Tag: fema
Rick Scott

Rubio, Scott And DeSantis Want Disaster Aid They Voted Against For Other States

As their state prepared for Hurricane Idalia this week, Florida Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott called for immediate disaster relief and an $11.5 billion increase in funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Both have previously voted against FEMA funding after emergencies in other states.

At the request of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Rubio, and Scott, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the state on August 28. “Florida has my full support as they prepare for Idalia and its aftermath,” the president tweeted.

But with FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund about to run out of funding, Biden asked Congress on August 10 to approve $12 billion in additional disaster relief, $3.9 billion to address immigration, and $24 billion to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.

Scott and Rubio opposed the idea of considering the requests together and demanded the FEMA aid funds be passed separately.

Scott said in a press release on Monday:

Unfortunately, while I’ve spent the months leading up to this storm fighting to make sure the federal government shows up, President Biden and politicians in Washington have been playing games with FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and insisting that this critical domestic aid be tied to foreign aid for Ukraine. We’ve had enough with Washington playing politics and demand that Congress does what’s right for American families, starting with ensuring our federal government has all the resources it needs to show up after disasters, now and in the future.

Scott’s call for billions in new spending comes just months after he proposed massive across-the-board government spending cuts. “It’s simple: If we went back to 2019 spending levels, we’d have a balanced budget,” he tweeted on June 5. “Instead, @JoeBiden and Democrats insist on spending more and more money every year.”

Less than a year ago, Scott asked his colleagues to approve a special disaster relief package after Hurricane Ian caused significant damage to Florida and other southeastern states. USA Today noted in October 2022 that Scott had been one of just 25 senators who had voted just days before against a continuing resolution to avert a federal government shutdown and to provide $18.8 billion to keep FEMA running. Rubio also voted no.

“This CR failed to fund the federal government until the new Congress begins in 2023, and that is why I could not support it,” Scott explained at the time, noting that he had unsuccessfully sought a stand-alone vote on the FEMA money only.

In January 2013, Rubio voted against a $50.5 billion disaster relief package in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which did an estimated $80 billion worth of damage to New York and other mid-Atlantic states.

Rubio called for a much smaller package, misleadingly claiming, “In sum, the current spending bill goes far beyond emergency relief and all efforts to strip the bill of unrelated pork are being blocked.”

DeSantis, then a U.S. representative, also voted against the 2013 Sandy relief package. “I sympathize with the victims of Hurricane Sandy and believe that those who purchased flood insurance should have their claims paid,” he said after the vote. “At the same time, allowing the program to increase its debt by another $9.7 billion with no plan to offset the spending with cuts elsewhere is not fiscally responsible.”

According to The Hill, New Jersey Republican Rep. Frank LoBiondo scolded opponents of Sandy funding during the floor debate, warning:

Florida, good luck with no more hurricanes. California, congratulations, did you get rid of the Andreas Fault? The Mississippi’s in a drought. Do you think you’re not going to have a flood again? Who are you going to come to when you have these things? We need this, we need it now. Do the right thing, as we have always done for you.

Experts agree that climate change is causing flooding from storms like Idalia to be more severe and damaging. Scott, Rubio, and DeSantis all have long records of opposing efforts to address global warming.

Reprinted with permission from American Independent.

East Palestine

The Right's Fake Indignation Over East Palestine Conceals Essential Facts

While the citizens of a small Ohio village suffer in the aftermath of a train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals there, the usual gang of noisemakers is depicting the accident as a conspiracy to harm them — because they're white, or conservative, or residents of a red state. None of it is true, but the Biden administration's halting response to the accident has allowed that false narrative to gain traction among voters. And amid the din of recriminations from the right, too many Americans have lost sight of what really happened in East Palestine and how to keep it from happening in another place.

Among the noxious accusations promoted on Fox News and its countless imitators, perhaps the nastiest is the notion that the Biden administration punished East Palestine for partisan or even racial reasons. Spewing this nonsense with foam-flecked fervor, Fox's Tucker Carlson declared that the people of East Palestine, unlike (Black) citizens of urban districts, aren't "favored" by the Biden White House. They are "forgotten," said freshman Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a far-right Republican, because "they're our voters." They are neglected, claimed ultra-MAGA Charlie Kirk, because "Democrats hate working-class whites."

Today's quasi-fascist Republican Party promotes such poisonous rhetoric while simultaneously proclaiming its "America First" patriotism." But their constant campaign to divide the nation along racial lines for political advantage mirrors the online propaganda that the Kremlin used to boost Donald Trump in 2016. It is treacherous, not patriotic. And it obscures fundamental facts about the East Palestine incident.

First, the derailment itself was caused not by the Biden administration, but by the negligence of Norfolk Southern, the railroad giant that fights relentlessly against the strict safety regulations and adequate train staffing that might have prevented this disaster. Norfolk Southern and its lobbyists, both in Ohio and Washington, D.C., have succeeded in weakening regulations on train technology and crew size despite years of union protest. The worst executive decisions on railroad safety in recent years were made under the Trump administration, although the former president, while distributing expired bottles of "Trump Water" in East Palestine, insisted it had "nothing to do" with him.

Second, there would be nothing magical about a visit to East Palestine by Biden, who was pilloried for traveling to Ukraine instead right after the derailment occurred. In fact, a presidential visit to Ohio would have hampered cleanup and relief efforts. Only Putin's GOP stooges could mock Biden for venturing to Kyiv on a dangerous, arduous, and vital mission at 80 years of age. It is worth noting that neither Trump nor his transportation secretary Elaine Chao visited a single derailment site during his presidency.

