Wildfires Follow Grounding of Tankers, Budget Cuts

While the KXAN television news video below paints a graphic portrait of the damage wrought by wildfires in the Texas Hill Country east of Austin during the past two weeks, it makes no mention of three blameworthy factors that might have played pivotal roles in reducing the size and scope of this red-hot disaster.

The three factors appear below:

First, there’s the lack of enough firefighting air tankers. One could blame President Barack Obama for this, according to a Human Events report Wednesday, because someone in his administration grounded nearly half of the federal government’s firefighting air tankers after a contract dispute with Aero Union just weeks before wildfires swept through the Lone Star State. That decision, no doubt, left fewer resources available to Gov. Rick Perry and his team to fight the fires.

Second, there’s the lack of funds to fight the fires. One could blame Governor Perry and members of the Texas legislature, according to a Houston Chronicle report Tuesday, for reducing the budget for the Texas Forest Service from $117.7 million to $83 million for the new fiscal year which began Sept. 1. This, no doubt, will be used against the Republican presidential candidate by Team Obama IF the governor wins the GOP nomination in 2012.

Third, there’s the arson angle. With the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks just around the corner, one could blame Middle Eastern terrorists for setting the fires that have, according to an Austin American-Statesman report earlier this week, resulted in the destruction of nearly 1,400 homes and at least two deaths in the Lone Star State. That, however, might hurt President Obama’s reelection chances, so don’t expect to see any Democrats trying to float that trial balloon.

Hope you enjoyed this food for thought from the BMW “blogging buffet.” Keep your powder dry!

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