‘Emergency’ Sandy relief bill shows Washington’s fiscal folly
Alternate headline: “This is why we’re screwed.” The Obama administration and Senate Democrats have proposed $60.4 billion in spending, some of which may not have anything to do with helping people recover from the superstorm that hit the Northeast this fall. But the entire lot is being rushed through as part of the “emergency” spending package that has to be passed RIGHT NOW according to Democrats — even though, according to the Congressional Budget Office, only about one-third of the money will be spent in the next 21 months.
What else is the dough going for, if not for immediate relief? Jamie Dupree has the full list of items on his AJC.com blog. ABC News reports that millions of dollars are for federal agency spending that is unrelated, or only tangentially related, to Hurricane Sandy. Another $13 billion of it is tabbed to help mitigate future disasters. Those particular mitigation measures may or may not make sense, and it’s hard to know which are worthwhile and which aren’t when Congress is being asked to allocate the money in such a rushed fashion. For the non-immediate needs, it would be very helpful for Congress to have more time to study them before spending almost three times as much as President Obama’s cherished “Buffett Rule” would generate in new revenue.
And that’s the proper way to look at the bulk of this spending. As ABC News notes, that $60 billion represents almost all the new revenue the federal government would take in next year if Congress also were to pass Obama’s “deficit reduction” bill. We are perhaps days away from going over the so-called fiscal cliff because Obama and congressional Republicans can’t agree about cutting existing spending. So it seems absolutely crazy to rush through a new appropriations bill in the name of “emergency” disaster relief when two-thirds of the money — as much as the annual amount of spending Obama is talking about possibly, maybe, potentially, perhaps being willing to cut in negotiations that just might take place next year if the GOP gives him everything he wants on taxes now — is not going to be spent until sometime in 2014 or after.
Yes, folks, this kind of attitude is exactly why our fiscal condition is so dire. The GOP should insist on funding only what is absolutely necessary now, and discuss the rest next year when said discussion can be more rational.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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414 comments Add your comment
Old Timer
December 15th, 2012
10:02 am
The folly continues. Once they arrive in the city limits of Washington all signs of sanity are left at the boundry.
MarkV
December 15th, 2012
10:36 am
“…the disarming of the citizenry in Hitler’s Germany or Communist Russia led to the deaths of untold millions of the citizens of those countries.”
Rewriting history par excellence.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
10:48 am
Aesop’s – 9:51
At the time this was written, “the people” were the only ones who could protect the very young country. Now, it is our professional Military and police.
Looks like your homeschooling hasn’t made it to American History yet.
Chip
December 15th, 2012
10:51 am
I live in Georgia. Why are any of my tax dollars going to help people rebuild way the hell up there? I didn;t tell them to live on the coast, where hurricanes happen. I didn’t tell them to live somewhere taht they might not be able to obtain the insurance they need. If such insurabce was available, I didn’t tell some of them to not buy it at all.
Every one of those people made a choice to buy/build homes and businesses, or toherwise live and reside, in an area always at risk of huge violent destructive storms. NOW, I’m supposed to fork over money to “help” them because of their denial? (”Oh, that will never happen here… to us!”)
Really? Serioulsy?
Here’s a great example of what’s wrong with America, once the land of the free and home of the brave… now deteriorated into Whiny Baby Nation, full of chowderheads who refuse to think ahead and take responsibility for their lives. When something hits the fan, they run to Mommy & Daddy Government to take care of them… and they are too ignorant to understand, or too selfish to care, that government can only do that by confiscating money from other people hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Pathetic and disgusting.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
10:52 am
cc
You actually think your rifles and hand guns could stand up to Government tanks, fighter jets and bombers?
And, you think German and Russian citizens so armed could have stood up to Hitler and Stalins tanks, fighter planes and bombers?
In the future, please think carefully before you post here.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
10:53 am
Glen Beck
For many long years, slavery was “settled law”.
MarkV
December 15th, 2012
10:57 am
carlosgvv @ 10:52 am
It is that, and there is more: It was the ARMING of the Russian people that allowed the Bolsheviks to win the struggle for dictatorship.
Streetracer
December 15th, 2012
11:03 am
carlosvv @ 10:52
In 1956 Hungarian kids proved that one could kill a Russian tank with a blanket and a couple quarts of gasoline. Folks that demand freedom, if there are enough of them, can defeat military might.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 15th, 2012
11:06 am
JDW, your precious State disarmed the people who could have stopped this, and other, tragedies.
And your precious State failed to educate you in the basics of Constitutional freedoms (as well as economics and many other things).
Their blood is on YOUR hands, JDW. How does it feel?
Romney
December 15th, 2012
11:34 am
Tiberius the not so wise one
The blood in on the hands of the killer, but the stupidity of that post runs from your pours
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 15th, 2012
11:38 am
carlosgvv: Looks like your homeschooling hasn’t made it to American History yet.
