August 4,
Jim Kouri
Don't look now, but US lawmakers -- Republican and Democrat alike -- in Congress are grabbing more power for themselves while at the same time creating a whole new federal bureaucracy. Americans will rue the day it was created when they see their communities under the control of federal bureaucrats and agencies.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was so ineffective and mismanaged during Hurricane Katrina that it should be totally dismantled and replaced with a new disaster response agency, according to a draft of a Senate report that was presented to their Homeland Security Committee.
The belief is that the new FEMA, which would still be part of the Department of Homeland Security, but should be more powerful, with additional components that would give it a budget twice as big as the current FEMA budget. When faced with a problem, liberals will always throw money at it. Afterall, it's not their money, it's our cash being spent on this proposed super-agency.
America has a government agency that is dysfunctional and inefficient. So what do our leaders propose? Make the agency even bigger and unmanageable. FEMA screwed the pooch during Hurricane Katrina? Well, let's create an agency that will make gargantuan mistakes. State and local governments corrupt and dysfunctional? No problem. The feds will take over in the event of an emergency.
Separately, an upcoming report by the Government Accountability Office claims that FEMA is destined to repeat million-dollar mistakes of disaster aid waste and fraud unless it can quickly establish controls for verifying names and addresses of recipients. It was discovered during the aftermath of Katrina that persons collecting emergency stipends were defrauding the government.
Under the Senate report's recommendations, the new disaster response agency would assume functions now spread throughout the Homeland Security Department, such as preparing for disasters or terrorist attacks, protecting the nation's infrastructure, and distributing grants to state and local governments.
During major catastrophes like Katrina, the agency's director would report directly to the president, in the same fashion as the chairman of the Defense Department's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The current FEMA has a budget of $4.8 billion, and a staff of about 6,000 employees.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the new agency would be "better equipped with the tools to prepare for and respond to a disaster." The committee's ranking Independent member, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, also endorsed creation of what would be called the National Preparedness and Response Authority. But the full committee has not yet debated or voted on the draft recommendations.
Since Katrina hit, Homeland Security has been working on its own alternative to the agency's current structure, which officials describe as "retooling" FEMA. But they has not called for major structural changes.
There is still hope: once legislation is proposed to create this new super-agency, clear-thinking congressmen and senators will deep-six it. It's always a bad time to propose new bureaucracies at a time when Republicans move to the left, and Democrats move to further to the left.
Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he's the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund's weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.
He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.
http://www.examiner.com/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m8d4-FEMA-Is-dysfunctional-so-were-making-it-larger