The big Dem “wins” here are:
(a) FEMA’s not broke
(b) We don’t have a huge financial crisis
(c) The government doesn’t shut downGrow up.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 8, 2017
Posers and hypocrites, every one. Per the Washington Post:
While parts of Texas are still submerged from the historic flooding wrought by Hurricane Harvey, four members of Congress who represent the state voted against sending it billions in federal disaster aid.
GOP Reps. Joe Barton, Jeb Hensarling, Sam Johnson and Mac Thornberry all voted no on a $15.25 billion aid package Friday that is on its way to President Trump’s desk. Much of that money will boost federal emergency responders and help small businesses and homeowners rebuild. Some of it could go to victims of Hurricane Irma, which is barreling toward Florida this weekend.
These lawmakers say they didn’t like what the Harvey aid was packaged with: a three-month lift of the debt ceiling to let the U.S. Treasury borrow more money and a short-term budget that basically extends last year’s budget for another three months. As usual in Washington, the hang-up sits at the nexus of money and making a political statement about money.
The four Texas lawmakers who voted no all scrambled to make clear they support the government helping their state recover from rainfall totals so unprecedented that weather forecasters had to invent a new color for their maps. Earlier in the week, the entire Texas delegation voted for an $8 billion package for Harvey victims. After Trump made a deal with Democrats on the debt ceiling and budget, that original package died in the Senate, which instead passed a measure with the additional provisions. The House did the same Friday. Estimates for Harvey cleanup go as high as $150 billion.
The members who opposed the bill had the luxury of being able to prioritize their fiscal conservatism on this vote. None of the Texans who voted no represents a coastal area, and they could safely assume their votes wouldn’t actually put the aid package in danger. It easily passed the House 316-90…
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has become a symbol for the hard choice Republicans must make between helping people they serve recover from an expensive disaster and sticking to their financially conservative principles. Cruz, along with nearly the entire Texas Republican delegation, voted against Hurricane Sandy aid. He misleadingly claimed it was full of unrelated spending. But on Thursday, he and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) swallowed their concerns about what got tacked onto the aid package for their state and vote for it…
Same with Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), who represents Corpus Christi, where the storm made landfall. He voted against Sandy aid, but before Friday’s Harvey vote, he appealed directly to his colleagues to vote yes…
The media will frame all GOP members who voted no on spending/Harvey aid as only being against Harvey aid.
— Andrew Kugle (@AndrewJKugle) September 8, 2017
I, personally, will take note of the fact they knew it would pass and think of them as self-important dipshits who want the attacks. https://t.co/1Y9O1QXr3i
— David Benner (@davidabenner) September 8, 2017
NEW: Mulvaney tells reporters he tried to make case GOP to vote for Harvey/debt ceiling/CR, doesn't mention deficit impart. pic.twitter.com/xilcAk284s
— Kayla Tausche (@kaylatausche) September 8, 2017
The national debt won't matter politically until the next Democratic president puts her hand on the bible. https://t.co/iqWuMn7vnh
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) September 8, 2017
Saturday Morning Open Thread: More Repub Virtue SignallingPost + Comments (189)