Poll: Faith in Gov't Readiness Falling

[deadparrot]

Ask Irene Tuzinski, a retiree living in a small, northeast Pennsylvania town, about the legacy of Hurricane Katrina, and she answers with an intense blend of bewilderment and outrage.

She questions the government's handling of the recovery — "What happened to all the money we're spending on Katrina?" she asks — and she doubts the government could ably handle another major disaster. And a new Associated Press-Ipsos Public Affairs poll suggests she is far from alone.

The poll finds public confidence in government disaster readiness is lower today, six months after Katrina struck, than it was in early September 2005, when images of rooftop-stranded storm victims were fresh in the nation's mind.

Slightly less than half of those polled, 47 percent, said they were very or somewhat confident in the government's preparedness — down from 56 percent in the days after the storm and 54 percent in mid-September.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060222/ap_on_re_us/katrina_fading_trust

[Coastie for Truth]

1. Practical Effect

Since 9/11 I have been pestering Mrs. Coastie and the Junior Coasties to take the Red Cross and emergency readiness programs.

Nuthin' -- No interest.

Within a week after Katrina hit the whole family was signed up both the Red Cross Disaster Readiness Course and the training.

We have no faith in anything beyond our local Fire Battalion.