With major hurricane looming, is federal aid in doubt?
Hurricane Irene, now a Category 3 storm, is headed up the Eastern Seaboard, threatening considerable damage and loss of life.
As the Weather Channel puts it, “this is a particularly threatening situation … computer models are currently trending toward a forecast solution of rare potency for portions of the Northeast. … Irene has the potential to be a serious and multi-hazard threat for the major metropolitan areas of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. This includes Norfolk, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Hartford, and Boston.”
At this stage, Irene is predicted to still be a Category 2 storm, with winds of 100 mph, by the time it hits the Washington, D.C. area sometime Sunday morning. A storm that big, hitting a handful of the nation’s densest urban areas almost simultaneously in a region not conditioned to hurricanes, has the potential to be a major disaster, requiring a full-out response by local, state and federal officials.
Or, maybe not.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, for example, has consistently argued that any appropriation for emergency relief must be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the budget. With a major hurricane headed Virginia’s way, his office confirms has already announced that remains his position. And as we all already know, raising taxes to make the spending revenue-neutral won’t be an option either.
That approach is consistent with what Mitt Romney said back in June, in a GOP debate held shortly after tornadoes had destroyed much of Joplin, Missouri.
In a response to a question from John King, Romney said he would oppose federal disaster aid that would increase the deficit, proposing instead to leave that duty to the states. Given the chance by King to back off that position regarding relief operations in a major natural disaster, Romney refused, reiterating that we simply can’t afford it:
We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we’ll all be dead and gone before it’s paid off. It makes no sense at all.”
There is, I suppose, a certain consistency in that position. As the argument goes, the words “hurricane”, “disaster” and even “storm” appear nowhere in the Constitution. In fact, under the conservative, states’ rights interpretation of the 10th Amendment so favored by Cantor, Rick Perry and others, it might even be unconstitutional for the federal government to respond to such a disaster.
While liberals might try to cite language in the Constitution that gives Congress the power to “provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States,” conservatives have made it pretty clear that the provision in question doesn’t apply in such matters.
As the Heritage Foundation helpfully explains in its guide to the Constitution prepared for members of Congress, “spending under the clause (must) be for the ‘general’ (that is, national) welfare and not for purely local or regional benefit.”
It goes on to quote James Madison to that same effect, arguing that congressional spending power is limited “to purposes of common defence, and of general, national, not local, or state, benefit.” It further notes that “the Fourth Congress did not believe it had the power to provide relief to the citizens of Savannah, Georgia, after a devastating fire destroyed the entire city.”
In this case, Hurricane Irene is projected to wreak havoc from North Carolina all the way north through Virginia and Maryland and on up into Massachusetts. While that comprises most, but not all, of the 13 original colonies, it doesn’t affect states such as California, Oregon, Iowa and even Georgia, not to mention Hawaii and Alaska.
In other words, sorry Eastern Seaboard. You’re on your own. Let us know how it all turns out for you.
– Jay Bookman
NOTE: This post has been edited slightly since the orginal posting.
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354 comments Add your comment
Granny Godzilla
August 25th, 2011
4:09 pm
What a lovely and caring man Eric Cantor is!
It would be truly sad and ironic if Irene ripped Virginia a great big new one…..
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
4:12 pm
I sincerely hope that Virginia is not seriously affected by this hurricane, and if it is, I hope that Cantor finds it within himself to do the right thing for all victims of the storm, not just his own consituents.
He may have a change of heart if *his own* constituents start beating on his door and asking for help.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
4:13 pm
I agree with Cantor and Romney, and while they’re at it; they should pull the plug on the TSA and Department of Homeland Security, and require the airlines and “states” fund airport security checkpoints, and “emergency management” tasks.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
4:14 pm
“Compassionate conservativism” in its “finest” hour
Aquagirl
August 25th, 2011
4:15 pm
If there is a god, he’ll send that hurricane straight up the Potomac.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
4:17 pm
c’mon, we all know the recent earthquake and now the hurricane is god’s message to NYC (State) re: same sex marriage.
Stonethrower
August 25th, 2011
4:18 pm
What is insurance for? But if disater happens, who is going to bail out the insurance companies? United States of Corporate America.
Midori
August 25th, 2011
4:21 pm
My daughter lives in Newport News, my eldest granddaughter attends college in Washington, DC, and most of my siblings and other grandkids still reside in both Portsmouth, Newport News and Norfolk Virginia.
JohnnyReb
August 25th, 2011
4:21 pm
Considering the depth of Statist beliefs demonstrated here daily, there may be some who have a really hard time as the Nation moves to Federalisim as the founders intended.
godless heathen
August 25th, 2011
4:21 pm
Sounds right to me. The Washington DC / North Virginia area has a lot of very wealthy people – government workers and lobbiests (sp?). Bailing them out of the mess would only be welfare for the rich.
1811/0311
August 25th, 2011
4:22 pm
If the federal government didn’t rob the states so much they might have the money to take care of this on their own.
Leave it to Jay to make a natural disaster political. That puts you in the same catergory as Pat Roberson.
Hey, I have a great idea. Every hurricane should be Democrat or Republican on a rotating basis.
There, that solves the problem. Whatevere damage is done it’s that party’s fault !
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
4:22 pm
Aquagirl — “If there is a god, he’ll send that hurricane straight up the Potomac.”
My atheism notwithstanding, I think it’s pretty uncool to wish misfortune on anyone, even people you don’t like.
Talking Head
August 25th, 2011
4:24 pm
if DC shuts down our deficit will actually shrink, debt will go down, and unemployment will go down!
Schrodingers cat
August 25th, 2011
4:25 pm
Let’s wait and see what happens and what actions follow before we pass judgment…talk is cheap
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
4:25 pm
“If there is a god, he’ll send that hurricane straight up the Potomac.”
I don’t think I would like your God very much, if at all
md
August 25th, 2011
4:27 pm
“Irene is predicted to still be a Category 2 storm, with winds of 100 mph, by the time it hits the Washington, D.C. area sometime Sunday morning.”
Hmmm……earthquakes and hurricanes hitting DC in the same month……….somebody sending a message??
md
August 25th, 2011
4:30 pm
And let’s add a bit of context to the out of context quote above:
“ROMNEY: Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better. Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut — we should ask ourselves the opposite question. What should we keep? We should take all of what we’re doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we’re doing that we don’t have to do? And those things we’ve got to stop doing, because we’re borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we’re taking in. We cannot…
KING: Including disaster relief, though?
ROMNEY: We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we’ll all be dead and gone before it’s paid off. It makes no sense at all. ”
Finishing his thought? or responding to the interruption?
You decide……………seems Jay already has…………..
Mr. Snarky
August 25th, 2011
4:31 pm
“Leave it to Jay to make a natural disaster political. That puts you in the same catergory as Pat Roberson.”
No…Pat made it religious/moral. Natural disasters aren’t political, but how we respond to them is. Those who think the Feds should ignore people’s suffering are implementing a policy. Most people don’t agree with this, so those in favor of not funding disaster relief don’t like it when we point this out.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
4:32 pm
“Finishing his thought? or responding to the interruption?”
Reads the same way, either way.
josef
August 25th, 2011
4:32 pm
Who wants to bet that if this sucker strikes NYC there’ll be NO repeat of Katrina delayed response…
Hopefully, though, it won’t go there…I don’t wish this on my worst enemy…for real…
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 25th, 2011
4:34 pm
Well, it’s their own danged fault for living in a area that has hurricanes. I say let them swim or drown. I ain’t their Daddy and my taxes shouldn’t be used to bail them out. We already done that in New Orleans and all we got here in GA was a influx of the scum of the earth. They’ll steal your tires while you’re driving the car.
Besides, those people up there must of sinned something awful to have a hurricane sent thir way. It’s what they get for harboring the Gays, the Fornicators, and the Adulterers. Even old Newt had sense enough to move away from there after his third affair.
I’ll be watching Fox News to see how bad the houses are tore up and the places are flooded. Just for curiosity, mind you. But I’m going to be mighty upset if I hear the words “federal aid” during the broadcast. It’s a jungle out there, and we all ought to be on our own. It’s the way the Lord intended it. When he drove Adam and Eve out for sinning, he never hovered around to help them out. Old Adam worked his butt off with sweat running down in his eyes, and just like a woman, Eve laid around and whined about the way things use to be.
That’s my opinion and it’s very true. Be safe on the way home today. That is, unless you’re one of the people that don’t like me. In which case feel free to drive into one of those huge metal power poles.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
4:34 pm
“Natural disasters aren’t political, but how we respond to them is.”
As someone (don’t know who) said: crop failures are natural. Famines are political
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
4:34 pm
Why Jay, you dont think that the rules will change if Cantor’s district get’s hit by this right after the earthquake? I bet we see some more hypocrisy by the right but we already know that no one holds them accountable.
Peadawg
August 25th, 2011
4:36 pm
I agree. Cut necessary spending somewhere else so we can afford to help those who are affected by the hurricane. Seems simple enough to me….
Matthew
August 25th, 2011
4:37 pm
Typical Libs – The hurricane hasn’t even hit and they are already waiting for a handout……………..
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
4:37 pm
Pea, why we agree. Let’s cut out oil subsidies so disaster relief can be paid for.
md
August 25th, 2011
4:38 pm
“Reads the same way, either way.”
No….it doesn’t.
If he was finishing his thought, he was not responding to the question of disaster relief as Jay would have us believe…………
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
4:38 pm
Mathew must be delusional after suffering weasel attacks….
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
4:40 pm
md.. Cantor’s district was the epicenter of the earthquake… You might ask who the message is being sent to.
Jay
August 25th, 2011
4:40 pm
Sure, md, let’s give it the full context.
For example, let’s include King’s introduction to Romney, so we all understand exactly what Romney is responding to:
“KING: Governor Romney? You’ve been a chief executive of a state. I was just in Joplin, Missouri. I’ve been in Mississippi and Louisiana and Tennessee and other communities dealing with whether it’s the tornadoes, the flooding, and worse. FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we’re learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role. How do you deal with something like that?
ROMNEY: Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction….
So yes, he absolutely WAS responding to the question of disaster relief.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
4:41 pm
Matthew — “Typical Libs – The hurricane hasn’t even hit and they are already waiting for a handout……………”
Nobody’s asked for one. Cantor’s simply made it plain that he won’t even consider emergency appropriations for hurricane disaster relief unless there are offsetting cuts to the budget. Did you even read Jay’s post?
Peadawg
August 25th, 2011
4:44 pm
My 4:36 should be:
Cut UNnecessary spending somewhere else…
Oops!
md
August 25th, 2011
4:44 pm
And where Jay, is Romney consistent with cantor in saying the feds shouldn’t pay unless the money is cut elsewhere??
There is a mighty big difference is saying the States may be better suited to handle the disasters vs saying one is going to withhold funding…………
Jay
August 25th, 2011
4:47 pm
md, they’re both saying the federal government can’t afford disaster relief as it has in the past.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
4:47 pm
“Cut UNnecessary spending somewhere else…
Oops!”
Freudian slips are a bitch, aren’t they?
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
4:49 pm
md — “the States may be better suited to handle the disasters”
I recognize that this is a philosophical position on Romney’s part, but IMO it’s pure hogwash. A smaller, less capitalized entity is BY DEFINITION less able to handle disasters than a larger, more capitalized one is; it’s the same principle behind risk pools in insurance.
I think Romney’s saying that he feels its more *appropriate* for states to handle disasters, not that states are better-suited. In any event, an argument that states could do a better job is completely off the deep end, IMO.
kitty
August 25th, 2011
4:50 pm
Oh, puleeze, it hits Cantor’s district and he will be there with his hand out…just wait.
md
August 25th, 2011
4:50 pm
“md, they’re both saying the federal government can’t afford disaster relief as it has in the past.”
Well………we can’t.
But that isn’t the same as saying Cantor wants to withhold funding and Romney is consistent with that…….
Totally different premise………….
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
4:51 pm
When the piggy bank is empty you must stop spending. If liberals really cared about disasters, they would not have spent all of the money on nonsensical needles junk for the sole purpose of buying votes. This administration actually borrowed money from China to pay interest on money we had previously borrowed from China. Think about it. We borrowed money to pay interest on money we already borrowed. This is loan shark economics with no provision for future emergencies. No way to repay the money. We pat ourselves on the back for our caring generosity with our childrens money. Poppycock! We are no better than thieves. It is beyoned all reasonable comprehension that there is one person let alone many who think this is smart rconomic policy. A pox on us all.
carlosgvv
August 25th, 2011
4:52 pm
It all depends on which Congressional districts are hit and how much they are damaged. When push comes to shove, those powerful politicians will do anything to keep getting the votes and keeping their seats in the House.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
4:55 pm
Cantor’s a 100% USDA Grade A Ass. Anybody else who thinks as he does receives the same seal as he does. Case closed.
If you choose to put politics above the suffering of your own citizens, you deserve to rot in hell.
md
August 25th, 2011
4:56 pm
“In any event, an argument that states could do a better job is completely off the deep end, IMO.”
And I respect that opinion……..but don’t necessarily agree with it. I’d say States know themselves better than the feds ever will…………..there is something to be said for the locals knowing the territory so to speak…….and knowing the locals.
Jay
August 25th, 2011
4:57 pm
For the record, Cantor’s press office just sent me a note. It says, in part:
“Eric made no such announcement about what the House can or cannot do with regard to disaster assistance. The only thing he has consistently said is that additional funds for federal disaster relief ought to be offset. He has never made any comments regarding the upcoming hurricane or its anticipated damage.”
Here’s how they responded to an inquiry from Talking Points Memo, regarding potential hurricane relief:
“We aren’t going to speculate on damage before it happens, period,” his spokesperson Laena Fallon emails. “But, as you know, Eric has consistently said that additional funds for federal disaster relief ought to be offset with spending cuts.”
I have requested a clarification, because it seems to me that he is continuing to say that if relief is necessary, the funds will have to be offset. I asked:
“Again, should relief be necessary, will Mr. Cantor require offsets? It’s a yes or no question.”
Will update on the response.
