Oklahoma senator: Tornado aid “totally different” from Sandy aid

[DonViejo]

Source: Salon

Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, argued that there is no comparison between Hurricane Sandy relief, which he voted against last fall, and aid for his state in the wake of the devastating tornado, because the two are “totally different.”

The Washington Post reports that Inhofe contended on Tuesday that the Hurricane Sandy relief bill was filled with pork, “things in the Virgin Islands. They were fixing roads there and putting roofs on houses in Washington, D.C.,” and that people were “exploiting the tragedy that took place.” He added: “That won’t happen in Oklahoma.”

In the past, Inhofe has also voted against additional funding for FEMA, though in 2008 he praised relief from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to Oklahoma counties effected by “severe weather.”

Inhofe’s senate colleague, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, also a Republican, said he would push for federal aid to Oklahoma to be offset by cuts elsewhere. Coburn also voted against the relief package for Hurricane Sandy.

###

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2013/05/21/oklahoma_senator_tornado_aid_totally_different_from_sandy_aid/

[SCVDem]

1. How about 9/11 first responder health aid?

Is that different too?

[PNW_Dem]

46. He's correct

Sandy was caused by global climate change on the EAST coast. Oklahoma City monster tornado was caused by global climate change in the SOUTHWEST. See the difference? Totally different.

[hobbit709]

2. Oklahoma isn't New Jersey-that's the difference.

Between him and his cohort it's hard to tell which is a bigger POS.

[mainer]

13. New Jersey may choose to keep its own money

and help its own. Since their tax dollars seem to end up giving red states all the relief.

[Aviation Pro]

3. Go fuck yourself....

...Inhofe.

Oklahoma is going to show you the fucking door during your next reelection run, assclown.

[Plucketeer]

15. I'd love to believe that's what'll happen, but

InBred will remind the good people of OK how he was Right there with aid and comfort. And bein' OK, they'll swallow it. Same shell game with Tom CoDunce.

[hedgehog]

4. It would be nice if the Washington Post had deigned to fact-check

the senator from Oklahoma!

[sinkingfeeling]

5. Will the federal aid be delayed 80 days or so like for Hurricane Sandy?

[tblue]

6. "federal aid to Oklahoma to be offset by cuts elsewhere"

These people are EVIL!!! 'Let's help Oklahoma and screw other people to pay for it.' E V I L ! ! !

[Old and In the Way]

37. Taxpayers get to help OK....then get to have thir services cut

Unbelievable.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

68. Cut republican congressmen's salaries

[Stratosgc]

7. Sandy hit DC

Hurricane Sandy did some damage in the DC area, mostly roof damage. I got worse as you moved towards Baltimore and Philly.

[kestrel91316]

8. So, he doesn't approve of the existence of the US VIRGIN ISLANDS??

We already know he doesn't approve of the existence of Washington, DC. Does he actually think that Sandy didn't do anything to any US territory other than NY/NJ/CT???

[toby jo]

9. Who was porking up Sandy relief?

Has it become normal to pork up relief bills, or is that a recent entry?

"Fixing roads and putting on roofs" - this is such a great sin?

I'd like to split a hair here and find the bean but with righties involved, gotta doubt there is one, just bs as usual.

[xtraxritical]

18. Pork amendments have always been the norm for reliefe bills, it's the best way to pass them thru.

[christx30]

73. When the meteor was heading toward

Springfield on Simpsons, one senator put a rider on the evacuation bill dedicating $50 million for the perverted arts. The bill was struck down, dooming the citizens to death.

[okaawhatever]

44. from what I researched, when Sandy happened congress pulled out an old bill that included fema

coverage for all areas hit by storms in the past year. There were many things that hadn't been covered from storms in Alaska amd I forget the other areas. The only so-called "pork" was the fisheries, but apparently that was to re-populate fishing areas in the event of a story. The bill's name was reflective of covering all damage. I'll try to find the article again. There is frequently ear marks and pork in fast passage bills, but in this case it was just storm damage.

[SummerSnow]

10. Mr Inshore, you do know that taking ANY government aid will make you a (whisper)........so-cial- ist

[xtraxritical]

19. Say it loud, "I'M SOCIALIST AND I'M PROUD". Amen.

[Stratosgc]

11. The myth of the rugged individual pioneer.

These poorly educated senators believe the Hollywood myth of the rugged individual, self reliant poineer of the plains crafted by Hollywood. That is the narrative common ot all those misguided Teabaggers, every man for himself, survival of the fittest. It never happened. If a family went into the wilderness alone they didn't last long. They fell victim to thieves and murderers or the elements. People went in groups, they worked together and took care of each other.
The powerful people and the giant corporations want to sell the rugged individual as the ideal, becaues they can abuse and exploit individuals, and small organizations. They want state's rights because they have a difficult time abusing and exploiting the people when we act together under our national government.

