And now hundreds of thousands of people have had their lives turned upside down by Hurricane Irene. FEMA will not be able to help most of them. WHY??? Because the FEMA money is currently tied up in Congress, where our highly paid public servants play political games while our people suffer.
Eric Cantor, the brilliant Republican Congressman from VA, is willing to free up some funds....just as soon as he gets cuts from other areas to pay for it. Hell, holding the debt ceiling hostage strategy worked, so why not try that same approach on disaster funds.
Just another reason I will never vote for another Republican.
(08-30-2011 09:33 AM)Whinny1 Wrote: And now hundreds of thousands of people have had their lives turned upside down by Hurricane Irene. FEMA will not be able to help most of them. WHY??? Because the FEMA money is currently tied up in Congress, where our highly paid public servants play political games while our people suffer.
This kind of crap makes me absolutely LIVID!
You do know that Obama's first two congress's (both houses Democrat) never put up a budget. So the 2011 congress had to do THEIR BUDGET. FEMA got the same amount of money, with an increase that it's gotten for years.
Now we have no money. Broke. Take in 200 billion a month, and we have 310 billion in obligations. In addition, the Dems in the last congress passed "Pay-go." If you have to allocate money, you have to cut something to pay for it. If you need a new roof and your credit cards are maxed out, you have to cut something to pay for it. You can't print money, and can't borrow money from China.
Disaster aid is one of two areas that should be able get debt funding, the other is military conflicts, neither can be planned for well do to inherent unpredictability.
Quote:Disaster aid is one of two areas that should be able get debt funding
Funding from what? We're broke. We can't even meet our monthly bills without borrowing a 100 billion from China.
The Dems finally put though a piece of responsible legislation (Pay-go) and you want to ignore it? We need maybe 15-20 billion for the east coast clean up. Cut 15-20 billion and write the check. Cutting 15 or 20 billion is nothing by D.C. standards.
But then, congress is on recess, and B.O. is just getting back from his hurricane shortened vacation. No rush I guess
(This post was last modified: 08-30-2011 08:35 PM by Chipdip.)
We've grown accustomed to having the fed government act somewhat like an insurance company.
So we pay in taxes and get things back collectively when needed. FEMA has been seen as one of those things. As a country we like to think we take care of our own.
All of that is becoming a question now. What role do we want government to play in times the hue and cry is opposed to paying what it takes to maintain the status quo?
Remember disaster relief is for emergency food and shelter, but also to local and state governmental units to pay for things like replacing schools and roads.
When we don't replace a road or bridge it effects lots of things: individuals, fire truck access, routine business operations.
I suppose a FEMA like insurance company could be formed somehow. Hard to see that happening on the scale and scope it would need to be at outside the federal system.
Quote:Disaster aid is one of two areas that should be able get debt funding
Funding from what? We're broke. We can't even meet our monthly bills without borrowing a 100 billion from China.
The Dems finally put though a piece of responsible legislation (Pay-go) and you want to ignore it? We need maybe 15-20 billion for the east coast clean up. Cut 15-20 billion and write the check. Cutting 15 or 20 billion is nothing by D.C. standards.
The idea is Dip that the emergency aid is one of the only things that justify debt, as in the rest of the government should not be funded on debt. If the amount budgeted for emergency aid (not from debt) is not enough to cover the need in a given year then the Feds should be able to borrow some.
Well, Dip, one of your faves for Republican Pres nomination, Chris Christie, has pretty much told Eric Cantor to take a hike. Christie seems to think that Cantor's approach is wrong, as do most thinking Americans.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has less than $800 million in its disaster coffers, and U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has said the House will require offsetting spending cuts to pay for aid.
Christie, who some Republicans are pushing to run for the White House in 2012, chastised Congress – with three members of the state's delegation standing feet away as he did – for playing games at a time when people need government assistance most.
Christie said that he doesn't want to hear that offsetting budget cuts have to come before aid is distributed and that such a discussion isn't appropriate in a time of need, like in May, when a tornado ripped through Joplin, Mo., killing 160 people and damaging about 7,500 homes.
"Nobody was asking about offsetting budget cuts in Joplin," the governor said.
Christie was joined by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, who were touring New Jersey and greeting rescue and aid workers.
Cantor had no problem requesting aid in 2004 for TS Gaston for his home state, and voted to spend $50 BILLION on rebuiliding Iraq, and voted to support Oil Company subsidies, but somehow can't find a way to support the people of NJ and Vermont, or his own state of Virginia. The Republican Governor of VA is also not too pleased with Cantor.
Also interesting that while Cantor says offsets are a requirement before paying out disaster funds, he fails to mention where those cuts are coming from.
