop of the president's reelection, that said the administration should "develop a communication strategy" to minimize any political liability Bush would face."Two weeks later, a Florida official summarizing the hurricane response wrote that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was handing out housing assistance 'to everyone who needs it without asking for much information of any kind.'"

KATRINA: The Politics of $52 Billion. Today, Congress will consider a $52 billion supplemental spending bill for the victims of Hurricane Katrina -- money that is desperately needed to help rebuild cities and lives. That hasn't stopped some from playing politics with the money. The Boston Globe reports that Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) are angling to "give Mississippi first dibs in the post-Hurricane Katrina grab for federal disaster funds." They may be successful because the three form a political triumvirate that "packs more political muscle than the storm-ravaged states of Louisiana and Alabama." Now is the time to put politics aside and get the money where it's needed most.

NO TRANSPARENCY, NO DEBATE: The House of Representatives, at the urging of the conservative leadership, voted "to limit floor consideration of the Federal response to Hurricane Katrina to just forty minutes." The rule governing consideration of the bill will "prevent any amendments from being offered." According to Rep. Louis Slaughter (D-NY), prior to precluding the possibility of amendments, "no one had yet to even see a copy of the legislation.." Slaughter said, "It is this very lack of accountability in government which ensured that our disaster response would be a bigger disaster than the hurricane itself. Yet here they go again, completely unfazed in their determination to eliminate debate, consideration and accountability from the Congress and the Federal government."

THE SWIFT BOATING OF GOV. BLANCO: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) wrote a letter urging Speaker Dennis Hastert to "refrain from directly appropriating any funds from the public treasury to either the state of Louisiana or the city of New Orleans." Tancredo said the money should be withheld as punishment for the "mind-boggling incompetence" of Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in the "response to this disaster." Tancredo did not mention that on August 27, President Bush directed "the Department of Homeland Security [and] Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency."

MCCAIN AND COBURN URGE COLLEAGUES TO SACRIFICE POLITICS: Yesterday, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Tom Coburn (R-OK) urged their colleagues to "refrain from directing tax dollars to special projects in their states that might help their political campaigns but not necessarily the country as a whole." The senators noted, "In the past year Congress has found a way to fund thousands of projects of questionable merit. Perhaps a few of those dollars could have been better spent on activities that might have limited the impact of this tragedy." The New York Times suggests taking it a step farther: "Imagine what would happen if each member of Congress announced that he or she would give up a prize slab of bacon so the government would be able to use the money to shelter hurricane victims and rebuild New Orleans. The public would -- for once -- have proof that politicians are capable of setting priorities and showing respect for the concept of a budget."

Under the Radar

RELIEF -- PERRY FUNNELS RELIEF FUNDS TO HIS OWN GROUP'S COFFERS: "Gov. Rick Perry, in hurricane relief tours around the state, in news releases and on his official state Web site, has urged Texans to contribute to three groups: the Red Cross, Salvation Army and the OneStar Foundation," the Dallas Morning News reports. Sounds admirable, except for one detail: the OneStar Foundation isn't doing any relief work in the Gulf states. In fact, it's a volunteer organization set up by Perry himself -- "birthed from the heart and vision of Governor Rick Perry," according to the group's website -- and run by Susan Weddington, a close political ally of Perry who left her political position to run the organization. Perry's promotion of the group has "prompted some to question whether the governor is trying to benefit politically from the outpouring of sympathy and good works in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina," the Morning Star reports.

ENERGY -- IN GAS PRICE WOES, DELAY SEES CHANCE FOR NEW ENERGY BILL: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) said yesterday that conservative leaders plan to use the post-Katrina gas price woes to push through "a sweeping new energy bill." The legislation will likely include provisions for millions more in subsidies to profit-flushed energy firms that "were jettisoned from earlier energy legislation passed before Congress left for the August recess." DeLay claimed the hurricane showed the need to increase domestic production, and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) "recommended drilling in Alaska and in coastal states where offshore drilling currently is banned." But yesterday, a watchdog group released internal oil company memos showing "how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits," in spite of the fact that "the oil industry blames environmental regulation for limiting [the] number of U.S. refineries."

MEDIA -- FEMA CARRYING OUT INFORMATION LOCKDOWN: FEMA officials yesterday asked the news media not to take pictures of those killed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, prompting free speech advocates to charge "they were censoring a key part of the disaster story," akin to the Bush administration's ban on photographs of military caskets returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. But FEMA's request about casualties was only the beginning. On MSNBC.com, anchor Brian Williams writes that FEMA officials seem to be engaged in a coordinated effort to bar reporters from substantial portions of New Orleans. As Josh Marshall notes, "Perhaps there could be guidelines about photographs which in any way clearly identified the deceased. No one wants to get first confirmation of the death of a loved one by seeing their body on the nightly news. But a blanket ban serves only to prevent the public from knowing what really happened last week. And the right of FEMA or any branch of the federal government for that matter to issue such a ban on American soil seems highly dubious to me."

IRAQ -- ADMINISTRATION LET NUKE MATERIALS SLIP OUT: More fallout from the Bush administration's massive pre-war planning failures: "The US Defense Department failed to secure sources of radiological material in Iraq for six months after the US invasion in 2003, during which period some were looted or scattered," according to a Government Accountability Office report released yesterday. Officials are scrambling to learn the fate of the nuclear materials "because of the threat to civilians of radiation exposure and their possible use by terrorist to make 'dirty bombs.'" Now, "according to DoD (Department of Defense) and State officials, however, the total number of unsecured radiological sources in Iraq remains unknown."


IRAQ – BILLIONS MORE NEEDED FOR RECONSTRUCTION: As America faces critical reconstruction needs on the Gulf Coast, Reuters reports, "Extra funding will be needed to finish key Iraqi reconstruction projects, given high unexpected outlays for security." Over $18 billion has been spent so far. Stuart Bowen, U.S. special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, refused to specify how much more was needed, saying "it was not the right time to discuss more money to finance Iraqi reconstruction, given the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. Gulf region, but it was clear that eventually more funding would be needed." Bowen did say he would eventually need "another supplemental [spending bill]" to finish oil and electricity projects in Iraq. To unsubscribe from this mailing, please click here.