Rudy Says Former FEMA Chief Will Head His Catastrophe Fund Study Panel

Thu, January 10, 2008 - 4:57 PM

Rudy Giuliani is giving some new attention to a top priority of Florida political leaders, as that state's Feb. 29 presidential primary draws nears.
But in announcing today that he’s formed his own “catastrophe advisory committee” to look into creation of a national catastrophe fund , the former New York City mayor said he’s picked Joe Allbaugh to be the national chairman of that panel.
Joe Allbaugh?
That’s right. The same Joe Allbaugh who as the Federal Emergency Management Director in 2001 suggested the Bush Administration might favor a limit on emergency aide to people and communities that rely too heavily on federal generosity to protect them against recurring floods and other natural disasters.
“The question is how many times the American taxpayer has to step in and take care of this flooding, which could be easily prevented by building levees and dikes,” Allbaugh was quoted in an April 25, 2001 story in The Washington Post.
Joe Allbaugh?
That’s right. The same Joe Allbaugh from Oklahoma and long-time Bush advisor/friend who recruited his own college friend, Mike “Brownie” Brown, to FEMA, according to Brown’s testimony to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. It was when Allbaugh left as FEMA director to enter a consulting business that Brown succeeded him as the agency’s director.
Joe Allbaugh?
That’s right. The same Joe Allbaugh who, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, arrived in the Gulf Coast to as a private citizen to generate business for corporate clients of The Allbaugh Company, LLC. In a Sept. 1, 2005 article titled "Joe Allbaugh, Disaster Pimp," Slate's Timothy Noah raised questions about Allbaugh’s efforts to get his clients lucrative disaster-relief projects.
None of this was mentioned in Giuliani’s press release today.
What the mayor’s press release did say was that, “Right now, many people in states like Florida, California and Louisiana find it difficult to purchase insurance for catastrophic natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. It’s right for the government to play a role in seeing that fair, equitable and affordable private insurance markets are open for all our citizens.”
Then there’s also a quote from Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, Giuliani’s Florida Campaign Chairman. He says this Allbaugh-led committee “will provide valuable insight as the Mayor develops the policies he will implement as the next President of the United States.”

-- Billy House