Quote:Well, Dip, one of your faves for Republican Pres nomination. Chris Christie, has pretty much told Eric Cantor to take a hike. Christie seems to think that Cantor's approach is wrong, as do most thinking Americans.
Link please..........
Oh, so since a Republican disagrees with it, then it must be wrong?
One of your favorite parties, the Democrat party, spent a 100 years trying to block freedom and equality for former slaves. Does that make them right?
In 1862, President Lincoln signed the bill abolishing slavery in District of Columbia. Inn Congress, 99% of Republicans vote yes, 83% of Democrats vote no.
In 1865 13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. Senate with 100% Republican support, 63% Democrat opposition.
In 1866 U.S. Senate passed the Republicans' 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the law to all citizens. 94% of Republicans vote yes and 100% of Democrats vote no.
In 1868 Republicans began the impeachment trial of Democrat President Andrew Johnson, who declared: “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government of white men”
Would you like 50 more examples of your glorious party's opposition to freedom for blacks? Using your logic, being a party loyalist means you must goose step to whatever drum they're beating. Is that how you'd have operated during reconstruction?
Christie has to work within a budget. Shouldn't Washington FINALLY be expected to do the same?
(This post was last modified: 08-31-2011 10:18 PM by Chipdip.)
And you can probably find it twenty other places if you don't like this source.
Nice attempt at diversion with the ancient history references. And it isn't just any Republican that disagrees, it is a Republican you worship. The fact remains that Cantor and his ilk are doing severe damage to the Republican party with their faux "protecting the budget" stance. Simply amazing that when similar circumstances were facing Cantor in his district his hand was out reaching for Federal money. He is a phony and a hypocrite and his own party, and your guy, is turning on him.
And as for the "finally" working within a budget, where was your outrage when GWB was spending money we didn't have? You are as big a hypocrite as Cantor.
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2011 06:57 AM by chipfan.)
Quote:And it isn't just any Republican that disagrees, it is a Republican you worship.
Sorry, my little hippy dippy chippy, but I don't worship at the altar of any politician. I'll never get a thrill up my leg (see Chris Mathews) when the Messiah or anyone else speaks. I live in the world of ideas, and the idea that Washington should simply print and borrow to meet its obligations doesn't work anymore. We're beyond broke.
It doesn't work at the state level, or in your household. It's not rocket science. He's simply asking that you pay for your spending with offsetting cuts, i.e. Pay-go (a Dem sponsored bill that they have ignored since they wrote and signed it).
But you don't do it when hundreds of thousands of our people are suffering. You don't play games with people's lives. You have to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em.
Cantor seems to forget that those hundreds of thousands will be voting in the next election. He can stomp his foot, say "Noooo!", and turn his back on all those American citizens in distress, but millions of Americans may well be stomping their feet, saying "Noooo!", and turning their backs on Cantor and others of his ilk next November as a result.
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2011 09:08 AM by Whinny1.)
Spending more than you have can and does work at the federal level.
But, doing that is contingent on growth. That can come in several forms and rationales. Priming the pump. Getting better infrastructure leads to better productivity. Better education leads to better lifetime outputs, both in terms of money earned and output contributed to society.
I personally think everything is changing now, however. As in the world is a different place. Physical resources used to be "free". We thought the only cost for commodities was the cost to extract them. Now, in a global economy, resources are becoming scarce, there is no longer an endless supply of stuff there for the taking. Population is growing, expectations are rising. China isn't a country of peasants anymore. ETC.
Personally, I don't think the same level of expectations is possible anymore. I'm with Chip here. We want to be able to do everything, and we can't pay for it anymore. There is a real problem going on.
I do agree also about the rich=poor divide as well. That is a problem. But it won't be solved by ideas. I think a time is coming when we'll be getting back to a power struggle situation. And the super rich just might win. It's late in the 3rd quarter, and the super rich are up by a couple touchdowns.
Quote:But you don't do it when hundreds of thousands of our people are suffering. You don't play games with people's lives.
What are we talking here...............A tropical storm? 33 mph winds when it hit shore. My brother goes through three of these a year in FL, and when I call him to see how he's doing he's usually sitting on his porch reading the paper..........."It's a big breeze."
Tree down on your house? Insurance
Flood damage to your house? Insurance
No power? Whoever supplies your power is responsible
Roof damage from wind? Insurance
Boat wrecked? Insurance
WTF do we have homeowners insurance for if the Feds are going to pay the damages anyway?
Use up the 800 million that's in there and find out what else you need. Then try and offset those costs.
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2011 10:33 AM by Chipdip.)
