Sunday, August 10, 2008

Who's the biggest disaster of them all?

Why, HE was, of course.

NYT: Bush Declared 422 Major Disasters
During his seven and a half years in office, President Bush has declared 422 major disasters — severe storms, tornadoes, wildfires and floods — or more than one a week. That is 11 percent more than President Bill Clinton’s disaster declarations and 130 percent more than President Ronald Reagan during their full two terms in office. All those natural disasters translate into more federal government spending. Under Mr. Bush, the government has committed to spend $87 billion in disaster relief money to help states and localities clean up after floods, fires and storms, compared with Mr. Clinton’s nearly $29 billion. Even after adjusting for inflation, the Bush administration has spent 2.5 times more than the Clinton administration on disaster relief. ...

One explanation, though highly contentious, for why the country has been more disaster prone under Mr. Bush is global warming. Most scientists agree that greenhouse gases are heating up the earth’s atmosphere but most generally agree that no single weather-related disaster can be attributed to climate change with certainty.
Leaving aside the fact that such an explanation is "highly contentious" among only the ignorant or Republican ideologues, another explanation is just Bush himself, a walking talking breathing disaster if ever there was one.

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