Lieberman is threatening to leave the party again.Kos says this…
I WISH he’d bolt, but he won’t. He has more influence doing his
periodic threats. I wish Reid would simply strip him of his committee
assignments and bid him adieu.
I agree and especially regarding Lieberman’s chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Hillary Clinton recently introduced legislation to “restore FEMA to an independent, Cabinet-level agency, with an
administrator who would report directly to the president and have
authority to take whatever action is necessary during emergencies.”
This is a much needed change yet Lieberman has said in response that “he “personally would do everything” he could to fight any legislative attempt to do so.”
Not only will Joe not admit it was a mistake to fold FEMA into DHS, he will actively fight Clinton’s effort to correct the mistake. Joe is no help to the Dems but more importantly he is no help to the American people. Kos explains the former and this comment, from an emergency manager left at the GovExec.com link cited above, explains the latter…
The US only risks more suffering because of the misplaced pride of 2
senators who refuse to admit their mistake of placing FEMA in DHS. It’s
baffling that people repeatedly fail to see how the one mistake that
resulted in the Katrina failure began with the dismantling of the
effective Federal emergency management support system James Lee Witt
built in the 90’s. The key to FEMA’s success during those years was
almost singular – the director had the president’s ear. Today, FEMA is
merely the stepchild of a security-focused agency, when it’s main
purpose is public safety. Please people, where do we think DHS’s
priorities lie? Take FEMA out of DHS – that way, FEMA can respond to
natural and technological disasters when they occur (and they will
occur), and effectively respond to terrorist attacks when DHS fails to
stop them.
Update:Firedoglake and Crooks and Liars for more on stripping Lieberman