A NASA image of Tropical Storm Isaac
As the Republican Party gathers in Tampa for its presidential convention, Tropical Storm Isaac isAi??barrelingAi??up the coast of Florida, delaying the proceedings.
Federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are working hard to keep track the progress of the storm and keep Americans safe.
But those Republicans who are now seeking shelter and receiving the help of these agencies have a history of working to gut their budgets.
In March 2011, the House Republicans passed a continuing resolution that included a cut of $450.3 million to the NOAA as compared to President Obama’s requested budget. It also cut the National Weather Service by $126 million and reduced “funding for FEMA management by $24.3 million off of the FY2010 budget, and [reduced] that appropriation by $783.3 million for FEMA state and local programs.” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) also famously threatened to delay disaster relief for Hurricane Irene until certain budget cuts were put in place.
The budget pressure resulting from wrangling over funding for FEMA has taken a real toll on the agency. Last August, FEMA cut back on tornado assistance to Alabama, for instance, which was hit by a spree of killer storms the previous April.
On “state and local levels, these are devastating, to-the-bone cuts that erode the basic capacity of communities to fulfill their basic responsibilities when disaster strikes,” wroteAi??Irwin Redlener,Ai??director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health,Ai??in response to the cuts that disaster detection, preparedness, and recovery have faced over the past few years.
Demonizing the government’s ability to assist ordinary Americans has become a sport for the Republican Party in recent years. But now that Republicans are having to take cover and seek the help of these agencies themselves, will they do an about-face and back off their dangerous budget cuts?
Help us hold Republicans accountable for opposing disaster relief.Ai??
UPDATE: National Journal, Huffington Post, The Hill, The Nation, and Politico have all covered our ad campaign holding Republicans accountable for their obstruction of disaster relief.
If these gut-ready republicans face damage to their personal abodes, businesses, etc. you can be pretty sure they will receive it before anyone else, even if because of cuts there is nothing left for anyone else.
How many millions have been spent on so called security measures for this convention of fools? Does it alarm anyone but myself that the priorities of republicans always have themselves and their often petty concerns above even the most deserving of concerns? How can such un-American attitudes permeate the public face of our elected officials? Can it be that without electronic vote counting they would never win an election?
We could only hope but unlikely as it seems there are people who buy into thr republican lack of ethics.