The Demise of Federalism?

From John Lott, after listening to US Senate hearings on Katrina:

What struck me was how on every issue from education to health care, it was automatically assumed that the job was the Federal government's in helping out the victims. One of the things that I am worried about is that with the current debate, local and state governments may view themselves as having no incentive to bearing the costs of preparing for any disasters. It is interesting how someplace that does such a bad job as New Orleans, rather than creating a call for them to fix things, has created a massive movement to have the Federal government take over all the operations (even while Democrats and Republicans are claiming that the Federal government botched it).

Excellent point! When the Feds do a poor job, it often makes no sense to authorize them and fund them to do even more. Nevertheless, we will hear many Ted Kennedy clones saying that the Feds would do a better job if we just gave the interventionists more money and let them have their way with the rest of us.