[Reuters]Good to see FEMA is busy repairing their image.

pgabriel · Oct 29, 2007

halfbreed said:

When did I absolve him of any responsibility for the incompetence of most federal agencies? We're talking about two instances when I think the ties to GWB are very thin. According to your theory, the CEO of a company would be responsible for the sexual harassment of a low-level employee by another low-level employee because he hired the people who hired the people who hired the people who hired the person who sexually harassed someone in the workplace.

I agree that GWB has a poor record with regards to hiring people to run agencies. However, that doesn't mean that all the problems the agency has are the result of GWB himself.

EDIT: With regards to the sexual harassment analogy, I'm not talking about legal liability because I know the company can be sued. I'm speaking in terms that sequence of hires doesn't mean the CEO sanctions that behavior.
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did I say gwb is responsible as in legally, he's responsible as in the department falls under the executive branch under the gov't.

you're trying to set up some strawman argument.

let me ask you this, if a company continually misses estimates on earnings, and they have continuing scandals undermining the ability to perform, who's gonna get the hook by shareholders?

pgabriel · Oct 29, 2007

And the reason I wrote you try to absolve gwb of responsibility because this isn't the first thread you've come in with the usual "how is this bush's fault" question.

halfbreed · Oct 29, 2007

pgabriel said:

did I say gwb is responsible as in legally, he's responsible as in the department falls under the executive branch under the gov't.

you're trying to set up some strawman argument.

let me ask you this, if a company continually misses estimates on earnings, and they have continuing scandals undermining the ability to perform, who's gonna get the hook by shareholders?
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I think you misunderstood my argument and the edit. I wasn't talking about legal liability. I specifically stated that in the edit. I'm talking about who we believe is responsible morally. I'm sorry if it wasn't clear enough.

halfbreed · Oct 29, 2007

pgabriel said:

And the reason I wrote you try to absolve gwb of responsibility because this isn't the first thread you've come in with the usual "how is this bush's fault" question.
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Just because I don't think GWB is the reason for every problem in the world doesn't mean I don't think he's made mistakes and is responsible for some things that have happened.

ymc · Oct 29, 2007

halfbreed said:

I think you misunderstood my argument and the edit. I wasn't talking about legal liability. I specifically stated that in the edit. I'm talking about who we believe is responsible morally. I'm sorry if it wasn't clear enough.
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I think you guys just have a disagreement on morality. I don't see any point of arguing on subjective stuff.

rimrocker · Oct 29, 2007

Back on topic... and curiously, it bolsters pgabs position:

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/?last_story=/politics/war_room/2007/10/29/quote/

FEMA director of external affairs John P. "Pat" Philbin is really, really sorry that he participated in last week's fake FEMA press conference. "It was absolutely a bad decision. I regret it happened. Certainly ... I should have stopped it," Philbin tells the Washington Post. "I hope readers understand we're working very hard to establish credibility and integrity, and I would hope this does not undermine it."

Working hard?

Well, not that hard.

As the Post reports, Thursday was Philbin's last day at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said over the weekend that the fake press conference was "one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," and that the people involved in it would face "appropriate discipline."

So, was Philbin fired?

Well, not exactly.

He has been appointed to serve as the new public affairs chief for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a place where fake news isn't anything new.
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ymc · Oct 29, 2007

rimrocker said:

Back on topic... and curiously, it bolsters pgabs position:
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Interesting. You screwed up and then you get promoted. Only in Bush Admin!

halfbreed · Oct 29, 2007

Yeah, it sucks that there won't be consequences for this guy in his cushy new desk job.

Oh wait...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5254403.html

Fake FEMA news conference costs organizer his new job

By PAMELA HESS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The man who staged a fake Federal Emergency Management Agency news conference has lost a chance to be National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell's top public information officer.

John P. "Pat" Philbin, FEMA's external affairs director, who had been scheduled to move into the new job today, will not be getting it after last week's phony news conference. The staged question-and-answer session was harshly criticized by both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department oversees FEMA.

"We do not normally comment on personnel matters," DNI spokesman Ross Feinstein said today. "However, we can confirm that Mr. Philbin is not, nor is he scheduled to be, the director of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."

Feinstein said earlier that Philbin's job change had been put on hold while McConnell reviewed his record.

Philbin arranged a hastily-called televised FEMA news conference last Tuesday on the California wildfires. The session was announced on short notice and featured questions for FEMA's deputy administrator, Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson.

No genuine journalists attended, although they were given a conference call number they could use to listen in — but not ask questions. A half-dozen questions were asked at the event — by FEMA staff members posing as reporters.

