A lot of money we threw out there was wasted because the technology was not so good. |
At the end of the day, the F-22 just winds up being more expensive. It just pushed all the hard things to the out years, and it really didn't address that. |
Even more than money and the availability of money, what really slows down the reconstruction is decision-making bureaucracy and red tape, |
Everybody can say everything came out of the QDR. You have the right to be skeptical. |
Given that the tsunami killed 150,000 people [in Southeast Asia], I frankly think we responded pretty well to a storm that might have done the same, given the density of the population in the area where it hit. Essentially, Katrina was a nuclear bomb without a mushroom cloud or radiation. |
He's stuck it out when lesser men would walk away. I don't care what you call that, hubris or whatever. I truthfully think just changing the captain on the ship wouldn't have made any difference. If anything, it may have slowed things down because at least that captain knows the mistakes he made. |
I can't see the House acting in any way on the Senate, and I can't see the Senate acting in any way on the House. |
I can't think of one good example in history where a nation built another nation. Countries that succeed rebuild themselves. |
I do think that this is Rumsfeld 's war, and I think Rumsfeld thinks this is Rumsfeld 's war. |
I think most of them get it … and they know he gets it. There's more good will than you can imagine. |
If you had a nuclear explosion and fire or something biological in New Orleans, you'd have seen tens of thousands of casualties, ... We don't really have the capacity to mobilize the medical support for catastrophic terrorism. |
In many ways, this is a test of our national capacity, ... If we can't do this 24-7-365, we aren't doing our job for preparedness. |
In terms of the physical resources the federal government brings to bear, the Corps of Engineers is going to be there a long, long time, ... Certainly, OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) will be engaged because of the safety issues, and cleanup will be enormous. EPA is going to be involved. |
Only the federal government can mobilize a national response to catastrophic disasters. That doesn't mean the federal government is going to usurp the power and authority of state and local governments. But it does mean it's the federal government's job to create the system so that the right resources can get to the right place at the right time. |
Some states, such as Florida, are much better prepared than others. It's kind of a no-win for FEMA. The better job a state does, the less FEMA has to do. |