——————————
Looks like you’re public schooling didn’t teach you about court precedent, and your trust of the prog media hasn’t kept you informed of recent court decisions.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 15th, 2012
11:40 am
As I watched the news yesterday and saw all the video footage of the survivors and families, the cause of this tragedy became apparent.
Lack of diversity. None of the victims looked like Obozo.
CC
December 15th, 2012
11:42 am
“It is that, and there is more: It was the ARMING of the Russian people that allowed the Bolsheviks to win the struggle for dictatorship.”
So . . . tell us: what happened AFTER the Bolsheviks had traded one tyranny for the other? Were they not told that the revolution was over, that they no longer needed their weapons?
“Rewriting history par excellence.”
Revisionist, my a$$ . . .
Idiot.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
December 15th, 2012
11:46 am
Just about every single day, the AJC reports on an armed home invasion. About half the time the thugs run into someone able to protect their family and possessions and they are repelled. If the Libs get their way, it will be open season on homeowners. Police response times are inadequate and no amount of police and vehicles is going to be fast enough to prevent deaths.
Remember if you have no weapon use your cell phone, not a land line, to call 911, as you will need to run out the back door to buy time to answer all the insipid questions from the operator, e.g., how do you spell your name, one s or two, how many people live at this address, do you know the perps, blah, blah, before she will dispatch a unit.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 15th, 2012
11:51 am
How’d the State do in protecting those 27 people, Romney?
Epic failure.
First you libs create a bloated and ineffective State that cannot respond to just about any problem (Sandy, Katrina, every massacre in the last 40 years, eradicating poverty, the economy), then you disarm the citizens who can effectively stop these massacres and disasters.
Nice going.
Romney
December 15th, 2012
12:03 pm
Tiberius
And you can show where I posted anything close to what you posted?
Epic fail
Color me shocked
I accept your surrender…
Clown
MarkV
December 15th, 2012
12:09 pm
CC @ 11:42 am
You have described yourself well by your last line.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
12:14 pm
Tiberius – 11:51
So, a heavily armed citizenry can stop hurricanes like Katrina and Sandy, erase poverty and save our economy?
Golly!! I learn something new here every day!!
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
12:17 pm
Streetracer – 11:03
Wow!!! I din’t know that!!!
Our economy is saved!!!!!!!!!!
We can now arm our soldiers in the field with blankets and quarts of gasoline.
Think of all the money we’ll save on defence spending.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
12:19 pm
Barry
I know the Court voted 5 to 4 on the recent “right to keep and bear arms” decision.
I know that means, in effect, ONE Justice has helped to keep America the shooting gallery it’s become.
I know Obama is a liberal and just may get a chance to appoint at least one Justice.
Maybe them, common sense will return to the Bench.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 15th, 2012
12:20 pm
“So, a heavily armed citizenry can stop hurricanes like Katrina and Sandy, erase poverty and save our economy?”
No, but a bloated and ineffective government can sap the life out of a nation, making it unable to respond effectively to disasters.
And we already know what it hasn’t done to eradicate poverty or fix the economy it helped to break.
But nice of you to remain dense, carlos. Nothing I didn’t expect from you.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 15th, 2012
12:21 pm
I see another sock puppet is on board under the moniker “Romney”.
Wonder which tool this one used to be in a former blogging life?
CC
December 15th, 2012
12:25 pm
Tiberius:
“First you libs create a bloated and ineffective State that cannot respond to just about any problem”
You can almost be sure that the teachers and staff at the school were prohibited from carrying or having weapons on the premises. Had THEY been armed, the damage most likely would not have been nearly so extreme.
Libs have only ONE point of view . . . and it is invariably the WRONG point of view.
CC
December 15th, 2012
12:28 pm
“You have described yourself well by your last line.”
I accept your surrender but would prefer your departure.
Idiot.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
12:29 pm
Tiberius – 12:20
I was only repeating what you said.
I do admit, what you said was so unbelievable that just repeating it probably did make me a little dense.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
December 15th, 2012
12:50 pm
English isn’t your native language, is it carlos?
Didn’t think so.
Romney
December 15th, 2012
12:51 pm
Cc
What you prefer and what you will get is not one in the same
Take your whining complaint up with Kyle and the AJC
And no need to surrender your mind or body was never in the fight to be able surrender
Streetracer
December 15th, 2012
12:52 pm
carlosvv:
I was only showing that your assertions at 10:52 weren’t necessarily accurate. Your 12:17 proves, however, that you are a total idiot.
CC
December 15th, 2012
1:08 pm
“And no need to surrender your mind or body was never in the fight to be able surrender”
If one was to make any sense of this statement, one would have to be omniscient.
Romney
December 15th, 2012
1:22 pm
Cc
Yet you had no self control and still responded…..
Hahahahahahah
Crying Conservatives
CC
December 15th, 2012
1:29 pm
Tiberius@12:21:
Banned?
