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Hurricane Irene: Will Republican Governors Refuse Billions In Federal Aid?
If the current National Hurricane Center forecast is correct, then Hurricane Irene may very well be another multi-billion-dollar weather disaster. Our only hope is that the damage is not accompanied by the death of Americans.
Hurricane Irene does pose some interesting political questions: Will debt-obsessed, we-have-a-spending-problem, and keep-the-federal-government-out-of-state-business conservative Republican governors, such as Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey and Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia, refuse the federal aid headed their way?
Will they use this natural disaster as an example of how the states can take care of themselves, how the need to increase revenue is nothing more than a Democratic talking point, and how the corporate world can solve problems better than the government?
I think we all know the answer to those questions.
They’ll take the federal money, spend it, and ask for more (and most likely get it). And I’ll be in complete support of them getting their federal money.
I’m proud to live in a country where some of my tax money goes toward helping others in need, and I don’t care if it adds to the national debt. I don’t care if we have to raise taxes to pay for it. That’s what we do in this country — well, at least that’s what we’ve done in the past. We even used to do it with pride and compassion, I might add.
The problem is that the very notion of raising taxes in order to help those who have experienced natural disasters, have been victims of the economy, or can’t put food on the table has become taboo for the Republican party. We can’t even raise taxes for wars that we’ve already waged and drug programs that we’ve already implemented.
Mentioning tax increases to them is like suggesting that we take the American flag, rip a couple of stars and stripes from it, and paint it green and yellow.
Christie and McDonnell are going to need to have aid for their states after this natural disaster, and it’s going to be fine with with them despite their previous positions. Christie is already a federal-money hypocrite, having said as a candidate that rejecting stimulus money made sense before accepting the money as governor.
It should also be a philosophical problem for McDonnell, who believes that federal spending should be capped.
But, just as is the case with most people who believe in a cuts-only path to deficit reduction, money for them is acceptable. It’s money for everyone else that’s the problem.
They’ll simply join House Majority Leader Eric Cantor who believes that this federal aid will mean cuts elsewhere later.
Right, let those on Social Security or Medicare pay for it. It’s not coming from taxes, at least not from New Jersey or Virginia if Christie and McDonnell can help it.
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22 Responses to Hurricane Irene: Will Republican Governors Refuse Billions In Federal Aid?
Shiva (Moderator)
Aug. 26th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Its time to get their wages on the ballot. Should they take a large cut or not? Why dont the large blogs get this started?
Ingarose
Aug. 26th, 2011 at 8:47 pm
What is happening out there is just awful and horrible and I am not even talking about “Irene”. Florida is testing welfare people for drug use (which they have to pay for) and now another state is testing people who are unemployed and on unemployment insurance for drug use. Those are the same people who want smaller government.
There is something very sinister and evil going on there (and I am not talking about Bush’es good vs evil). I do believe that there are light and dark forces in the universe and right now there seems to be a battle between light and darkness. Most (not all) Republicans have gladly embraced the dark forces by kicking and flogging the downtrodden and helping the greedy and billionaires.
A Walkaway
Aug. 27th, 2011 at 11:09 am
You are absolutely right. And so far in this country, evil has been winning little bit by little bit for at least the last 30 years or more – since before Reagan.
AFM
Aug. 27th, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Nothing different with republicans. Scott is tied to these companies that are doing these drug tests. Why the surprise. They don’t care about the people is all the worhip of the almight dollar. I tell you if these governors don’t take the money you will see a large turn over of governors come election time. Maybe even recalls.
Kimbutgar
Aug. 27th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
I have been feeling the same way that you expressed in your excellent post. It seems that some evil malevolent force has taken over the republican tea party and people who say they are god fearing Christians appear to be false prophets. I believe in karma and it seems karma is going to bite these republican tea baggers in the ass. I can’t wait to hear Cantor and Boehner weasel over of the bill the President will ask for to aid in repairing the infrastructures of these communities and they say no. Get your popcorn because they will expose themselves to a larger audience of people suffering. In a way this is almost a blessing in disguise as jobs will be created for the clean up which will end up lowering the unemployment rate in this country.
