Yep, FEMA has really been "moving" to help those in need. Just ask Joe down the street who does not have water or power and his home is condemned.

Of course that money should be made available without hesitation. The republicans will though, drag it out as long as they think they can use it for political hay. Nothing ever been any sorrier than a republican.

Yeah the best President ever at spending money we don't have!!!

Pig, And I'm sure you thought Carter was the second best. Not shocked to hear coming from an under achiever like yourself.

i agree pig, ss ,and mac.I live in the area they need much help.

What about the victims in the perfect storm that lost everything in this recession? The banks will not work with them! They need to be rebuilt

The federal Government could pay everyone, who is unemployed six hundred dollars per week tax free for two years! Then take 28% from the top, and give that to the states each week, not to be paid back! to help them pay their budget deficits, and to hire city and state workers! This will stabilize all the states, and it would stimulate the economy, while generating more tax revenues! Allow these people to work, while collecting this money, but pay taxes on any money they earn while working! This will stimulate business, and create more demand for manufacturing; while generating more taxes! The taxes the country, would take in with so much demand in the markets would generate money to pay off the budget deficit. This would be a perfect time to cut waste and reduce federal spending with the majority of the country receiving the money they need to live and pay their bills. this might sound a little crazy, but If you think about it, it would save on food stamps and other monies the government and states would not have to pay, like unemployment, food stamps, housing subsidies, and it would keep crime down saving money in less court cases, and housing criminals etc. It would pump billions of dollars into the markets each week for two years. This plan would more than pay for itself, while helping to rebuild the lower wage earners, and people who have lost everything in this recession! It would also leave all the states in A really stabile condition, as the wars wind down, and the people returning to their families, who have fought in these wars start to look for work, they should at this point have a much better chance to find work! This plan could solve a lot of problems the country is facing.

Everyone would benefit by this ! They could also give these people new cars, and smaller size trucks that they would be required to pay one hundred dollars per month, for two years, to own them,saving the government, some of the cost ! This would save them money at the pump, reduce carbon, save them money in repairs, and upkeep; It would boost manufacturing, the tire companies would make millions of tires, the monthly service would help small and big business, and the cities would also benefit selling tags-and the insurance companies would get a boost, this would be a good way to restart this economy!

Some congressional Republicans have said that the money spent on Sandy ought to be offset with spending cuts in other parts of the federal budget; most Democrats do not seek offsets.

The Democrats are like children...no concept of consequences.

Every working taxpayer will go into debt to the U.S. government for about 600 more dollars with the passing of the aid package. What exactly is property insurance for if not to cover damage to property? Why are billions of dollars in disaster relief necessary? To clear streets and beaches? Mobilize welfare recipients to go out and clean up. We give them billions of dollars a year to do nothing.

why should my money go to pay states to cleanup/rebuild when those states have their own citizens with their own revenue? we would be borrowing money to repair/rebuild just so it can be destroyed when the next big storm comes, that is a loosing battle. let the government provide logistical oversight and thats it, let the states handle their own responsibilities. why did NY think it was alright to build on the crappiest land they could (landfill) and have the rest of the country foot the bill for major disasters?

its not my responsibility to pay taxes so others can escape consequences to their decisions nor is it so the federal government can play favorites. if i was struck by a re-occurring natural event and did nothing to prepare for the next then it is my fault and i will suffer for it, not joe tax-payer in another state. provide the basics services taxes are suppose pay for and thats it.

i mean why spend money here in the states...we need to off shore them people...they would look good work'n a garment factory over sea...wall-mart just had a major supplier burn...think not what your country can do for you...but what you can do for wall-mart...

Swagganaut

You can get a refund of your tax dollars by filing an amendment to your federal tax returns this year if you prefer to not let your money help fellow American citizens. Get the federal government form ID-10-T at the post office and mail it with your tax returns.

Well, they could send someone to an area in the US where the price of goods (wood/nails) aren't as high and hire out people that do not live near the area. The price is high, because of the area. It's just one of those things that blows my mind. Their house is twice as much as mine, even though mine is bigger. But they are also in a heavily populated area, so it makes their land/house worth more. And so their wages are also higher.

