As Isaac Arrives Republicans Threaten to Deny Disaster Relief Funding

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 01:11 pm

http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/08/28/isaac_1630utc_wide-509957f2551db60561b417abbe6d2400b62bf0eb-s51.jpg

Hurricane Isaac

As the illegal nomination of Mitt RMoney has been cast, apparently Governor Piyush Jindal of Louisiana may not see any funding to help the good folks of  Louisiana if Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) has his way.

According to Think Progress

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told Think Progress at a Hispanic Leadership Network luncheon that Republicans should take a similar approach with disaster funding for Hurricane Isaac as they did after natural disasters last year. In 2011, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) led the Republican charge to deny disaster funding following major hurricanes and tornadoes unless the federal budget was cut in other areas.

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Labrador said that Congress must “readjust everything we do” in order to find cuts to pay for Hurricane Isaac disaster relief. “If there’s emergencies, we don’t always need to keep borrowing money,” said the freshman Republican.

SCOTT KEYES: Last year, for instance, after the Missouri tornado, Leader Cantor was a real “hold-the-line” to call for budget cuts to pay for disaster relief. Do you think that’s still the right strategy going forward if there’s damage from Hurricane Isaac?

LABRADOR: I think government should do what every family does. If you have an emergency, then you rethink your priorities and you still invest and you still do the things that you need to do to take care of your family. That’s what government should do is always reconsider. If there’s emergencies, we don’t always need to keep borrowing money, but we can actually take care of people that are in damaged communities by reconfiguring what we’re doing in Washington D.C.

KEYES: So find cuts to pay for those disaster funds?

LABRADOR: Find different ways to do it, absolutely. We have to readjust everything we do.

So Governor Jindal will have to pray that there are major cuts in social programs so that emergency services are provided in order to keep his people alive as Issac hits land, because, the only way the Louisiana will receive any funding if budget cuts happen…and that ain’t going to happen.

According NOAA’s National Weather Service,

SUMMARY OF 400 PM CDT...2100 UTC...INFORMATION
----------------------------------------------
LOCATION...28.7N 89.2W
ABOUT 30 MI...45 KM SSW OF THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
ABOUT 105 MI...170 KM SSE OF NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...80 MPH...130 KM/H
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NW OR 310 DEGREES AT 8 MPH...13 KM/H
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...975 MB...28.79 INCHES

Winds of more than 80 miles per hour will be pounding New Orleans. Seven years ago, Katrina did its damage and cost the lives of 1,836 people in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane; total property damage was estimated at $81 billion.

Now Labrador wants to make sure that no one, including Republican member Jindal, receives any funding, even though Isaac may hit landfall on or before 9 p.m. EST. Amazing how the Republicans in D.C, are willing to sacrifice their constituents as well as party members, so that the corporations they give tax breaks too are quite happy.

Piyush was unable to attend the the RNC Conference in Tampa…gee, I wonder if Piyush will blame the Obama Administration if there is no funding?



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