FEMA's Top-Down Approach to Disaster Relief Is Fundamentally Flawed | Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Commentary

FEMA's Top-Down Approach to Disaster Relief Is Fundamentally Flawed | Tad DeHaven | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Federal efforts suffer from excessive bureaucratic red tape and an inherent inability to effectively coordinate the dispersion of relief supplies. State and local officials, on the other hand, are naturally closest to those affected and thus better appreciate the needs of their communities.

Another problem is that, like all federal aid, it is manipulated by policymakers for political gain. Studies have shown that presidents issue the most "major disaster" declarations in years they are up for re-election. Indeed, policymakers have apparently decided that handing out disaster relief funds is a good way to curry favor with voters as the average annual number of total disaster declarations has more than tripled since the mid-1990s."