Here's a "perfect storm" for ya'...

[misanthrope]

...What happens when you combine an active tropical storm season with record-high gas prices (which always rise even further during tropical activity) and thinning National Guard units?

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Somebody's doin' a heck of a job!

Only two more years. Only two more years. Only two more years.

--p!

[rec_report]

8. 'Somebody's doin' a heck of a job!' --LOL!! n/t

[SpiralHawk]

12. "And I'm doing a heckuva job, too." - Commander AWOL

"Just ask me, I am special." - Commander AWOL

[Monkeyman]

2. Thinning National Guard Units is not the word for it

50 percent of the equipment is in Iraq most destoyed. Any State that has been deployed is in deep shit. Sen Durbin Yelled about this three years ago. But No One Heard him

[uppityperson]

3. k&r

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Oh com'om, you know the Bushies and

other Neo Liberals LOVE THIS

The state should not be involved in disaster relief because they don't belong there, only private companies...

So how'se that working for them?

Soon yuo'll have to pay a premium to the local fire department if they can get away with that

[GainesT1958]

5. In a word...stagflation...

An economy that stagnates...while inflation rises steadily.

Our wage rates are already stagnant...and the housing market is now following suit. More Fortune 100 firms are laying off workers--and out-sourcing the workers who will replace them--overseas. The latest being IBM, which happens to employ over 20,000 people in my state alone.

We're getting to the point where we have to be thankful for the import auto manufacturers for having so many plants--and so much production volume--in the U.S. nowadays. At least they can be in a position to hire the tens of thousands that Ford and GM are laying off. And of course, they're now importing the sub-compacts which have been so successful in Europe for several years to the U.S. and Canada in record numbers, with demand so high that many of them have waiting lists at local dealers. But then, that's what $3.00+ a gallon--soon to be $4.00+ a gallon--will do to the auto market.

The one advantage of this is that I've noticed more hybrid models than ever before on local roads. Of course, the vast majority of those hybrids are produced by import manufacturers, even though several are actually made here.

It's bad enough that Paul Wolfowitz is heading up the World Bank, and paying $66 grand in "gush money" to his girlfriend. But this is also the guy who claimed that, within a year of "mission accomplished", oil would be at $20 a barrel. His knowledge of economics is indictive of the mess Dub & Co. have gotten us in.

[tinrobot]

6. Let's see...

Tropical storm hits a couple of big refinery towns and there's nobody around to put our oil based economy back together?

[misanthrope]

7. Think about...

...people unable to flee a storm because they can't afford gasoline.

[rosesaylavee]

9. Using the logic of Katrina then

its their own damn fault if they can't afford it. What are they thinking by trying to live in their homes now?

edit: caffeine needed to make sense

[Bosso 63]

10. The republicans have had some bad breaks,

but everything is going to work out by "08". Global warming is a hoax, the surge in Iraq will work, gas prices will come down....People will see... Fox will tell them ...right Jesus? . .Jesus? Can you hear me? W will lead us to the land of milk and honey, right? RIGHT?!

[Squatch]

11. Most NG units are either at or overstrength in personnel.

[misanthrope]

13. How is their equipment situation?...

....Tangentially, their presence stateside won't amount to squat if emergency managers can't/won't use them for anything other than standing in the streets with weapons and orders to shoot.