Independence Vs. Entitlement

If we're lucky, the one positive outcome of Hurricane Katrina will be an overwhelming realization by Americans that we should not rely on the federal government to take care of us. I reserve no blame whatsoever for President Bush with respect to hurricane relief mismanagement (FEMA may be a different story), but if people are truly outraged at the federal government's response to such devastation, you'd think they'd be able to conclude that it's unwise to entrust our lives to the government in non-military situations instead of advocating more perceived incompetence.

Alan Caruba largely gets it right in a column yesterday, as he says we need to rely less on government. But he's not too optimistic this will occur anytime soon, considering the combination of federal regulations that are slapped on state and local governments and the over-reliance of so many on socialist programs that were enacted after World War II.

On the contrary, The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson wholly misunderstands the concept of federalism in an op-ed today and neatly encapsulates the entitlement mentality.

First, an administration that since Sept. 11, 2001, has told us a major terrorist strike is inevitable should have had in place a well-elaborated plan for evacuating a major American city. Even if there wasn't a specific plan for New Orleans -- although it was clear that a breach of the city's levees was one of the likeliest natural catastrophes -- there should have been a generic plan. George W. Bush told us time and again that our cities were threatened. Shouldn't he have ordered up a plan to get people out?

Second, someone should have thought about what to do with hundreds of thousands of evacuees, both in the days after a disaster and in the long term. As people flooded out of New Orleans, it was officials at the state and local level who rose to the challenge, making it up as they went along. Bring a bunch of people to the Astrodome. We have a vacant hotel that we can use. Send a hundred or so down to our church and we'll do the best we can.

Tent cities aren't a happy option, but neither is haphazard improvisation. Is the problem the Bush administration's ideological fervor for small government? Does the White House really believe that primary responsibility should fall on volunteers, church groups and individuals? Or is it just stunning incompetence and lack of foresight?

It's utterly absurd to expect that the federal government could have a "generic" plan specific to the evacuation of every American city. That's why we have state and local governments. And though many Bush critics neglect to admit it, President Bush personally appealed to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco for a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans last Sunday (August 28). How necessary would federal assistance in New Orleans now be if the governor would have heeded the president's advice suggesting a preemptive measure which likely would have prevented much of the current crisis we now face of rescuing those trapped inside their homes?

And it's a stunning admission that Robinson actually believes federal authorities have more responsibility for evacuating citizens of New Orleans than state and local governments do. I'm not a White House spokesman, but I wholeheartedly believe the primary responsibility to cope with such situations falls on individuals, volunteers, and church groups! The fact that Americans nationwide have donated their own time and emptied their pocketbooks to assist the hurricane victims is proof positive of this.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. Kathleen Blanco were tragically incompetent in managing New Orleans' emergency management plan, including waiting too long to order a mandatory evacuation of the city and failing to stockpile at least a few days' worth of food, water, and portable toilets in areas like the Superdome, which was used as a haven of last resort for residents unable to flee the city in time. And I've already mentioned Terry Ebbert's failure to utilize hundreds of the city's own buses to transport citizens to safety prior to Katrina's arrival.

If anything, such mismanagement contributed directly to Nagin and Blanco's CYA defense and resulting finger-pointing at the Bush administration. We would all do well to note that the federal government has no obligation whatsoever to assist in such disasters. That taxpayers are willing to fork over millions of dollars each year to provide last-resort emergency relief is a privilege, not an entitlement.

Sadly, we have for years encouraged far too many able-bodied Americans to extend a palm upward instead of expecting every capable individual to make it on his own. There is no shortage of such government dependence now on display. It's pathetic that so many spoiled Americans can only complain that President Bush "didn't act quickly enough," instead of showing a little gratitude that they live in a country so willing to help those in need in the first place.