MSNBC Scarborough Country - Transcript

MSNBC Scarborough Country - Transcript
Friday, September 16, 2005

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SCARBOROUGH: Are you depressed yet? Are you like me? That's why, when I hear Republicans and Democrats trying to make this a partisan issue, it makes me sick to my stomach.

You know, my son is a diabetic. When the electricity goes off when we have hurricanes here, you know what-you know what is one of the most-well, it's-really, it's the first necessity. It's ice to keep insulin cool. I mean, this isn't just about cool drinks. This isn't just about refrigeration. This is a matter of life and death, and our government can't handle it.

I just don't understand it, for the life of me.

Let me bring in Louisiana Congressman Bobby Jindal, who joins us now live from Baton Rouge.

Congressman, I know you have heard this story repeated 1,000 times.

What is wrong with FEMA? What is wrong with our government?

REP. BOBBY JINDAL ®, LOUISIANA: Joe, I was in the district today.

And, again, from the local officials, everywhere you go, you hear one story after another. And they just seem to get worse and worse. There was a story today about a physician that was at the New Orleans Airport, where they were doing triage. This was a volunteer that came down here just to help. He went to 9/11. He went to New York on 9/11 to help. When they got there, they wouldn't let him help, because he didn't have the right paperwork.

They said, we are worried that we might get sued because we don't have the right paperwork. There was only one other doctor on the scene. He said: I literally saw people die, and they wouldn't let me help because I didn't have the paperwork.

I think what is wrong is, you don't have a culture of urgency; you don't have a culture of getting things done. I think you hit it on the head. Here's an agency in our federal government that was designed to respond disasters. You know, this isn't the DMV; this isn't some just traditional bureaucracy. Here is an agency whose only purpose is to help us to respond to massive disasters.

The one shining example in all the bureaucracy has been the military. Whatever they have done, they have done well. We have seen the active Guard, the Reserves, the Coast Guard. The military has done a phenomenal job down here. There, you have got an organization with a unified chain of command. There, you have got an organization that says, this is about results. It's not about process or paperwork.

My frustration is, the culture is just not there. We can't replicate the same red tape when it comes to rebuilding this region. What worries me is...

(CROSSTALK)

SCARBOROUGH: And, Congressman, Congressman, it is all about a culture. The lawyers apparently are running FEMA, because, every time I talk to somebody, whether it's the first week, where these people are trying to rush water in to save people in your district, to save their lives, they are rerouted, and people are worried, saying, you know what, if you get the water in there, they may be sued.

We have got 10,000 tetanus shots in Pensacola, Florida. Doctors want to get them over to your district. We hear the FEMA lawyers say, no, you can't bring them in there, because we are concerned. That night, we hear on NBC News, what do you need? Tetanus shots. I mean, what can Congress do? I mean, do you have to fire everybody in FEMA's chain of command? What can you guys do to change this bureaucratic nightmare?

JINDAL: Well, I will tell you what we have done on the ground, but then I will tell you what we need to do legislatively.

On the ground, we have just gone to the private sector. We have gone around them. One of my sheriffs, Sheriff Harry Lee (ph), actually said, you know, if the federal and state bureaucracies had the sense of urgency Wal-Mart did, more people might be alive today. Wal-Mart literally opened their doors immediately after the hurricane left and said, take what you need. We are not going to charge you for it.

I don't mean just to pick on Wal-Mart. Ford, Dodge, Budweiser, many small businesses did exactly the same thing. We have turned to the private sector to deliver water, food, and medicine to fix this. For example, with the redevelopment effort, I think we need to have some kind of-somebody with a private sector background, maybe a redevelopment corporation.

I don't think we can trust the same bureaucracies that didn't get the rescue efforts right. I don't think we can trust them to get the rebuilding effort right.

SCARBOROUGH: And that's the point, Congressman. That's the-you know what, Congressman? Everybody I have talked to on the ground-and, remember, I have been over there just about every day since this storm hit, everybody that's been affected is saying the same thing that you are saying, the same thing that I am saying. The government has failed, not only the feds, the state, the locals. All the government bureaucracies have failed.

Individuals have worked. Faith-based groups have worked. Private industry has worked. If that's the case, then why do we have the president of the United States pushing the biggest federal program-well, really, I was going to say since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. This may be the biggest reconstruction effort in the history of the world. Does that make sense?

JINDAL: Well, you know, I certainly appreciating his committing-commitment to rebuilding the region. I am still hopeful there's time to shape that commitment in a way that emphasizes creating jobs, cutting taxes.

I suggest, for example, why don't we try something radical? Why don't we get rid of the capital gains tax in this region? Why don't we do something that will create jobs, so people will want to come back, will have something to come back to? I still think there's plenty of time. Congress controls the purse strings.

You know, I was glad the president talked about inspector generals yesterday. The problem with only inspector generals is, they come after the fact. I don't want to have an audit report after billions of dollars are spent. I want the controls up front. That's why I have been suggesting a Jack Welch, a Colin Powell, somebody from the private sector that will cut through the red tape and understand, this is about getting things done. It's not about wasting tax dollars.

It's not about filling out paperwork. It's not about protecting bureaucratic rules.

SCARBOROUGH: Yes.

JINDAL: It's about helping people recover their lives and get jobs.

SCARBOROUGH: You are exactly right, Congressman.

Congressman Bobby Jindal, as always, thanks so much.

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