Louisiana Senator Gives Fed Gov Response An “F”, Estimates 10,000 Dead
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Breaking News, Environment, Hurricane KatrinaWhen newly elected Republican Senator David Vetter is laying blame at the federal government’s footsteps, it’s newsworthy.
Five-thousand National Guard troops are expected to be on the ground in violence-wracked New Orleans by late Friday, military leaders said.But Vitter said that timeline could be too slow, amid reports that bands of armed men are roaming the streets in the city, which is 80 percent submerged in floods brought in by a storm tide after the hurricane hit on Monday.
Vitter, speaking to reporters at the emergency response center in Baton Rouge, also said he gave the federal government a grade ‘F’ for its response to the disaster so far.
Vetter also goes on to “guess” that the death toll could START at 10,000.
“My guess is that it will start at 10,000, but that is only a guess,” Vitter said, adding that he was not basing his remarks on any official death toll or body count.This entry was posted on Friday, September 2nd, 2005 and is filed under Breaking News, Environment, Hurricane Katrina. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 2nd, 2005 at 4:17 pm
Senator Vetter must be suffering from too much stress or something, because he seems to have forgotten that the federal government doesn’t send national guard troops to help with disaster relief. The governor of Louisiana does that. The federal government certainly deserves a share of criticism for its response (including the lack thereof) so far, but not having National Guard troops on the ground ready to assist the NO police when the city was evacuated is the failure of the state government, not the feds.
September 2nd, 2005 at 4:27 pm
Brian. Good point, but this is situation where more than just the state’s national guard troops are needed. Hence the criticism of the federal government. Also, I believe that the president can call in troops too, especially if the state and local officials are callling for him to make the recovery mission a “federal” mission.
http://www.arng.army.mil/About_Us/
September 3rd, 2005 at 3:03 pm
I believe declaring a state of emergency gives the President that right, which WAS declared early on.
September 3rd, 2005 at 5:27 pm
I think it’s just passing the buck. An “F” is 100,000 deade. what are they gonna do now? demand Bush to resign or just whine as usual?
September 3rd, 2005 at 9:30 pm
I was incorrect. The President can’t call in the national guard, but English Guy’s assertion is interesting, and I’ve heard this before. Is there anything to back this up?
September 5th, 2005 at 6:41 pm
Answer on the state of emergency question: It doesn’t give the president that power. He can “federalize” the National Guard, but that has a crucial legal efect. If the Guard is federalized, it becomes illegal for those troops to engage in any law enforcement activity whatsoever, even to assist local police. The LA governor has begged the president not to federlize her Guard because public order is still a major issue for her.
Federal troops in the form of Marines an sailors are working in the other states. For that matter, that three star coordinating things in NO is on the federal side.