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Via Kevin Drum, this Knight-Ridder report on how far FEMA has sunk under Bush:
Some people have in recent days suggested pulling FEMA out of the Department of Homeland Security as a possible solution to correcting its ineptness. But the only real solution as you can see from such reports above is pulling FEMA out of the Bush administration. FEMA's disrepair and staffing by political rent-a-hacks is not only a symptom of its chief Brown of the padded resume; FEMA epitomizes how the Bush administration has done business since it came to town. PR over substance, loyalty over competence, ideology over effectiveness, at every turn. Will they continue to get away with it? And if so, at what further cost?...In 2000, 40 percent of the top FEMA jobs were held by career workers who rose through the ranks of the agency, including chief of staff. By 2004, that figure was down to less than 19 percent, and the deputy director/chief of staff job is held by a former TV anchor turned political operative.
Former Reagan administration FEMA Director Gen. Julius Becton Jr. said the agency has become too political and should be run by a nonpolitical appointee.
Of the top 15 FEMA spots in Washington, the only people who had experience or have a single permanent job - some employees of FEMA are holding down two positions - are the agency's top lawyer, its equal rights director, its technology chief and its inner-agency planning chief. None of them is responsible for disaster response or preparations.