Beware of any media reports laying responsibility for the delayed Katrina disaster recovery efforts on the state and local governments. The Washington Post and Newsweek have both erroneously stated that LA Governor Katherine Blanco never declared a state of emergency. This is a flat-out lie. (The Post has issued a correction; you can see it at the top of the article), and you can see her emergency declaration here and note that it was dated August 26th (that's FRIDAY before the hurricane hit). The Post article sources this statement to an anonymous "Senior Administration Official." If we aren't supposed to be finger-pointing, then why does the White House feel the need to lie so blatantly?
The other half of this strategy is to claim that the governor did not ask for federal help quickly enough. This is also false on the face of it. On August 27, Blanco sends a letter to the White House asking for federal assistance under the law. A key quote from this letter: "Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this 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 a disaster. I am specifically requesting emergency protective measures, directFederal Assistance, Individual and Household Program (IHP) assistance, Special Needs Program assistance, and debris removal."
Furthermore, the Dept. of Homeland Security (of which FEMA is a part), explicitly states that they will assume "primary responsibility" for any "natural disaster or large-scale emergency." They state this right on their webpage! (assuming they haven't scrubbed it after this debacle).
So given that the governor explicitly requested -- 2 days in advance! -- that DHS/FEMA actually do what they explicitly state that they are responsible for, can you see why the White House has to flat-out lie in order to deflect blame?
PS: Bonus tidbit: DHS/FEMA explicily denied the Red Cross entrance to New Orleans. From the Red Cross' website: "The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city." Conditions at the convention center & Superdome were bad enough without barring the Red Cross from doing what they do best.