Romney
December 15th, 2012
1:40 pm
Cc
Banned? Nope
But you can ask Tiberius, Barry and I report….. And a few others on this blog who have been banned or suspended on one or more AJC blogs
Just saying
But nice try
JDW
December 15th, 2012
2:18 pm
@Tiberius…”How does it feel?”
Sadness-Pity-Joy-Hope
Sadness that twenty small bodies lay in the halls of a school in Connecticut and some people in this country are so selfish as to believe that a perverted view of their “right” to weaponry is more important than those and other lives.
Pity for you and those like you that exist in such a hate filled state, consumed with a past that never was and longing for a future that never will be.
Joy that you and most of those like you will soon be passing from this world to whatever reward you so richly deserve. With you will go many of the antiquated ideas that your generation has foisted upon this country over the last 30 years to be replaced by a much richer and more fulfilling vision of what can be achieved.
Hope that as you and yours pass from the scene myself, my children and others like us will remake this world as a better place. A place where excellence is rewarded and all are afforded the opportunity to pursue it in safety.
MarkV
December 15th, 2012
2:51 pm
Whoever is capable of writing the following,
“your precious State disarmed the people who could have stopped this, and other, tragedies,”
and
“Their blood is on YOUR hands,”
can only be regarded with utter contempt.
CC
December 15th, 2012
2:51 pm
JDW@2:18:
Congratulations!
You have just posted your most mindless, idiotic and inane tripe yet!
I am indeed proud of you for you exemplify libs everywhere.
CC
December 15th, 2012
2:53 pm
“can only be regarded with utter contempt.”
. . . as you certainly are.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
3:03 pm
streetracer – 12:52
I was only repeating what you said.
So, that makes YOU the total idiot.
MarkV
December 15th, 2012
3:06 pm
Whoever is capable of writing the following,
“You can almost be sure that the teachers and staff at the school were prohibited from carrying or having weapons on the premises. Had THEY been armed, the damage most likely would not have been nearly so extreme”
can only be pitied for utter stupidity.
JDW
December 15th, 2012
3:06 pm
@CC…”Congratulations!”
Thanks CC…being diametrically opposed to you is EXACTLY where I wish to be.
bluecoat
December 15th, 2012
3:11 pm
And the band played on.
Electrical/power restoration help refused because they were non union.Non union tax dollars accepted.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 15th, 2012
3:24 pm
carlosgvv: I know the Court voted 5 to 4 on the recent “right to keep and bear arms” decision.
——–
Freedom is a fragile thing indeed. One vote protecting our constitutional freedoms from the liberal fascist minority. Americans are saddened that it was that close. Democrats aren’t, though.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 15th, 2012
3:42 pm
Why are progs so anxious to “do something” about violence when the victims are white, but yawn when brown people are killed with Fast & Furious guns?
bluecoat
December 15th, 2012
3:49 pm
and to see a brown man weep.
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2012
4:25 pm
Barry – 3:24
liberal – “pertaining to, based on, or having views or policies advocating individual freedom of action and expression”
fascist – “a person who is dictatorial or has extreme right-wing views”
Source – Webster’s College Dictionary
Since “liberal fascist” is an oxymoron, I suggest you keep a dictionary handy and look before you leap into another foolish statement.
JamVet
December 15th, 2012
4:32 pm
Mr. Wingfield, have you noticed how venomous this place is most of the time?
What ever happened to compassionate conservatism? Oh that’s right, you Republicans laughed it out of your own Republican lexicon.
Too bad.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 15th, 2012
4:41 pm
carlosgvv, here’s how Jonah Goldberg, who coined the phrase which I use from time to time, defines “liberal fascism” (just so you’ll understand hereafter):
Here is Goldberg’s definition of fascism: “Fascism is a religion of the state. It assumes the organic unity of the body politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the will of the people. It is totalitarian in that it views everything as political and holds that any action by the state is justified to achieve the common good. It takes responsibility for all aspects of life, including our health and well-being, and seeks to impose uniformity of thought and action, whether by force or through regulation and social pressure. Everything, including the economy and religion, must be aligned with its objectives. Any rival identity is part of the ‘problem’ and therefore defined as the enemy. I will argue that contemporary American liberalism embodies all of these aspects of fascism.”
Del
December 15th, 2012
4:43 pm
JDW, is either very young in learning through personal experience the lessons of life or he/she is among the terminally stupid.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
December 15th, 2012
4:43 pm
“Compassionate conservatism” is a redundancy. It is the so-called liberal who wishes to harness the individual to the service of the state.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
December 15th, 2012
4:49 pm
I don’t which is more ridiculous, jamvet complaining about a venomous atmosphere or the various pinkos erasing “the people” from “right to keep and bear arms.”
So I’ll call it a tie.
CC
December 15th, 2012
5:03 pm
Aesop@4:49:
Too close to call. I’d say it is a toss-up!