Wal-Mart...Good?

Credit where it's due, Wal-Mart's done a damn good job on hurricane relief:

Wal-Mart's response to Katrina -- an unrivaled $20 million in cash donations, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals and the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers -- has turned the chain into an unexpected lifeline for much of the Southeast and earned it near-universal praise at a time when the company is struggling to burnish its image.

When it comes to Wal-Mart, I'm a cynic. But even if this was a play for positive headlines and media praise, it's still $20 million for relief, trucks packed with essentials, food, and jobs. Indeed, take a look at their preparations compared to FEMA's poor handling of the situation:

In Brookhaven, Miss., for example, where Wal-Mart operates a vast distribution center, the company had 45 trucks full of goods loaded and ready for delivery before Katrina made landfall. To keep operating near capacity, Wal-Mart secured a special line at a nearby gas station to ensure that its employees could make it to work.

I'm always struck by the irony of the "first CEO president" turning a markedly efficient federal government into an incompetently run, poorly led, and completely unprepared sluggard. A CEO, presumably, would know to appoint qualified individuals to head important agencies, they would know to fund the aspects of the company that guard against disaster, they would know to not overextend the corporation's resources while simultaneously cutting its revenues. Under Clinton, government shrank, revenues raised, the budget was balanced, and federal agencies became more responsive. Bush, through his aggressive incompetence, has made the organization he runs look totally pathetic compared to other large entities. Harvard Business School must be so proud.