Like a Hurricane

There is an optimal level of bureaucracy. It's not too hot. It's not too cold.

The GOP Makes Its Senate Majority Move

In disaster response, there is a principle of subsidiarity at play, too. Preparation, planning, and execution of relief measures needs to be done at the state level not necessarily because that is the optimal level, at least from an academic perspective. It devolves because the federal government is so hamstrung in its ability to respond.

Call it pragmatic subsidiarity.

‘Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to get high marks for his management skills and will be tested again by Hurricane Milton. But he also deserves credit for reminding the country that the federal government is rarely the answer to a local crisis. As complaints rack up about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hurricane Helene response, DeSantis delivered a message (and an example) to his fellow hurricane-state governors: “Don’t rely on FEMA to do any [preparation/rescue/response] activity.” Just look at them “as a bank account,” he told Fox News late last week.

‘DeSantis explained this was “the lesson” that “we learned in Florida long ago,” and that the state’s approach now is to assume it needs to manage preparation and immediate fallout with its own assets. The Florida governor readied tens of thousands of utility workers to facilitate 2.4 million power restorations after Helene, set up points of distribution for meals and water, dispatched personnel to conduct thousands of rescue operations, and tasked state agencies with inspecting bridges, conducting status checks on health facilities and broadcasting business and charitable support. Florida was so on top of it, that Mr. DeSantis felt able in the days immediately following Helene to authorize Florida resources and National Guard units to assist North Carolina.’

Biden-Harris Mismanaged Hurricane Helene

What they needed was a sense of urgency. What federal bureaucracy brought to the game was … pretty much what you would expect.

‘While Ms. Harris and Mr. Biden flouted their duties, a bureaucratic bottleneck was delaying the deployment of active-duty military personnel to the western mountains of North Carolina. On Oct. 2, six days after the storm made landfall, the Defense Department announced that 1,000 troops had been authorized to deploy to the hurricane-response zone, including elements of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Liberty, N.C. These troops bring with them debris-clearing and water-purification equipment—critical resources for communities with blocked roads and orders to boil drinking water. As evening fell on Friday, Oct. 4, fewer than half of the 1,000 troops were conducting operations and deployed to Western North Carolina.

‘Deployment delays became severe enough that North Carolina Sens. Ted Budd and Thom Tillis issued a joint statement on Oct. 4 calling for “an active-duty military leader who has extensive experience with operations of this magnitude to lead moving forward.” The statement seemed to have an effect: The rest of the active-duty forces were deployed by the evening of Oct. 6, and the Pentagon authorized an additional 500, including advanced command-and-control resources.’

Elon Musk Rides to Biden’s Hurricane Rescue

US government deploys technology it deemed ‘unproven and unreliable” to help with disaster relief efforts. Apparently they are now reliable, or at least until the end of the immediate relief effort.

‘Private groups and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in recent days have deployed more than a thousand Starlink terminals to restore internet service in hard-hit areas of Appalachia. The Federal Communications Commission has also given Starlink the green-light to test a direct-to-cell service to broadcast emergency alerts.

‘Mr. Musk says Starlink will provide temporary free satellite service in affected areas. He’s doing so even though the FCC last December yanked an $885 million grant for Starlink to furnish high-speed internet to 640,000 rural homes and businesses—including in the very counties where FEMA is now deploying Starlink’s satellites.

‘As we wrote at the time, the FCC awarded Starlink the grant in 2020 because it can cover remote regions at lower cost than traditional broadband providers. But the FCC’s Democratic majority revoked Starlink’s funding last year, claiming it wasn’t making fast enough progress to connect rural Americans—never mind that other FCC funding recipients weren’t doing any better.

‘The Biden FCC majority called Starlink unproven and unreliable, though Ukraine’s military and people were relying on its service after Russia destroyed other networks. As GOP commissioner Brendan Carr noted in dissent, the FCC’s decision “cannot be explained by any objective application of law, facts, or policy,” adding that the decision “fits the Biden Administration’s pattern of regulatory harassment” of Mr. Musk’s businesses.’

New York Readies AI Rules as California Picks Regulation Panel

California has some competition in the efforts to make national AI regulation.

“Don’t worry. Abdul is there to spot you.”

‘Meanwhile, New York legislators are preparing to introduce new regulations to protect consumers and guide the technology’s development. Following a recent hearing in Albany, lawmakers are reportedly drafting proposals to balance innovation with public safety.

‘Assemblyman Alex Bores is spearheading efforts to establish legal standards for AI liability and implement measures to help users distinguish AI-generated content. “It’s much more difficult to detect what is false than it is to prove what is true,” Bores said according to Spectrum News.

‘The proposed legislation, expected to be introduced in December, will build upon New York’s existing initiatives, including a substantial investment in an AI research hub in Buffalo and restrictions on AI-generated deepfakes in political campaigns.’

Citadel Securities CEO Says Regulation Is Deterring IPOs

This has been true for a long time. Many people predicted it when Sarbanes-Oxley became law. It hasn’t improved since then.

‘Citadel Securities LLC Chief Executive Officer Peng Zhao said the prospect of too much regulation in corporate America is deterring firms from going public — which he also cited as a reason why the market-maker isn’t considering the move right now.

‘“We’ve seen way fewer IPOs than we used to,” Zhao said at Citadel Securities Global Macro Conference in New York on Wednesday. He cited the “negative side effects” of regulation that comes from being a public company as well as the ease with which firms can raise capital privately instead.’