Joel Edge
August 25th, 2011
4:57 pm
Never let a good crisis go to waste, Jay.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
4:57 pm
I can just see the campaign ads now: Just LOOK at how much money we saved by not helping out our neighbors in a time of disaster.
Nothing gets votes like putting money before lives.
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
4:59 pm
I bet once all of their offices in DC are flooded, they’ll change their minds.
josef
August 25th, 2011
4:59 pm
P*ss Pot Pretender…
Ga-you-la u-wo-h-la!!! Duk-sha-nee go-la-gi-ni-ge-sv-na ni-go-la-gv-na!
md
August 25th, 2011
5:00 pm
And there IS a difference between should and will be…………………………
If the borrowing continues, the borrowing will be the disaster……………then who pays??
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
5:01 pm
Will we have to start demanding offsetting cuts if the Coast Guard has to rescue people? Cantor’s an ass, and if I had the chance, I’d tell him to his face. If I have to go to VA/DC/NYC to help save people and/or property, I’m not worried about cost when lives are on the line. Only a d**k would think like that. Maybe Cantor needs to take of the coat and tie and jump his ass into the line of fire for a year or two.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:01 pm
Are they going to hold the lives and safety of people in danger hostage for spending cuts?
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:01 pm
Righty — “When the piggy bank is empty you must stop spending. If liberals really cared about disasters, they would not have spent all of the money on nonsensical needles junk for the sole purpose of buying votes. This administration actually borrowed money from China to pay interest on money we had previously borrowed from China. Think about it. We borrowed money to pay interest on money we already borrowed.”
Maybe YOU should think about it. Every year we were in Iraq during the Bush Administration, our adventure was funded with an Emergency Supplemental Spending Measure. You ever stop to think that maybe this ‘make cuts elsewhere in the budget or else we can’t afford this new spending’ notion might have applied to THAT as well? It’s not like we weren’t in a deficit situation then — we ALREADY WERE, and President Bush added ~$5 trillion to it. Where was the Republican distaste for deficit spending THEN?
A TENTH of what we spent in ONE YEAR on Iraq would have made a huge difference in New Orleans — and there’d probably be money left over for additional hurricane relief after that. But no, borrowing from the Chinese to fund a war of choice is GOOD, while borrowing from the Chinese to help out your countrymen and neighbors up in the Mid-Atlantic is BAD.
Glad you clarified that for us. It’s bullspit reasoning and arguments like that that make me think it will be a long, long time before I ever pull the lever for a Republican candidate again.
carlosgvv
August 25th, 2011
5:01 pm
Could this hurricane turn out to be a blessing in disguise? If there is major damage and Cantor and his Tea Party goons actually hold up relief money for political reasons, maybe the voters who put them in power will finally wise up and vote them out as soon as possible. We can always hope.
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:02 pm
Well, md, if that’s the distinction they’re trying to make, it’s interesting in its own right. It suggests the position changes a bit when the storm literally hits you where you live.
But we’ll see.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
md — “And I respect that opinion……..but don’t necessarily agree with it. I’d say States know themselves better than the feds ever will…………..there is something to be said for the locals knowing the territory so to speak…….and knowing the locals.”
I didn’t speak to the notion of knowing the territory. I spoke to the notion of being financially able to bear up under a disaster. A bigger pool of resources (people, equipment and money) will do a better job every time.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
I have a good friend who is an officer in the USN, stationed in Newport News. guess how the U.S. Navy deals with hurricanes? it evacuates; puts the fleet out to sea. well, you think they just get all the fuel and provisions for free? this wasn’t budgeted. I’m surprised Cantor didn’t call Visa and report the Navy’s credit card stolen?
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
A jobs program is coming up the east coast right now. Obama has billions left over from the stimulous and from TARP. These are shovel ready jobs! Come on Obama, quit holding out. Divert Green job money which neither produces jobs nor energy savings. Obama took 500 billion from medicare. Use that money. Use all of the Obamacare savings to rebuild. I guaranty you the looters are ready, I don’t know why Obama isn’t.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
If they saw someone drowning, would they only save him if he agreed to cut is expenses first?
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:05 pm
I suspect that’s what we’re already seeing, Carlos, a conflict between nice and tidy theoretical political positions and positions that directly affect the people in your district.
1811/0311
August 25th, 2011
5:05 pm
Hurricane “Jay” is next.
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:06 pm
doggone, whose district is this man from?
Message from Matti
August 25th, 2011
5:06 pm
The response to the storm six years ago forever shattered by belief system about what it means to be an American. People often refer to the events ten years ago as the day that changed everything, and that’s true, but what truly shook me to the core was the awful things that happened — and the things people said and did — before, during, and after Katrina. There’s more than enough blame to go around (for those who want to pin it on one group to make a fallacious point that somehow they are above it), and the ripples are still being felt.
I wish I could have taught my children what I grew up believing in, but… I don’t think utter bee-ess is conducive to their well-being and futures. The truth hurts, but it is what it is.
Aquagirl
August 25th, 2011
5:07 pm
My atheism notwithstanding, I think it’s pretty uncool to wish misfortune on anyone, even people you don’t like.
True, sorry for the intemperate remark. If it’s gotta make landfall, better that it goes somewhere with less population density. But unfortunately empathy does not occur spontaneously in people like Mr. Cantor. Unless he gets a personal lesson, he’ll continue to throw others to the wolves. Oh, who am I kidding…Eric Cantor would still create a special category for himself as a “deserving victim” and continue to place everyone else in the handbasket to hell. Never mind.
md
August 25th, 2011
5:07 pm
“I’m not worried about cost when lives are on the line. Only a d**k would think like that”
Well…….then i may be a d**k.
And I’m thinking longer term here, not this potential disaster, but who makes the decision to spend us past the breaking point?? And history shows that there is a breaking point (USSR). How many more suffer vs spending the money??
Hypothetical in the line of sacrificing a few for the benefit of the many……………..
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:07 pm
“doggone, whose district is this man from?”
I have no idea
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:08 pm
Joe — “well, you think they just get all the fuel and provisions for free? this wasn’t budgeted. I’m surprised Cantor didn’t call Visa and report the Navy’s credit card stolen?”
That’s actually a pretty good point, but I suspect that Naval leadership plans and budgets for things like that. I imagine they also have a pretty good disaster preparedness plan for any military facility that stands to be affected by natural disasters. The Kingsland sub facility (down in coastal GA) was probably pretty close to activating their disaster plan earlier this week.
IIRC, aircraft were moved out of their bases in southern LA and MS before Katrina hit; sending the Second Fleet out to sea ahead of Irene would be no different IMO.
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
5:09 pm
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
5:03 pm
If the Navy runs out of money, that would be an administration problem. Ships without enough money to go to sea? What if they were attacked? Oh gee, we don’t have the money to defend ourselves. Why, because we spent it to move GE jobs to China. These are administration problems.
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
5:09 pm
You guys see a disaster, I see jobs in rebuilding infrastructure, housing, and . . .
Huh? yeah, yeah, I know. There will be death and destruction because it’s a major storm.
Ray of light at the edge of the cloud? Anyone?
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
“sorry Eastern Seaboard. You’re on your own.”
Not true, false assertion and false choice.
Assuming they get hit, this could be a multi-hundred billion dollar problem. It needs to be fixed. But we can’t just make hundreds of billions rain from the sky constantly. Meaning, ok, we need to help fix the NE. But we will need to cut spending elsewhere.
99 Week jobless benefits and wasteful Medicare spending anyone?
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:11 pm
well, dog, you can’t expect a decision on the quandary you posed until we have that information.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:12 pm
Logical Dude — “I see jobs in rebuilding infrastructure, housing, and . . .”
D00d, we’ve got a massive oversupply of housing right now. Maybe that’s why Cantor doesn’t want to budget for disaster relief; so nature’s bulldozer can tear some of it down and sweep it away over the next few days.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:13 pm
jm — “99 Week jobless benefits and wasteful Medicare spending anyone?”
Agricultural support payments and commodity price supports for large ag and petroleum corporations anyone?
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:13 pm
“well, dog, you can’t expect a decision on the quandary you posed until we have that information”
The way I see it, rhetorical questions don’t require an answer
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
It is no doubt true that regions with local disasters have gotten addicted to federal bailout spending. Some is justified and intelligent. Blank checks are not.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
Joe Mama 5:13 – sign me up for those too
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:14 pm
“Assuming they get hit, this could be a multi-hundred billion dollar problem. It needs to be fixed. But we can’t just make hundreds of billions rain from the sky constantly. Meaning, ok, we need to help fix the NE. But we will need to cut spending elsewhere.
99 Week jobless benefits and wasteful Medicare spending anyone?”
Abolishing subsidies for oil companies and tax breaks for hedge fund managers, anyone?
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
5:15 pm
Joe Mama, I was being facetious. Of course the DoD has emergency management plans; but I doubt they “budget” and as Stuart Smalley used to say; “…that’s OK…” of course, the Federal government also plans/bugets for Emergency Management scenarios. in fact, the federal agency tasked with managing emergencies is, I believe known as FEMA. does not FEMA have a “budget”? would Cantor be as arrogant and petulant, were we “warned” of a 9/11 type attack? was in a member of Congress in 2001? I don’t remember him clutching his billfold and advising the first responders at the Pentagon; “…don’t do anything until we are certain there will be an “offset”?
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:15 pm
“Abolishing subsidies for oil companies and tax breaks for hedge fund managers, anyone?”
I’m game. Good, while we’re at it, we can clean up the whole corporate tax code and lower the corporate rate.
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
5:15 pm
md asks: but who makes the decision to spend us past the breaking point??
Look in the mirror.
But not just you md, ALL of you.
All of US.
We want our low taxes. We want our benefits. We want our wars without paying for them. We want we want we want.
But evidently we don’t want to do what makes it better, to be able to have the funds for disaster relief. We don’t want to raise taxes.
We don’t want to cut benefits.
We don’t want to cut defense.
But we HAVE TO.
ty webb
August 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
abolishing the EITC anyone?
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
Sounds like the Grand Compromise that Obama offered, jm.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
5:16 pm
Doggone @ 5:01
Before this year, I would have never thought that would be possible. After the debt limit fiasco, I have to wonder…
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
Joe P — “would Cantor be as arrogant and petulant, were we “warned” of a 9/11 type attack? was in a member of Congress in 2001? I don’t remember him clutching his billfold and advising the first responders at the Pentagon; “…don’t do anything until we are certain there will be an “offset”?
Cantor was seated in Congress in 2001. So yes, he was in office on 9/11.
I strongly suspect that the difference in his appetite for deficit spending is situational and political, not principled and financial.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
Jay 5:16 – sorry. I’m having a hard time referencing any grand compromise offered by Obama…..
I’ve heard a lot of speeches though. Seriously. And I’m not the only one tired of it. Count this liberal among them….
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903327904576526611297517664.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
Mortimer Zuckerman: Obama and the ‘Competency Crisis’
Like many Americans who supported him, I long for a triple-A president to run a triple-A country.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:18 pm
Bro – I have to wonder too.
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
5:19 pm
I hope they do withhold it. /sarc/ You wanna drown it in a bathtub Mr. Norquist?
Here’s your chance.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:20 pm
Jay 5:16 – we do have that deficit commission plan that Obama sponsored. But then swept under the rug. That grand compromise?
Or do you mean the one that Orszag referenced in a speech (after leaving office) as 3/4 tax increases and 1/4 spending cuts? That one?
Jack
August 25th, 2011
5:20 pm
Bookman, you can fix all this by voting for Obama next year. That is, if he decides to come back to DC.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:21 pm
Logical Dude — “We want our low taxes. We want our benefits. We want our wars without paying for them. We want we want we want.”
Who’s this “we” you’re talking about, pal?
I’m okay with my taxes going up. My veterans’ medical benefits were ALREADY eliminated. I argued against President Bush cutting taxes in wartime, and I understand that cuts need to be made.
“But evidently we don’t want to do what makes it better, to be able to have the funds for disaster relief. We don’t want to raise taxes.
We don’t want to cut benefits.
We don’t want to cut defense.
But we HAVE TO.”
Great. Then perhaps you can show me the Republican tax-hike proposal.
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
5:22 pm
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:01 pm
My support for the Iraq war ended with the fall of bagdad. The problems in New Orleans weren’t caused by lack of funds let alone shortage of money caused by the Iraq war. New Orleans and the state of Louisiana spent money that was given to them for improving the dykes on other things. The damages in the Katrina aftermath were inflicted by local and federal waste. In addition we have spent billions since, go there and look around. To this day, it is a cr-p hole. Not cased by lack of money.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
5:23 pm
md
Would you rather have functioning cities getting back to the business of adding to the economy, or would you rather have damaged places not capable of getting themselves back together to start back contributing to the economy? I think you’re an ok person, but if you’re willing to play fiscal life saver like Cantor, then in this instance, you fall in the category of a d**k. No hard feelings, but that’s just how I see it.
md
August 25th, 2011
5:23 pm
Come on folks…….there isn’t a politician in the world that would be associated with actually withholding disaster relief……..that certainly wouldn’t garner many votes………….
Talking about offsets is another game entirely……….
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:23 pm
Let’s be honest here. Revenues are 15% of GDP. Spending has climbed astonishingly from 18% of GDP to 24% of GDP under Obama. If we were back at 18% of GDP, then the deficit would be a piddly 3% of GDP. And with the expiration of future tax increases baked in in 2012, it would disappear entirely (and if they were extended, 3% is manageable – though not ideal).
So when conservatives say: we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem, they are 110% correct.
Message from Matti
August 25th, 2011
5:24 pm
I’m guessing if the cushy, upper-class DC suburbs get flattened, we WON’T see citizens dying of sickness and dehydration, sizzling like stranded snails on the scorching sidewalks of their community… DAYS after the storm has passed…. or doctors being forced to decide whom to treat and whom to let die (of dehydration and heat stroke) because the hospital is completely cut off from the rest of the world. I’m guessing somebody will find a way to fly supplies in and wounded people out. Go figure.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:25 pm
“Would you rather have functioning cities getting back to the business of adding to the economy, or would you rather have damaged places not capable of getting themselves back together to start back contributing to the economy? ”
Especially since at least 2 of them are major NATIONAL sea and air ports?