[xtraxritical]

20. Devide and conquer.

[Laelth]

31. +1. And welcome to DU. n/t

-Laelth

[Populist_Prole]

34. Boy you sure nailed it good

It fits right in with all their other romanticized abstractions; The stoic cowboy, the virtuous and proper people of the "Leave it to Beaver" era and so on. I see people get taken in by this BS and they really believe it, live it. Live it until something happens to them.

The SE sunbelt and southwest is full of these types, a great deal of them latent "born again" wanna-be cowboys. I know lots of them myself. They were born and raised in urban locales in major metro areas of the northeast and midwest, then they got reasonably successful and comfortably retired and relocated and completely embraced the rural/redneck vibe. Now they think they're John Wayne that lives in a stucco McMansion, or Daniel Boone with a Toyota Tundra. Stupid tools.

Of course we all know it's just Inhofe invoking his anti-Northeast-"librul" bias, but he's pitching it to salivating rednecks.

[xtraxritical]

54. Everything is now, don't take your eye off of now.

[JHB]

69. And not the real John Wayne, either, just Public Image John Wayne

The real one got his "war movie hero" status because during WW2 he stayed in Hollywood while all of his competition signed up for actual service... And had his lawyer get him an exemption from the draft ('cause his movies were so essential for morale... Sure).

He was also a drug abuser, but it wasn't that wacky-weed, so it was A-OK!

[xtraxritical]

71. A womanizer and abuser and drunk. Do you think he had issues because his name was Marion?

[juajen]

72. I like this post and heartily agree. Welcome to DU!

[mainer]

12. Inhofe wants Blue State money to go to Red States

Blue states contribute more to the fed than do red states. But he thinks that Blue State disasters don't warrant federal money.

[They_Live]

14. But at least the oil companies still get their subsidies...

along with their record breaking profits, and we have plenty of military pork.

[brooklynite]

16. Well, Hurricanes are FOREIGN...

Haven't you noticed they always come from the Caribbean?

[Historic NY]

17. What an ass....

[Kelvin Mace]

21. I am tired of all the games

I favor secession at this point. This country would be in far better shape, morally, financially and environmentally with out the red states. It is time to let the Confederacy go back to actually being the Confederacy in substance, rather than in just name.

And I say this as someone who lives in North Carolina and will have to move.

My only stipulations are:

1) Any state which secedes may NOT re-apply for admission for 50 years. I am guessing the desire to be "on their own won't last more than five years, especially after Texas declares war on all of its neighbors within a year of leaving the union.

2) A federal military bases with be withdrawn. No weapons, munitions, aircraft, tanks, artillery, ships or nuclear weapons of any sort may be retained. States will have to re-pay the United States for all dams and power plants in the TVA system, of those plants will be demolished.

3) The Neo-CSA will have to apply for membership to the UN under its own auspices. The seat on the UN Security Council belongs to the USA, not the Neo-CSA.

4) The US government is prohibited, in perpetuity from providing any foreign aid directly to the Neo-CSA. When hit with natural disasters, the Neo-CSA will have to apply to the UN and International Red Cross for assistance.

5) No license (marriage, driver's, medical, legal, professional, etc) issued by the CSA are valid in the USA.

[zipplewrath]

22. #5

We already recognize marriages from other foreign countries.

Otherwise, if you structured things as you suggest, I don't think you'd find many states agreeing to the terms.

[Kelvin Mace]

41. Except for the fact that some Red States™

are refusing to recognize same sex marriage and adoptions. I would revise it by saying that that recognition of CSA licenses would be contingent on reciprocity. If you do not recognize a U.S.-issued same sex marriage license, then NO licenses issued by any CSA agency will be recognized.

They make the rules, we just force them to play by them.

[happyslug]

39. Leave them have the "weapons, munitions, aircraft, tanks, artillery, ships or nuclear weapons"

They can NOT maintain them, thus in five to 20 years they be rusted monuments. All large guns are made in New York State a the Watervliet Arsenal in Watervliet New York.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watervliet_Arsenal

The life span of these artillery tubes vary, from over 50,000 rounds for a 60mm Mortar to less then 2000 rounds for the 125mm M1 Tank gun. The larger the bore or the high the velocity of the weapon, the quicker it wears out and has to be replaced. The tendency since WWII has been to larger bores with higher velocity (Through since the end of the Cold War the US Army has eliminated anything bigger then 155 mm, and the US Navy largest guns tend to be 5 and 8 inch cannons). Yes Waterveliet ARMY arsenal makes the cannons for the US Navy.

