Obama vows national aid for Joplin – Republicans say NO!
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President Barack Obama promised victims of the deadliest U.S. tornado in 65 years that the federal government would help them rebuild, saying on Sunday it was a national tragedy.
“The cameras may leave. The spotlight may shift,” he told a memorial service for the 139 known victims of the May 22 twister. But the federal government “will be with you every step of the way until Joplin is restored and this community is back on its feet,” Obama said to a standing ovation from survivors.
Before the service in an auditorium at Missouri Southern State University, Obama rolled up his sleeves and toured a disaster scene where crushed cars, piles of wood, clothing and a broken dishwasher lay helter-skelter amid the debris on lots where houses once stood.
The president, who returned on Saturday night from a six-day trip to Europe, vowed to cut through any federal red tape to help with rebuilding that he predicted would be “a tough, long slog.”
“This is just not your tragedy,” he said after meeting survivors. “This is a national tragedy and that means there’s going to be a national response.”
Meanwhile –
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor assured the people of Joplin, Mo., Sunday that Congress will help them recover, but said the funds must be offset elsewhere. That means they won’t get a penny until after negotiations in Congress to cut other programs designed for working folks.
Cantor also said House Republicans “absolutely” stand by the Medicare plan of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., despite losing a special election in New York last week.
So, he didn’t miss a chance to back privatizing Social Security and turning Medicare over to our “friends” in the Insurance Business.
Republicans will not participate in any “negotiations” if proposals include removing subsidies to oil companies, corporations actually paying their fair share of taxes and removal of the Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans.
That’s what Republican aid for folks in Tuscaloosa and Joplin looks like.
The United States citizenry is getting a clearer picture of Republicans as every day passes. I look forward to President Obama serving another four years.
E Trams
May 30, 2011 at 12:15 pm
The truth always surfaces.
E Trams
June 1, 2011 at 11:14 am
I didn’t see where any Republicans said “NO” to helping Joplin. They did state that the money would need to be cut from something else. Why is that so bad? Do you(or anyone) really think there’s not lots of place the money could be taken from and then spent more wisely and humane in helping Joplin. Why should we assume we always have to borrow more money to address every need. We should set priorities just like you probably do at home.
olemike
May 30, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Quit kidding yourself. Want to make up additional funds beyond the FEMA budget? Try cutting subsidies to Exxon or the billions to GE for an F35 engine the Pentagon doesn’t want.
Cantor and Ryan have made it clear time and again since Tuscaloosa they will not pass an aid bill – until and after more is cut. Preferably from SSA, Medicare, education, Medicaid…anything that helps other communities. If storm victims have to wait? Tough.
Maybe it feels OK to you telling folks in Joplin or Tuscaloosa they should wait until the Republican Party is happy with the budget. I’ll bet you already know they won’t be satisfied with any budget that doesn’t kiss Ryan’s butt.
Something called democracy gets in the way of that style of doing business. Republicans control one-half of one branch of government. Why should everyone else have to stand and wait to satisfy their 19th Century ideology?
moss
May 30, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Same old rightwing crap. Republicans haven’t the votes to control Congress but they can blockade anything offered by Obama or Dems. Maybe Americans are too lame and lazy to complain when judges are blocked for months or halted, when aid and education for working women has to be dissed and dumbed for weeks by religious parattle about abortion rights – by nutballs who still aren’t convinced women should vote – but, what’s happened in these storms doesn’t justify bean counters playing their typical time-wasting parlor games while citizens wait for help.
evinrude
May 30, 2011 at 1:14 pm
You lot are way too polite.
Saying that – I suppose I might be replying to someone who’s auditioning for the ingenue role and has little or no opinion about crap like filibustering and all the time-wasting excuses relied upon by creeps who haven’t the votes or possibility of votes to let people have the result they voted for.
We’ve witnessed day after day of deliberate stonewalling since Obama’s election. The kind of crap that would have Fox and every conservative mouthpiece whining as loud as a Raptor on take-off. Republikans are afraid of women, gays, young people, old farts like Eid who have the spunk to stick their lies back in their faces.
You know damned well what Cantor’s threat means to folks down South. Quit playing at hypocrite. Lead, follow or get out of the way!
keaneo
May 30, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Yuck. How mean can you get?
