Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Good point. So when making a rescue, the Coast Guard determines whether a boater is beyond three miles from the shore, and only then proceeds? Thanks for clearing that one up.
I have very little doubt that when the spin subsides, it will be determined that Nagin and Blanco, inter alia, made some errors, but I have a very hard time believing that one of them will be failing to have timely asked for federal aid. If there's anything that most states do very well, it's ask for federal resources, and Louisiana is surely right up there in this department.
|
Jurisdiction is mean low tide as an ordinary matter. The 3-mile boundary is to develop minerals, etc. But the federal gov't still has jurisdiction over the "seas" there.
As for asking for federal aid, that rather misses the point. If a partner gives you an assignment, and says "you're responsible for this" you don't wait until the filing deadline to tell him you have questions A, B, and C, problems M, N, and O, and need resources X, Y, and Z, and then tell him to solve it at that point, because he's the partner.
We live in a federal system. That means that states are primarily responsible for things like this, and it is there responsibility to tell the federal government that they need help, and they should do so in a way that actually allows that help to be provided. From what I can tell, neither N.O. nor La. had a plan for a storm of this size, nor did they develop a plan in conjunction with FEMA. The initial responsibilty for that has to rest with the state. When Blanco or Nagin comes up with some evidence that they, or their predecessors, had been beating up on FEMA for years, and getting the Heisman, I'll give your spin some more credibility. As it stands, they're trying to deflect the blame for their own poor handling of the planning onto the overwhelmed problem solvers that came in to a situation worsened by their own planning.