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
5:25 pm
by “federal aid” does mean quelling any civil unrest? Cantor is a conspiracy nut, and he thinks Obama is going to declare martial law? I’ve played this card before: “On 1 Oct. 2008, the 3rd Infantry Division (United States)’s 1st Brigade Combat Team was assigned to U.S. Northern Command, marking the first time an active unit had been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The force will be known for the first year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, and will serve as an on-call federal response force for terrorist attacks and other natural or manmade emergencies and disasters”. I’m sure Cantor is just thinking about Posse Comitatus
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
5:25 pm
there isn’t a politician in the world that would be associated with actually withholding disaster relief [...]
Talking about offsets is another game entirely
So, are you suggesting that Cantor is going to approve the disaster funding with no delay, then later ask for offsetting cuts?
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
5:26 pm
Joe Mama, Who’s this “we” you’re talking about, pal?
You know. “US”! Our representatives who represent “US”! “WE” are represented by officials who do what “WE” want.
So the “WE” I”m talking about is the government who supposedly represents “US”, but evidently only seem to want to line their own pockets and let the rest of “US” suffer.
md
August 25th, 2011
5:26 pm
“Then perhaps you can show me the Republican tax-hike proposal.”
It looks a lot like the democrat tax proposal……….not enough to actually accomplish anything.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:27 pm
Doggone 5:25 – bingo. There isn’t any real Constitutional issue on this. However, there is that small but real issue of massively increasing debt.
NO MORE blank checks.
md
August 25th, 2011
5:27 pm
soco,
My question and premise is in a greater context………there is a straw that will break the camels back, at what point is that straw sacrificed to save the back??
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:27 pm
Cantor’s office says his position on offsetting disaster relief spending has not changed, but says that as majority leader he’s not in a position to control any vote but his own and cannot dictate what the House will do. Therefore, the earlier language in my post saying that Cantor would not “allow” such spending without offsets has been changed. The office will not address the issue of Hurricane Irene directly.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:28 pm
Righty — You need some serious fact-checking.
“My support for the Iraq war ended with the fall of bagdad.”
Well, mine ended long before the first shot was fired.
“The problems in New Orleans weren’t caused by lack of funds let alone shortage of money caused by the Iraq war.”
I didn’t suggest anything of the sort. I pointed out that it’s hypocritical to fund a multi-year war via “Emergency Supplemental Spending Measures” as if you don’t KNOW ahead of time that you’re going to need to pay for it and then bleat about how emergency spending for things like natural disasters have to be funded. It has nothing to do with one taking money away from the other — it has to do with the EFFING LIE that one completely foreseen “emergency” needed to be funded off the books, while another unforeseen emergency is just going to have to be borne up under by the victims. It’s enough to make me wish there really was a hell so that Eric Cantor could go there.
“New Orleans and the state of Louisiana spent money that was given to them for improving the dykes on other things.”
Really? You seem to not know that all flood control and water management in the Mississippi Delta is the exclusive province of the Army Corps of Engineers. Your argument is teh FAIL.
“The damages in the Katrina aftermath were inflicted by local and federal waste.”
Not in the least.
“In addition we have spent billions since, go there and look around. To this day, it is a cr-p hole. Not cased by lack of money.”
I’m sure the Corps of Engineers would differ with you.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:29 pm
“Doggone 5:25 – bingo”
If you are interpreting what I said as being on “your side” you are MASSIVELY wrong.
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
5:30 pm
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:21 pm
Do you actually think if we raised taxes the government would put some money away in a rainey day fund? My goodness no. They would just spend it on nonsense and then when it rains they would come back and want more money. Thank God there are a few good men like Eric Kantor who are looking out for the future of this nation. It is simple. The government has to be forced to reduce spending. Obama will prove me right when he announces his jobs program next month. It will be short on specifics save one. He will definitely want more money.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:30 pm
md — “It looks a lot like the democrat tax proposal……….not enough to actually accomplish anything.”
Ah! So you admit there is a Republican tax-hike proposal!
Show me, please.
Logical Dude, feel free to jump in on this.
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
5:31 pm
Cantor’s office says “but says that as majority leader he’s not in a position to control any vote but his own”
So what DOES a majority leader supposed to lead? Oh, does he lead from behind too?
Sorry, that was too easy.
md
August 25th, 2011
5:31 pm
“So, are you suggesting that Cantor is going to approve the disaster funding with no delay, then later ask for offsetting cuts?”
From his response to Jay, I’d say that is a possibility……….it would be political suicide to withold the funding……….these guys/gals have that handbook…………..
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 25th, 2011
5:31 pm
there isn’t a politician in the world that would be associated with actually withholding disaster relief [...]
Hmmm… I am confused. Hasn’t Cantor already said that he would support earthquake relief in his district but would look to offset the cost elsewhere in the budget…… I guess technically he has not said he would vote against it unless the cost was offset but sounds pretty close to a hard line:
The next step will be for Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) to decide whether to make an appeal for federal aid, Cantor said. The House Majority Leader would support such an effort but would look to offset the cost elsewhere in the federal budget.
“All of us know that the federal government is busy spending money it doesn’t have,” Cantor said in Culpeper, where the quake damaged some buildings along a busy shopping thoroughfare.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:32 pm
Doggone 5:29 – dude, I was agreeing with you. This is not a constitutional issue. We’re talking about national assets and a whole region here.
I was adding my personal additions to what you were saying after agreeing with your first premise.
Lighten up Francis. (learned that one here myself)
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
5:33 pm
Joe Mama,
Didn’t you hear? The Republicans want to raise taxes by taking away the temporary tax reduction that Obama wanted. It cuts the payroll taxes slightly for those earning under 106K. Republicans want to end that tax reduction.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
5:34 pm
hey everybody, look what I found when I did the GOOGLE for Blackwater, Katrina:
“Blackwater landed a $73 million contact to protect FEMA staff helping with the Katrina recovery operation”. again, was Cantor in Congress in 2005?
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:35 pm
Righty — “Do you actually think if we raised taxes the government would put some money away in a rainey day fund? My goodness no. They would just spend it on nonsense and then when it rains they would come back and want more money.”
If it’s such a good idea, then why don’t the Republicans put it forward as a legislative proposal?
“Thank God there are a few good men like Eric Kantor who are looking out for the future of this nation.”
IMO, Cantor’s a hypocritical turd. I just hope his constituents don’t have to suffer so that Cantor can feel all warm and noble and principled.
“It is simple. The government has to be forced to reduce spending.”
You must not read newspapers. The government already HAS reduced spending and is looking for ways to reduce it even more.
“Obama will prove me right when he announces his jobs program next month. It will be short on specifics save one. He will definitely want more money.”
I don’t think that will prove you right, though I don’t doubt that you will make all sorts of claims about it.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:35 pm
“I was adding my personal additions to what you were saying after agreeing with your first premise”
But I think it IS a Constitutional issue.
md
August 25th, 2011
5:36 pm
“Ah! So you admit there is a Republican tax-hike proposal!”
Of course……it is a blank page, or maybe some loophole changes, while the dem plan is a 2/3 blank page……….
Neither will provide enough to fix the problem…………..
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:37 pm
On a practical note, New Yorkers should evacuate.
If it does get a direct hit, it will be a damn mess. Tunnels all flooded. Subway car equipment ruined and beyond short term repair. Lost power in a hot city. Lack of gas and food. Basically a dysfunctional city for a couple of weeks, and probably up to a month.
Good thing the NYSE and Nasdaq have backups and most trading is done electronically in a disaggregated manner now.
@@
August 25th, 2011
5:38 pm
A rainy day fund would’ve been nice. ‘Ya gave to put forth the effort to save one of those though.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
5:38 pm
md
I think that straw will break the camel’s back when we get to the point where we refuse to lend a hand to help our fellow citizens stand back up after getting knocked down.
Playing budget cut bingo w/disaster aid is a bad idea in my book. Along the Eastern Seaboard, you have ports of Norfolk, Baltimore, Newark, and New York in the potential line of fire of this storm. You’re talking about a great deal of shipping for businesses that aid our economy. I don’t see how aiding the country is gonna break the country. Not aiding the rebuilding will handicap us much worse than any added debt. We can work off the debt with a functioning society. A damaged and disfunctional community can’t work worth sh*t to pay back any debt.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:38 pm
“Neither will provide enough to fix the problem…………..”
You eat an elephant one bite at a time, not all in one mouthful
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:38 pm
Doggone – well then. You argue that point, I don’t think it is. I think the Feds can reasonably justify providing significant, but partial, help, with the states shouldering a good portion of the burden (30-50%).
md
August 25th, 2011
5:39 pm
“I am confused. Hasn’t Cantor already said that he would support earthquake relief in his district but would look to offset the cost elsewhere in the budget……”
There is a difference between withholding funds vs providing funds and then requiring cuts elsewhere.
Sounds like common sense to me………….if one spends what one doesn’t have, they will have no choice but to not spend somewhere else………..
Unless you folks are keen to the idea of perpetual borrowing…………
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
5:39 pm
Joe; If you are looking for some kind of an award for opposing the Iraq war, I don’t have any to give. The rest of your comments are just pretty much wrong. I never said the dykes weren’t repaired. I said New Orleans is a cr-p hole. It is. Boarded up business, trash, odor I could go on and on. This after billions of our tax dollars were wasted again during the aftermath of Katrina.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:40 pm
Logical Dude — “Didn’t you hear? The Republicans want to raise taxes by taking away the temporary tax reduction that Obama wanted. It cuts the payroll taxes slightly for those earning under 106K. Republicans want to end that tax reduction.”
I heard.
Frankly, I think your characterization of this as a tax hike is pretty pathetic.
Obama: wants a payroll tax reduction
Republicans: oppose the planned payroll tax reduction
Republicans: ‘See? We’re raising taxes!’
Taxpayers: W. T. F.?
@@
August 25th, 2011
5:40 pm
‘Ya (H)ave to put forth…
IHB
josef
August 25th, 2011
5:40 pm
matti
@5:24
Thank you for putting it the way you did! I wanted to say that, but then, I’m just a thin skinned supersensitve drama queen, just looking for something to complain about…but, yeah, you’ve hit the nail on the head…
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:40 pm
Joe P. — “again, was Cantor in Congress in 2005?”
He was seated in January of 2001. So yes.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
5:41 pm
jm, and most places like the NYSE and NASDAQ have offsite (outside of Manahattan) data centers and back-up data centers. that said, NYC will be fine, assuming there is no significant “storm surge” the real “exposed” folks are those in the burbs who live near rivers and streams; or the Jersey shore and southern coast of Long Island
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:41 pm
“Let’s be honest here. Revenues are 15% of GDP. Spending has climbed astonishingly from 18% of GDP to 24% of GDP under Obama.”
Yes, let’s be honest. Spending as a percentage of GDP has risen in part because GDP has FALLEN so much, declining by 20 percent between the third quarter of ‘08 through the second quarter of ‘09.
Spending has also increased in part because of mandatory increases in such recession-driven programs as food stamps, unemployment, Medicaid, etc.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:42 pm
“You argue that point”
I don’t need to. Jay already did. At least, he mentioned it.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:42 pm
Mighty Righty – New Orleans is a fundamentally lost city. That was a bad investment. With rising sea levels and a dysfunctional government, all those people would be better served if the city was abandoned with the exception of the area within a 3 mile radius of the French Quarter.
Rebuild higher, but a smaller set of levies….. next Hurricane and NO is probably toast again.
Joe the Plutocrat
August 25th, 2011
5:42 pm
so let me get this straight, he was OK with a $73 million payment to a bunch or mercenaries to protect FEMA employees who were (unconstitutionally) deployed to NOLA?
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
5:43 pm
“My support for the Iraq war ended with the fall of bagdad.(sic)”
Then you were in a minscule percentage of Republicans.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
5:43 pm
“jm, and most places like the NYSE and NASDAQ have offsite (outside of Manahattan) data centers and back-up data centers”
there are no offsite and back-up centers for shipping containers
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:46 pm
Um, Jay, GDP is as high as it was pre-recession.
2007q1 13,758.5 13,056.1
2007q2 13,976.8 13,173.6
2007q3 14,126.2 13,269.8
2007q4 14,253.2 13,326.0
2008q1 14,273.9 13,266.8
2008q2 14,415.5 13,310.5
2008q3 14,395.1 13,186.9
2008q4 14,081.7 12,883.5
2009q1 13,893.7 12,663.2
2009q2 13,854.1 12,641.3
2009q3 13,920.5 12,694.5
2009q4 14,087.4 12,813.5
2010q1 14,277.9 12,937.7
2010q2 14,467.8 13,058.5
2010q3 14,605.5 13,139.6
2010q4 14,755.0 13,216.1
2011q1 14,867.8 13,227.9
2011q2 15,003.8 13,270.1
http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp
Even with the pre-recession peak on a real basis. Now, yes, more of it is composed of government spending. But its time to wind that down in a reasonable manner over the next 24 months.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:47 pm
Righty — “Joe; If you are looking for some kind of an award for opposing the Iraq war, I don’t have any to give.”
I don’t need one from you or anyone else. But it would be nice if you recognized how that war got paid for.
“The rest of your comments are just pretty much wrong.”
There’s nothing wrong in anything I said, sir. The war WAS funded off-budget, via Emergency Supplemental Spending Measures EVERY YEAR while Bush was in office. It’s not my fault if you’re not aware of that.
“I never said the dykes weren’t repaired.”
I didn’t claim you did. I pointed out that you were wrong when you claimed they were a state and local responsibility. You clearly aren’t very well informed on the issue.
“I said New Orleans is a cr-p hole. It is.”
Seems to me that we had a President saying that we’d rebuild that city. How’s that working out for them?
“Boarded up business, trash, odor I could go on and on. This after billions of our tax dollars were wasted again during the aftermath of Katrina.”
And yet you support Cantor’s position, which would only yield MORE cities in that condition. You’re absolutely amazing, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
josef
August 25th, 2011
5:48 pm
jm
@ 5:42
Hey, reality check…it was an area within the three mile radius of the Vieux Carre that got smacked…
Like so many of the rest of those who hold Uncle Sam’s Red Headed Step Children in such low regard but just love “the culture,” you won’t be happy until its confined to a museum of an extinct people.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:48 pm
Doggone 5:43 – no, but there are other ports. But your point is well taken. The nation needs those ports (and airports, among other things).
