Republicans in disaster-prone states, eager to present a united front during government funding talks, are shrugging off a disaster aid cliff — even as a storm barrels toward the Gulf Coast.
....“Disasters happen,” said Florida Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, chair of the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, when asked about Johnson's continuing resolution.... “I'm not too concerned at this stage.”
That CR bailed on supplemental disaster aid, but it failed so Republicans tried again a week ago:
Lawmakers from disaster-prone states — on both sides of the aisle — were aghast this week at the lack of additional dollars for FEMA’s already depleted disaster relief fund and other federal disaster programs.
As the House and Senate’s top four leaders met last weekend to negotiate a deal to keep the government funded, they were forced to acquiesce to the demands of Congress’ most conservative fiscal hawks, whose votes were thought to be pivotal for passage.... The funding omission was made all the more striking by the fact that lawmakers were leaving Washington two days ahead of schedule, in part because of the hurricane.
Still no disaster aid, even with Helene barreling toward the coast. Today, though, the leader of the Republican Party is playing a different tune:
Just fuck these guys. That's all. Just fuck them.
So how come more than 40% support these $%$%!$% ??
Extreme tribalism? I really don't know. The my guy or die mentality. Or more quite possibly, my guy and die if you consider the fact that Republicans would prefer to rob a good percentage of their constituents of their health care.
Tribe: "I'd rather die than vote for a Democrat."
Helene: "Okay."
🎯
and when everything falls apart, Trump & Fox will say it's all the Dems fault. They'll feel so much better
Extreme tribalism, steeped in American self-reliance, for those who make comfortable livings. For those who are poor, it's immigrants taking jobs, woke politics giving jobs to lazy minorities, and America straying too far from the righteous will of their god.
The average GOP voter has no clue at all that Republicans are trying to starve FEMA. How would they find out? It's not like their preferred media is going to tell them.
Even if they did find out at some point, their knee-jerk reaction is always going to be "good, the government just wastes the money anyway." They only recognize the importance of FEMA during the tiny window when they need it.
Even the supposedly non-partisan media will say "congress" cuts FEMA funding, not Republicans.
Assuming they even mention Congress!
I remember a study awhile back of headlines - when Republicans did something in Congress it was 'Congress does X' or 'Democrats do Y'. Never mentioning Republicans when they either filibustered or controlled the chamber.
Low-information solution to something going wrong is the same as Republicans: Don't pay for it, fire everyone.
the average gop voter doesn't care unless said average gop voter lives in a state like florida and has experienced a major hurricane and knows first hand what fema does.
40% of every population is Authoritarian.
Authoritarians do not feel comfortable living in a liberal democracy. They want strong leaders who will punish the people who need to be punished. You, that is. Not them. Never them.
They don't really respect democratic institutions, so winning isn't about the number of votes; rather winning is about winning by any means.
This behavior was fine in 350,000 BC, but it isn't really what we need in today's world.
It's really pretty deeply rooted in the gut. Survival behavior is to keep together in the pack, don't stray from the herd, everybody follows the same rules to keep the community together.
That was true even back in the early 1900s.
Those authoritarians believe that all modern ills come from too much freedom and self-interest. March when you are told to march, or everything turns into chaos.
"40% of every population is Authoritarian."
Trump is not just authoritarian. He is far worse than that.
He doesn't care for:
1) any other person.
2) any kind of moral values.
3) Any American ideals and traditions.
So 40% authoritarians doesn't explain 40% going with Trump.
Propaganda, a barrage of propaganda.
Truth Social. lol. Leave it to Trump to be dishonest in naming his social media company. Truth has nothing to do with Trump and the GOP. So much for thinking that the GOP would vote disaster relief for their own. They won't even do that. That's how far they'll take their ideology. They only care for their donors. How working class Republicans don't see this is frustrating.
naming his social media company
they were gonna go with pravda but it was already taken
actually it's sort of like rt, the american version of pravda.
Hey, if these guys were honest, they'd rename their party the National Socialist American Workers' Party (though, like Buchanan's '92 RNC speech, it sounds better in the original German). I suspect that the percentage of Americans who can identify my reference is in the single digits (and not particularly the high single digits either). Which goes a long to explaining the closeness of this election: the average American is an utterly ignorant putz. (And not particularly bright either.) To paraphrase a meme used about multiple sports figures, they probably couldn't tell you what FEMA stands for if you spotted them the Federal, Emergency, and Management.
The president touring a disaster area is one of the dumbest "traditions" in politics and should have ended a long time ago. It helps nobody.
But if they don't visit, people will claim they don't care.
And that was one of many admirable things about the Biden Presidency — he would wait until a visit wasn’t disruptive, regardless of the disloyal opposition politicizing the situation (e.g. East Palestine). Of course, you can see where that got him.
I'd much prefer a politician that arrives late and helps sooner than a politician who shows up immediately and doesn't help at all.
But when they do show folks still say it's just for the political win not to actually help.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
remember bush the younger getting reamed for merely looking over new orleans in the wake of catrina.
"Just fuck these guys. That's all. Just fuck them."
No truer words can be spoken. It cannot be said enough.
But do I have too????
I mean, they're not really my type...
Everyone loves socialism when a disaster strikes their hometown.
To be clear: I think it’s perfectly fine for governments to spend money to improve people’s lives after a disaster. But I also think it’s perfectly fine for governments to spend money to improve people’s lives before disasters too.
+1
+1
Everyone loves socialism when a disaster strikes their hometown. > >
and every wants government spending cut back. Just not spending on THEM
Yup, and when the East floods, folks from North Dakota tell their Reps to crush increases in federal disaster spending, and get back to basics- "Drill Baby Drill"
MEOOOOOW !!! REPUBLICANS!!! I WANT TO SCRATCH THEIR EYES OUT!!! KITTIES KNOW.
There is no 'culture of self-reliance' in the US, there is an exploitation of the idea of the self-reliance of an isolated farmstead of 200 years ago.
For what purpose?
Short Version- "I've got mine"
This really, really, really needs to be an ad.
It's been a while since I wholeheartedly agreed with Mr. Drum's conclusion at the end of a post as much as this one.
Heh. Just wait for the soaring insurance rates that follow. They'll claim Democrats failed to regulate insurance rate increases.
"Conservatives" talk out of both sides of their mouths just like Trump in order to deal with the constant cognitive dissonance between their conflict of wants and needs.
"Just fuck these guys. That's all. Just fuck them."
Bingo. They are all pigs fuckers, every one, including McConnell and ilk. Now from your mouth to every Democrat's ear.
So TruthSocial doesn't allow embedding. It says so right there where you tried to embed something.
We use insurance. We have a flood wall to protect my city. Likewise, we have police and EMTs to help with emergencies. Republicans used to be very much in favor of this kind of measure to deal with disasters. Now, they shrug their shoulders. It isn't the old Republican Party. It has become far more radical and dangerous.
How did J.D. Vance vote on the immigration bill that Trump asked the House to kill?
How did J.D. Vance vote on natural disaster aid?
You can pretend to be a "kinder gentler nation", as George H.W. Bush did, but people know that's a lie. Bush I took us to war in Iraq, based on a lie. W Bush took us to war in Iraq for even worse lies.
Vance and Trump would have us let America die on the vine for what?