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Cantor Says Congress Won’t Pay For Missouri Disaster Relief Unless Spending Is Cut Elsewhere

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/05/24/cantor-disaster-relief/

Obama had announced he was headed to Joplin on Sunday and he promised he would resurrect Joplin with Federal funds. So, this putz Cantor steps out front to lay the down the fundie position.

Why are repiglicans so ruthless?

Why was President Obama swilling beer in Ireland yesterday instead of being en-route to Joplin?

Seemed a relevant issue when NOLA was wrecked by Katrina in '05.

That's ridiculous and you know it.

Why are you here?

"An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s only people’s games that you got to dodge" Bob Dylan (Happy birthday Bob!)

Chasing down relatives he found on ancestory.com.

Really?  Wasn't ridiculous when President Bush was called racist for not being in NOLA as soon as the storm passed.  Personally, I think POTUS going to the epicenter of major disasters for photo ops is ridiculous.  It only serves to hamper relief efforts for a few hours while the President appears concerned.

Joplin will get aid.  Cantor, like many other apes in the GOP picks the wrong time to open his yapper on the issue of offsetting spending.  I don't have a problem borrowing in the event of an emergency.  

However, we've had a lot of man-made and natural disasters over the course of the last ten years we've kept borrowing to cover.  Putting this into the correct context, we've got to quit borrowing for our every day expenditures while also trying to cover every single disaster which befalls us within our borders and overseas.  Our pattern of spending is unsustainable, regardless how worthy the expenditure seems.

Borrowing money to pay for a broken air conditioner is one thing, borrowing money to buy groceries without paying it back for 30 years while borrowing more is entirely another.  

I seem to remember being on track to pay off the groceries we bought in the 80s and early-mid 90s until a few someones decided it would be a fantastic thing to double the size of our security apparatus and start acting like fascists with the unconstitutional spying. (which Obama has done exactly zero to address, one of my biggest disappointments with him)

Ahh yes!  The O'Bamas.
(http://ireland.corrupt.org/images/o_bama.jpg)

LOL!

Like any disaster that happens in our neck of the woods, we assist, rescue, and rebuild before the federal government even knows what happened to us.  If the city of Moore was in New York state, it would still be flat, and the unions would still be battling over contracts!

Visiting Joplin is not going to buy President O'Bama any votes, therefore it is not a priority, and until they get the debris off of the greens at Twin Hills, there is little reason for him to be in Joplin.  Sunday will be fine for his visit.  Less disruptive.

Yeah, that's why we never get any FEMA dollars, Gaspar. Your disconnect from reality is rather shocking.

Someone returned from vacay in a good mood.

Someone returned from vacay only to see that some of our poster's reasoning capabilities had diminished during the interim. When ideology trumps facts, it's not possible to form consensus. Without consensus, our system of government cannot function.

Edited to add: And my English skills seem to have also gone south.

I misread.  You are in a good mood but the Colorado Kolsch gave you a superiority complex.  ;D

Nahhh, my reality is simply not dictated by others ;). . .or by my government.

That Kolsch (and four of the other beers I tried) was freakin' awesome. Unfortunately, the Steam Engine Ale was not so tasty. :(

I wish the stop in Pagosa had been in the cards. Oh well, that's what next time is for, eh?

Gaspar: reality is dictated by facts. You can ignore them and create your own, but that's the definition of disconnected from reality.

Ok, back to this (I'm still chuckling a little).

Are you saying that we should just sit back and wait for the trailers and government checks to roll in rather than springing into action and shouldering the responsibility of rebuilding our lives after a disaster?

I know, you are being sarcastic, but even without FEMA dollars I have a great deal of pride in the way that folks in this part of the country handle NATURAL disasters.  Our first inclination is not to go for the federal purse.

I'm willing to bet there will not be a single murder, rape or stabbing in the Red Cross shelters up in Joplin. I also have yet to hear of any looting.  We love you Joplin, and who knows, it may be us next. . .perhaps very soon.

Getting FEMA $ is the goal.  The goal is not to get folks back on their feet again. It is better to sit in Squalor (a town just up-river from NOLA) waiting for FEMA $ than to try to get back to normal by any other means.  Some people just don't think straight.  Must have gone to public schools.

