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"The Bush administration took six months to evaluate Gov. Gray Davis' emergency request last spring for $430 million to clear dead trees from fire-prone areas of Southern California.
The request was finally denied Oct. 24, only hours before wildfires roared out of control in what has become the largest fire disaster in California history.
Rep. Mary Bono (R-Palm Springs), a leader in the effort to get federal assistance for fire prevention, questioned Thursday why the Federal Emergency Management Agency did not rule sooner.
"FEMA's decision was wrong," Bono said. "The timing couldn't have been worse.... We knew this disaster was going to happen with certainty. It was only a matter of when, and we were trying to beat the clock with removing the dead trees."
If Davis had received the denial earlier, Bono said, he would have had time to wage an appeal."
Of course I don't really believe that Bush caused the fires, though obviously had this money come through in a timely fashion maybe they would have been less likely to happen or been weaker.
But, the wingnut Borg has for the past week been blaming...what else? Yep, you guessed it -- THE CLENIS -- for these fires, so I suppose I should be allowed to do likewise.