Jay
August 25th, 2011
5:49 pm
You mean it’s recovered to what it was four years ago?
Yes.
Meanwhile, what did defense spending do in those intervening four years? Social Security, Medicare? Those and other things kept rising; GDP did not. Therefore, the ratio of spending to GDP rose without Obama having a single thing to do with it.
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
5:50 pm
Joe Mama: Frankly, I think your characterization of this as a tax hike is pretty pathetic.
Oh, it wasn’t my characteristic, it’s what the headlines were saying.
But I’d just like to see the “Bush/Obama tax cuts” end as well. It’s amazing that Republicans fought SO hard because they called it “raising taxes” after the cuts were supposed to expire. I thought it made them look pathetic, too. Can’t even take an easy step for the good of the country.
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
5:51 pm
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:35 pm
IMO, Cantor’s a hypocritical turd. I just hope his constituents don’t have to suffer so that Cantor can feel all warm and noble and principled.
An example please.
Righty — “Do you actually think if we raised taxes the government would put some money away in a rainey day fund? My goodness no. They would just spend it on nonsense and then when it rains they would come back and want more money.”
If it’s such a good idea, then why don’t the Republicans put it forward as a legislative proposal?
Do you know they haven’t?
You must not read newspapers. The government already HAS reduced spending and is looking for ways to reduce it even more.
Joe I can’t ignore the utter stupidity of the above statement. Specifics please.
“Obama will prove me right when he announces his jobs program next month. It will be short on specifics save one. He will definitely want more money.”
I don’t think that will prove you right, though I don’t doubt that you will make all sorts of claims about it.
Unlike your above stateement I will be happy to provide quotes.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:51 pm
josef 5:48 – I’ve been to New Orleans many a time. I think its a fantastic city. But I also think rising sea levels will make it indefensible (or obscenely costly to do so) unless one contemplates trying to defend a smaller area.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:51 pm
jm — “Mighty Righty – New Orleans is a fundamentally lost city. That was a bad investment. With rising sea levels and a dysfunctional government, all those people would be better served if the city was abandoned with the exception of the area within a 3 mile radius of the French Quarter.”
“Rebuild higher, but a smaller set of levies….. next Hurricane and NO is probably toast again.”
One wonders why the LA state and Federal authorities rebuffed the Dutch offer to help plan out a flood mitigation plan. With their knowledge and expertise, the Dutch could easily help figure out the best and most cost-efficient way to address the Delta’s flooding issues.
MightyRighty
August 25th, 2011
5:52 pm
Gotta go. Grub time.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:52 pm
Logical Dude — “But I’d just like to see the “Bush/Obama tax cuts” end as well.”
There were many liberal posters here who, like myself, eagerly said we’d take the conservative posters up on that offer.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
5:53 pm
So Brosephus
Tell us how you REALLY feel !
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:53 pm
Jay 5:49 – yep, they’ve grown by 30% in total (18% to 24% of GDP)
So now would be a responsible time to reform them by doing what Bowles Simpson suggested.
Cut military spending, reform entitlements, reform the tax code, bring some (SOME) additional revenue in and be done with it. The terd blossoms in DC (including the one in the WH) can’t seem to pull the trigger.
jm
August 25th, 2011
5:56 pm
Canadian liberals have more brains and guts than our domestic variety. When Canada got downgraded, they cut entitlements and held the line on spending for over a decade. AND THE LIBERALS DID THAT.
josef
August 25th, 2011
5:56 pm
jm
Not at all trying to be snarky, please understand. But you’ve “been to New Orleans several times.” So have a lot of other people wanting to call it a “lost cause.” Well, it’s home to me. It’s my heart and soul. You can’t just pick it up and relocate it..if you did, all that y’all tourists find so enchanting would be gone with the wind…
And, hey, the Dutch have done it…so can we…
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
5:57 pm
Well, I think Bookman ought to be put away for instigating a mob. He knows good and well the government is already rendering aid with preparations, ships going to sea, weather stations watching, and not one thing in government has been stopped. Besides that, Red Cross has already put in motion all of its aids (which is not government). But THE GOVERNMENT IS READY AND ABLE TO HANDLE IRENE AND NOBODY HAS STOPPED IT!!!
Cantor said quite properly, we should be prepared to cut other expenses when we make plans for covering emergencies. That is called PLANNING AHEAD.
All of you political bozos go jump in your car and head for Washington ’cause you think “the government is not going to help”. Maybe you will get on the Jerry Springer show and tell the world how the government aint doing a thing. Take Bookman with you. He knows how to make a show out of a legitimate concern for handling America’s expenses.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
5:57 pm
Righty — “An example please.”
An example of Cantor’s constituents suffering so he can feel noble? How about an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week, and Cantor sticking to his ‘no disaster relief without offsets’ position?
“Do you know they haven’t?”
If you know that they have, then show me the proposal. Link, please?
“Joe I can’t ignore the utter stupidity of the above statement. Specifics please.”
Righty, it’s been all over the news AND both President Obama and Speaker Boehner have made public statements to that effect that. Are you for real? Do you really not follow the news?
“Unlike your above stateement I will be happy to provide quotes.”
Whether you can provide quotes or not won’t prove the antecedent claim.
md
August 25th, 2011
5:58 pm
“So now would be a responsible time to reform them by doing what Bowles Simpson suggested.”
Naw………..makes sense to someone to trash that and do it all over again…..probably with the same reault.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
5:58 pm
“Eric has consistently said that additional funds for federal disaster relief ought to be offset with spending cuts.”
As md noted, there’s a big difference between ‘will’ and ‘ought.’ Seems Rep Cantor (can I call him ‘Eric’ like his press secretary does?) is scrambling for some wiggle room.
Parsers of the world, unite!
See, parsing gives a clue how they try to wriggle out of their ideology when it suits them.
Jay – another confirmation of your earlier post regarding what the Republican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Party will let him do.
I hope RW-(the original) shows up. Right after the horrible tornadoes hit, I posted to the effect might as well get out of the way how some would argue against federal aid and I got hit by a ‘play the jerk card’ storm. Congrats, Jay – you did an entire thread on Cantor’s Jerk Card!
Eric’s ’s holding a losing hand. It’s going to be fun to watch how he calls for redealing -
Message from Matti
August 25th, 2011
5:58 pm
josef,
I’m glad my Granny was dead and gone, so she didn’t have to witness what happened to that city. It would have killed her.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
5:59 pm
“Jay – another confirmation of your earlier post regarding what the Republican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Party will let ROMNEY do.”
jm
August 25th, 2011
6:01 pm
josef 5:56 – I didn’t say put it on a truck and relocate it (insane)
I just think a prudent, intelligent, and apolitical analysis shows that some portions of the city should be abandoned. New higher levies would be built (at much less cost) around a much smaller area, preserving the Downtown and surrounding residential areas.
I don’t pretend to know NO incredibly well, but I do not that big chunks of the city have been semi-abandoned. Like Detroit, it needs to consolidate, but for an even more pressing reason than just infrastructure and management issues (like Detroit has). NO has that small levy problem.
Anyway, I hear you, NO is a fantastic city with lots of history and neither I nor anyone else in their right mind wants to see it disappear.
Gotta go. Been fun.
jm
August 25th, 2011
6:03 pm
josef – weird typo. Levee, not levy.
Still got the SAV Levy’s on my mind I guess.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
6:04 pm
Admit it Jay my earlier posting as Cantor being King Weasel was the reason for this posting. And apparently you’ve been successful in proving my metaphor correct!
Paul
August 25th, 2011
6:05 pm
Yup, here’s Eric of the past:
“Congress will find the money and it WILL be offset”
speaking of the tornado disaster.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/30/eric-cantor-on-face-the-n_n_868700.html
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:05 pm
jm — “I just think a prudent, intelligent, and apolitical analysis shows that some portions of the city should be abandoned. New higher levies would be built (at much less cost) around a much smaller area, preserving the Downtown and surrounding residential areas.”
Various Dutch plans I have seen indicate that, depending on extent and scope, a comprehensive flood control system could be built for a capital investment of $10-$50 billion. That doesn’t cover ongoing maintenance.
For those of you who think ‘we don’t need no damfool europeeans to tell us what’s what, Google “Delta Works.” I think you’ll see that the Dutch are the go-to guys for this sort of thing. Oh, and they’re pretty smart with money, too. Dutch bankers are among the world’s best, and it was the Dutch who first lent money to a little start-up nation called the United States of America, long, long ago.
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
6:05 pm
I did not follow any of the previous Nawlins trash talk.
I’ve been a lot of places and that one is both special and unique to me. Visiting my grandparents on Toledano Street, as a child, was one fabulous memory.
You don’t dig it? That’s your biz.
But I suspect those folks don’t really give a damn what you think.
stands for decibels
August 25th, 2011
6:05 pm
There really are no words
(beyond those that would get me banned for at least a few days.)
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:06 pm
Bosch — don’t know if you saw this downstairs, but here it is again, for fun:
http://rolcats.com/page/2
Logical Dude
August 25th, 2011
6:06 pm
time for me to ride a bike really far again. Take care peeps!
(and if calling y’all “peeps” offends you, I’ll apologize now for the slang).
But I feel that each city, county, state in the path of the hurricane will request disaster relief as needed, and the federal government will grant it all.
Because that’s what we do. We pick up the downtrodden, we take care of each other after disasters, and we help each other.
(hey, quit laughing! We do!)
Just wish people wouldn’t politicize it. . .
So, until next time!
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
6:10 pm
Joe mama
Did you get to watch that Sylvester video?
Left wing management
August 25th, 2011
6:10 pm
Shouldn’t the course taken by the storm be determined by the wickedness of the inhabitants of a given place? I mean, I’m just going by the all-knowing pronouncements of some of our nation’s respected clergymen you know …
So let’s see, wild gay sex orgies in New York City …
Check …
pogo
August 25th, 2011
6:10 pm
The Low Road. You know the one, it is now well used by desperate liberals such as Jay whom are more and more willing to travel down it these days. As was said in the movie “Grease”, “How low can you go”? Judging from this piece, apparently pretty damned low.
Desperation is a terrible thing to witness and Jay you are obviously very, very desperate. Face up to it; nothing will turn the tide in favour next year of Obama and the excessive government spending he loves so much. Between now and then we will be lucky if there isn’t anarchy in the streets, much less this poser being re-elected. When the checks stop coming the government spending addicts in this country will revolt. Imagine it, fat old baby boomers out there demanding their checks and young people running around with no jobs and no future demanding that the government take care of them. Ron Paul is exactly right. The money has run out.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
6:12 pm
And to those so critical of Jay “politicizing” this, after what we saw here after the oil spill, I hope you choke on those Hypocrisy Sandwiches!
Adam
August 25th, 2011
6:12 pm
Eric Cantor said “we will find the monies.” I am just SURE he means that for his district, he’ll apply the same rules he applied for Joplin, and insist on spending cuts to pay for it.
Who wants to lay bets that when it comes right down to it, they just spend money to help, and DON’T do spending cuts?
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:14 pm
Bosch — “Did you get to watch that Sylvester video?”
All streaming video blocked here. I’ll check it out later tonight.
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
6:18 pm
Well, I see that Bookman’s usual foil for political advantage worked again. He’s got the lib crowd nodding and chatting about the awful Cohen and the terrible ingrates who do not wish to spend money we don’t have and won’t help.. That while they watch all the government preparations on television.
I don’t see how Bookman sleeps at night. He could make your grandmother look like Killer Queen and most of you would say “That’s right. Thanks for telling us.” But then the sheep have to be herded in the right direction. In Bookman’s case, that is over the cliff.
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
6:18 pm
So in these grand plans of Mr. Cantor’s does the spending cuts come from the affected areas or just in general, say if he spends a million in his district on disaster relief they cut a million out of NPR’S budget?
Paul
August 25th, 2011
6:18 pm
Have I missed something?
In all the posts, have any of the usual suspects argued that disaster relief spending is not a function of the federal government?
Or that upcoming disaster relief spending MUST be offset by spending cuts?
I read upset over ‘politicizing’ the issue….. but has anyone addressed, clearly and directly, the above two salient points?
Adam
August 25th, 2011
6:21 pm
Page 1:
No mention of Obama or Bush
Page 2:
Anti-Obama posts = 5
Individual anti-Obama posters = 3
Anti-Bush posts = 2
Individual anti-Bush posters = 1
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 0
Page 3:
Anti-Obama posts = 1
Individual anti-Obama posters = 1
Anti-Bush posts = 1
Individual anti-Bush posters = 1
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 0
Totals:
Anti-Obama posts = 6
Individual anti-Obama posters = 3
Anti-Bush posts = 3
Individual anti-Bush posters = 1
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 0
Still tallying Page 4
josef
August 25th, 2011
6:22 pm
logical dude
“Because that’s what we do. We pick up the downtrodden, we take care of each other after disasters, and we help each other”
Tell that to the folks down around New Orleans…yeah, once the whole world stands aghast and Mexico sends the first help, and the locals are begging to let the Cuban doctors come help, not to mention ready to take what Venezuela is offering…
Other places in the good ole USA, maybe, but not so ready, willing and able for some of us…
And by that I mean the official response…the common folks across this great land of ours opened their hearts and doors and for that, we, and here I am one of “them,” are eternally grateful. But there are many, many still out there trying to find their way back home…
Paulo977
August 25th, 2011
6:22 pm
Midori
August 25th, 2011
4:21 pm
All good thoughts go out to them!
Left wing management
August 25th, 2011
6:24 pm
pogo: “When the checks stop coming the government spending addicts in this country will revolt. Imagine it, fat old baby boomers out there demanding their checks and young people running around with no jobs and no future demanding that the government take care of them. Ron Paul is exactly right. The money has run out.”
That was a great punch line, that last bit about the money running out. I laughed. Really.
josef
August 25th, 2011
6:25 pm
DUSTY
” He’s got the lib crowd nodding and chatting about the awful Cohen and the terrible ingrates who do not wish to spend money we don’t have and won’t help..”
