Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Congress Should Appoint an Independent Commission
Good for Everybody
President Bush has already acknowledged some of the federal shortcomings in the response to Katrina. State and local officials appear to bear part of the blame as well. That's why it is in everyone's interest to appoint an independent commission to produce a report on the system-wide failures that led to the post Katrina debacle.
Appointing such a commission doesn't necessarily provide political fodder in and of itself. Bush can bully pulpit the issue as evidence that he wants to fix things, make them right and let the chips fall where they may. A panel may even uncover evidence that is helpful to the feds. Of course making government work and holding people accountable are no longer part of the Republican mindset. I mean they gave former CIA chief Tennet the Congressional Medal of Honor for Pete's sake, not to mention that they were opposed to the 9/11 commission from the start and did everything in their power to keep Administration officials from testifying.
Responsible minded GOP'ers need to stand up for principle, not party and demand a fully independent commission to study the Katrina disaster.
President Bush has already acknowledged some of the federal shortcomings in the response to Katrina. State and local officials appear to bear part of the blame as well. That's why it is in everyone's interest to appoint an independent commission to produce a report on the system-wide failures that led to the post Katrina debacle.
Appointing such a commission doesn't necessarily provide political fodder in and of itself. Bush can bully pulpit the issue as evidence that he wants to fix things, make them right and let the chips fall where they may. A panel may even uncover evidence that is helpful to the feds. Of course making government work and holding people accountable are no longer part of the Republican mindset. I mean they gave former CIA chief Tennet the Congressional Medal of Honor for Pete's sake, not to mention that they were opposed to the 9/11 commission from the start and did everything in their power to keep Administration officials from testifying.
Responsible minded GOP'ers need to stand up for principle, not party and demand a fully independent commission to study the Katrina disaster.
