George Bush's incompetence at protecting us from danger and disaster continues. Despite a wholesale failure of government in Katrina, Bush's answer for future disasters is two-fold:
- Continued decrease in the government role
- Increase in the role of faith-based organizations - including a HUGE cash-grab
A day before returning to the ravaged Gulf Coast region, President Bush created an office for faith-based initiatives within the Department of Homeland Security to improve disaster recovery efforts.I don't want to sound cheap, but why are we reimbursing these religious organizations? Didn't their donors get tax deductions when they gave to them in the first place? Didn't they raise the money from their supporters to do the work they are doing? Why are federal tax dollars going to these organizations? This looks an awful lot like a Religious Right cash grab to me...
But the new office also will have some old business -- reimbursing groups that spent millions on recovery efforts.
While the new Homeland Security office will give private religious organizations the opportunity to compete for federal dollars and contracts, proponents also say they hope it will streamline efforts to pay back private organizations that already have assisted in Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.
Moreover, is this REALLY how we want to do disaster planning and recovery in this country? As Katrina showed, when no one is really in charge, it just doesn't happen. Is it any wonder why they are STILL finding bodies in attics?
Faith didn't have enough boats and choppers to get people out of their homes before they died. Faith didn't fill the breaches in the levies in time to save lives. Faith didn't evacuate people out of the Superdome. Faith didn't have enough food or doctors in the Superdome so people didn't die. Faith didn't even know people were in the Convention Center.
Faith is George Bush's plan for the future. Faith isn't a plan - it's a guarantee of no plan at all.
