Gulf Coast Governors Leaving National Guard Idle

[CompSciGuy]

So, what's Jindal mad about? What are the resources that he's complaining about not being given by the feds?

 

[ludahai]

... Why is the oil spill the responsibility of the federal government but Katrina was the responsibility of states?

Because the waters where the oil spill are affecting are emerging from FEDERALLY CONTROLLED WATERS, whereas the PEOPLE living in Louisiana fell in an area under the jurisdiction of the STATE OF LOUISIANA!!! Are you REALLY going to be THAT simple?

 

[PeteEU]

There are two reasons why you're wrong on that score.

1) Soldiers aren't to be used for menial labor, it's a violation of Army regulations.

So who digs the latrines? The slaves?

2) There are already hundreds of people getting paid to do the beach cleanup.

yea , the National Guard could do it for free.. go figure! Instead they sit on their asses doing nothing productive in a time of crisis and the people who control them demand that the feds send in the army and us nukes to stop a leak..

There is nothing in the Louisiana National Gaurd system, that would be an asset to containing, stopping, or cleaning up the oil slick...typical leftist stupidity...and covering for Buckey.

And this is nothing but a typical apologist right wing hypocrite excuse.

 

[Zyphlin]

I love the outrage here. Funny, I only see most of the people showing outrage in this thread running in to do it when they can show outrage towards Jindal. However they've been mostly silent when it comes to Obama.

Perhaps he's not been able to deploy them because the actual actions that could potential help keep the LA shores safe have been bogged down in long boondogals of beuracracy. Of course, THAT's not getting any outrage from Pete or TMH: (A lot of same source matertial so cutting the money quotes. Please go to the link I provide to see them in full)

Jindal: "Our coastal leaders have a plan to battle the spill, but we have been waiting for weeks now for federal officials to issue a permit and approve the plan.

"Over a month ago, the towns of Grand Isle and Lafitte, together with Jefferson Parish have been asking for a permit to narrow the five eastern Barataria Passes and to establish active sorbent and removal operations on barges. So far, two passes have been approved for barges"

"The federal government still has not approved rock or other measures necessary to direct the surface and subsurface oil to the vacuum barges. There are tons of rocks just sitting there waiting to be deployed."

Or how about this:

“The CALIFORNIA has been shut down for six days because the Corps and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made us move the dredge."

"U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – the agency that manages and owns the Chandeleur Islands as they have disappeared to just a fraction of their original size – is now saying that they are concerned that creating more land out there and helping to restore our coastal wetlands could cause ‘additional erosion.’

“There was oil on these islands over the weekend and we know our newly created sand berm has already stopped small volumes of oil from getting into our wetlands. Unfortunately, just south of the sand berms, this oil has already gone past what is left of the deteriorating island chain and is now heading toward our wetlands. “We are just six days after the Corps and U.S. Fish shut us down and our fears have been confirmed. Oil is in the northern islands and will continue to contaminate our fisheries, kill our wetlands and threaten our way of life here in Louisiana."

Governor Bobby Jindal | State of Louisiana
Governor Jindal To Feds: Restart Dredging Operations In Louisiana Now | Gov Monitor
Washington Suspends Lousiana Sand Berms to Stop Oil Spill - Ecocentric - TIME.com

Or how about the vacuum barges that Lousiana helped get commisssions and activated by the Coast Guard? Good thing there governments not delaying them being able to do its work...

"Last week, he commissioned a fleet of 16 barges to comb the Gulf with vacuum equipment and suck up crude oil, and they had been working surprisingly well—until the Coast Guard stopped them on Wednesday, forcing them to sit at port for 24 hours."

"The Governor says he was told the coast guard needed to inspect the barges for things like, life vests and fire extinguishers. But, by Wednesday evening, no inspections had taken place and the barges remained idle."

Bobby Jindal's Oil Vacuum Barges Stopped By Coast Guard Red Tape
Vacuum barge frustration - New Orleans News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - FOX 8 Live WVUE-TV Channel 8

And lets not forget the miles of unused Boom that sat there for quite some time, or the numerous offers from other countries that went unanswered for weeks upon weeks.

Yes, god forbid the government not act like this is an emergency and get criticized...but Jindal doesn't have every national guard member activated and we must rain down hell fire and damnation!

There's no reason to activate National Guard troops that don't have anything to do. Activating the troops for no other reason than the political benefit of saying "Look, I activated the troops!" is useless. There's no reports that the oil defense isn't actually being manned properly. On the contrary, there's been reports that as much of the activity that's been requested to be done such as the sand berms has been getting delayed, making the need for additional people to be decreased.

If there's evidence that there is uses for these additional people right this moment, absolutely, Jindal's wrong for not deploying them. But man power is something I've not heard Jindal complaining about and I've seen no proof that more people are needed in and of itself, so activating people for the sake of activation is worthless and just a money sink.

But glad to see such consistant bitching about the squandering of resources in this thing from so many people :roll:

 

[Zyphlin]

yea , the National Guard could do it for free.. go figure! Instead they sit on their asses doing nothing productive in a time of crisis and the people who control them demand that the feds send in the army and us nukes to stop a leak..

