Marking the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, The Gazette of Colorado Springs published an August 31 editorial that not only blamed a “culture of dependency” for hindering rebuilding efforts in New Orleans but also revived the misleading claim that “state and local governments . . . actively prevented the Red Cross and Salvation Army from going into the city with relief supplies in the crucial first hours” after the storm. In fact, according to Red Cross testimony, federal officials also were involved in the decision to keep the Red Cross out of New Orleans. Moreover, Red Cross officials appear to have agreed with that decision.

The Gazette's claim echoes a series of misleading Fox News reports that, as Media Matters for America has noted, closely followed the Bush administration's reported strategy of blaming the faulty response to the hurricane on Democratic state and local officials.

As Media Matters for America previously noted, a House of Representatives select committee report on the response to Hurricane Katrina highlighted the congressional testimony of Joseph C. Becker, American Red Cross senior vice president for preparedness, who told the House Ways and Means Committee, “we were asked by state and federal officials not to enter New Orleans.” [Emphasis added.] Becker also testified that “state and federal officials” asked that the Red Cross not enter New Orleans, that this was “consistent” with previous Red Cross practices, and that the Red Cross “does not place our client evacuees, staff, volunteers, or resources in harm's way.”

Other Red Cross officials shared Becker's view regarding the safety of entering New Orleans in the wake of Katrina, as Media Matters for America also previously noted. During a September 2, 2005, interview on Larry King Live, Red Cross president and CEO Marsha J. Evans explained the Red Cross was not in New Orleans because "[W]e were asked, directed by the National Guard and the city and the state emergency management not to go into New Orleans because it was not safe." An FAQ item posted on the Red Cross website also confirms that in the days following Katrina, the Red Cross was working under the direction of the military, as well as state and local officials.

The FAQ noted that “Access to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities”; “The state Homeland Security Department had requested -- and continues to request -- that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane”; and “We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities.” The FAQ concluded by describing the Red Cross' “appropriate role” under the circumstances:

As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated.

Despite evidence to the contrary, the August 31 editorial in the Gazette suggested state and local officials were solely to blame for keeping the Red Cross out of New Orleans:

The storm also served as a godsend for critics of the Bush administration, and a metaphor for the ineffectiveness of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, an agency traditionally headed by political hacks. But it wasn't only FEMA, which, among other things, turned away three Wal-Mart trailer trucks loaded with bottled water, that failed. State and local governments not only floundered but actively prevented the Red Cross and Salvation Army from going into the city with relief supplies in the crucial first hours.

In addition to the bogus Red Cross claim, the Gazette editorial also alleged, “A significant portion of the reason why New Orleans is still in limbo, however, may stem from decades of over-reliance on the very institutions that failed to cope adequately with Katrina. Poor people especially have been encouraged to rely on government not only for rescue from disasters but for all the necessities of life.” This “culture of dependency” argument echoed other conservative claims that government welfare programs were partly to blame for the humanitarian disaster that followed Hurricane Katrina. On the September 1, 2005, broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh claimed “the welfare and entitlement thinking of government” contributed to the humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Likewise, on the May 8 edition of his show, Limbaugh said post-Katrina New Orleans is an example of what “unchecked liberalism does. It creates destitution. It creates hopelessness. It creates a mess!”

From the August 31 Gazette editorial, “Mardi-gratuitous - Katrina: lessons learned and unlearned”:

Despite heroic efforts and heartwarming tales of self-reliance and helping hands, the future of one of America's premier cities still teeters on the edge of government-built levees that will hold up to Category 3 storms, might withstand Category 4 storms, but probably are insufficient should another Category 5, Katrina-like storm hit.

The storm also served as a godsend for critics of the Bush administration, and a metaphor for the ineffectiveness of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, an agency traditionally headed by political hacks. But it wasn't only FEMA, which, among other things, turned away three Wal-Mart trailer trucks loaded with bottled water, that failed. State and local governments not only floundered but actively prevented the Red Cross and Salvation Army from going into the city with relief supplies in the crucial first hours.

Now, a year later, more than half of New Orleans' former residents still have not returned, and rebuilding is excruciatingly slow. Why?

[...]

A significant portion of the reason why New Orleans is still in limbo, however, may stem from decades of over-reliance on the very institutions that failed to cope adequately with Katrina. Poor people especially have been encouraged to rely on government not only for rescue from disasters but for all the necessities of life. Forced by disaster and dysfunction to rely on their own resources, too many discovered how slim those resources were.

Post-Katrina rebuilding has been hindered, rather than helped, by government sclerosis. Endless commissions and advisory panels have dithered over whether an all-encompassing master plan should be imposed, delaying action by those who simply want to clean up their properties and get on with things their own way -- the way New Orleans originally grew into one of the most memorable places on Earth.

Our druthers would be for the city to resist the impulse to impose a top-down master plan, but establish few regulations and encourage private-sector insurance and financial support that helps communities re-emerge and homeowners rebuild lives. New Orleans may never again be what it once was -- for better and for worse. The best way to find out what it can become is for government to get out of the way, not lock the city in its suffocating embrace.

FEMA and other agencies say they have supplies and tracking systems in place and won't repeat last year's mistakes if a disaster hits this year. But the levees are untested, and the culture of dependency has not even been addressed, let alone cured.