I read that the damage estimate was 50 billion. There is insurance that wll offset some of that cost. The allocation Obama wants is too high and the federal debt is already way out of control. When will Obama learn that you can't spend what you don't have. The taxpayers are not ATM machines ready to fund every program our so called leader comes up with.

Ron B-2757074 #1.9,

It's my understanding that the property damage was caused by flooding. It's also my understanding that unless the property owners carried flood insurance, that their home owners insurance will NOT cover this damage.

The images that were broadcasted during this event, or shortly thereafter, looked like the water level to ground was maybe 18". One should consider the sense for rebuiding too close to the water.

This is why I VOTED for Obama, he is about helping those that need it, it's not about political BS, and the Governor should switch parties, it's about the people not some childish BS which the GOP just don't get.

Dear Mr. President since we blow so much Federal Money on @!$%# like PIKE PATHS, Amour Personal Carriers for every 2 bit county, Fire Stations that look like Tag Mahal's, out rages Pay & Benefits for Federal Employees ( Yes that includes do nothing CONGRESS ) sorry but we will have to borrow money for import things like Disasters.....

There are millions of people who have lost everything in this recession! Why is this not a disaster? It seems like when it happens to some its "OH WELL" they will dig their way out somehow; then when it happens to others its "we need to help these poor folks out!" Can we at least exempt the ones from paying that did not get the disaster help they needed? How many people lost their homes , who were paying on time for years, when this perfect financial storm swept away their jobs, If they relocate these people to a part of the country where the houses cost less, and help them get loans to buy a livable home, instead of rebuilding a two million dollar home or a 700,000.00 dollar home it would save the tax payers billions of dollars! Everyone keeps saying we are going over a financial cliff, and we can not keep borrowing money! Why do we not start acting like the country is broke?

I said that to make a point! I actually think they should get some relief, but why is the tax payer on the hook to replace wealth for individuals? When someone invests in the stock market and loses all their hard earned money should we step up and have the tax payer replace it for them?

And by all means, Preesident Santa Claus, make sure the first in line to get a handout are the irresponsible property owners who had no property insurance. Simply raise taxes on the "rich" (and responsible) who do carry insurance, right...isn't that the way your world operates?

It is amazing how all Obama has to do is declare something and people are ready to bow down and kiss his feet and remark at how great he is. Come on people don't be so naive!!! Just because he says it doesn't make it true. However, I can't deny his intelligence or more appropriately his ability to manipulate and deceive. He says things, folks believe it, and if it doesn't happen it is the republicans' fault. Ya'll haven't caught on yet? Indeed, these people need help, but if it is coming from the government, regardless of who is in office, it will be a long and tedious process. That is why neighbor helping neighbor and charities are so very important during this time. Just compare those people affected by Katrina in the different states. The ones who waited for the government versus the ones who rolled up their sleeves to help themselves and their neighbors. I guess it helps to be responsible and have insurance and heed warnings that were given as well.

You'd think instead of sending money overseas, we could put in a pot for these kind of disasters. I know what Government strategy is now they don't do much of nothing, they watch from the sidelines at everyone else pulling together to help,they throw FEMA in for chits and giggles and wait it out. How long has it been now? Same thing happened during Katrina..In the event of a disaster people,(Tax payers) expect to fend for yourselves.

I'm going to quit my job, become an Obama supporter and live the life of luxury from now on! Every thing will be free! I will ride on the backs of others until no one is left to carry me! Then, I will take to the streets smashing and looting as I go to protest anyone wanting to take away my new lifestyle!

Just give me money! I will decide how to spend it. It must come with no strings attached or I will cry discrimination, and accuse you of racial hatred! I do not care who you have to tax as long as I do not have to pay!

Tax the rich at 100% if you have to! Just as long as you support my lifestyle and keep giving me money and goods! If the rich run out of money tax the next ones down. You already plan on doing it but we have to keep them in the dark until you are ready to pounce!

As long as I'm happy I will vote for you! I will not consider the implications of soaring debt, lose of Constitutional right or our move into Socialism or worse! I will be what you intended me to be! Someone who is stupid enough to buy into your leftest lies time after time! I will ignore the crumbling of our values and way of life! The destruction of a once great nation!

