As we move forward in the current hurricane season, I’m looking forward to reading Marvin Olasky’s latest book, The Politics of Disaster (W Publishing, 2006).

Among the most interesting information in the introductory chapter, Olasky highlights the number of disaster declarations issued since Eisenhower became the first president to hold that power.

  • Ike averaged 13 disaster declarations each year.
  • The number climbed to 18 in the Kennedy/Johnson years.
  • Under Nixon/Ford, the number jumped to 37.
  • The number dipped to 32 under Carter, and
  • Reagan cut back declarations to 28 per year.
  • George H.W. Bush averaged 43 per year.
  • Bill Clinton boosted the number to 88.

Has George W. Bush returned to Reagan territory? “George W. Bush has been even more promiscuous in his declarations,” Olasky writes. “[D]uring his first five years in office he averaged 139 per year, or one every 2.6 days.”

Combined with a trend of federal money flowing toward areas with representation on Congress’ FEMA oversight committees, Olasky delivers the following conclusion:

The result is not just budget busting but amplification of the already existing tendency of Americans to become subjects rather than citizens, dependently waiting for federal money rather than independently acting. That leads to atrophy of local and state muscles. The availability of funds from Washington leads people to ask what this country can do for them, instead of what they can do for themselves and for their neighbors.