Hurricane Irene set to bleed FEMA, inflame budget scrap in Congress

[TomCADem]

Source: The Hill

Shortly after Hurricane Irene blows through Washington, Congress will blow back into town and start fighting about how to pay for the storm and all the other disasters that have struck the U.S. this year.

If the hurricane is truly historic, as President Obama has warned, an emergency disaster appropriations bill would be necessary in September to get the government through to the beginning of fiscal 2012 on Oct. 1, aides said.

The problem with this is that Democrats and Republicans disagree on whether emergency appropriations need to be offset by other cuts to spending.

* * *

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) signaled his position this week when he said that any earthquake assistance to his district in Virginia would have to be paid for by cuts elsewhere.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/178481-irene-set-to-bleed-fema-inflame-budget-scrap

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I am sure the corporate media will work over time to give Republicans cover so that we keep the Blame Democrats, Give Republicans a Free pass narrative going strong.

Here the Republicans are turning their back on a potential disaster as the Obama administration strives to ensure that the East Coast is prepared for the oncoming Hurricase. All the while Republicans busily try to starve the federal government of the resources necessary or worse, try to hold such appropriations hostage for additional benefits for the rich.

[Donnachaidh]

1. good -- let them piss and moan about paying for it

The public needs to see these smarmy assholes as pennypinching syncophants for the elites.

[Ruby the Liberal]

5. Well, our critters need to be out of the gate with tax cuts for the wealthy

hampering efforts to clean up the mess.

Good time to talk about how inane it is for a sovereign nation to try to force a balanced budget, too.

[elleng]

2. Wonder whether 'corporate media' will get away with this;

somehow I doubt it. COULD be a turn-about.

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. No problem Cantorite. The rest of us affected will just divy up your share.

Thanks in advance!

[sfpcjock]

4. Exactly. For Can't-er this is yet another opportunity to cut the small Discretionary section...

of the budget. Even tho the Defense/Homeland Security-Boondoggle slice of the pie has doubled under Dubya's security state--naturally taking away from FEMA which he didn't like--Can't-er can't see it. Maybe it is because Can't-er is from Virginia, a huge war contractor state? Possibly.

[Demeter]

6. No money, NO Repairs for Cantor's District

Let the People figure out what to do with that one. They put him in, they can take him out.

[Donnachaidh]

8. No -- do the repairs but BILL Cantor's voters

And tell them that Eric Cantor refused to cough up the funds, so they need to pay the government back for repairs. :evilgrin:

[HockeyMom]

7. Imagine the potential damnage just to MANHATTAN alone?

It should be interesting, since how much MONEY, including WALL STREET, is generated in this area alone? They did a piece on the Weather Channel about this. Republicans would be cutting off their noses to spit their faces to deny money there. Maybe they could thumb their noses at NO, but DC, Philly, NYC, AND Boston?

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Eric should pick up a book or two on the Great Flood of 1927

one of the reasons hoover lost the presidency to FDR in fact... he had a hand IN THAT.

[Cleita]

10. No problem. Those with property will get money from

cuts to aid to needy people and seniors. Cheeze, they have to go back to the Clinton era tax structure, where the rich at least paid in some of their share. I hope Obama signs some executive orders covering this.

[Fearless]

11. What's the president going to give away for this one?

[Demeter]

12. I Shudder to Think

What's left, anyway? Child labor laws?

[Fearless]

13. Minimum wage? Bipartisanship with Bachmann?

[christx30]

22. Good

maybe my lazy 5 year old can finally get a job.

[TomCADem]

17. Blame Democrats, Give Republicans A Free Pass!

House Republicans are using disaster relief to try to push their right wing agenda, and we blame the Democrats. That is why they do it. Because even liberals don't hold them accountable.

[Fearless]

18. Too true. The president or Congress. They're all spineless yes men rubber stamping the Republicans

[saras]

19. Obama has the Senate, the rest of the Fed, the military - against crazy people in the House.

We don't hold rats personally accountable for stealing grain - we just set out rat poison.

Pretty much everyone on DU agrees that the right wing is too stupid to even be reasoned with - how the hell are we supposed to "hold them accountable"?

All we need to do, really, to fix a vast majority of it, is to fucking enforce the election laws we already have, and prosecute antidemocratic conspiracies to the full extent of the law. Every time. It isn't hard - prosecutors and cops in every major city in the country know how to do it.

If it isn't the job of the Democratic leadership to organize and lead this election cleanup, then whose job is it?

[1monster]

14. Please tell me that this site is satire! Please. I can't tell the real from the satire any more...

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

15. So, each time we have an earthquake, hurricane or tornado seniors can expect

to see their Social Security and/or Medicare cut? That kind of makes providing social services an "act of God." Unfortunately, the Republican version of God is Old Testament and not New Testament.

[valerief]

16. All that big govt helping people. Sheesh! Don't they know how it hurts corporations?

Rich people may not get richer. How can this big govt sleep at night?

[greiner3]

20. And the next big ones will hit;

FL, TX, GA... and watch them good ole boys scream that they now want 'their' money.

[FarCenter]

21. Irene should be a one-time, off budget, emergency expenditure, like Iraq and Afghanistan