Philbin was among the six questioners, according to The Washington Post. The questions included: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"

"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Chertoff said later.

FEMA later apologized for the phony news briefing and said it was reviewing its procedures for dealing with news organizations.

McConnell had offered Philbin the director of communications at the intelligence office prior to the FEMA event, according to Feinstein.

rimrocker · Oct 29, 2007

halfbreed said:

Yeah, it sucks that there won't be consequences for this guy in his cushy new desk job.

Oh wait...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5254403.html

Fake FEMA news conference costs organizer his new job

By PAMELA HESS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The man who staged a fake Federal Emergency Management Agency news conference has lost a chance to be National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell's top public information officer.

John P. "Pat" Philbin, FEMA's external affairs director, who had been scheduled to move into the new job today, will not be getting it after last week's phony news conference. The staged question-and-answer session was harshly criticized by both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department oversees FEMA.

"We do not normally comment on personnel matters," DNI spokesman Ross Feinstein said today. "However, we can confirm that Mr. Philbin is not, nor is he scheduled to be, the director of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."

Feinstein said earlier that Philbin's job change had been put on hold while McConnell reviewed his record.

Philbin arranged a hastily-called televised FEMA news conference last Tuesday on the California wildfires. The session was announced on short notice and featured questions for FEMA's deputy administrator, Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson.

No genuine journalists attended, although they were given a conference call number they could use to listen in — but not ask questions. A half-dozen questions were asked at the event — by FEMA staff members posing as reporters.

Philbin was among the six questioners, according to The Washington Post. The questions included: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"

"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Chertoff said later.

FEMA later apologized for the phony news briefing and said it was reviewing its procedures for dealing with news organizations.

McConnell had offered Philbin the director of communications at the intelligence office prior to the FEMA event, according to Feinstein.
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Well, that's something. I wonder where he'll end up?

pgabriel · Oct 29, 2007

actually i was looking for a version of that story to post, saw it passing a restaurant at lunch, breaking news on cnbc, but i got busy. nice to see some accountibility.

RocketMan Tex · Oct 29, 2007

rimrocker said:

Well, that's something. I wonder where he'll end up?
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Twenty bucks says the Republican National Committee.

pppbigppp · Oct 29, 2007

halfbreed said:

Yeah, it sucks that there won't be consequences for this guy in his cushy new desk job.

Oh wait...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5254403.html

Fake FEMA news conference costs organizer his new job

By PAMELA HESS
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The man who staged a fake Federal Emergency Management Agency news conference has lost a chance to be National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell's top public information officer.

John P. "Pat" Philbin, FEMA's external affairs director, who had been scheduled to move into the new job today, will not be getting it after last week's phony news conference. The staged question-and-answer session was harshly criticized by both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department oversees FEMA.

"We do not normally comment on personnel matters," DNI spokesman Ross Feinstein said today. "However, we can confirm that Mr. Philbin is not, nor is he scheduled to be, the director of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."

Feinstein said earlier that Philbin's job change had been put on hold while McConnell reviewed his record.

Philbin arranged a hastily-called televised FEMA news conference last Tuesday on the California wildfires. The session was announced on short notice and featured questions for FEMA's deputy administrator, Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson.

No genuine journalists attended, although they were given a conference call number they could use to listen in — but not ask questions. A half-dozen questions were asked at the event — by FEMA staff members posing as reporters.

Philbin was among the six questioners, according to The Washington Post. The questions included: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"

"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Chertoff said later.

FEMA later apologized for the phony news briefing and said it was reviewing its procedures for dealing with news organizations.

McConnell had offered Philbin the director of communications at the intelligence office prior to the FEMA event, according to Feinstein.
Click to expand...

You telling me he gets to keep his current job?

Not getting a pat on the back nor a raise is now acceptable punishment for fraud and wasting tax dollars? And we all know he only takes the fall not because of the fraud, but rather due to its negative exposure and implication.

Oh yeah, we are talking about individuals who treats integrity and accountability as toilet paper.

pgabriel · Oct 29, 2007

pppbigppp said:

You telling me he gets to keep his current job?

Not getting a pat on the back nor a raise is now acceptable punishment for fraud and wasting tax dollars? And we all know he only takes the fall not because of the fraud, but rather due to its negative exposure and implication.

Oh yeah, we are talking about individuals who treats integrity and accountability as toilet paper.
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okay, i take it back, i thought he got fired, didn't read the article

not that I like to see people get fired

rimrocker · Oct 30, 2007

So, you'd think that the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission would, you know, want to protect consumers. Well, not if they're a Bush appointee...