Nuclear weapons are worse, their real weakness is how to launch them. Jets engines have limited life span, and rocket tend to need constant up keep (Through today most rockets use solid fuel not liquid fuel rockets and thus need less constant maintenance but they still need some). While Uranium and Plutonium have extremely long half life, the weapons they are in need to be rebuilt at least every 5-10 years.

My point is, leave them have these weapons, they do NOT have the spare parts to keep them running.

As to Army trucks, Oshkosh is producing the present generation of trucks for the Army, in Wisconsin:

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/fmtv-2010-2015-oshkosh-wins-the-re-compete-05744/

The previous generation had been produced in Sealy Texas:
http://www.army-guide.com/eng/product3689.html

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/fmtv.htm

Where the engine and transmissions are made I can not find (I just did a quite 15 minute search), but I suspect it is in line with traditional engine and transmission manufacturer, i.e. somewhere between Pittsburgh and St Paul, centered around Detroit. Assembly plants are fairly easy to put anywhere, making engines require heavy tooling and thus not as movable as assemby Plants (For example, Various Japanese car makers have plants to assembly cars in the US, but the engines and transmissions for those cars are still made in Japan).

My point, even the most important part of trucks, the engines and transmissions, tend to be made in the mid west not the south and thus these states would have to import them to keep their trucks running.

[Kelvin Mace]

42. No way in Hell

I am leaving them with functional atomic weapons. That would be like leaving the keys to a distillery to an alcoholic. First off, all of the CSA would devolve into civil war inside of two years. The first thing they would do upon forming a government (if they could get that far) would be to divide themselves between the ultra crazies, and the batshit uber-crazies. Then they would go to war with each other.

If they want weapons, let them build them (and pay for them) themselves.

[happyslug]

47. Why? Any weapon will NOT be functional within five years, and most will not last a year.

These are high maintenance items, most of the States that want to succeed can NOT afford to keep them up. In fact, they will waste more money keeping them looking good, they actually maintain them I.e. They will keep up the paint job, but forget about new tracks, new tires, new engines etc. If it was NOT for federal funding they would not even have a decent highway system in the south. They will NOT want to raise taxes, but they have the lowest percentage of state funding for welfare, law enforcement and other traditional state spending that the loss of Federal Funding will put them into a severe cash crisis,.i.e. they will NOT be able to afford anything for they will NOT what to increase taxes and to cut states services any more will NOT produce the saving needed to spare cash to maintain these items.

Simply put, these items, if left in the South will be money pits that the South could not afford. Leaving them in the South and the West will bankrupt those areas quicker then pulling them out. I.e. why save these areas money, which is what pulling these weapons out will be.

[Kelvin Mace]

51. Because I would bet my left kidney

that these psychos would use a nuke within two years of coming to power, either against themselves in a civil war, or against us for any number reasons. Hell, I'll give you 100 to 8 that they would invade Mexico within the first six months to "secure their borders", i.e. seize their oil fields. Flip of a coin says Texas invades Oklahoma for "stealing its oil" (see Iraq's claims against Kuwait around 1989-90).

Bottom line, we do NOT let toddlers play with bottles of nitroglycerin.

[demwing]

43. It's not "Red States"

it's the TNT (Tea Party, Neo Con, Theocrat) Coalition. Every state has them, to some degree. Plus, colors change. Not so long ago, California was a red state. Not too long from now, Texas will be blue (again).

[Renew Deal]

23. This explains it

[Mike Daniels]

24. I guess the idiot forgot that Sandy hit more than just NY/NJ (re: pork comments)

DC definitely took some damage even if it was minor by comparison to other areas.

[jessie04]

25. Yes....totally different.

"Sandy involved godless blue states who deserved it...

This involves my god fearing red state that I'm senator from."




Drop dead inbred

[Blue State Bandit]

26. #F5LeadershipFail

To paraphrase; "It's totally different because I don't represent the Communist East Coast States".

[Sunlei]

27. Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican- cut your own pay and benefits.

[blueknight]

28. i agree with him

lets cut subsidies to oil companies, walmart, general electric, etc

[Laelth]

29. Hypocrite. Vile human being. Disgusting. Saying more would violate the TOS. n/t

-Laelth

[heaven05]

30. I

watched the video! This guy is an evil idiot to play politics with peoples lives like this. The rethuglicans are the peoples enemy.

[SoapBox]

32. WAKE up Oklahoma!

...these guys would screw you in a heartbeat, all over their KRAZY "principles".

