Responsibility for the Aftermath

It is President Bush and the Republican Congress who are responsible for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

It is they who sent half the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard to Iraq as an expeditionary force, along with much of the heavy equipment and helicopters that could have provided immediate assistance at home in the crucial first days.

It is they who cut the New Orleans District Army Corps of Engineers levee rebuilding and strengthening funds by tens of millions of dollars.

It is President Bush who appointed a political operative to head FEMA and let the professionals go. FEMA has been unable to do two things at one time under this President - save those who need saving and taking care of those who escaped.

It is President Bush's FEMA that zeroed out mitigation - strengthening against disaster.

It is President Bush and the Republican Congress who rolled FEMA into the fledgling Department of Homeland Security without a replacement.

It is President Bush who said, "Nobody could have predicted the levees would be breached," when in fact many had predicted just that.

President Bush and the Republican Congress are responsible for the looting, the chaos, the suffering, the stranded. They have failed New Orleans, they have failed Louisiana, they have failed Mississippi, they have failed the United States.