The Federal Emergency Management Agency hasn’t tried to recoup about $643 million in improper payments made to victims of Hurricane Katrina and other disasters in the wake of a judge’s order more than three years ago, according to a government audit issued Monday.

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The federal agency has distributed more than $7 billion in disaster assistance payments since hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. An estimated 160,000 applicants received about $643 million in improper payments resulting from fraud, FEMA errors or other mistakes.

In June 2007, a federal judge in New Orleans ordered FEMA to halt its debt collection activities until the agency made certain changes to its collection process. Government lawyers drafted a new process designed to comply with standards set by DHS, but the audit says FEMA’s chief hasn’t signed off on the plan yet.

It’s the deregulation, stupid: One of the outstanding questions about Obama’s handling of the spill has been whether he’d seize on it to make an aggressive case against the knee-jerk deregulatory ideology that ran rampant before he took office.

Now he’s done that in an interview with Politico, taking direct aim at the hypocrisy of those who pose as anti-government diehards but are suddenly demanding a robust Federal response to the spill [....]

It’s an interesting paradox: Even as the spill’s destruction dramatically illustrates the need for more robust Federal regulation, the government’s inability to respond effectively to the spill now that it’s in motion risks undermining his larger effort to move the debate in the right direction. Polls show very low confidence in the government’s handling of the spill.

One can only hope the public realizes that the inability to halt the spill shouldn’t have any bearing on the argument over whether more Federal regulation, and real Federal energy reform, are required to prevent such disasters in the future.

In my own head I often ponder if Republicans are either really smart, or really dumb. On the dumb part of the spectrum do they even grasp if they belittle government 24/7, underfund everything other then the DoD, and cut regulations, it is kind of hard then to blame the Democrats with something like what is unfolding in the Gulf occurs. I mean they can connect the dots can’t they?

Or are they really, really smart. Meaning they can slash regulations, underfund important departments, cut taxes, and then be able to blame the Democrats when something goes terribly wrong, knowing a large percentage of the population will believe them.

I just don’t know which it is.

The biggest oil spill in U.S. history quickly found, in the one person of Tony Hayward, its Michael “Brownie” Brown, hapless head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. And its delusional Baghdad Bob, the Saddam spokesman who coalition forces would never take the capital even as American tanks were visible a few thousand yards from where BB stood.

Kevin Drum at Mother Jones dispatches that notion effortlessly:

This conflates two very different things. Katrina was an example of the type of disaster that the federal government is specifically tasked with handling. And for most of the 90s, it was very good at handling them. But when George Bush became president and Joe Allbaugh became director of FEMA, everything changed. Allbaugh neither knew nor cared about disaster preparedness. For ideological reasons, FEMA was downsized and much of its work outsourced.When Allbaugh left after less than two years on the job, he was replaced by the hapless Michael Brown and the agency was downgraded and broken up yet again. By the time Katrina hit, the upper levels of FEMA were populated largely with political appointees with no disaster preparedness experience and the agency was simply not up to the job of dealing with a huge storm anymore.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion is almost the exact opposite. There is no federal expertise in capping oil blowouts. There is no federal agency tasked specifically with repairing broken well pipes. There is no expectation that the federal government should be able to respond instantly to a disaster like this. There never has been. For better or worse, it’s simply not something that’s ever been considered the responsibility of the federal government.

FEMA’s job, its sole reason for existing, was to handle disasters like Katrina, but Dan Bartlett had to make a DVD for Bush to watch because he didn’t even know what every American knew as the tragedy was unfolding. Via Newsweek:

The reality, say several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president, did not really sink in until Thursday night. Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One. How this could be—how the president of the United States could have even less “situational awareness,” as they say in the military, than the average American about the worst natural disaster in a century—is one of the more perplexing and troubling chapters in a story that, despite moments of heroism and acts of great generosity, ranks as a national disgrace.

I take issue with how the White House has approached this issue, because the president should have been out there sooner, but to draw a parallel to the Bush’s Katrina is completely ridiculous. The White House knew what was happening and didn’t need a DVD of news reports made for them. If conservative governance proved anything, it was that without competent oversight, regulations, and a willingness to then implement those tools, horrific things result.