Must be censorship.
 ;D

If they find someone in the rubble 4 days from now, I doubt they will attempt to sue the government for not finding them earlier.

Oh, and not that I was hating.  I always come back from northern NM and So Colo with a superiority complex. There's a lot to be said for going away for a week and not being plugged in.  It's hard not to want to check TNF or FB.

Oklahoma is always at the front of the line for disaster relief.  For many more smaller events, compared to Katrina, but we are always there to get our fair share. 

We don't get in line for Federal aid == just another one of those "rugged individualist" myths that just ain't so.

Joplin was just upgraded to an EF5.
Reports from Tuesday evening 5/24 indicate an estimated 122 fatalities and several hundred injured in the Joplin MO area.
The Joplin tornado is the deadliest since modern record keeping began in 1950 and is ranked 8th among the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history.

Saw that coming, there was no way that was anything less than an EF-5

I know a lot of people that weren't so sure, but after I saw an aerial photo yesterday I was.  Horrible.  My brother's boss said unless you see it in person, the pictures and video don't do it justice...

I really resent what they did to Eric Cantor in this article!

http://omnipotentpoobah.com/2011/05/26/eric-cantor-whatever-happened-to-compassionate-conservatives/

"I’m appalled at House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-Obstructistan) demand that aid for families lashed by two of the worst tornado outbreaks on record must wait while Congress goes argues over whether oil company aid or health care should be cut to balance the budget."

Until I saw the Home Depot and a few other pictures, I was convinced it was EF-4 damage. I was more than a little surprised to hear from a friend who used to work at Pizza Hut that a couple of employees up there died even after sheltering in the walk-in freezer, which in that particular store was not on the outside of the building as it is in many.

Ireland? I thought he was doing this while my former neighbors of four years lived through the worst kind of horror or were grieving from the loss of loved ones:

(http://www.tdbimg.com/files/2011/05/24/img-cs---obama-cameron-table-tennis_133616386239.jpg) ]

I received several calls asking if I was in the middle of that disaster. Of course I thanked them for their concern but that I had moved about four years ago. I do know my neighborhood was spared. I will be heading up there next week to offer whatever assistance I can give.

FEMA Declares Eric Cantor a Disaster Area
Congressman Denies Funds to Self



WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – One day after Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) stirred controversy by withholding funds for tornado relief, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) took the extraordinary step of declaring Rep. Cantor a disaster area.

Within hours of the declaration, FEMA officials were dispatched to assess the damage to Mr. Cantor’s status as a human being capable of empathy.

“I’ve seen a lot of hurricanes and tornados, but this is something new,” said FEMA spokesman Tracy Klugian.  “Rep. Cantor appears to have been caught up in a moral vacuum.”

While concerned FEMA officials looked on, the morally ravaged House Majority Leader took to the floor of the House to make the case for denying funds to repair himself.

The FEMA spokesman said that the agency was currently trying to estimate the cost of rebuilding Mr. Cantor’s soul.

“Quite frankly, I’ve never seen devastation like this,” Mr. Klugian said.  “It’s like there’s nothing there."


http://www.borowitzreport.com/2011/05/25/fema-declares-eric-cantor-a-disaster-area/

Here is a video showing the before/after the tornado. I lived in Joplin for four years and had the videographer not told us where he was, I would never have guessed.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWLvve8KN20[/youtube]

I wasn't thrilled when I lived there, mainly because it wasn't really a choice. But I have old friends up there and can only hope they made it.

Anyone know good people that can install a safe room for me?

Not on pain meds here, just me being nice.

Have you thought about Jim Giles' business?  Even though he's passed, his wife still runs it.

http://www.jimsafe.com/

I'm going to drop the dimes for this. Got bad news about specific people I knew in Joplin.

I have close friends with family up there, and my brother's company does TONS of work up there and he had to return to assess the damage to work done.  He told me the day he went that pictures and video don't do it justice.  He was moved by it.  Sorry to hear.

Did you go with the Giles'?  You don't even have to quote me, Gweed, just yes or no.  I can't do it without putting down a slab for it since I live in a home with a crawlspace.  But with all the tornadoes we've seen over the last two seasons, I might think about putting one in the back yard on a slab.  Might cost a little more, but I have a ramp down the back porch I can wheel mother right out to it and we can get in and sit it out.