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Heckuva job? Maybe not

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Illinois

* The Associated Press gave FEMA a glowing review yesterday…

Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina turned the Federal Emergency Management Agency into a punchline, many homeowners, politicians and community leaders in the flood-stricken Midwest say that so far, the agency is doing a heckuva job — and they mean it.

* Oh, really?

As their neighbors across the river begin to recover from the disastrous Flood of 2008, displaced Illinois residents are expressing frustration with the lack of assistance coming their way.

More than 10 days since Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich made a state declaration, residents are still awaiting the presidential disaster proclamation already given to more than 70 Iowa counties.

“We were totally misled, totally misinformed and completely ignored by this government,” said Anna Patton, Gulfport, Ill. “We’re not asking them to dig in their billfold. We’re just asking them to dig into our pot that we put the money in.”

* As I’ve told you before, the governor may be too optimistic about federal help…

“Every time we’ve asked President Bush for federal disaster relief … they’ve always complied,” Blagojevich said. “I have no reason to think they’ll do anything but what they’ve done in the past.”

That’s just not true. And if the past is any measure, then the governor needs to be a lot more vigorous in pushing the feds to act. Happy talk ain’t gonna do it.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 10:02 am

Comments

Blagojevich said. “I have no reason to think they’ll do anything but what they’ve done in the past.”

Translation: Meaning nothing…or denial of aid.

Comment by Siyotanka Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 10:13 am
It’s been an interesting contrast between Blago’s efforts and those of Daniels in Indiana and Culver in Iowa. I don’t think Culver has slept in two weeks, and Daniels seemed to be ready to go from the start.

I guess we have to rely on Durbin to get things moving in Washington.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 10:42 am
–“Every time we’ve asked President Bush for federal disaster relief … they’ve always complied,” Blagojevich said. “I have no reason to think they’ll do anything but what they’ve done in the past.”–

As Rich said, that is simply not true and might be taken as a bold faced lie. I cannot tell you how many times we procesed requests for disaster assitance and got turned down. The Gov liked to ask whenever he could so he could put out a press release and look like he was doing something. Most states do not do this and only ask in serious situations. Blago, however, had no problem ticking off FEMA with meaningless requests which they had to investigate and turn down. He might be witnessing the benefits of that strategy now.

Comment by Bud Man Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 10:53 am
With so many problems in Iowa, why would the President want to spend resources on a 3rd world dictatorship like Illinois.

Comment by Hearing Voices Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 11:16 am
HV, if you think Illinois is a third world dictatorship, then perhaps you should travel to a real third world dictatorship for a bit of perspective. Until then, don’t bother posting stuff like that here.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 11:20 am
It all depends on what you thing the Feds should be doing.

Illinois is hampered by the way the Federal assistance law calculates eligibility. It comes down to a lost dollars per capita. Not fair, but why have our senators and congressmen/women not worked to amend the enabling legislation?

Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 12:46 pm
I have a feeling we are being punished for being such a democrat state. What other reason would there be for us always getting denied the aid we need but other states aren’t?

Comment by Amanda Piacenza Tuesday, Jun 24, 08 @ 7:57 pm
As the people of Springfield know from the tornado disaster of several years ago, you can’t rely of anyone but yourselves to take care of life, limbo or property. Our city pulled together and got ourselves through it without waiting for the feds to help. It was an excellent example of people helping people.

Comment by Disgusted Wednesday, Jun 25, 08 @ 5:29 am