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged to right the wrongs he said bogged down efforts to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Seven months into the job, he’s earning high praise from some unlikely places.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., says Obama’s team has brought a more practical and flexible approach. Many local officials offer similar reviews. Even Doug O’Dell, former President George W. Bush’s recovery coordinator, says the Obama administration’s “new vision” appears to be turning things around.

Not too long ago, Jindal said in a telephone interview, Louisiana governors didn’t have “very many positive things” to say about the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

But Jindal said he had a lot of respect for the current FEMA chief, Craig Fugate, and his team. “There is a sense of momentum and a desire to get things done,” the governor said.

Almost four years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has failed to clarify the responsibilities of different agencies that would respond to such disasters, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office.

One result is that FEMA lacks assurances that the agencies have improved preparedness since the deadly hurricane in August 2005 exposed numerous flaws in the nation’s readiness for large-scale catastrophes.

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The GAO conceded that FEMA lacks authority to compel other agencies to act but said FEMA should nonetheless “instill a shared sense of responsibility and accountability on the part of all stakeholders for the successful development and implementation of the national preparedness system.”

The report noted that although the post-Katrina legislation requires FEMA to track corrective actions taken in response to training exercises, it has not done so effectively.

The story goes on to highlight that FEMA has almost no communication with other government agencies that might be called on during a disaster much less defined how improvements will be monitored.

Update: Reading the report in more detail, the GAO Report found 68 percent of the plans needed to implement a national preparedness system have not yet been completed, although 41 of the 50 policies needed to define the roles and responsibilities of those who must implement the plan have been completed.

The report, Who’s in Charge? Who Should Be? The Role of the Federal Government in Megadisasters: Based on Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina, suggests amending the Stafford Act so that it better serves those affected by natural disasters, creating a central body and/or governmental leader—an “Officer-in-Charge”—with the authority to make plans actionable at a federal level in order to better coordinate federal, state, and local governments’ responses. The Officer-in-Charge would report directly to the POTUS and could “enable the president and Congress to consider extraordinary national action.” I think it is safe to say this is a change that is needed sooner rather than later.

• May 1 marked the end of the Temporary Housing Program for Katrina victims, and FEMA told residents they must vacate the trailers by May 30.
• Nearly 5,000 FEMA trailers continue to provide housing to residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
• Some 2,800 FEMA trailers remain occupied in Louisiana, with 1,000 of those trailers located in Orleans Parish, and some 2,000 FEMA trailers remain occupied in Mississippi.
• Most FEMA trailer occupants are elderly and/or disabled persons in desperate need of effective support and case management services to stabilize their housing and well-being.
• FEMA trailer occupants are displaced homeowners and renters still struggling to rebuild their homes or secure affordable housing after Katrina and Rita. In fact, 80 percent are homeowners, and most of them told FEMA in a survey this year they want to return to their storm-damaged homes.

A spry 70, Hammond likes to stay busy. So he putters in his sprawling garden. Pulls mildewed drywall out of his 7th Ward house. Smashes thousands of aluminum cans he has collected, hoping they will provide the rehab money the Road Home program hasn’t.

But he worries that FEMA might tow away his trailer at any time. Technically, it is no longer his: Last month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ordered him, by letter, to leave his “FEMA-furnished manufactured-housing unit” by this past Friday.

Like Hammond, those remaining in trailers across the region are mostly people who lived on their own before Hurricane Katrina: Eighty percent were homeowners, and most of them told FEMA in a survey this year they want to return to their storm-damaged homes.

But last week, as the deadline approached, FEMA issued conflicting messages. Some caseworkers told occupants their possessions would be put on the street if they were not out by Friday. Others told elected officials and legal advocates that FEMA would work with trailer occupants on a case-by-case basis and remove only trailers that are vacant or housing unauthorized occupants.

But officials at the top levels of FEMA in Washington, D.C., would offer no assurances. Instead, they said their hands were tied. Friday marked the end of the Temporary Housing Program for Katrina victims, including about 2,000 families in trailers and 54 more in local hotels.

5. Michael Brown — This former commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association was appointed by Bush to head FEMA in 2003. After Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Brownie promptly did a “heck of a job” bungling the government’s relief efforts, and was sent back to Washington a few days later. He was forced to resign shortly thereafter.

And think, he was only in the public eye for a few weeks. Imagine his ranking if he’d been around for a few years.