E Trams
May 31, 2011 at 5:40 am
Folks, the Dems had from 2000 to 2002 to pass anything they wanted. The had total legislative control. They could have cut oil subsidies, raised taxes, done basically anything they wanted. They didn’t even pass a budget. They did not because they knew it would cost them re-election. They are no different from the Republicans – just the other side of the same coin. It’s all about re-election.
olemike
May 31, 2011 at 7:50 am
So, you never heard of either the filibuster or the veto?
Cripes, the state of patent leather rationales from Republicans grows less and less capable daily.
moss
May 31, 2011 at 8:40 am
First, I had my dates wrong. It was in 2008 and 2009 that the Dems had the presidency, huge majorities in the house and 60 votes in the Senate. They could have done just about anything they wanted to. 60 votes is filibuster proof. Why did they not do all these things when they had the chance. I’ll tell you why. They knew they would not get re-elected if they raised taxes, etc. They wouldn’t even pass a budget because they were afraid of the public reaction and what would happen come election time. If you had an emergency come up at home, would you just naturally go further in debt, or might you cut spending in other areas. Can’t Government do the same thing. Dems seem to always think they always hold the high road when it comes to helping people in need. It is just so much BS.
Now that they have lost absolute control, “the sky is falling”. All problems are the fault of the big, bad Republicans.
olemike
May 31, 2011 at 4:34 pm
You have more than your dates wrong, bro’ – though I admit your tolerance for the grumpiness that is that standard here at Eid’s blog is praiseworthy. We should send you into the firing line over at CageMatch at Dvorak Uncensored some time. Har!
No one in this neck of the prairie has much of a love affair with the Dems. Their cowardice is legend. They’re only appealing by comparison with the Republicans – who were barely tolerable when they were conservatives as opposed to the reactionaries running the show, nowadays.
60 votes ain’t especially filibuster proof when you have a dozen or more Blue Dogs dragging their bellies on the ground. Plus old Teddy was busy dying most of those first 2 years – if you recall.
The replacement election was [1] screwed up royally by Mass Dems + [2] Scott Brown pulled the smoothest heist of the year in bullshitting the tea Party Dragoons into busted their butts for him – though if they’d looked at his moderate record instead of his pickup truck, they never would’ve helped him out.
Nope, sorry. Any realistic look back at that time makes it clear why nothing critical didn’t make it. One major program got through – and that was watered down to half of what a state like Massachusetts has in spades. They have the full program Obama wanted – passed with a certain Republican governor signing on – and has increased the state budget one whole percentage point.
That’s all there was.
moss
May 31, 2011 at 5:21 pm
You lot are going to love my morning post on Wednesday.
eideard
May 31, 2011 at 5:39 pm
Sitting here watching Tom Keene discussing Fareed Zakaria’s V2.0 of his book, The Post American World…then, an hour later listening to the CEO of LightSquared talking about America’s history and freedom of choice – and I have to reflect upon an essential difference between traditional American love of democracy and what American conservatism has become.
The latter has become the dedicated advocate of a nanny state – not the model that Obama or Dean would offer. Republicans are 18th Century Tories…the choice that a corporation offers based on profit. Liberal Democrats are about building the highest standard the state can guarantee to the whole population and let the people make their own choice. Just because Blue Dogs follow the corruption that finance revels in doesn’t diminish the opportunity offered.
And today’s Republicans couldn’t care less about offering new opportunities. They would guarantee the minority opinion contained within Zakaria’s book, e.g., loss of leadership will lay the groundation for decline and fall.
The progressive view is return to our roots and quit being cowards – and compete in this new world instead of relying upon being the cops of the world to make our money safe for corporate treasuries.
So – let the people of Joplin stew just as Bush did with the citizens of New Orleans. And Cantor and Boehner and Ryan will smile for all is well in their temple of sanctified greed.
keaneo
May 31, 2011 at 11:45 am
Nope. The Republicans controlled the House during that time. Clinton was President only until January 2001. The Democrats controlled a very slim majority in the Senate part of the time.
If you really meant 2009 & 2010, they tried. Only the Senate Republicans filibustered any meaningful legislation proposed by the Democrats. And all that time the Republicans showed no respect at all to America as they lied and invented stories every day.
Sorry Mike. Your right wing nut lies aren’t holding up.
Mr. Fusion
June 1, 2011 at 10:52 am