Watch Matt Welch Talk Disaster-Relief Politics on HuffPost Live

On Monday, June 3, I participated in a HuffPost Live webchat-thingie on the shudder-inducing topic of "Could Tom Coburn Be Right?" The segment keyed off the Oklahoman Senator's consistent approach toward federal disaster relief—that the federal government does too much of it, and that it should always come with corresponding offsets in the budget. I referenced Coburn and the Oklahoma tornado tragedy in a blog post from last week titled "The 7-Step Guide to Our Idiotic Disaster-Relief Politics."

Joining me in the discussion yesterday were host Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, HuffPost National Reporter Christina Wilkie, and Hurricane Katrina refugee/transplant Maria Vieages.

Comments

[Suthenboy]

I was part of the Katrina relief efforts. The government efforts were an unspeakable clusterfuck. Essentially what infrastructure was not destroyed by the storm was seized by government personnel and made unusable to the citizenry. Roads were blocked, property seized. Private relief efforts at transportation and delivering of food, water and clothing were stopped.

A far more effective role govt. could play would be to simply have the apparatchiks pick up a phone and order the delivery of supplies by private companies. Keep the troops out. The local sheriff's departments can handle security.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You want to privatize relief efforts? I GUESS THE KOCH BROTHERS MUST HAVE THEIR HANDS IN DISASTER RELIEF COMPANIES.