Get rid of them.

[liberal N proud]

33. This is how republicans think - PERIOD!

I want mine but I don't want you to get yours.

When they are in need, their hands are the stretched the furthest, but if anyone else is in need, they will hold the purse tight.

[DinahMoeHum]

35. Fuck that dipshit, and Coburn as well. . .

Here's hoping that a tornado drops a house on both of them.

[ladjf]

36. Oh, well thanks for clearing that up Senator. nt

[gopiscrap]

38. what a fucking asswipe!

[Populist_Prole]

40. This is product of electing someone to office on God & Guns

Neither of that will help the citizens of that state, doubly so since the douchebag who said that really means what he says.

[bread_and_roses]

45. LOOK at the comments on his FB page

https://www.facebook.com/teamcoburn

Scroll down a little to his "thoughts and prayers" post on right - "heartless hypocrite/sick/soul-less POS/tool of the rich/liar/mean, miserable man .... it goes on and on ... priceless

[olddots]

48. Are the repukes ever going to stop idolizing fascist dictators ?

Inhofe is an anti American inhuman puss boil .

[blackspade]

49. Well, that's one way to cripple your next election....

[JNelson6563]

50. Yeah, look up "motherfuckers"

and you'll see a picture of these guys.

I think they should fundraise from the 1%. That's who they represent anyhow.

Julie

[mwooldri]

52. What's so totally different between...

1) your home being destroyed by a freak of nature (large amounts of water) or...
2) your home being destroyed by a freak of nature (large amounts of wind) ?

Sen. Inhofe has a point that many things were put into the Hurricane Sandy relief bill that were not related to the Hurricane Sandy situation. Let him draft a relief bill for Oklahoma and then try to get the votes to pass it. It seems the way to get things done in Washington is to stick other legislation into one melting pot. Wasn't there some gun legislation attached to the Affordable Health Care Act?

Perhaps FEMA could have its funds allocated by a geographical region and then Congress can vote on which geographical areas get the money? But then again that's probably a bad idea because Congress won't vote on anything important like disaster aid. FEMA would go unfunded this way.

[d_r]

53. Inhofe you provincial idiot

that's because the storm damaged Washington DC and the *US* Virgin Islands

[KatyaR]

55. And who the fuck wrote those bills?

It sure as hell wasn't the people who were hit by Hurricane Sandy. It was SENATORS LIKE YOU, sir, who were "exploiting the tragedy."

I've spent all day trying to reach out to members of the organization I work for, trying to make sure they're okay and not somewhere dead in a ditch, and this is the way we're treated? Fucking bullshit. And the people I work with think they're totally right. This is why they're both still in office. "Somebody has to be the adult."

I'm so sick to not have any representation in Washington. They can both take a long walk off a short pier. People's lives are fucking FALLING APART AT THE SEAMS, and they want to play these damned games and claim the moral high ground. They can STUFF IT.

(I'm really sorry. I have had a long day, but not nearly as bad as the people in Moore.)

[niyad]

59. you have nothing for which to apologize. the stupidity coming from these people makes me want

to consider poppets. the hypocrisy, the sheer ugliness of their views and actions, is sickening.

[niyad]

56. what a jerk

[kelliekat44]

57. BINGO!!! Says it all.

[olddad56]

58. How about the corporations that contribute billions to buy the congress..

donate a similar amount to disaster relief.

[niyad]

60. hmmmm, jimmy's dc voicemail is full--imagine that!

[Nanjing to Seoul]

61. Way to politicize this. Two dickless scrotum sacks

Why do people in OK elect shitstain fuckwits like this?

[Hubert Flottz]

62. Can you say Leech?

As in Blood Sucking Hypocrites?

[Skittles]

63. you know how those Godless northeasterners are

they're not, you know, "real Americans".....what an asswipe

[We scgov]

64. Teachers are the bad guys, remember?

So all those leeching, lazy, "takers" teachers who should have their salaries and pensions cut have saved children in Newtown and Moore and countless other places. When do we call the right wing out on this and on holding our country back from progressing into the future with strength and confidence?

[hrmjustin]

65. Welcome to DU my friend!

[gateley]

66. This is beside the point, but if he's correct about the pork, that should NEVER be allowed

in cases of a national disaster. (Shouldn't be allowed anyway, natch, but it's SHAMEFUL that Congress still plays politics in emergency situations.)

[treestar]

67. Typical hypocritical asshole Republican

Of course he says this. Naturally.

[olegramps]

70. The Republicans have gotten to the point of being outright disgusting.

I wouldn't vote for a Republican for any office.