Bigger Budget? No, Responds Safety Agency
By STEPHEN LABATON
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/w...1&oref=slogin&ref=washington&pagewanted=print

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 — The nation’s top official for consumer product safety has asked Congress in recent days to reject legislation intended to strengthen the agency, which polices thousands of consumer goods, from toys to tools.

On the eve of an important Senate committee meeting to consider the legislation, Nancy A. Nord, the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has asked lawmakers in two letters not to approve the bulk of legislation that would increase the agency’s authority, double its budget and sharply increase its dwindling staff.

Ms. Nord opposes provisions that would increase the maximum penalties for safety violations and make it easier for the government to make public reports of faulty products, protect industry whistle-blowers and prosecute executives of companies that willfully violate laws.

The measure is an effort to buttress an agency that has been under siege because of a raft of tainted and dangerous products manufactured both domestically and abroad. In the last two months alone, more than 13 million toys have been recalled after tests indicated lead levels that sometimes reached almost 200 times the safety limit.

Ms. Nord’s opposition to important elements of the legislation is consistent with the broadly deregulatory approach of the Bush administration over the last seven years. In a variety of areas, from antitrust to trucking and worker safety, officials appointed by President Bush have sought to reduce the role of regulation and government in the marketplace.

Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said that Ms. Nord had not coordinated her effort to kill the legislation with the White House. But he said that the administration shared many of her concerns and that Allan Hubbard, President Bush’s top economic adviser at the White House, was preparing to send a letter to Congress “that is probably even more forceful than Ms. Nord’s.”

The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote on Tuesday on the legislation, which is sponsored by Senator Daniel K. Inouye, the Hawaii Democrat who heads the committee, and Senator Mark Pryor, the Arkansas Democrat who heads the consumer affairs subcommittee.

It would more than double the agency’s budget, to $141 million, over the next seven years, raise staffing levels by about 20 percent, and give the commission broad new powers to police the marketplace. It would raise the cap on the maximum penalties to $100 million, from $1.8 million.

Ms. Nord, who before joining the agency had been a lawyer at Eastman Kodak and an official at the United States Chamber of Commerce, criticized the measure in letters sent late last week and on Monday afternoon to the Democratic leaders of the committee. She was critical, for instance, of a provision to ban lead from all toys, saying it was not practical. She said that the proposal to raise the potential penalty to $100 million “may have the undesired consequence of firms, as a precautionary measure, flooding the agency with virtually every consumer complaint and incident.” Her concern, she said, was that the increase in complaints would so overwhelm the commission that, “true safety issues would go unrecognized in the process.”

She also criticized a provision that would give state prosecutors the authority to enforce the federal consumer safety laws.

Manufacturers had agreed to another provision that would assign independent laboratories to test and certify the safety of products, rather than the agency. But Ms. Nord said she objected to the provision. She preferred that the agency determine the conditions for using independent laboratories.

Some of Ms. Nord’s complaints were similar to the ones that business groups and manufacturers have raised, including that the legislation would be unnecessarily burdensome. But in other areas, like whistle-blower protection, her complaints went beyond those of industry.

While companies generally have not objected to giving protection to whistle-blowers in the industries regulated by the commission, for example, she said it would “dramatically drain the limited resources of the commission, to the direct detriment of public safety.”

While Ms. Nord said she supported the committee’s efforts in general, she issued a more modest proposal than the one under consideration in the Senate. It would, among other things, increase the maximum amount of civil penalties to $10 million, create incentives for companies to halt sales of recalled products quickly, and give the government the authority to seize assets of a company found to have violated criminal safety laws.

Senator Pryor said Ms. Nord’s objections surprised him.

“It’s hard for me to know if it’s just ideological or she is just expressing the wishes of the administration,” Mr. Pryor said. “Either way it comes to the same conclusion, and that is that they say they want more resources, but they are very reluctant to accept those resources.”

Consumer advocates also said they were stunned by the letter.

“It was remarkable to send a letter like that to a committee, when you’re in dire straits and you need increased funding and you’ve acknowledged that,” said Ellen Bloom, director of federal policy at Consumers Union.

The agency has suffered from a steady decline in its budget and staffing in recent years. Its staff numbers about 420, about half its size in the 1980s. It has only one full-time employee to test toys. And 15 inspectors are assigned to police all imports of consumer products under the agency’s supervision, a marketplace that last year was valued at $614 billion.

Through an agency spokesman, Ms. Nord declined to discuss her opposition to the legislation.

Ms. Nord’s letter was challenged by the Democrat on the commission, Thomas H. Moore. In a letter last week, Mr. Moore told the lawmakers that he generally supported the legislation for being “strongly pro-consumer.”
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[Reuters]Good to see FEMA is busy repairing their image.

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