# Katrina and the liberterian POV

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-and-the-liberterian-pov/321110>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 11, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-and-the-liberterian-pov/321110 "2005-09-11T16:48:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-and-the-liberterian-pov/321110/21 "2005-09-12T02:42:10Z")

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> [@John Mace](#):
>
> I can’t let that on slide…
> 
> The Federal Budget is not a secret-- anyone can find the budget for FEMA.
> 
> Secondly, the poor response by FEMA in this case was not due to downsizing, but to sloppy management.

There’s a world of difference between publicizing something (issuing press releases and holding a press conference) and having it buried in some obscure budget bill. Not even Congressmen read those things!

If Bush’s intent was to gut FEMA and leave it to the States, he should have made it absolutely clear that this was his intent instead of remaining silent and expecting people to figure it out for themselves.

To hire a horse lawyer with zero emergency management experience to head FEMA is the same as gutting it financially. If he simply disliked FEMA and thought States should be more involved with emergencies he could have publicly said so. As far as I know, he did no such thing.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-and-the-liberterian-pov/321110/22 "2005-09-12T04:04:03Z")

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> [@Blalron](#):
>
> There’s a world of difference between publicizing something (issuing press releases and holding a press conference) and having it buried in some obscure budget bill. Not even Congressmen read those things!

Come on. Is it your contention that the President needs to explicitly announce every budget cut he makes, or only the one that you decide (after the fact) that you don’t like?

> [@](#):
>
> If Bush’s intent was to gut FEMA and leave it to the States, he should have made it absolutely clear that this was his intent instead of remaining silent and expecting people to figure it out for themselves.

Was that his intent? And you know this how?

> [@](#):
>
> To hire a horse lawyer with zero emergency management experience to head FEMA is the same as gutting it financially. If he simply disliked FEMA and thought States should be more involved with emergencies he could have publicly said so. As far as I know, he did no such thing.

And what if he simply didn’t “dislike FEMA”? You’re jumping to a conlcusion, and then using that conclusion to support your argument. It’s called [affirming the consequent.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirming_the_consequent)

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/katrina-and-the-liberterian-pov/321110/23 "2005-09-12T04:32:03Z")

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On second thought, it’s probably not affirming the consequent. It’s another fallacy, but I don’t have time to figure out which one right now.

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