Third, any delays in bringing badly needed federal assistance to East Palestine are more likely the fault of Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine than Biden — who immediately called DeWine after the accident to offer "anything you need." For reasons that still seem obscure but may involve reducing Norfolk Southern's ultimate liability and expense, DeWine has refused to issue a disaster declaration. That strange decision has limited the ability of the Federal Emergency Management Administration to act.

As reported by investigative news site The Lever, DeWine has long maintained very close ties with Norfolk Southern, which has funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns, and to its lobbyists, at least one of whom recently held a top position in his office. He has vowed to make the railroad pay for the cleanup, but whether he will press that demand remains to be seen. Railroad safety legislation has languished and died during his administration.

Finally, the salient question for the Republicans barking at Biden is what they will do to prevent future rail disasters. With longer trains carrying oil and other hazardous materials over great distances, something much worse than East Palestine could easily occur in another town or city, possibly killing hundreds of innocent people.

Will Biden's critics now support efforts by the president, congressional Democrats and the railway unions to improve freight rail safety, as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg challenged them to do? Or will they simply move on to the next opportunity for a fake indignation campaign, and leave working-class communities to their fate?

Keep your expectations low.

To find out more about The National Memo's editor-in-chief Joe Conason and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Kentucky Republicans Now Demand Disaster Aid They Denied To Other States

Kentucky Republicans Now Demand Disaster Aid They Denied To Other States

Republicans in Kentucky's congressional delegation pressed President Joe Biden on Saturday for a disaster declaration after deadly storms devastated parts of the state. But the same lawmakers previously voted against emergency relief funds for victims of disasters in other states.

In a joint letter, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R), Sen. Rand Paul (R), Rep. Andy Barr (R), Rep. James Comer (R), Rep. Brett Guthrie (R), Rep. Thomas Massie (R), Rep. Hal Rogers (R), and Rep. John Yarmuth (D) wrote that while Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear had declared a state emergency on Saturday, "additional assistance is necessary at this time." They cited "significant destruction of property, dangerous road conditions, significant vegetative debris, power outages for thousands of Kentuckians, and severe impacts to transportation and infrastructure" from severe storms that began the night of Dec. 10.

The storms, which impacted Kentucky and neighboring states, included massive tornadoes that left dozens dead and destroyed about 75 percent of the town of Dawson Springs. Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told CNN, "The devastation is quite frankly something that you would see in a war zone. This is an event where we had commercial and residence properties literally stripped clean from the earth."

The lawmakers backed Beshear's official request for a speedy federal disaster declaration. Biden approved the request on Sunday, making more federal emergency resources available to help the state.

But while these lawmakers were quick to request federal emergency help in this crisis, they have previously voted against funding similar relief for other states.

Newsweek noted Saturday that Paul had voted against relief funds after Superstorm Sandy caused major damage in New York and New Jersey in 2013, after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, and after various other disasters strained relief agencies in 2019.

Spokesperson Kelsey Cooper on Sunday scolded Newsweek, "Kentuckians across the commonwealth are suffering and grieving today. This tragedy is uniting everyone around the common goal of helping and healing. Politicizing that suffering would be low for even the deepest partisan, yet here the corporate media is trying to do exactly that. Newsweek should be ashamed of themselves."

Cooper responded to the American Independent Foundation's request for comment with an almost identically worded statement.

Minority Leader McConnell voted against both a 2011 bill to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a 2013 Sandy relief package.

The GOP representatives in the delegation also have voted against relief funds for others in the past.

Barr, Comer, Guthrie, and Massie voted against a September bill to extend government funding and provide emergency assistance funds.

Last year, Barr, Comer, Guthrie, Massie, and Rogers voted no on a bill to fund disaster relief and emergency aid to Puerto Rico.

In 2019, Barr, Comer, and Massie voted against the supplemental funding bill to provide $17.2 billion for disaster relief nationally.

And in 2013, Barr and Massie were no votes on providing additional FEMA funding for Sandy relief.

Their offices did not immediately respond to inquiries for this story.

Yarmuth, the lone Democratic member of the Kentucky delegation, has consistently voted for relief funding.

All seven Republicans have also opposed legislation like Biden's Build Back Better agenda, which would invest billions in climate change infrastructure to help curb devastation from future extreme weather.

Updated to include response from Sen. Rand Paul's office.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

'I've Got Towns That Are Gone,' Kentucky Governor Beshear Says

'I've Got Towns That Are Gone,' Kentucky Governor Beshear Says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on Sunday that widespread damage is making rescue efforts a challenge in his state after tornadoes swept through the region two days ago.

"I've got towns that are gone," Beshear said on CNN's State of the Union program. "My dad's home town, Paxton, isn't standing. It is hard to describe."

The devastation goes on for a dozen blocks in some places and there are many people without power, he said. The state has a strong rescue effort in place, he said, but the damage is prohibitive and it will take time.

"You think you can go door to door to check on people and see if they're OK - there are no doors. The question is, is somebody in the rubble of thousands upon thousands of structures?" he said. "It is devastating."

He said at least 56,000 homes were without power.

Beshear could not provide a number of people in his state who have been reported missing. He said in his family's home town, Dawson Springs, population 2,700, the list of unaccounted for ran to eight pages, single-spaced. "It's pretty bad," he said.

Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told CNN rescue efforts are ongoing across the region and there is still hope to find survivors.

She and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas planned to head to the region on Sunday.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Will Dunham and Daniel Wallis)