Republicans fought to prevent funding for Hurricane Sandy. Should Democrats return the favor since it hit a red state?

On the one hand, revenge is a dish best served wet and windy, and it is just texans, but on the other hand, one should demonstrate that one is better than reptards.

I think they should return the favor.

@josie :: Do you think there should be no (federal) government intervention or do you think the state should deal with it instead of the federal government?

The people most hurt by Harvey are the poor, they deserve the help. As assholishly as some behaved about Sandy, this should never devolve into a partisan issue.

No. That’s what is wrong with the government now. The infighting amongst the two parties is the primary obstacle the US faces. The general public sufferers enough already for their tit for tat tactics.

I don’t think punishing the disadvantaged and poor for political gain is right. Regardless of the party in power, they should look after those in need.

No, there are people in need of assistance. It is perfectly fine though for the Democrats to talk about being morally superior to their redneck colleagues.

@canidmajor

“assholishly”....I like that.

May I use it from time-to-time….??

No. The public shouldn’t be punished for political points. That’d be behaving like the folks who want to take healthcare away from people because they don’t like that the law’s associated with Obama.

If each party does “tit for tat” then it goes round and round and never ends. Dems get revenge on Republicans, Republicans get revenge on Dems, and who suffers? The people who need the help. Dems should take the high road and just vote for sending help where help is needed. If the Republicans don’t reciprocate next time around, at least the Dems can say they did the right thing.

That kind of thinking is absolutely insane. It won’t make this a better country or a better world. But it will make a person the same kind of scumbag that they despise. Where is the benefit in that? We all lead by example, and this makes for a very bad example.

Nope. And Democrats don’t believe that is an appropriate response.

But they should make Ted Cruz and John Cornyn state that disaster relief bills are never to be used for punishment. And they should tell Ted Cruz he needs to sponsor and attach an amendment requiring agreement on the Paris Climate accords as part of the emergency funding.

If anyone cares about the facts…

He was opposed to the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill as proposed because of additional, unrelated spending that was tacked onto it and which had nothing at all to do with the storm damage, victim relief or repairs to infrastructure damaged by the storm. Nothing to do with Sandy at all.

And the same thing will happen with whatever Harvey Relief Bill is inevitably ginned up, because the President can never afford the optics of being opposed to a bill “for the children” etc. etc. and yada and yada. And no, I doubt that Cruz will oppose whatever bill comes out of this storm, because he can’t afford the optics. This is politics as it is always played, everywhere.

But I don’t think there’s much desire for fact in this forum any more.

@CWOTUS ”...that was tacked onto it and which had nothing at all to do with the storm damage, victim relief or repairs to infrastructure damaged by the storm. Nothing to do with Sandy at all.

This is where Ted Cruz lies all the time. It was NOT filled with “unrelated pork.” Paul Ryan, for instance, referred in a statement to “non-Sandy expenses,” such as “sand dunes at the Kennedy Space Center, highway repairs in the Virgin Islands, and roof repairs in Washington, D.C.” But Sandy was a storm that stretched far beyond New Jersey and New York as it raced up from the Caribbean.

The Smithsonian Institution suffered roof leaks from heavy winds and torrential rain, resulting in a $2 million request. The shoreline near Launch Pads 39A and B at the Kennedy Space Center also suffered major erosion, leaving the ocean less than a quarter-mile away, so $15 million was added to deal with that problem and repair a NASA facility on Wallops Island in Virginia that also was damaged by Sandy.

Also, there were non-Sandy related items added to the disaster relief bill, but they were related to other declared disasters.

Ted Cruz likes to be the “smart guy” in front of the cameras. He is fact one of the smarmiest people currently in office.

No. You help people in need because it’s the right thing to do. Unfortunately, the “right thing to do” is often irrelevant in politics. But right now we have a crisis that needs to be dealt with and the politics need to take a back seat. CWOTUS is also correct that the opposition to the bill wasn’t just “fuck those liberals who are in need”, but let’s face it, Cruz probably wouldn’t’ve opposed the same bill if it were to help Texas. The libertarian types who want nothing to do with the federal government suddenly want a place at their teat when a disaster hits. I just want less hypocrisy in general, that’s all. Let’s help people when they need it; let’s realize that sometimes the federal government should step in (and let’s hope they do a good job, unlike with Katrina).

Hey @CWOTUS You accuse other people of not fact checking, but you fail to do it yourself.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/08/29/ted-cruzs-claim-that-two-thirds-of-the-hurricane-sandy-bill-had-nothing-to-do-with-sandy/?utm_term=.a2eadc35b070

I agree with @DominicY. Refusing to help a certain segment of people makes one a lowlife.

Absolutely, but they should make the funding contingent on admitting that anthropogenic climate change is a problem and guarantee that $0 will go to the fossil fuel industry’s recovery there. Also additional funds should go to science research.

I have no problem with supporting those in need due to natural disasters. What I would say is that the money spent needs to go directly to helping those in need…not to some third party that pockets half of it and then delays sending the rest. When Sandy hit the NE, there was a whole lot of money flowing in, but it was weeks before it really started trickling down to significant help for the people. And in the end a large chunk of the money never saw the light of day. People that have to live through these natural disasters need help, not talk. And their need transcends political views.