'You Can Do it, We Can Help'...'Improving Home Improvement' after Disasters with 'Brand Names You Know and Trust?'

America's focus on fighting war and terror has shifted in the recent past to another challenge -- battling the ravages of natural disasters, tending to the sick, wounded, displaced and dead, rebuilding, and creating preventive measures in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Much of the public debate surrounding these events has centered on the "blame game," and how private industry could do a better job of disaster relief than what the Louisiana State and US Federal Governments have done in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Rather than focusing on the flaws in state and Federal responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as "major disasters," I intend to review the legal and political capabilities to plan for and respond to future crises. This essay will also be an exposition on the "state of the law and policy" with respect to public-private cooperation and how the Federal government can, does, and should organize disaster response