Who’s Cohen? Oh well, Cohen, Shapiro, they all look alike…
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:27 pm
Paul — “Or that upcoming disaster relief spending MUST be offset by spending cuts?”
Yes. There’s some acceptance of that point on page 3. There’s also some after-the-fact justification for not spending on disaster recovery, e.g. ‘look at what a waste of money New Orleans was.’
Paul
August 25th, 2011
6:27 pm
So much for the Republican “faithful’ in defending Party Purity.
Unless it’s to attack their own candidates.
Normal
August 25th, 2011
6:27 pm
Jay is starting to change subjects like I change my BVD’s…this was probably more germain below, but it’s still an interesting rean and thought.
Breaking from Newsmax.com
Libyan Rebel Leader Reaches Out to Israel
A rebel spokesman who is a member of the new Libya’s emerging leadership is making a somewhat unexpected call for support from none other than the Jewish state of Israel.
“We are asking Israel to use its influence in the international community to end the tyrannical regime of [Moammar] Gadhafi and his family,” Haaretz quoted Ahmad Shabani as saying.
“Libya needs any help it can get from the international community, including from Israel,” said Shabani, the founder of Libya’s Democratic Party and the son of a former cabinet minister who served under Libya’s King Idris.
Shabani’s family fled Libya after the king was deposed in 1969, settling in London, where Ahmad was educated.
Contrary to Gadhafi’s claims that al-Qaida was working with the rebels, Shabani said al-Qaida activists, including Libyans as well as foreigners, have been working with Gadhafi. Israeli intelligence notes that weapons have been smuggled from Libya to the Gaza Strip since the Libyan uprising began.
The opposition hopes to end the smuggling, Shabani said
Paul
August 25th, 2011
6:28 pm
Joe Mama
So is it kind of like watching a worm wriggle on a hook?
GT
August 25th, 2011
6:31 pm
Maybe God is pushing their buttons. A little earthquake, some wind… I wonder if God looked at all that wasted money spent for Homeland Defense during the Bush administration. I wonder what else they have compromised that we don’t see because there is no storm heading that way. Seems to me the Republicans fear what never happens and have no fear for real things that do happen. I guess facts get in the way of real, in the fear of the dark the imagination can run wild with a little help from being illiterate mixed in.
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
6:32 pm
josef,
Are you blind? How many millions were spent trying to help New Orleans and how much of it was wasted by the locals and how much are we still spending on NO and how many NO residents came to Atlanta and others to the capitol of Louisiana and accepted by the locals?
Your crybaby whine is out of line with what really happened. Has there ever been a catastrophe that those affected thought they did not get enough help? I don’t think so. And the rediculous mention of Mexico? If anybody needs help, it is Mexico.
Please return to your reasonable state of mind. It makes more sense.
ragnar danneskjold
August 25th, 2011
6:33 pm
Good afternoon. My great idea: let’s rebuild the devastated northeast and strengthen the US economy at the same time: take all of the reconstruction money out of the EPA budget. In fact, let’s match that with monies from the SEC’s Sarbanes-Oxley enforcement funds, and some of the enforcement funding of the FDA. And maybe eliminate taxpayer guarantees for FNMA and FHLMC and FHA mortgages above $200,000. And diminish the departments of Agriculture and Labor and HUD and Education and Energy by comparable amounts. The economy would spring to life, once our government looked like that of Hong Kong.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:34 pm
Paul — “So is it kind of like watching a worm wriggle on a hook?”
No, they seem quite indignant at the idea of deficit spending of any sort. Except where a war in Iraq is involved. And they don’t like spending money on things that weren’t planned and budgeted for. Except where a war in Iraq is involved.
One poster (I won’t name him but I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding his posts) actually claimed that dike maintenance was a job for state and local authorities; he seems not to know that that’s totally the job of the Army Corps of Engineers.
Misinformed, married to his position and thick as a brick. Nope, it’s pretty much par for the course with that one fellow.
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
6:35 pm
Josef,
Cohen? Cantor? I bet you can even figure out whom I was writing about. You did notice that I got the name Bookman in the correct status, didn’t you? Just say “baaa”.
F. Sinkwich
August 25th, 2011
6:36 pm
“But there are many, many still out there trying to find their way back home…”
Are you talking about people trying to get back to New Orleans, josef?
If so, what’s stopping them?
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:37 pm
Ragnar — “and some of the enforcement funding of the FDA.”
Okay, that’ll be a Double E Coli Burger, some Listeria Fries and a brackish, unidentifiable liquid with light ice. Will that complete your order?
poison pen
August 25th, 2011
6:39 pm
Logical Dude
time for me to ride a bike really far again. Take care peeps!
(and if calling y’all “peeps” offends you, I’ll apologize now for the slang).
But I feel that each city, county, state in the path of the hurricane will request disaster relief as needed, and the federal government will grant it all.
Because that’s what we do. We pick up the downtrodden, we take care of each other after disasters, and we help each other.
(hey, quit laughing! We do!)
Just wish people wouldn’t politicize it. . .
So, until next time!
Logical dude, Thank you, your post is the only sane one on this entire blog, including Jay’s that’s why I cut & pasted it.
We not only always help out our neighbors but just about every other country. I doubt there is any other country in the World that is as giving as we are.
Both sides on here need to grow up.
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
6:40 pm
Paul
You didn’t get the salient points here? The point here is to smear a Republican. That’s all. Nobody seems worried about the storm. Just worried that some Republican (Cantor) said something about saving money and that is dirty talk. Should never mention such things. Just spend.
F. Sinkwich
August 25th, 2011
6:40 pm
“Okay, that’ll be a Double E Coli Burger, some Listeria Fries and a brackish, unidentifiable liquid with light ice.”
I believe providing such cuisine is against the law, Joe. What’s your point?
ragnar danneskjold
August 25th, 2011
6:43 pm
Dear Joe @ 6:37, you must buy a lot of elephant stampede insurance. You seemingly are willing for me to pay for it too.
josef
August 25th, 2011
6:46 pm
DUSTY
Get real, Sister Lou, I’m not beding yours and Doggone’s little whining snarky crybaby here…what you’re positing as your dearly beloved memos are one long way from the reality I dealt with on a daily basis during that time…sorry, but you’re being a partisan jackassess here.
And just how little you know, the first aid to arrive in the Katrina zone was the ships of the Mexican Navy…
And you snarky ass, I made a special point of saying how grateful we are for all of the open hearts and open doors of our fellow citizens across this great land of ours…go back and read it…
Sorry, Dumbolina. but I know too well what “not enough help” means.Katrina was a catastrophe the likes of which this nation has seldom seen and no small part of that catastrophe was the total failure of the governmental bodies from the City Hall of NOLA to 1600 Pennsylvania…failure…plenty of guilt to go around…so get off your party line high horse for a minute…
THE TRUTH
August 25th, 2011
6:46 pm
The sky is falling—-the sky is falling—- the sky is falling.
Sounds just like Jay.
What was that chickens name, nah, it wasn’t Jay, or was it?
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:47 pm
F Sinkiewicz — “I believe providing such cuisine is against the law, Joe. What’s your point?”
Cut enforcement funding for outfits like the FDA (and the USDA, which would have a role in this, too), as another poster suggested, and who’s going to do anything about it?
Having laws is all well and good, but what good are those laws if they’re not enforced?
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
6:47 pm
Ragnar,
I feel your desperation. So many here cannot see that spending money you do not have does not work. I can’t figure it out. Just spend spend spend like tomorrow will never come. Amazing!!
josef
August 25th, 2011
6:49 pm
I quoted what you said on Cohen…that was all…if I need clarification/correction, do so… call it my own knee-jerking…
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
6:49 pm
“not beding yours and Doggone’s little whining snarky crybaby here”
How the hell did I get into this? I haven’t even addressed anything to you
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:49 pm
Ragnar — “you must buy a lot of elephant stampede insurance.”
Why? Are you an elephant stampede insurance sales agent? Do I look like a prospect to you?
“You seemingly are willing for me to pay for it too.”
I am willing for you to buy whatever amount of elephant stampede insurance you feel is appropriate for your life and property, yes.
Joe Mama
August 25th, 2011
6:51 pm
Okay, She Who Must Be Obeyed is calling. Be well, be safe and be sure your loved ones in the path of the storm are okay.
I’m out.
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
6:51 pm
Okay, that’ll be a Double E Coli Burger, some Listeria Fries and a brackish, unidentifiable liquid with light ice. Will that complete your order?
Would you like to double size that order. It’s a free upgrade if you purchase the tort reform triple whammy peanut butter shake.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
6:52 pm
Dusty
Smear? Smear?!!? As in an unsubstantiated charge against someone?
Silly me, I thought Jay merely cited the number-two House Republican’s past firm position and wondered if it would hold when it affects his district. Then he cited Eric’s own office to demonstrate, no, the rhumba has begun.
“Should never mention such things. Just spend.”
Why Dusty!! Gasp!!! Are you….. are you…. a……a…… RINO?!!?!!!!?
Message from Matti
August 25th, 2011
6:53 pm
josef,
Breathe, Hon, and try to remember that the Snarknasties here do not represent all of America. They’re nothing without their contempt for the less fortunate and their worship of the evil heroes they’ll never be. How sad for them, but we don’t have to be like that.
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
6:53 pm
I take it everyone is in agreement that the Bush tax cuts are not in the budget. It’s long past time to get rid of them.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
6:54 pm
Doggone/GA
“How the hell did I get into this? I haven’t even addressed anything to you”
Relax. Nothing personal, I’m sure.
josef’s on a roll. Just enjoy.
F. Sinkwich
August 25th, 2011
6:54 pm
“Having laws is all well and good, but what good are those laws if they’re not enforced?”
So the FDA and the USDA are law enforcement agencies, Joe? They can arrest you?
Who knew?
poison pen
August 25th, 2011
6:54 pm
I guess as long as people on here are talking politics lets talk about Katrina. I feel sorry for those people and helped the company that my Daughter worked for with goods as I’m sure a lot of you did.
Ray Noggin oops sorry ( Nagin ) should have went to jail for his stupidity, how many times did you & I see the pictures of hundreds of school buses sitting in flooded lots that should have been used to move the people to safer grounds, Hell even the cops fled their duty.
Let’s talk for a second about another Twit, Kathleen Blanco, Governor of Louisiana, Bush begged her to declare an Emergency before Katrina and we all know how well that went when she declined his offer.
I didn’t live in Georgia when all this happened and I wonder what Jay wrote about these two idiots.
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
6:56 pm
Well, Josef, you were in New Orleans when the storm hit? You saw the Mexican Navy unloading what? Some firstaid kits and bags of rice? You credit them but not the millions spent on New Orleans by our own government?
As far as the news went, the government of New Orleans itself was the biggest failure of all. Few plans and couldn’t carry out what plans they made. Police there have been indicted for their own criminal activity. Now you can overlook the real reports while you speak of complaints but it does not change the whole picture.
There were failures in New Orleans but not because our government did not try or did not pour millions into a shattered mudhole.
Take your namecallaing and throw in the Mississippi. That’s where the mud is.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
6:57 pm
I think I have the answer to my question.
The Party Faithful would rather deflect with Katrina than address whether or not Eric, the number 2 House Republican, is being hypocritical regarding his past standards of offsets for disaster relief.
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
7:02 pm
No Paul,
I’m not a rhino. I’m a realist. I see things as they are. When I look into a microscope, I report what I see. Not what I believe someone wants to hear or tells me what I SHOULD see.
As is often said, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Maybe so. But what my eyes see is what I report, whether it is beautiful or not.
Try it sometimes.
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
7:04 pm
16 Georgia Counties To Receive Federal Disaster Aid; Individuals In Hardest Hit 7 Counties Also To Receive Help
April 30, 2011 13:59 pm
We cannot afford this. You people best be sending that money back right now.
El Jefe
August 25th, 2011
7:04 pm
One has to wonder why STATES do not prepare for such disasters?
As the far left leaning wackos would demand that big daddy should pay for everything and let the states off the hook, I do not agree.
Why should every tax payer pay for Florida’s disasters? Why doesn’t Florida have it’s own contingency planning and funding?
As we see in society in general, take away the incentive and you will loose your freedoms.
Take away a states duty to look after its own and the state will become lazy and let big daddy do it. FEMA has worked so well in the past (for those in mid town – that was sarcasm)
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
7:05 pm
“than address whether or not Eric, the number 2 House Republican, is being hypocritical regarding his past standards of offsets for disaster relief”
Did you forget rule !00 & something? “when you can’t defend, delfect”
Paul
August 25th, 2011
7:07 pm
Dusty
“I’m not a rhino. I’m a realist. ”
It seems in today’s Republican Party, the two are exclusionary.
Regardless of reality, doctrine comes first. To go against the doctrine, regardless of circumstance, will bring down the wrath of the party power brokers.
Just look at the performance of the hand-raising Republican presidential candidates at the debates. Even given the most extreme conditions, they knew better than to go against orthodoxy.
I commend you for your realistic courage. Too bad most of those running don’t share it.
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
7:07 pm
Federal Disaster Relief Money Headed to Georgia, Including Flood Buy-Out Money for Cobb, Douglas Counties
1:04 AM, Jul 31, 2010
Come on now. We can’t afford this. Send the money back now.
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
7:12 pm
ATL-2009-36, Sept. 25, 2009
Updated 9/28/09 to include Bartow, Catoosa, Coweta, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Heard, Newton, Rockdale and Walker counties.
ATLANTA — Victims of recent severe storms and flooding in Georgia may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service.
Following severe storms and flooding beginning Sept.18, the President declared Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Heard, Newton, Paulding, Rockdale, Stephens and Walker counties federal disaster areas qualifying for individual assistance.
When is this going to end. Send the money back now.
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
7:13 pm
GA-2008-7, March 27, 2008
ATLANTA — Victims of recent storms in Georgia may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service.
Following severe storms and tornadoes beginning March 14, the federal government declared Bartow, Burke, DeKalb, Floyd, Fulton, Jefferson and Polk counties a presidential disaster area qualifying for individual assistance.
