Here Today... Gone To Hell!

So, I watched, with interest, the Pres address the nation last night.? And...I gotta say...I was actually impressed.

He not only outlined what I think is a GREAT plan for rebuilding (lets hope Congress bites without holding it up or piling on addendums) the area, he also took, once again, responsibility for the failings of the Federal Government.

From his plans last night, it certainly sounds like he's learned from some of the mistakes we've made in Iraq on the rebuilding process.? I was also surprised to hear him suggest some rather "liberal" policy to stimulate the region, especially in regards to minorities and the poor.?

There were only 2 things that concerned me (and this'll give you a good indication of where I stand as an Independant, if nothing else I've posted has:

On the liberal side, his comment about giving the military more authority during a Major FEMA Disaster has me a little bit concerned.? They certainly are MUCH more competent at the logistics of large scale, complex operations.? My only worry is that soldiers are not really trained in the "Human Resources" aspects that are required for the sorts of operations that ensue with major disasters.? Hopefully, that authority Bush spoke of would only extend to the areas that the military really excels at, like search and rescue, transport, evac, casualty triage, etc.

On the conservative side, part of me wonders who's going to pay for this.? Or rather, I know who's going to pay for this, I just wonder how.? And keep in mind, I'm not trying to be callous or mercenary.? I realize we DO need to pay for this, no matter what the cost is, but I'd like to see some plans on how, exactly, we're going to accomplish that. I'll actually be looking at what the bean counters suggest on this one.? ?I did like how he talked about having an independant entity to reveiw expenditures.? Again, that's a lesson learned from our time in Iraq, I think.

Here's hoping he follows through and delivers on last nights speech.