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Tierney: Corruption and Pork-Barrelling Worsened Katrina Disaster

In today's New York Times, columnist John Tierney argues that Democrats' attempts to blame Republicans for better preparations for flooding not being made in New Orleans are dishonest, and, in fact, all of Congress is to blame as corruption, pork-barrelling, waste, and partisan politics obstructed the goals of FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers. For years, Tierney says, money has been being diverted to senators' pet projects in order to bring revenue to their constituencies, instead of being used where it is most needed. Furthermore, Democrats like Clinton and Lieberman who are now pushing for a more independent FEMA are the very same senators responsible for putting it in a new department in the first place.

Tierney's solution? Decentralization of power. Mayors and governors, he suggests, would lose their jobs if they had money given to them for this purpose and irresponsibly diverted it as Congress has done. The senate, on the other hand, always has someone else to blame so that voters don't notice their corruption and incompetency. Business as usual on Capitol Hill.