Hurricane Katrina Analogy

The left is up in arms about the media comparing the health care debacle to Katrina. Ezra Klein Matt Yglesias.

Yes, Katrina was a colossal tragedy and many died while the botched role out hasn't claimed anyone's life. The effects are not comparable. But these two are missing the point. What is analogous are the President's reactions and the possible political ramifications. Bush's reaction to Katrina basically ended his presidency (he should have just ignored federal law and done whatever it took to aid Louisiana; of course, though they give President Obama a pass for flouting the law, I'm confident they would have brought impeachment charges against Bush). Like Bush, Obama's mishandling of the healthcare rollout could effectively end his presidency as well.

Another difference is that Bush did not cause Hurricane Katrina, and I'm not sure how much his administration was at fault compared to the leadership of Louisiana. In the healthcare fiasco, President Obama signed it into law, defended it, misrepresented it, and ran the administration tasked with enacting it.

Though Klein makes an argument that Obamacare is more like Medicare Part D, and he points out articles and offers quotes that back up his story, some of these quotes sound like square quotes from people already opposed to Bush. The "hideous complexity", "tears of bewildered frustration". I have a hard time with this, because honestly, I don't remember reading about the problems at the time. Looking at these quotes now, they're hard to believe because Medicare Part D has been a big success. Maybe the ACA will end up the same (but I doubt it considering the ACA does much, much more than Medicare Part D did).

I especially like this from Paul Krugman "We are ruled by bunglers. Every major venture by the Bush administration, from the occupation of Iraq to the Medicare drug program, has turned into an epic saga of incompetence." I believe President Obama has shown a lot of incompetence himself, but I doubt Paul Krugman would ever admit it.