Republicans Drowning America: Wisconsin and Iowa Edition

I have already discussed at some length the dismal and DELIBERATE Republican failures to maintain America's infrastructure. The Republican Party has a stated policy of "Drowning American in a Bathtub," essentially reducing government to nothing. This is how Republican guru Grover Norquist put it:

"Cutting the government in half in one generation is both an ambitious and reasonable goal," Norquist stated in May 2000. "If we work hard we will accomplish this and more by 2025. Then the conservative movement can set a new goal. I have a recommendation: To cut government in half again by 2050"

We saw the direct and tragic result of that Republican "Drown America" policy in Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, in closed and collapsed bridges in Minnesota (which I just discussed last week), and now...floods in Iowa and Wisconsin this very month.

An embankment holding back a man-made lake in Wisconsin has broken, flooding yet another Midwest town: (from Salon.com)

The swollen Kickapoo River engulfed nearly the entire town Monday morning, forcing about 150 people to evacuate. By evening, the village was a grid of canals with cars submerged up to their windows and parking lots looking like lakes, just as it was in August...

An engineer assessment team from the Wisconsin National Guard was headed to Lake Delton on Tuesday to determine what would be needed to begin repairs on an embankment along the man-made lake that gave way, releasing a powerful current.

The 267-acre lake emptied into the nearby Wisconsin River on Monday, washing out part of a highway, sweeping away three homes and tearing apart two others...

Lake Delton, a key part of the Wisconsin Dells tourism area, was nearly dry by Monday afternoon. The 20 resorts that line the lake already are reporting cancellations by people who had planned summer vacations in the area...

"I can't believe this is happening again," said Liz Klekamp, 23, who said she grabbed her cat and fled Monday morning when water poured into her house. "It's really, truly sad."

So once again levees neglected by the Republicans have broken under predictable conditions, flooding the homes of Americans. The same thing is happening in Iowa as well. From Daily Kos (original article and the photos from Iowa can be found here):

I am in Mason City. Our levees broke Sunday morning. Flood stage is 7 foot and waters are now at 19 feet. Hundreds of homes and businesses are underwater. The City's water plant was flooded and the entire city of 30,000 is without potable water. A couple of hours ago the main electric substation flooded and failed and much of the city is without power. People remain in flooded homes. Early tonight I saw people wandering the streets not knowing where to go. There are entrie areas of the city with NO emergency personnel on hand.

NOBODY from the outside has come to help. Our local first responders are exhausted and overwhelmed. Small rural towns downstream tonight are being devasted. Levees everywhere are failing. Calls for help in these small towns have been unmet. Portions of our local guard are in Iraq.

The homeland has been left unprotected and people are suffering horribly.

More:

I have seen no evidence of any kind of effort to check houses and check on persons welfare. The only emergency people here are the local authorities. NOBODY from outside has come to help.

While walking around near the downtown area I came across a young guy around 20 years old carrying several bags and packs. He approached me telling me that he was told to evacuate and they had given him only one days worth of meds. He obviously was mentally ill and probably taking psychotropic medications. He told me a bus was supposed to get him but he didn't know where it was. Nearby was a mental residential care facility that was partially surrounded by water. I asked him if that was where he lived. He told me yes and I took him back. I left him with another resident. There were no responsible parties or emergency people anywhere in the vicinity. It angers me that whatever person that runs/owns that facility wasn't better taking care of these people. I know its a private care facility.

You would think our government would have learned after Katrina. Where in the hell is FEMA? There are 30,000 people here without water. There are still people in flooded homes. People are wandering the streets not knowing what to do and where to go.

12:30 am update - An hour ago the main electrical power substation serving downtown Mason City was flooded and has failed. The entire central part of the city is in the dark where the flooding is the worst. More then 2,000 homes are now without power. There are no expectations that power will be restored until sometime tomorrow.

Sound familiar? Remember "Great job, Brownie" after Katrina? Seems Bush LIKES the Drown America philosophy of the Republican Party. Republican Policy is destroying Louisiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

And let's remember that many Wisconsin and Iowa National Guard units are deployed overseas or preparing to leave for Iraq, leaving the local guard at half strength. This leaves the Midwest itself less able to cope with these floods. A similar situation happened several years ago in Montana where Montana was unable to deal effectively with its wildfire season because most of its National Guard manpower and equipment had been sent to Iraq. And why are we in Iraq again? Personally I still don't know.

By the way, for all Iowa readers affected by the floods, Iowa State Representative Eleshsa Gayman informs me that:

Iowans with household incomes of up to 130 percent of federal poverty guidelines may apply for a grant of up to $3,300 to help recover from damages. Applicants must include receipts when applying for help as this is a reimbursement program.

The program is administered by the Iowa Department of Human Services. Applicants can call 1-877-937-3663 or access more information on the DHS website: Http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/Consumers/Assistance_Programs/CashAssistance/DisasterAssistance/StormHelp.html.

I hope all my Iowa and Wisconsin readers are doing well. Interestingly, everyone in my lab except me and one other person are currently in Wisconsin for a conference. Hopefully the storms haven't affected them either.

But what are the Republicans doing about this? NOTHING! They have been noticably slow to respond, much like their poor response to every crisis since Bush took office, from 9/11 to Katrina to now.

Let's review:

Iowa :



New Orleans after Katrina:



Bush and McCain:



Iowa:



New Orleans:



Bush and McCain:



Bush and McCain: These are the faces of Republican failure. Louisiana and Mississippi deserved better. Minnesota deserves better. Iowa and Wisconsin deserve better. America deserves better!