David Vitter is blocking the FEMA appointment

[Evangeline]

Three weeks before hurricane season starts. This is the Senator from Louisianna! Why is he blocking a crisis management expert who was originally nominated by Jeb Bush in Florida? It's all political posturing.


Sen. David Vitter swears his objections to the Obama administration's appointment of a new FEMA director have nothing to do with politics -- in an email which conveniently links readers to a fundraising appeal for the Republican from Louisiana.

"I can assure you that this isn't about politics," Vitter writes in an email explaining his objections to the president's FEMA nominee (http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=1D73BDC8-18FE-70B2-A834AB3A97B2471E), as reported by Mike Allen of Politico.com. Yet a "PUTTING LOUISIANA FIRST" logo embedded alongside that assurance carries one off to the David Vitter for U.S. Senate website, which says: "We need your help in order to win this campaign."

"Support David by making a contribution today," it reads, with a DONATE button for the senator facing reelection next year.

As hurricane season nears -- it starts in June -- the senator from the state ravaged by Hurricane Katrina has stalled Senate confirmation of Floridian Craig Fugate, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fugate, a widely respected expert in crisis management, was an appointee of Republican Jeb Bush in Tallahassee, nonetheless.

"We're three weeks from hurricane season, beginning the first of June,'' White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said earlier this week. "And we have nominated somebody that has a stellar bipartisan record, originally nominated by Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.

"He is somebody that deserves immediate Senate confirmation, not political posturing from a senator from Louisiana who should understand as well as anybody what's at stake in responding to a hurricane. And we expect that he'll be confirmed quickly.''


http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/05/vitters_fema_bar_no_politics_j.html

[Michael]

Three weeks before hurricane season starts. This is the Senator from Louisianna! Why is he blocking a crisis management expert who was originally nominated by Jeb Bush in Florida? It's all political posturing.
I heard that Vitter was blocking this appointment and was curious as to why.

Like what's in it for Vitter?

Didn't Jindal's foolish comments on the 'volcano-monitoring' issue just bite him in the ass when a volcano errupted a couple months later?

Vittner would look like a complete idiot if a major disaster were to hit right now, so it seems like odd posturing.

[Evangeline]

I heard that Vitter was blocking this appointment and was curious as to why.

Like what's in it for Vitter?

Didn't Jindal's foolish comments on the 'volcano-monitoring' issue just bite him in the ass when a volcano errupted a couple months later?

Vittner would look like a complete idiot if a major disaster were to hit right now, so it seems like odd posturing.

It seems like he's holding the appointment for ransom until FEMA says yes to funding some buildings in LA. Or just getting attention for himself to lead people to his 'donate' webpage. His reasons seem really lame. Other Republicans are praising Obama's choice of Fugate.

Here's a local oped about it from Bayou Buzz.


There is a word in politics for Senator David Vitter’s newly discovered opposition to President Obama’s FEMA-director, MENDACITY.
It encompasses all of the emotions of the blockage of Craig Fugate nomination to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) just weeks before the advent of Hurricane season. It is an expression beyond audacity, beyond reasonableness, beyond belief.
Vitter’s opposition cannot be the simple beast of Washington Partisanship for Fugate served with the distinction as Emergency Preparedness Director under Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, preparing an emergency response through four different Hurricanes.
Fugate is the GOP anti-Brownie.
Vitter’s fellow Republican Senator Mel Martinez (Fla.) was quoted by the Tampa Tribune saying it was “dangerous politics for a Republican from storm-ravaged Louisiana to be holding up the FEMA chief just three weeks before hurricane season starts.”
“‘He needs to be in there,’” Martinez said. “‘Some people utilize (the nominations) process as a way of making a point, or getting attention.’”
Ostensibly the attention Vitter claims that he desires is towards unfunded reconstruction liabilities that FEMA owes from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. However, Vitter’s move will do nothing more than block a worthy nominee well into Hurricane season. At that time, such a nominee might have other things to worry about than the 300 million dollars owed toward Charity Hospital.
He might be a slightly bitter, Vitter.
“I can assure you that this isn’t about politics,” Sen. David Vitter wrote in an e-mail complaining about the Obama administration’s handling of his inquires about FEMA on Thursday. Yet, if one clicked on the “PUTTING LOUISIANA FIRST” logo embedded right next to that quote in the mail, he or she would have been whisked away to the David Vitter for U.S. Senate website, which says: “We need your help in order to win this campaign.”
“Support David by making a contribution today,” the homepage invites right next to a “DONATE” button. Vitter is up for reelection next year, as the political website Politico noted in a tremendous understatement.
They quoted White House spokesman Nick Shapiro’s comments Thursday night: “President Obama has followed through on his promise to put politics aside by tapping Craig Fugate, who was originally appointed by [former] Florida Governor Jeb Bush, to lead FEMA. With hurricane season three weeks away, Fugate’s stellar record and bipartisan support deserve Senate confirmation—not partisan posturing from a Louisiana senator who should know better.”
When the nomination was announced, Jeb Bush said, “Kudos to President Obama for a great choice.” U..S. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) was quoted as saying Obama “couldn't have chosen a better FEMA director.”
All Joel DiGrado, a Vitter spokesperson, could fire back with was: "Sen. Vitter is using every means of communication available to explain his reasons for holding the FEMA nominee to Louisianans - namely the more than 70 days it has taken FEMA to make a policy decision that affects people recovering from storms that hit almost four years ago. If anyone is politicizing this, it is the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] and the administration."
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Louisiana/Politics/Louisiana_Sen._Vitter_Shows_Mendacity_In_FEMA_Fuga te_Block__8812.asp