At least in the context of asking for federal assistance in a timely and legalistically sufficient manner, there is now independent evidence that shifting the blame to Lousiana Goobernor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco is a faulty prospect:
The Governor must make a timely request for such assistance, which meets the requirements of federal law. The report states that "[e]xcept to the extent that an emergency involves primarily Federal interests, both declarations of major disaster and declarations of emergency must be triggered by a request to the President from the Governor of the affected state";
The Governor did indeed make such a request, which was both timely and in compliance with federal law. The report finds that "Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco requested by letter dated August 27, 2005...that the President declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina for the time period from August 26, 2005 and continuing pursuant to [applicable Federal statute]" and "Governor Blanco's August 27,2005 request for an emergency declaration also included her determination...that 'the incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of disaster."
I said I was done blaming officials, but I'm happy to point out where blame doesn't deserve to be applied. It would appear that this is one instance.
update 12AM Wednesday--
The full text of the Congressional Research Service's report is pdfed here. Note in particular pages three and four, that lay out clearly what the President is authorized to do once the request comes in and is confirmed.
-TJ
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