Oh come on! It’s the same old story year after year. Send the money back now.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
7:14 pm
Bosch @ 5:53
I think there’s a time to be political and there’s a time to be human. This is not a political event/happening. A human would understand that, and a d**k would not.
josef
August 25th, 2011
7:14 pm
Doggone
Your attack on me the other p.m. read just like one of Dusty’s…that’s how…
Paul
August 25th, 2011
7:14 pm
Doggone/GA
I keep forgetting that little rule….
El Jefe
“Why should every tax payer pay for Florida’s disasters? Why doesn’t Florida have it’s own contingency planning and funding?”
I’ve mentioned before. I lived in Sarasota FL when Bush the Younger was elected. It’s on the west side. Toss a rock and you hit Siesta Key and Longboat Key. Super expensive real estate (a key is a little spit of an island).
Bush gets elected, a new FEMA official comes down, gives a speech, says there’s a new administration and they’re going to do the rely on yourself thing. Noted that some of these expensive homes had been rebuilt four or five times with federal funds – including the heavily subsidized flood and storm program insurance. Said it would end. They live in a risky area and should afford to pay for the risk.
I don’t think they guy’s jet had landed in Washington before the Administration was issuing a ‘clarification’ that they’d still get their homes rebuilt and their heavily subsidized insurance rates wouldn’t change.
See, those folks on Longboat and Siesta give megabucks. Money talks.
Paul
August 25th, 2011
7:16 pm
josef
Sorry I butted in. I’ll mind my own business and stay out of the crossfire -
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
7:17 pm
June 27, 2011
These 22 Georgia counties were declared natural disaster areas by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak because of sharply reduced farm production: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Chatham, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Dodge, Effingham, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Telfair, Thomas, Wayne and Wheeler.
These 26 Georgia counties were declared contiguous disaster counties: Berrien, Bleckley, Bulloch, Camden, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Laurens, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pulaski, Screven, Tattnall, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Wilcox and Worth.
Oh come on now. Not again! Send the money back now.
thewindwhistler
August 25th, 2011
7:18 pm
Let us face it, the meterological society, and all the governors and all the kingsmen(Obama) are crying wolf again. This hurricane will amount to a slight breeze, but all concerned with chaos because they will be putting in for government aid from the huge government surplus. It should be, let all concerned take care of themselves rather than Uncle Sam.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
7:20 pm
We not only always help out our neighbors but just about every other country. I doubt there is any other country in the World that is as giving as we are.
Both sides on here need to grow up.
AMEN!!!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 25th, 2011
7:21 pm
Doggone
Your attack on me the other p.m. read just like one of Dusty’s…that’s how…
Well, looks like josef’s done went off of the deep end. He comes on here and cusses me out in Cherokee. Then he goes after Sister Dusty and then Doggone. The boy needs to be suspended from teaching kids till the docs check him out.
But at least I learned one more nasty thing Katrina brought us.
josef
August 25th, 2011
7:22 pm
DUSTY
Pure unadultrated self-serving and pious b*llsh*t…no, I wasn’t in New Orleans…our New Orleans people were here, we spend WEEKS trying to find out information on our people…until you find yourself spending every waking moment glued to the teevee screen trying to catch a glimpse of, hopefully, one of them…”there’s K! Thank G-d” Charity Hospital ER physician…stayed behind because it was where she belonged…call D in Jackson, let her know…get in touch with her Mama in Seattle and let her know that she’s okay…talk about something you know about…like good poetry, but don’t you come up in here trying to tell me about Katrina…
And, the Mexican ships brought in: a hospital ship, a search and rescue team (whether you know it or not, Mexico is a world leader in that area…”
AmVet
August 25th, 2011
7:22 pm
The Bronx Bombers went wild this afternoon!
The New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to hit three grand slams in a game, with Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson connecting Thursday in a wet, wild 22-9 romp over the Oakland Athletics.
Niiiice.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
7:22 pm
“hurricane will amount to a slight breeze”
And how IS the pay on the Weather Channel?
BADA BING
August 25th, 2011
7:22 pm
WE have a good resource to draw on here. All the affected states should study LA and New Orleans’ preparations for Katrina, and do the OPPOSITE of what they did. Local, State, and Federal.
@@
August 25th, 2011
7:23 pm
Everybody’s words come back to bite ‘em in the a$$.
Words, just words. Can’t recall how Wyld Byll use to say it….werts, jes werts?
Bush, all by his lonesome. Now, it’s Obama, all by his lonesome.
Too funny!
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
7:24 pm
The Party Faithful would rather deflect with Katrina than address whether or not Eric, the number 2 House Republican, is being hypocritical regarding his past standards of offsets for disaster relief.
Party faithful as represented by Wonder Woman. They’ll deflect any and all incoming projectiles to save the ones they love….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtZc6CrIFzE
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
7:24 pm
Paul, once again, I am little different from many conservatives.
We sent politicians to Washington and told them to quit spending money and cut what you can because we will probably never pay what we owe. Conservatives do not believe in huge unpayable DEBTS.
So our Republican politicians are trying to “cut”. But just like this blog, their efforts are twisted and turned and the Democrats act like they never heard of the word DEBT.
Just as Cantor has suggested that expenditures must be offset with cuts. He is talking about ;future planning as far as I can tell because there has been no stoppage of help in preparing for Irene..
So what’s the “whine”? Let another emergency come without some plan for covering the expenses? I guess so since such planning is called hard hearted bastardry against human suffering. Ho hum…. what is your plan for paying for emergencies? Got any? Or just let the good checks roll out of…..an empty nowhere or China?
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
7:24 pm
Just look at all those disasters that our tax dollars have helped pay for. We cannot afford this, this, humanity. It’s just plain immoral to ask folks to be humane. They either are or they are not, depending on how they were born.
moonbat betty
August 25th, 2011
7:26 pm
Chill the F out. This thing will probably get blown out to sea.
And if not, obama can’t do snakesit about it.
sort of like with bush.
God’s will.
poison pen
August 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
Man O Man, Did everyone eat BITCH pills today?
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
7:30 pm
josef
Put the keyboard down, and take a walk around the block. Don’t let somebody try to tell you what you know happened in NOLA. It’s two different perspectives when you have an outsider with no connections viewing something versus someone with close connection with people and places in the line of fire.
I’ve got family along the coast of NC and VA. Right now, all I can do is hope they don’t lose all. I’ll be ready to take off and do what I can regardless to what that d**khead Cantor thinks.
poison pen
August 25th, 2011
7:31 pm
Just AA, I think most were born humane and giving.
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
7:33 pm
“I’ve got family along the coast of NC and VA”
And 90% of my family is in central PA – which hopefully isn’t in the direct line, but they could still get some nasty weather if conditions warrant.
Midori
August 25th, 2011
7:35 pm
We sent politicians to Washington and told them to quit spending money and cut what you can because we will probably never pay what we owe. Conservatives do not believe in huge unpayable DEBTS.
this from someone who got such a tingle whenever Bush wasted every cent he could.
no wonder she’s so nostalgic for him.
funny – we didn’t hear all this “deficit” talk until the ceiling fights began. Prior to that it was all about JOBS……
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
7:38 pm
Well, Paul,
I posted a memo to you but it is in moderation. Hmm.. it did not take ‘em long!! Anyway, conservative Republicans do not like huge debts. That was my point now lost in the nether world.
And speaking of the nether world…. Has Josef turned into Sooth ? Both seem a bit out of this world sometimes. and seems like namecalling is no longer a NO NO here. OH well. Maybe Irene will bring a little cool air and rain to Atlanta. Not any more than that I hope.
Off to the dinery! But…THE BRAVES WON THIS AFTERNOON just like I expected. Hard to beat a great team like the Braves. McCan hit two homers! Whoopee!!
josef
August 25th, 2011
7:39 pm
josef Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Well. THAT one went into the Blue Nose’s bin of Verboten…I’ll attempt to clean it up…if this gets snagged. then I’ll figure something else is at work…
August 25th, 2011
7:26 pm
PAUL
No problem…
Matti–
I DO need to breathe, but this one just “you know what” me off to the max…
Duk-sha-nee:
Okay, I’ll put it this way– “intercourse” you and the one-trick pony you rode in on…and the more of your “satire” you post directed at me, the more you confrm what a sheet-wearing “duk-sha-nee” you really are deep inside…
BROSEPHUS
Well, I probably should…but it’s hot and muggy out there… I’m just too thin-skinned and sensitive, I suppose..
hsn
August 25th, 2011
7:39 pm
Jay –
Any form of aid the government offers any victims of the disaster will be labelled “socialism” by the cons and their thuggish tbagging idiots.
Unless, the US government intends to shoot the victims.
Wars and bloodshed are the top two items that make the cons and their hack “patriotic” supporters happy!
Soothsayer
August 25th, 2011
7:41 pm
I owe all to that little “thimble-full” I had every day!
Doggone/GA
August 25th, 2011
7:42 pm
“Conservatives do not believe in huge unpayable DEBTS”
They don’t believe in them…they just DO them
Dusty
August 25th, 2011
7:43 pm
‘Sorry, Paul, seems you got double dipped . They dropped moderation on my first. Sorry for repeats.
——————————-
—Thank you, Midori, for bringing up Bush AGAIN.. I know you miss him.
Midori
August 25th, 2011
7:44 pm
Dusty – what Josef said.
Midori
August 25th, 2011
7:45 pm
p.s. – you’re very welcome.
won’t be needing that “aid” tonight, will you?
josef
August 25th, 2011
7:46 pm
F Sinkwich
What’s stopping them? No jobs and no affordable housing…and, no, I’m not talking subsidized government housing…
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
7:49 pm
I think when we get caught up in the anonymous heat of the moment, we tend to throw logic and common sense, etc., out the window and no amount of externally imposed moderation or word blockage, etc., is sufficient to deal with it. True moderation comes from within. Also, time or more specifically, the passage thereof, tends to be a great moderator in most cases. Not all though. Elephants are known to carry grudges for a lifetime while the more humbled tend to bear the crosses.
Schrodingers cat
August 25th, 2011
7:50 pm
An illogical debate about what might happen, and why it’s the other sides fault…it’s as effective as contemplating your navel….so now we have a pregame show for a natural disaster and before it happens we assigning blame….politically?…
unbelievable ..really
Jay
August 25th, 2011
7:53 pm
Ok, folks, emergency intervention upstairs ….
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
August 25th, 2011
7:54 pm
The people will respond and that includes faith based response. Reliance on the American people probably is more reliable than relying on a federal government that seems to become more and more dysfunctional with each passing day.
Soothsayer
August 25th, 2011
8:05 pm
New “emergency” thread posted. Trying to cool things off!
MrLiberty
August 25th, 2011
8:06 pm
If the federal, state, and local governments weren’t stealing over 50% on average of everyone’s income, there would be plenty of money around for charity. Funnelling income through the waste machine that is the government only destroys wealth. Certainly if we weren’t throwing trillions down the ratholes of Afghanistan and Iraq (well, correctly throwing it into the hands of the military industrial complex) that would also allow for more money for charity. Only RON PAUL wants to end these wars, bring the troops home, and shore up the bankrupt entitlement programs so that folks can get out from under these oppressive future prison sentences.
moonbat betty (obama hurrican czar)
August 25th, 2011
8:08 pm
Well, I think we should send Redneck Convert out in his jon boat and 9.9 h.p. outboard to save the world!
Yee haw!
josef
August 25th, 2011
8:09 pm
JAY
What are you still doing here? Aren’t you ’sposed to be on a flight to somewhere up the East Coast to get in line for the gubmint handouts? He who hesitates…
Jay
August 25th, 2011
8:10 pm
Relax, Josef. I hire people to handle that for me.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
8:11 pm
The people will respond and that includes faith based response. Reliance on the American people probably is more reliable than relying on a federal government that seems to become more and more dysfunctional with each passing day.
The federal government IS the American people. The only reason it’s dysfunctional is because some people see the federal government as some foreign, alien organization as opposed to a group of fellow citizens trying to make things work for everyone.
When people remember that, maybe sanity will return to the national dialogue.
josef
August 25th, 2011
8:12 pm
JAY
Creating jobs, eh?
Jay
August 25th, 2011
8:13 pm
Word, Brocephus.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
8:14 pm
Word, Brocephus.
Jay
Been listening to V-103 lately.
Normal
August 25th, 2011
8:14 pm
Awww, come on guys and gals,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTBPdVpdMc
moonbat betty (obama hurrican czar)
August 25th, 2011
8:15 pm
advice from the hurrican czar:
west coast baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI_gLtPJqWk
Bosch
August 25th, 2011
8:18 pm
What this all boils down to is the wingnuts say we can’t afford federal assistance and it should be the states doing all, but will be the first people to blame Obama for not providing assistance if that were to actually happen.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
8:19 pm
Should have included that 8:11 with this one here, but I guess it’s never too late….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M
kayaker 71
August 25th, 2011
8:20 pm
New Rasmussen pol…. only 14% of the electorate feel that we are headed in the right direction. Fully 79% feel that we are not. Wow. 79%. I would have to assume that the liberals that post on this blog, along with Bookman, are part of that 14%. With these numbers, I would be almost, no abjectly embarressed, to still support this clown. Yet we still have the stalwarts that just won’t face reality.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
8:22 pm
Bosch
I don’t see how in the hell anybody can expect the states to provide disaster relief when they can’t even provide budget relief. Things in this country have gotten so f**ked up. Maybe if corporations, such as GE, actually gave a damn about the country and paid dues to operate here, our budgets wouldn’t be so screwed up.
Then again, if politicians had not allowed the American worker’s way of making a living to be pimped out to 3rd world countries, we wouldn’t be in an economic funk now.
josef
August 25th, 2011
8:24 pm
Following St. Jay…gone upstairs…
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
August 25th, 2011
8:27 pm
“The federal government IS the American people. The only reason it’s dysfunctional is because some people see the federal government as some foreign, alien organization as opposed to a group of fellow citizens trying to make things work for everyone.”
“Some people”? May want to get tuned into the major polls and learn what most people see.
kayaker 71
August 25th, 2011
8:31 pm
Brocephus,
“If politicians had not allowed the American worker’s way making a living to be pimped out to 3rd world countries,etc”.
