Why am I not surprised?
A few days ago, I posted the following about the then-coming Hurricane Katrina....
But hey, President Bush did cut short his vacation. Where's Congress, which isn't due back until 6 September? Don't they have an emergency appropriations bill that they need to get cracking on so the President has something to sign before his opponents accuse him of not doing enough to help? Oh, wait, they're already doing that. Anyway, I don't see too many of our Representatives and Senators (short of the ones in the affected states) who have cut short their vacations. It seems it's a whole lot easier for the President to coordinate his small cabinet from wherever he is, whether it is Washington, Crawford or Outer Mongolia. But I seem to recall something about Congress having to be present in chambers in order to consider and vote on legislation. So where are they?
UPDATE, 1 Sept - Congress is reconvening tonight to begin drafting a bill for relief - the President has asked for $10 billion as a beginning. The article reports that not everyone will be back, but that any legislation will be approved by "voice vote", a vote taken without calling the roll when there is no opposition to a bill.
He's [President Bush] already declared the city a disaster area and the hurricane hasn't even hit yet. Does he need to go down there and personally direct city officials? (Maybe I should be careful saying that. There may be some Democrats who expect him to do exactly that.)Apparently, some people think the President hasn't been involved enough and are complaining that he didn't cut his vacation short to immediately put on his hipwaders and trudge through the drowning city of New Orleans (that is when they're not blaming him for causing the hurricane in the first place, such as here, here and here). Yet, you know if the President had immediately rushed off to the Gulf Coast, those same people would likely accuse him of impeding rescue and recovery efforts by pulling away vital resourses to provide the protection needed for a Presidential visit.
But hey, President Bush did cut short his vacation. Where's Congress, which isn't due back until 6 September? Don't they have an emergency appropriations bill that they need to get cracking on so the President has something to sign before his opponents accuse him of not doing enough to help? Oh, wait, they're already doing that. Anyway, I don't see too many of our Representatives and Senators (short of the ones in the affected states) who have cut short their vacations. It seems it's a whole lot easier for the President to coordinate his small cabinet from wherever he is, whether it is Washington, Crawford or Outer Mongolia. But I seem to recall something about Congress having to be present in chambers in order to consider and vote on legislation. So where are they?
UPDATE, 1 Sept - Congress is reconvening tonight to begin drafting a bill for relief - the President has asked for $10 billion as a beginning. The article reports that not everyone will be back, but that any legislation will be approved by "voice vote", a vote taken without calling the roll when there is no opposition to a bill.
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