Republicans Want to Cut Emergency Management Even More!

Isaac which is scheduled now to hit New Orleans within a day of the anniversary of Katrina is showcasing the short shortsightedness of the House Republicans led by Paul Ryan and his budget to cut even more from emergency related spending.  We just had horrendous wildfires in Oklahoma but only our hardest hit area is going to receive federal funds.  There are not enough funds to go around thanks to the cuts in emergency related spending led by Republicans while they keep the Defense Department as their sacred cow even proposing to increase their budget which the military says is not necessary.  That doesn't stop the hard headed Republicans in the House from pushing forward knowing full well it will never be passed in the Senate.

Why are Republicans so stubborn about raising taxes on people like Romney who pay less than 15% due to knowing how to work the IRS rules by using a large number of accountants and sending money offshore to keep from paying the full amount on taxes if they had invested those same dollars in the United States.  The US Treasury loses billions each year due to these offshore accounts and now one of those wealthy people who have offshore accounts is running for President.  Unbelievable!  How many members of Congress have offshore accounts?    How many of them are millionaires who don't want a tax increase but are willing to cut emergency management services?

The Republican House has cost the taxpayers $50M with their 33 votes to repeal ObamaCare which they know will go nowhere, but they want to tell everyone back home they are looking out for them.  Looking out for us?  Not in my world when taxpayers are picking up the tab.  The House couldn't adjourn as too many people voted to stay and finish the business of the House but the Republicans left anyway without adjourning to take a 5-week vacation with maybe a few Town Halls.   The grandstanding since Republicans took control of the House has caused a lot of Republicans to question whether they should ever be in charge again with their obstructionism on the jobs bill, the farm bill, and infrastructure bill which would add jobs to the economy.

IMHO the Republicans don't deserve to remain in charge of the House.  I didn't think it was possible to look worse then the last two years of the Democrats but this group of Republican obstructionists in a time of economic crises has managed to do just that.  The lies that come out of this House and some of the far right speeches on the floor make me cringe.  We have some hard right people who are an embarrassment to the people in the Republican Party with common sense.  I still cannot get over that 227 Republicans supported HR3 as the third bill in the House that was about abortion.  Our economy is in the tank and social issues take priority?

If you want one more reason not to vote for Romney/Ryan, it is their cuts to emergency management which is one job that the federal government should be involved.

Even FEMA’s most important activity, its response to disasters, has been held hostage by the demands of Tea Party Republicans in the House — including Mr. Ryan — for smaller government. Last year, when it looked as if FEMA might exceed its budget after a spate of disasters, House Republicans demanded that any further spending be offset by cuts in other programs they disliked. 

Squeezing one program to pay for another has become a familiar Tea Party technique, but it is particularly reprehensible when emergency response is at stake. Eventually, after Democrats refused to go along, Republicans backed off.

These House Republicans deserve to be called the party of "NO" when it comes to programs that help Americans recover from disasters that happened through no fault of their own.  Yet they are big time spenders on defense to pay back their big donors who just happen to be defense contractors.  It is so obvious what is going on with all the lobbyists setting up in Tampa to wine and dine Republican members of the House and Senate.  It is beyond disgusting and the reason that the Republican Party is headed for a split if things don't change.  To hold emergency management hostage is so wrong that I cannot even imagine anyone thinking that was a good idea except the Hard Right Republicans who are 'severely' out of touch with mainstream Americans.

The Storm, AgainPublished: August 27, 2012   

Tropical Storm Isaac is more than just a logistical inconvenience for Republicans gathered in Tampa: it is a powerful reminder both of Republican incompetence in handling Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, and the party’s no-less-disastrous plans to further cut emergency-related spending.  

That is not something you will hear Paul Ryan talk about this week at the convention, nor any of the other lawmakers who make simplistic promises about the power of slashing government spending. But the budgets assembled by Mr. Ryan and warmly embraced by Mitt Romney severely cut spending for emergency preparedness, exactly the kind of money needed in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and scores of other states for this and future storms. 

Between 2010 and 2012, House Republicans forced a reduction of 43 percent in the primary grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that pay for disaster preparedness. That is $1.8 billion that will not be available for evacuation equipment and supplies, communications gear that lets first responders speak to one another, and training exercises. (House Republicans tried to cut $354 million more in this year’s homeland security spending bill, but Democrats restored the money in a conference with the Senate.) 

That spending was enormously useful during last year’s tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., and Tuscaloosa, Ala. Although the effects of the cuts will not be felt yet as gulf states deal with this week’s storm, they will leave the region less prepared for future hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. 

The New Orleans area, in particular, will rely this week on $14 billion in levee construction, pumps and other flood control structures built by the Army Corps of Engineers since Katrina. But the corps’s construction budget has been cut by 21 percent since 2009 because of Republican pressure, hitting flood prevention especially hard. 

(snip)

One of the themes of the Tampa convention will be the failure of government, and the prosperity that will result if it is cut to ribbons. But in a different corner of the television screen, the winds of Isaac are a reminder of the necessity of government — its labor, its expertise, its money — in the nation’s most dire moments. It is hard to forget what happened to New Orleans when that Republican philosophy was followed in 2005, and it will be harder still to explain how it might be allowed to happen again. 

Excerpt:  Read More at NY Times Editorial