Gabe
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 8:47 am
Testing those who are on welfare for drugs is a GREAT idea. The governmenet is ALREADY involved by giving the money which comes from us tax payers. So your argument about smaller government is no good at all when they are already part of the welfare program. Why should we give people our money if they are just flushing it down the toliet using drugs? There must be a huge problem otherwise they would not have suggested it. No one is ENTITLED to welfare. It is given on basis by basis circumstances. Yes I WANT smaller government, but if people that are on government programs that are paid by the tax payers then the government has EVERY right to over see a program that is run by the government. Now if I was making my own money and such then yes the government other than taking their share of taxes needs to but out.
Shiva (Moderator)
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 8:52 am
testing results indicate that around 2% of those tested on welfare had drugs in their system. it is not a big problem. The Florida governor owns part of the medical system that was used to do the drug testing so he profits from it. this is little more than an invasion of people’s privacy
Gabe
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 9:21 am
Well 2% is a good sign. However, it is not a invasion of people’ privacy. It is a government run program and the government has the right to decide how the program will be run. It is no different than you owning a business and requring someone to take a drug test.
Shiva (Moderator)
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 10:06 am
the government is not running a business. 2% is not validation for drug testing people on welfare. Stigmatizing people who are on welfare and unemployment as all drug users is just an in-effective way of trying to get rid of welfare and unemployment. It is most certainly an invasion of people’s privacy. It is no different than telling people that they must spend a certain amount on food, a certain amount on medicine etc. it is very different from running a business. It is a government intrusion into people’s lives for the profit of the Gov.
Gabe
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 10:43 am
I guess you missed it. But the government is ALREADY involved. When you go to a GOVERNMENT ran agengy to file for welfare. You are to ABIDE by any rules. If you don’t like it get off welfare. It isn’t just about drugs MANY MANY people abuse the system I KNOW a lot of people who use the money for other reasons what the program is intended for. You are wrong. The government has the right to know what the money is being spent on. I am not saying every deatil in someone’s life. But when I see someone using OUR tax dollars buying big tv screen, clothes that you would by at an expensive store like Belks, or Macy’s then we have a problem. MANY are using the money to live outside their original means. Heck I am no near being rich but I know my limitations. Sometimes I have to go to Khols instead of Chico’s.
Shiva (Moderator)
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 10:59 am
drug testing and abusing the system are two entirely different subjects. The government has no right to tell you that you cannot use welfare money for drugs. I am not approving of using welfare money for drugs, but just the same the government has no right to intrude on how you spend that money.
As far as abusing welfare, that is a legal situation. It does not involve buying big-screen TVs. I find that you are trying to say that all people on welfare are using drugs or are misusing welfare funds. That is entirely not the case at all.
Gabe
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 11:43 am
I clearly state many and not ALL. You are putting words in my mouth. I stay by my claim A LOT of people abuse the welfare system.
Shiva (Moderator)
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 12:37 pm
well that’s fine you stand by it. But your definition of abuse is rather skewed. You are trying to decide what they can do with the money they get which is definitely a Republican method. Were I you I would far more concern myself with the people who are receiving welfare and unemployment who shouldn’t be. I give you an example, there was once a representative in the House of Representatives who was cashing 64 welfare checks from dead people and other miscellaneous sources. That is abusing the welfare system. And no I do not remember if he was Democrat or Republican as it was quite a few years ago
trish
Aug. 26th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
I agree Inga, you are not alone in your thoughts. Class warfare was so effective for Reagan, “welfare queens driving Cadillacs”. Today they worship Reagan and follow his model.
Oldsun
Aug. 26th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
First this show why a balance budget cannot work and if there are any Libertarians in the path of Irene then they should refuse any and all monies if they do not then they should be lined up so we can call them the hypocrites they are.
Tina
Aug. 27th, 2011 at 6:12 am
I hear the cantor doesn’t want any disaster money being spent without any cuts.So I suggest cutting his and the rest of congress’ pay and benefits.That should be enough to help those that are going to need it.