If government would just get out of the way and let corporations and especially small business have a foot up on production and hiring without all of the heavy duty regulations that hamper them, we might just entice them to come back. Without that, and with Bozo in the WH, no one will move. Business and the market hates uncertainty. I will pose to you one more time….. I will bet that if Bozo leaves the WH in 2012, unemployment will improve during the first three months and unemployment will be below 7% after the first year. Any takers?
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
8:37 pm
“Some people”? May want to get tuned into the major polls and learn what most people see.
You could have taken a poll in the early 1800’s, and the plurality would have been pro slavery. An early 1900’s poll would probably show a plurality of people were pro-segregation. When people are fed half truths and don’t know how to see things for themselves, they can only base their opinions on what they hear.
Maybe I was wrong, MOST people see the federal government…. Still doesn’t make it any better. If people don’t like it, they can always run for office or come take my job. No skin off my back. I can guarantee there aren’t too many who have the chops to do what we do, and do a good job at it.
Brosephus
August 25th, 2011
8:39 pm
kayaker
Regulations are nothing but excuses. IF regulations were the cause of such crap, why did the country flourish under Clinton. Did Clinton not enact regulations all across the board? Remember the assault weapons ban? I don’t recall this country going into a gun purchasing slump. Keep on making excuses for those individuals why they pillage the country. Once they gobble up all the vegetation and there’s nothing left to grow, it will be too late to try to rebuild things.
Recon (2nd.and 3rd.)
August 25th, 2011
8:49 pm
Liberals and in particular those on the far left are learning a tough lesson. Unfortunately, the lesson comes at the expense of Americans seeking gainful employment. The lesson is that the American private business sector is not in the welfare business. They’re in the revenue generating profit business. If the government persists in making the business climate unfriendly for investment in the United States we will continue to see foreign investment and stalled growth in our economy. The Obama administration can’t seem to understand that fact.
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
8:55 pm
Bozo’s last year in the White House was 2008. We had enough of the clowning around. That’s why we elected President Obama.
Schrodingers cat
August 25th, 2011
8:57 pm
I never doubted I was an outsider…and occasional revel in it
Rafe Hollister
August 25th, 2011
8:57 pm
I don’t think we would have to work too hard to find some cuts to offset the aid. Maybe we could start with the Stimulus financed study to find out why pigs stink. Of course if they had already purchased the pigs we might have to get creative. Maybe a BBQ for the victims.
godless heathen
August 25th, 2011
9:06 pm
New Orleans – spending billions to reset the trap.
I haven’t spent much time along the eastern seaboard but I did fly through Kennedy airport last winter. Man, those mansions on Long Island I saw on final approach were really something. If they get damaged by Irene, I’m glad to know they will get rebuilt on my dime.
godless heathen
August 25th, 2011
9:09 pm
“Remember the assault weapons ban? I don’t recall this country going into a gun purchasing slump.”
After the election of President Obama, I was talking to a gun dealer. He said, “If I’d have known how much his election was going to help my sales, I would have voted for the SOB.”
Just Another Anonymous One
August 25th, 2011
9:09 pm
Hey! There are 59 states in that list — NOT 57! So that’s why some folks have been picking on the president. He forgot about two of them. Now it makes sense.
Schrodingers cat
August 25th, 2011
9:24 pm
you and ..I …yeeee…go straight to hell .well they have BBQ and beer, better than they do have up here..and you know all the words to he songs..hey, we smoke cigarettes, we dance with the dead, we’re soft to the touch..we drink too much..and darling I think you might light like it here
EV
August 25th, 2011
9:31 pm
What you want to bet that in a war zone, Cantor would be shot by his own troops?
Schrodingers cat
August 25th, 2011
9:31 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Utqeibkb0Ps
1811/0311
August 25th, 2011
9:32 pm
………………… and again !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kuTG19Cu_Q
Schrodingers cat
August 25th, 2011
9:35 pm
i mean’t
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnJDALWFC14
Thomas
August 25th, 2011
9:36 pm
Well, if it wiped out Pat Robertson’s enclave, leveled Liberty University and put Cantor’s district under a foot of water, it would sure go a long way toward resolving that whole “is there a God?” controversy.
Thulsa Doom
August 25th, 2011
9:37 pm
After the election of President Obama, I was talking to a gun dealer. He said, “If I’d have known how much his election was going to help my sales, I would have voted for the SOB.”- godless heathen
He musta been selling to all those people that Obama was deriding who “cling to their guns and bibles”.
I didn’t see it but on the news Obama had a press conference where he blamed the economic malaise on “bad luck” including the earthquake in Japan, the Arab spring, etc. Frankly that just plain sounds pathetic. I can’t fathom a U.S. president stooping to such a pathetically low level of accountability and responsibility. The blame everybody but me psychosis is alive and well with Obama.
As for the hurricane relief we all know that relief will be provided just like we all knew that a budget deal would eventually be done.
The problem here is that the democrats are so completely uncaring and indifferent to the burgeoning debt situation that the cons have to go to extreme measures to try and wake up the dems as to the seriousness of the debt situation. The Dems just don’t give a damn about getting our fiscal house in order. They really don’t. And that is a real shame.
Salad
August 25th, 2011
9:41 pm
I don’t mean any harm to Virginians, but Eric Cantor is due some major comeuppance.
Sir Dancealot
August 25th, 2011
9:43 pm
Another reason not to have a balanced budget amendment. Republicans have no grasp on governance.
ben
August 25th, 2011
9:45 pm
If the Republicans and the Tea Party hate this country so much that they’re unwilling to spend a dime to provide any sort of services and would rather be funneling all tax money to wealthy people, then why don’t these Commie bastards just leave the country for good and go somewhere where there is no government, like Somalia. What are these idiots doing running for office if they hate government and they hate this country so much???
1811/0311
August 25th, 2011
9:47 pm
Take this an be honest. You might be surprised:
http://www.selectsmart.com/president/
Thulsa Doom
August 25th, 2011
9:49 pm
Salad,
So what major comeuppance is Eric Cantor in trouble for? Because he wanted to balance the budget before we go completely bust? So one of the few people who wants us to actually live within our means and not go into bankruptcy 10 years down the road is the bad guy? Only in liberal bizarro world is the lone voice of fiscal sanity the bad guy.
1811/0311
August 25th, 2011
9:51 pm
Headline: “More Cracks Found in Washington Monument”
Symbolic of our Republic at the very least ……………………
1811/0311
August 25th, 2011
9:52 pm
This is where unfettered liberalism takes society:
Headline: “Paving the Way for Condoning Child Rape”
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/08/25/paving-way-for-condoning-child-rape/?test=latestnews
rightwingextreme
August 25th, 2011
9:54 pm
WHY IRENE WON’T BE KATRINA: NO GOVENOR BLANCO…..NO MAYOR RAY “SCHOOL BUS” NAGAN…..NO NINTH WARD MENTALITY.
1811/0311
August 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
JUDICIAL WATCH !
“Judicial Watch has filed a lawsuit over the federal government’s refusal to disclose how much taxpayers spent to send Michelle Obama on a “family outing” that included a safari in Africa.
How much did the American people spend to send the First Lady on a family outing in Africa? That’s what we want to know,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “On the surface, the trip seems to have been totally unnecessary and was as much an excuse for the Obama family to go on a safari as it was a mission intended to advance the nation’s business in Africa.”
Jolly
August 25th, 2011
9:57 pm
Cantor’s pushing for the title of biggest douchebag ever.
Fred
August 25th, 2011
10:05 pm
Brocephus@ 8:19;
F…….. I mean HECK YEAH.
Great tune, thanks. Got is saved in my outlaws category. You should check out my fav’s sometime. Bubba2112 on youtube. I’m always adding songs……..
Zrade
August 25th, 2011
10:12 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/25/rick-perry-texas-life-insurance-scheme_n_935666.html
I took out a 90 day policy on the death of Perry’s campaign, I think I will have to revise that to 0 days, might have to revise that again, his campaign is dying fast.
Hardie
August 25th, 2011
10:14 pm
Rick Perry is Dubya Dubya II.
independent
August 25th, 2011
10:25 pm
Should there be significant damage, Harry Reid should call the Senate back to DC to vote on a bill to provide emergency funding for the states and localities needing assistance. Let the Republicans go on record opposing federal assistance.
givememyfairshare
August 25th, 2011
10:40 pm
It’s Bush’s hurricane machine causing all this trouble
lynnie gal
August 25th, 2011
10:42 pm
Republicans want to make sure we all pay for their wars with our taxes and the blood of our sons, but if Americans need help in natural disasters, health, food or anything else, they turn their backs and say–you’re on your own. And many of them claim to be Christian. I don’t want any part of religion they’re selling, and their politics stinks.
j$
August 25th, 2011
11:04 pm
Wan, settle down mf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUwjNBjqR-c
clean up your yard
August 25th, 2011
11:14 pm
Cantor is the perfect example of those compassionate religious conservatives. Can you say hypocrite?
Martin Williams
August 25th, 2011
11:29 pm
This great country of ours is full of millions and millions of stupid idiots. We will pay to invade and kill people in other countries and can’t take care of our own due to concern about the deficit. Well folks, America will always be in deficit and I am gussing it started around the end of world II. Of course Vietnam made it really worst and look into how much money we spend every single week protecting north/south Korea from each order. We even give them physical cash. Damn, folks work up.
C from Marietta
August 26th, 2011
12:20 am
Mr Jay,
What a cowardly blog this is……..
Please only pull part of what Majority Leaders full speech. Only quote one paragraph. Are you really this petty? Yes, you, the Democrats, and Republicans really are that lame and petty. That is why the country is going down the drain.
C from Marietta
August 26th, 2011
12:32 am
LOL. “Mexico is a world leader in that area” What area is that drug lords and cheap labor? Now I have read everything. HA HA HA.
C from Marietta
August 26th, 2011
12:36 am
lynnie gal
I love how you paint all Christians that way. I cold and non helping. What world do you live in? My Christian friends are helping in shelters everyday. My how we spew the hate. While saying “they hate”. Take a look in the mirror and NO I am not a Republican. Republican and Democrats are the same in my eyes. Divided and full of it!
C from Marietta
August 26th, 2011
12:40 am
Wake up People. They have you conned. It is all a sham. They want you divided and hating one another. By reading this blog. It appears they have won. Everyone is waiting for a hero to come in and change everyone’s life. That hero is NOT coming. We are on OUR own.
DBCOOPER
August 26th, 2011
6:21 am
Hey …I’m sure Obama’s got a “Happy Meal” for all Hurricane victims. Tax payer funded of course.
I have an idea! They can get Habitat to rebuild after all National Disasters.
I don’t want to give these guys any ideas but ….just sayin.?
Or Warren Buffet and all the evil Rich people can pay for all relef efforts.
Gordon
August 26th, 2011
6:58 am
“What a lovely and caring man Eric Cantor is!”
And what lovely people liberals are…always so generous with other people’s money. Why can’t there be offsetting cuts? No one has bothered to answer that.
This is what happens when you run out of money. This is why it is important to not spend more than what you have. One day you are going to need it.
Laurie
August 26th, 2011
7:13 am
Thank God this hurrican is headed toward the Eastern coast instead of the South. We all know that whole “no federal aid” thing would stand firm if the hurricane hit where Katrina or Rita did. Let’s see how long they hold out now that the storm is closer to DC. A few weeks without power and those birds will be singing a different tune.
Julia Adair
August 26th, 2011
7:35 am
the callous indifference towards those who are suffering, and in need, astounds me on SO MANY levels. is this what God intended for us? somehow I think not.
tireofit
August 26th, 2011
7:49 am
How many republicans will refuse aid if needed?
Dunwoodian
August 26th, 2011
8:07 am
There are only Jews, Liberal Elites, Coloreds, or worst of all Catholics in the Northeast, so let them all starve! Once they are gone we can turn those states to Red.
Dan
August 26th, 2011
8:13 am
Julia it astounds me as well, the fact that people won’t cut useless pork fat programs in order to help those who have a true emergency is shameless
NO?
August 26th, 2011
8:32 am
What’s stopping them? No jobs and no affordable housing
In this market? It is a buyer’s market filled with low-hanging fruit. Opportunity knocks while dumbazzes sleep.
shirley
August 26th, 2011
8:33 am
Jay, thanks for this column and your responses. I agree with Doggone/GA. Whether there are offsets to emergency funding in the federal budget really isn’t the issue in the midst of the storm. Those talking theory whether elected, candidates or otherwise miss the point. All levels of government contribute when there is effective preparation and response to the a dangerous storm, tornado or hurricane and the clean up. Finger pointing and theorizing doesn’t get the job done to protect lives and to maintain public services. Does anyone remember the sheets of ice on Peachtree Street five days after the snow storm or the impact a “frozen” city had on business and working people?
Bud Wiser
August 26th, 2011
8:41 am
So typical of the resident media stooge to go ahead and assert that Republicans want to essentially kill, or deprive of aid, potential hurricane storm victims.
This sounds eerily similar to their slobbering accusations of them also wanting to kill the elderly, the poor, the helpless, through reductions in Medicare coverages.
What the stooge fails to mention however is that in FACT it is Obamacare that has called for a $500 billion (with a B) reduction in Medicare, making them the real party of death panels and throwing the helpless under the collective bus.
GT
August 26th, 2011
8:48 am
The storm in New Orleans was the lowest point of the Bush administration. Rudy Giuliani made Bush look good in the 7/11 aftermath. He got out into the streets and Bush followed his lead. Bush eventually used up all the currency he gained that day. One final chance to unite this country, instead Bush spent money to stoke our fears, appointed people with the same poor communication skills he had and then New Orleans was the cherry on top. After telling the nation how mighty we were, the Lord Himself begged to differ.
This will be a high point in the Obama administration. They run things very smooth; his campaign was one of the best run campaigns I have ever seen. His spokespeople already seem far more skilled that those of Bush. His preparation is already there, he is out front of the situation not a deer in the headlights. And Obama has done it with far less money, with many times more population involved. Republicans will try to wreak it. They hope it is a real disaster. The American public this weekend will see the real difference between the two parties.
