The Difference Between Action and Inaction

Admittedly, Rita was a far less powerful storm than Katrina. Yet this Knight-Ridder article raises some interesting points:

The Bush administration says it's researching whether the federal government needs to have greater authority to respond to disasters - and whether the military should be in charge.

The response to Rita, however, suggests that the government had plenty of authority to respond to Katrina and that what was lacking during Katrina was an understanding of when to use that authority.

Yeah, but let's make the powergrab anyway....