A Walkaway
Aug. 27th, 2011 at 11:24 am
I just wish that when the recovery begins, people would watch closely and see where the money is being directed and who gets it.
I hope that, unlike Florida, people with undamaged or minimally damaged homes (such as mobile homes) won’t have them bulldozed because of “hurricane damage” (yes, it happened and to a lot more people than the state and media will admit). I hope that rich people don’t get big checks for tiny losses (like the food in their fridge spoiling because they lost power overnight), while poor people who suffered greatly get told “You don’t qualify!”. I hope that they don’t bail out the rich with their seaside mansions and tell the poor “sorry, no money left!” because they spent it on replacing those mansions first. If people loose their jobs because of storm damage, I hope they don’t just tell them “Get a Job!” or offer to retrain them (without helping them to live) – or suggesting to them that they leave the area (happened both here and after Katrina).
I hope that they restore utilities and access equally – unlike this area and others of Florida, where it was really aggravating to see rich houses get their power restored first, while entire poor areas went without (because of a single break in the line or something like that).
I don’t expect anything like Katrina, but that should be a lesson in how people have been treated different based upon their SES, and Katrina should be used to illustrate NOT how to try to recover from a hurricane.
msbpodcast
Aug. 27th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
“I’m proud to live in a country where some of my tax money goes toward helping others in need, and I don’t care if it adds to the national debt.”
Then you’re not a Tea Bagg… uh, a Tea Partier, or a Republican.
They scream about taxes but try and cut off their Farm Subsidies, their Medicare or any of the other gummint programs that they rely on and there’ll be hell to pay… (What else are they going to scream about? They’re land-locked see-nothing go-nowhere salt-of-the-earth [which use to be used to kill the soil] clod-hopping hicks.)
They want to shut down the government, I say let them… Close all of the subsidies, the welfare, medicare, medicaid programs. Fire all of the government workers, including the IRS, TSA, FDA,USDA, food safety inspectors, the highway police, the road crews… EVERYBODY.
When they see exactly how much its actually going to take out of their pockets, then they’ll shut the hell up…
Katrinasurvivor
Aug. 28th, 2011 at 12:53 am
You northern liberals are absolutely mad! What planet do you live on? You are always looking for a reason to bleed other people dry financially. You will not need to worry about money because you and the democrats and media hyped this to astronomical levels. You have no clue what a real storm is like. Please, we have tropical storms in the gulf almost yearly in number and it’s a damn storm not the apocalypse. No luck this time guys, your gonna have to find another excuse to have a new stimulus package. No wonder the northeast is a dying bankrupt society. You didn’t take long to blame conservatives for this storm. That gives you another excuse to use to hide your failures. Just call rep Charlie rangel I an sure he has a way figured out for all the losers in the northeast to get on the government teat
Shiva (Moderator)
Aug. 28th, 2011 at 12:55 am
LOL! Great sarcasm writing!
Russell Dee
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Republicans are asking for federal handouts for those white bedroom communities that got damaged by Irene. Republicans want to get those white people some money because those white people feel grief over property damage. Republicans will give money to white people who are suffering grief but for decades republicans have fought against improving black communities even though people in black communities have been living with grief about their slum conditions. How come the grief of white people in the Irene-damaged white communities is important but the grief of black peopel in the slums doesn’t matter to the GOP?
To the GOP, white grief matters & black grief doesn’t matter and I’ll tell you why: it’s because the GOP doesn’t care about black people. Republicans don’t want federal money helping to beautify the blighted slums that black people have to live in, but republicans are quick to give handouts to help upper-class white communities beautify their communites that become ugly.
Hey republicans, will any of you, or any of their white kin, be getting federal aid, or any kind, of aid, because of damage done to property by Irene? Of course! But that’s OK because that handout will be going to ameliorate white suffering and white suffering is sad and it must be reduced.
anna
Aug. 31st, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Well Gabe you must personally know a lot of people abusing the system! Since that IS the case because you clearly state ALOT! You should report them. I’m glad I dont know those types of people! Also the little bit of money that is given is ridiculous. I’m more concerned with the rich getting rich off the poor and pocketing YOUR tax dollars!