Obama is over
August 26th, 2011
8:48 am
This is the most absurd slanted desperate piece you have ever written. In the abscence of any positive news coming from the Democratic front you decide to take advantage of innocent people in harms way to write a cowardly column asserting blame for a potential natural disaster on a political party. Shame on you. I am more interested in the safety and welfare of American citizens than taking credit for who pays for the clean up effort- before anything has happened. Your article today captures the gist of the problem with Obama and the Democratic party today. You people are more concerned about maintaining the statue quo and reelecting Obama than you are about the welfare of American citizens. In the worst economic environment of a generation, the Obama adminstration and the Pelosi/Reid/Union Democratic party is intellectually bankrupt. Your column today proves that they are morally bankrupt as well. I hope and pray for the people in Irene’s path and that Obama does less damage than the storm in his remaining days in office.
Adam
August 26th, 2011
8:54 am
Dusty: Your crybaby whine is out of line with what really happened. Has there ever been a catastrophe that those affected thought they did not get enough help? I don’t think so
What nonsense. “People ALWAYS want more help” is a justification for what, exactly? NOT helping them when the help that was provided was either non-existent, woefully inadequate, too late by MILES (definitely could have been handled sooner AND better if it was run by people who actually knew what they were doing), OR you lay all the blame for no help on the state and local level in order to avoid the federal government taking responsibility for their part. Even Cantor said government has a role to play, and he’s a money-uptight jack@ss.
midtownguy
August 26th, 2011
9:04 am
It is situations like this that put the fiscal conservatives values on the line. Significant federal expenditures on disaster relief were the result of Hurricane Andrew in South FLorida. Some credit the weak response by the federal government led by Bush I to Bill Clinton’s subsequent victory in Florida. After that, the federal financial role in disaster recovery was greatly expanded. It is one prime example of the “growth of big government” that the fiscal conservatives bemoan.
So, once the emergency immediate relief is over (no one is going to limit the role of the National Guard regarding safety concerns or emergency food the first few days after landfall). When it comes time to pay the bills for clean up, ongoing repair to infrastructure, business recovery, help with individual home repair or ongoing food needs. Are “we” going to provide it? Or are the States and individuals on their own?
Adam
August 26th, 2011
9:12 am
Page 1:
No mention of Obama or Bush
Page 2:
Anti-Obama posts = 5
Individual anti-Obama posters = 3
Anti-Bush posts = 2
Individual anti-Bush posters = 1
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 0
Page 3:
Anti-Obama posts = 1
Individual anti-Obama posters = 1
Anti-Bush posts = 1
Individual anti-Bush posters = 1
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 0
Page 4:
Anti-Obama posts = 1
Individual anti-Obama posters = 1
Anti-Bush posts = 1
Individual anti-Bush posters = 1
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 0
Page 5:
Anti-Obama posts = 2
Individual anti-Obama posters = 2
Anti-Bush posts = 2
Individual anti-Bush posters = 2
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 0
Page 6:
Anti-Obama posts = 5 (almost missed kayaker’s “bozo”)
Individual anti-Obama posters = 5
Anti-Bush posts = 0
Individual anti-Bush posters = 0
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 3 (hurricane machine, nice…. Not counting godless heathen’s post or scout’s jab at the first lady)
Page 7 (so far):
Anti-Obama posts = 2
Individual anti-Obama posters = 2
Anti-Bush posts = 1
Individual anti-Bush posters = 1
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 1 (references to Obamacare not counted)
Totals:
Anti-Obama posts = 13
Individual anti-Obama posters = 10
Anti-Bush posts = 7
Individual anti-Bush posters = 5
Fake posts meant to skew the results = 1
Interestingly, I HAVE noticed that any criticisms of Bush are way more tame than Obama criticisms so far.
Adam
August 26th, 2011
9:13 am
Sorry, total for posts that skew the results is 3, not 1
Adam
August 26th, 2011
9:13 am
Agh darnit, total for posts that skew the results is FOUR, not ONE. Stupid number keys.
philosopher
August 26th, 2011
9:14 am
Dam straight! If you don’t have the money to pay for something, then you just don’t get it! No aid to the injured, no healthcare to those who can’t afford it…even if it’s your mother, your daughter, whoever! Me and my tea bagger friends are gonna sit back and watch while homes are destroyed, and folks die from injuries and not one blasted nickel of my hard-earned tax money better go to a single one of you- because we owe China money and have borrowed more to pay the interest on it…if you didn’t plan and save for this disastrous hurrican (which you really SHOULD have expected, you know), then you are just SOL.. make sense to me…
Richard
August 26th, 2011
9:22 am
Pardon my ignorance on the matter of disasters, because I have never experienced anything worse than a mild tornado. But why do we need disater relief? If you don’t leave and get trapped in the city (i.e. Katrina) isn’t that kind of your fault? I mean, it’s not like this hurricane just appeared. And if you leave and your crap get destoryed, isn’t that why you have homeowner/renter’s insurance? If you don’t have that, isn’t that kind of your fault too? Again, never been in those people’s shoes, but I feel like I would be more than capable of taking care of myself in that situation. Other that rescues and medical assisstance, which I see the need for, I just don’t see the need to provide people with things such as FEMA trailers to live in. People should learn to take care of themselves.
GT
August 26th, 2011
9:26 am
Philosopher what gets me is Bush had an open checking account and he blew New Orleans. No one was in his way but his own people. Billions wasted in the Chinese water drill. The talk caught up with the walk, reality, in New Orleans. The Iraq war was the same bowl of fish. Bush was like the next door neighbor who came to your house to fix something and left five more things screwed up while he tries to fix the one problem. Bill Cosby with a tool belt.
Richard
August 26th, 2011
9:27 am
Wow. Just skimming the comments. Brosephus, the federal government is supposed to be a representation of the people, but it’s not. It’s more like a caricature, and that’s the whole problem with our country right now. Politicians that give lip service to representing the people, but then vote on partisan lines. I’ll be damned if the federal government represents my interests.
Steve
August 26th, 2011
9:36 am
Jay…you are such a drama queen. It’s all going to be OK.
When I lived in the Northeast…through several hurricanes…we never worried about federal aid….the storm came and went…we cleaned up…life went on.
philosopher
August 26th, 2011
9:37 am
GT , I was being ridiculously facetious…It’s always easy to say we shouldn’t spend what we don’t have…until it affects your own life…and then we scream bloody murder for help (of course). Tea Baggers don’t even “get” that they talk out of both sides of their mouths…or else they are serious sociopaths, willing to let folks suffer and die so they can have a few more bucks in the wallet.
Gordon
August 26th, 2011
9:40 am
Adam @9:12,
You have too much time on your hands.
Adam
August 26th, 2011
9:43 am
Gordon: I know. I should probably save time by making blanket statements that have no factual basis such as “the posters on here post more bashing Bush than they do bashing Obama”
James
August 26th, 2011
9:53 am
I agree with the position that Congress does not have the authority under the constitution to provide emergency assistance just like they refused to do the first 100 years of this republic. You also can’t say politicians talk until the emergency is local. Ron Paul voted against emergency relief in his own district after Galveston was hit by a hurricane a few years back.
GT
August 26th, 2011
9:55 am
Richard I would make the same argument about Home Land Security. Biggest boondoggle in the history of this country. It gave us all the impression we were totally ready for any disaster and the first one out of the shoot was a horror movie on steroids. It is a little bit like these wars we fight. Billions of dollars later and thousands of lives, and what do we have to show for it but a false sense of accomplishment. This thing in Libya will cost us one billion dollars total with better results than Iraq that cost us one billion dollars a day. You say the federal government does not represent you but if you are rich try living without its protection. Your house will look like Gaddafi’s home looks today, in five minutes. Any success you have in this country is because of this country and its government protecting you. You interest are far more represented that the poor. New Orleans showed that fact.
midtownguy
August 26th, 2011
9:56 am
Richard, that is it in a nutshell. Does the federal government have, or need to have, any role in disaster recovery other than immediate safety, medical or hot food needs (emergency feeding sites)
Should the federal government pull out after about a week and those who were unprepared suffer the consequences? Or is it another type of social program where the federal government assumes a role to aid individuals and communities?
I can guarantee you this, the affected states, even those with hard right tea-party-governor’s will be begging Obama for Presidential Disaster Declarations (what triggers the federal money).
Richard
August 26th, 2011
10:02 am
GT: I won’t argue that the federal government protects my success. In fact, that IS one of the few things the federal government should do (i.e. life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness). However, when I say that the federal government does not represent my interest, it is all these silly boondoogles that they waste billions and trillions on that I am referring to. I believe that the Gov’t does an adequate job at its essential tasks of protecting my freedom. And I am happy to pay my taxes to receive that protection. It’s everything else that they blow money on that I object to.
Richard
August 26th, 2011
10:05 am
midtownguy: I personally believe in what you suggested. Pull out after a week. If you’re not able to get back on your feet (and I don’t mean have everything back to normal, just be able to survive) after a week, you’re probably not trying. I think that this would limit gov’t spending on disater relief to a sum that nobody would object to, and this discussion would not be happening.
Steve - B.
August 26th, 2011
10:09 am
I have vacationed on the the Outer Banks a dozen times and lived in the coast of Florida for 20 years. How many times does the Federal Government have to bail out those areas that have repeated storms?
Steve - B.
August 26th, 2011
10:15 am
The most important thing is that I hope everyone listens to the warning and gets to a safe place.
GT
August 26th, 2011
10:19 am
midtownguy is right. What Bush allowed is a sense we had these problems covered. He put it under an umbrella of national defense, his “specialty”. He even sent a military type to clean the streets of New Orleans; guy looked like Patton chomping on that cigar. It was all theater with those guys. The real world doesn’t work that way. It starts with communication. Reagan was a great communicator, drew the nation his direction because he sounded like one of us. How you communicate in a disaster or crisis will determine a lot. Making people go to war because you made stuff up or feeling secure when we were not, by spending lots of money at the end of the day makes your subconscious thinking say something is out of control with these people. We are not safe with them in control. They are pointing to others as the problem when time and time again it is them that are the problem and what we should be afraid of. At best they are very disorganized, details are not their forte, in times of crisis this is not a good thing. I could run a country on the money they mismanage, we all could.
Adam
August 26th, 2011
10:21 am
midtownguy, Richard: Setting a hard deadline doesn’t account for the AMOUNT of devastation. You should be shooting for a baseline of help if you’re going to set a limit. But a hard time limit… well let’s just say if you did that New Orleans would have gotten ZERO assistance because FEMA was barely there, if at all, that first week.
midtownguy
August 26th, 2011
10:22 am
What is the probability that the Republican governors in the some likely affected states (Connecticut, New Jersey, South Carolina, Virginia) won’t write the President asking for a Presidential Disaster Declaration and the associated federal financial aid? The president, and the federal government, cannot provide the aid unless specifically requested by the governor. It cannot be forced on the state.
Let’s just see how worried these Republican governors are about the debt ceiling and the “bloated” federal government.
redneckbluedog
August 26th, 2011
10:22 am
John Boehner – “If we can cut the JOB CREATING hurricanes’ taxes, then MAYBE it won’t hit us….”
Dick Cheney – “We need to torture and bomb the hurricane…”
Rick Parry – “Down in Texas, when we have hurricanes, we pray them away….and then we ask the federal government for money when they hit….”
Steve - B.
August 26th, 2011
10:28 am
midtownguy – About the same as the “let’s raise taxes” crowd not taking their deductions on their tax form.
Bill King
August 26th, 2011
10:34 am
And why is this not the Top Story on ever Media outlet Radio-TV-Internet ?
philosopher
August 26th, 2011
10:42 am
redneckbluedog- had to chuckle at that- clever.
GT
August 26th, 2011
10:46 am
The Virginia governor was on the Piers Morgan show last night. He is already working the country; he knows he will have to ask for help. Morgan asked an off the subject question of what the governor’s thoughts were about the damage in NY City. “My problem is not NY it is my state” was his answer. With the Republicans money is spent when they present a deal that has absolute no options, we have to spend this money or we die. I know we said no spending but that was for those people, this is about us, and we are going to die. Usually they mismanage the money so poorly more people die after the money is spent than would have in the first place. I am telling you watch how better this disaster is managed than ones in the previous administration. It will be done smoother and cheaper with less lost lives.
Joe Mama
August 26th, 2011
10:52 am
F. Sinkiwicz — “So the FDA and the USDA are law enforcement agencies, Joe? They can arrest you? Who knew?”
Didn’t say they were. But your local cops don’t have the ability to test your burger for E. Coli, and I’m pretty sure the Georgia State Patrol has better things to do than test every burger around the state.
Don’t be a nitwit and put words in my mouth. FDA and USDA have inspection powers and authority. When they find something wrong, THEN the authorities get called in.
Adam
August 26th, 2011
10:58 am
Steve – B.: About the same as the “let’s raise taxes” crowd not taking their deductions on their tax form.
Yeah! That Warren Buffet… what a socialist!
Adam
August 26th, 2011
10:59 am
Joe Mama: But your local cops don’t have the ability to test your burger for E. Coli, and I’m pretty sure the Georgia State Patrol has better things to do than test every burger around the state.
Not to mention you need a high level degree to test the meat.
DBCOOPER
August 26th, 2011
2:23 pm
Hey George Bush caused this Hurricane .He certainly caused Katrina. AND he blew up the Levee’s. AND it was a conspiracy against Black Folks.
Now if we don’t have the money because “The Messiah” borrowed atrillion frigging dollars from China we can never pay back. (AND OBTW It did nothing) Then run-up another couple a trillion in debt.
We have no money. It has to be George Bush. And those mean Republicans that don’t want to borrow another two, tree trillion!
They must be rich! AND drive around in coroperate jets.
Joe Mama
August 26th, 2011
2:41 pm
Rhymes with “spithead.”
The Worst Unnatural Disaster Ever To Face Our Country | Social Security Potluck
August 28th, 2011
9:23 am
[...] following comes from a blog by Jan Bookman, who posts at the Atlanta Journal Constitution, With Major Hurricane Looming Federal Aid In Question. Mr Bookman writes: Eric Cantor (R-VA), a national disaster House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, for [...]