Dealyed aid vote a disaster

It’s been a little over two months since Hurricane Sandy came to visit the Tri-State area and it appears that our friends in the House of Representatives no longer care.

The Republican-led House opted to go home last night without voting on $60 billion aid package for Sandy victims, leaving the region in limbo.

The response has been bipartisan disgust:

“For the first time, I’m not proud of the decision my team has made,” said Rep. Michael Grimm (R-SI) on the House floor. “I’m going to be respectful and ask that the speaker reconsider his decision. It’s not about politics, it’s about human lives and human dignity and I pray that he understands that.”

Grimm said people in his district “lost family members and now I have to go home and tell them that their New Year’s gift is that they have to wait even longer,” he said.

Added Camden County Democrat Rob Andrews:

“I am stunned, stunned,” Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.) told POLITICO Tuesday night. “I assume there is as tactical consideration here, that the Republican leadership didn’t want to be anywhere near a big spending bill after the fiasco of their handling the tax debate. I understand the tactics but there is a real human need here that is being ignored.”

The GOP response — and this is squarely on the Republicans — is shortsighted, ignoring the shared responsibility implied by the social contract. Aid to residents of blue states like New York, New Jersey and Connecticut should not be made victim of budget politics — just as aid to red-state victims of past and future natural disasters (hurricanes in the Carolinas, flooding along the Mississippi, etc.) should not be held hostage to the same.

Do we really want to set a precedent that subjects emergency aid to political pressures?

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.
Unknown's avatar

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

One thought on “Dealyed aid vote a disaster”

  1. No delay on the vote, now they are back to square 1. New Congress being sworn in today can not \”pick-up\” left over legislation. They need to propose it, send it through committee, then bring it for vote. Figure no less than 1 month before it can reach the floor as they need to rework committees etc.

    Reply

Leave a comment