First, it wouldn't be for "free". You need to learn what words mean.

Second, please show me a quote of Jindal suggesting we must Nuke the Well or that we need to send in the Army? The only thing I've heard from Jindal at all about the nuke is he wants the Fed's to consider all realistic options, but that the well's in federal waters and he's worried about the clean up. I'd be ANXIOUS to see a quote backing up your assertion.

You know, unless it was just....

nothing but a typical apologist right wing Left Wing hypocrite excuse.

 

[PeteEU]

First, it wouldn't be for "free". You need to learn what words mean.

Of course it is free.. they already getting paid to sit on their butts so why not make them do something? And they are more trained at this than the fishermen and what not that is being hired to clean up the mess. And why NOT use both? Hell throw in the federal military too. Point is, Jindal has at his disposal a large amount of people he can order into crisis areas.. Every time I see Jindal on the news, he is a near panic state lambasting the feds for not doing enough, and yet he aint doing all he can himself.. talk about being a hypocrite.

Second, please show me a quote of Jindal suggesting we must Nuke the Well or that we need to send in the Army? The only thing I've heard from Jindal at all about the nuke is he wants the Fed's to consider all realistic options, but that the well's in federal waters and he's worried about the clean up. I'd be ANXIOUS to see a quote backing up your assertion.

You know, unless it was just....

Did I say Jindal? But Jindal did call for a day of prayer instead! Like that would help.

But you try to deny that the idea has not been floated and even embraced by some.

 

[VanceMack]

The national guard is trained in disaster relief and could help any evacuations or disaster preparedness programs.

Hey...remember when we were talking midless ideologues?

When its Katrina and Bush, it's BUSH's fault for not doing more. Now with an oil well still spewing a few hundred thousand barrels of oil a day, 75 days after the fact...oil washing up on EVERY gulf coast shore line...and it is of course BP and a republican governor that the left focuses its blame on. Thats freakin AWESOME!!!! :lamo

 

[Zyphlin]

Did I say Jindal? But Jindal did call for a day of prayer instead! Like that would help.

By name? No. By position, yes:

Instead they sit on their asses doing nothing productive in a time of crisis and the people who control them demand that the feds send in the army and us nukes to stop a leak..

So please Pete enlighten us.

Does Jindel NOT control some of the national guard units this thread and you are complaining about not being controlled and thus you should rescind an earlier condemnation of Jindal?

OR

Does Jindal Jindal control some of the national guard units this thread and you are complaining about, and as such please provide us a link to a quote of Jindal demanding that Federal Army be sent in or that a nuke is used.

OR

Take back your absurd hyperpartisan dishonest statement I quoted.

I'm eagerly awaiting for which one you do.

 

[Zyphlin]

Of course it is free.. they already getting paid to sit on their butts so why not make them do something?

To my understanding the National Guard members get paid a small stipend monthly while inactive, known as Drill Pay. Once activated they get paid a significant amount more. Additionally if the area is considered an emergency zone they could potentially be getting even more pay on top due to danger pay.

So no, its not free. To activate them to pick up garbage would be to move them off of Drill Pay which is relatively miniscule onto active duty pay which is likely significantly higher than what's being paid to people currently doing more menial tasks.

 

[apdst]

Let's see... First of all, you insisted:



Guess what? You were wrong.

And wasn't it Jindal who said at various points:



Well, he was just as wrong as you are. In fact, the Coast Guard says every request to use the National Guard has been approved, usually within a day. Now Jindal's office acknowledged to CBS News the governor has not specifically asked for more Guard troops to be deployed.

The man's a lying sack.

Every resource that can actually be used to contain the spill and protect the shoreline. So far, the only asset that the national gaurd has, that can do that, is their air-lift capabilities.

Granted, I forgot about the helicopter units, but what other equipment does the national gaurd have that can fight the oil slick?

 

[apdst]

To my understanding the National Guard members get paid a small stipend monthly while inactive, known as Drill Pay. Once activated they get paid a significant amount more. Additionally if the area is considered an emergency zone they could potentially be getting even more pay on top due to danger pay.

So no, its not free. To activate them to pick up garbage would be to move them off of Drill Pay which is relatively miniscule onto active duty pay which is likely significantly higher than what's being paid to people currently doing more menial tasks.

In the insterest of clarity, the Louisiana National Gaurd pays soldiers for each MUTA (Multiple Unit Training Assembly). They either get paid for 4 MUTA's, or 5 MUTA's, depending on whether, or not, they have to show up to drill on friday afternoon, or staturday morning. One MUTA equates to 1 day's active duty pay, for the appropriate rank. During their AT (Annual Traning), aka summer camp, national gaurd soldiers are placed on active duty and receive normal active duty pay for those 14+ days.

I agree with your point, however.

 

[texmaster]

... Why is the oil spill the responsibility of the federal government but Katrina was the responsibility of states?

I think that has to do with the fact the states had to ask for help from the feds which they didn't until it was too late.