TPMDC Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Irene
Why Republicans Might Demand Hurricane Relief Be Paid For With More Program Cuts
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)
When a massive tornado obliterated the town of Joplin, Missouri earlier this year, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters that if the disaster ultimately required the government to step in and provide aid, it would have to be offset by cutting spending on other federal programs.
"If there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental," he said, using the anodyne language of budget policy.
Three months later, when a modest earthquake struck the town of Mineral, Virginia in his own district, and caused minor, but widespread damage along the eastern seaboard, Cantor upheld the standard. Congress, he said, "will find the monies" to help victims, but that "those monies will be offset with appropriate savings or cost-cutting elsewhere."
Now, in the wake of Hurricane Irene -- a much costlier natural disaster -- Cantor may make the same demand, which could touch off a bitter fight on Capitol Hill.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Earthquake, Eric Cantor, Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Katrina, Republicans, Tom DeLay
Roundup
TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Beck On His Obama-Is-A-Racist Comment 'I Have A Big Fat Mouth Sometimes'
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Glenn Beck sought to correct his statement from a year ago, in which he said that President Obama had a "deep-seated hatred for white people." "I have a big fat mouth sometimes and I say things, and that's not the way people should behave," said Beck. He further explained: "I think that it is much more of a theological question that he is a guy who understands the world through liberation theology, which is oppressor and victim."
Joe Miller: Transfer Control Of Land Back To The States
Appearing on Face The Nation, Senate candidate Joe Miller (R-AK) said that the federal government should transfer control of lands to his state, in exchange for cutting federal subsidies. "The answer to this is to basically transfer the responsibilities and power of government back to the states and the people. That is really the only answer, I think, out of this crisis," said Miller, who may have defeated incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the GOP primary, depending on the final absentee ballot results. "As we continue to tighten our belts because fiscally that's critical for the economic solvency of this nation, we also transfer it to the states more power. That means more ownership of lands. It's not a situation where you just yank the financial plug, but at the same time you're transferring over discretion over the use of the resource base."
Topics: 2010 elections, AK-SEN, Arne Duncan, Charlie Crist, Education, FL-SEN, Glenn Beck, Housing/Foreclosures, Hurricane Katrina, Joe Miller, Mary Landrieu, Mitch Landrieu, New Orleans, Roundup, Shaun Donovan, Sunday Shows
Sunday Shows
The Sunday Show Line-Ups
Republican candidate for US Senate in Alaska Joe Miller
Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:
• ABC, This Week: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.
• CBS, Face The Nation: Senate candidate Joe Miller (R-AK), Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).
• CNN, State Of The Union: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, Gov. Charlie Crist (I-FL), Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL).
• Fox News Sunday: Glenn Beck.
• NBC, Meet The Press: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D), Brad Pitt.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 2010 elections, AK-SEN, Arne Duncan, Charlie Crist, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, FL-SEN, Glenn Beck, Haley Barbour, Hurricane Katrina, Joe Miller, Kendrick Meek, Mary Landrieu, Mitch Landrieu, Senate '10, Shaun Donovan, Sunday Shows
Gulf Coast recovery
Obama Heading To Big Easy To Survey Katrina Recovery
President Barack Obama
President Obama Thursday will hold two events in New Orleans as part of his outreach to show the administration is serious about Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.
(It's fulfilling a promise he made on the anniversary, and also adding to the other steps his administration has taken in recent months such as extending the Bush-era recovery office for the second time.)
As I wrote about in my past life, the Obama Cabinet secretaries didn't venture into the Lower Ninth during their spring visit. This time, the president will visit the Dr. King Charter School near one of the most devastated areas in the Ninth Ward.
The White House said the trip will offer Obama "a firsthand look at progress on the ground" and a chance to hear "directly" from Louisianans. "This will enable the people of New Orleans to convey their thoughts, challenges, and feedback directly to him," the White House announced, adding it's Obama's fifth visit since Katrina but first of his presidency and the first that's open to the public.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)Topics: Barack Obama, Gulf Coast recovery, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans
© 2011 TPM Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
