Who Says You Can't Teach Government Dogs New Tricks

Without a doubt so far Hurricane Gustav has been merciful. Things aren't perfect but it seems that everyone learned something from Katrina and Rita.

The Times Picayune is reporting:

"BATON ROUGE - Hurricane Gustav so far is costing the government about $65 million, but the total impact is yet unknown as officials plan for rescue and response missions, state and federal officials said Monday afternoon.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said the figure is a rough estimate of the cost of evacuation, preparation and response measures taken by public agencies at this point. Private losses for residents and businesses are not included.

Michael Hall, FEMA's federal coordinating officer for Gustav, said the federal government will be responsible for a large share of the expense.

He pledged that state and local governments will recover their costs through FEMA without the burdensome bureaucratic red tape and run-around that bogged down the recovery from Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

'We're not going to have a bureaucracy this time,' Hall said. 'It's as different as day and night. That's where a lot of us have learned our lesson.'"

Abbreviated Schedule for GOP Convention

The following is courtesy of the Washington Post:

Organizers of the Republican National Convention canceled all speeches and program activities for today, except official business that must be conducted under party rules. The session is expected to begin about 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, with officials taking the following actions:

· Constitute the convention.

· Secure the report of the credentials committee.

· Adopt rules for the convention.

· Elect officers for the convention.

· Adopt the party platform.

Officials will gavel the session closed about 6:30 p.m