I will become the Socialist greatest asset! I will take to the streets yelling Me! Me! Me!

We can easily afford it if we take it from the military. Let's get out of Afghanistan this minute! Stop spending, spending, spending billions in that flea-bitten country.

the compassion shown by the conservative posters so far have shown them to be more concerned with their finances rather than helping people in need. They also use this moment to bash the President when he is asking nothing more than to help out fellow Americans. I wonder if they realize what they sound like? I'll bet they go to church this Sunday and profess their "christian values" which are in contradiction to what is written in the bible. I guess they can throws out the bible if it costs them money...........republicans what a bunch of hucksters

We need to be consitent in giving aid. It doesnt seem fair that Nashville was not helped a couple of years ago and also Texas and so on. It just seems like OBAMA is showing favorites here. Alot of money has been donated all around the country already concerts have been done etc etc. This idea of thinkg the taxpayers have to do everything is realy getting old.

And just where do you think we are going to get the money? You see when you are borrowing over $1 Trillion a year when a disaster comes along you can't even borrow the money to take care of it.

Don't you realize our country is collapsing before our very eyes due to the massive debt? In our personal lives we must maintain a strong financial position so when an emergency DOES come along at least we have the savings or credit available to take care of it. Whether than be an auto accident and we have to cover a deductible, a medical emergency, or an unfortunate family event. So when something drastic comes along we can either pull from savings OR have the credit available where we can borrow, say, $20,000 or $30,000.

But when a family has no savings and MASSIVE debt due to extra cars, jet skis, and amazing vacations taken over the last 10 years all on credit then this family is in a dangerous position. They have no savings and every credit card is maxed out. Further they can't get a home equity loan because they have no equity. In other words this family is one major (make that one MINOR) event from bankruptcy.

THAT is what our politicians have done over the last 30 years. Notice I said THIRTY YEARS!! I am not blaming on one party or the other (although Obama has borrowed more money in 4 years than the first 42 presidents COMBINED!!). Our country is like the family mentioned above. We are broke. We have no money AND we have maxed out our "credit card". We now have an emergency and have no way to pay for it. Yes we will borrow the money AGAIN!! But THIS time the global financial markets are getting skittish.

We are near a financial currency collapse and the uneducated don't have any idea what is getting ready to happen. Within 5 years our currency WILL collapse. There is no way to stop it at this point. We owe over $16 Trillion expected to be near $22 Trillion within 5 years. But that is not the worst part. We have over $100 Trillion of unfunded liabilities which are PROMISED payments but since we haven't paid it yet have not yet borrowed. But we have no ability to borrow that OR pay it back IF borrowed. Then add that our labor-participation rate is now the lowest since the 70's AND is projected to fall further. Can't collect MORE income tax if less people are working.

Some above praise this president but they are uninformed. Promising "stuff" is the easy part - paying for it is the most difficult. This president is irresponsible. He is like the one divorced parent that promises the child a new car at 16, promising to pay for their college, and promising lavish trips. So that parent is "loved" more by the child because of the promises. But THAT is the irresponsible parent knowing there is NO WAY to pay for all those promises but getting the praise now feels good. The responsible parent is the one that says "we can't afford it" or "we need to cut back". They are disliked by the child but yet the more responsible parent.

The Democrat Party is being very irresponsible and is acting like the irresponsible parent desiring praise and to be liked. But they don't have a plan. They don't have any way to pay for this "free stuff". So praise Obama all you want and he may be able to fool the uneducated and uninformed for a while but within 5 years you will realize the damage this president has caused - but will be too late at that time.

Sad to think that even a disaster now conjures up animosity about spending. Taxpayers being ask repeatedly to bailout disaster victims, even when in some cases they have been bailed out numerous times before. Taxpayers pay up, they rebuild and wait for the next disaster to happen. But on top of the cost, there are endless stories of the incompetence of government agencies that over see the disasters, and the massive waste. So maybe if it were done right, the cost would be a third.

Unfortunately for Obama he will go down in history as the biggest spender to ever sit in the Oval Office. Obama will have added more to our national debt then every previous president combined. Despite sound byte after sound byte of Obama criticizing government spending and debt, he is the unmitigated champion of both. Sad when supporters can only see a problem when it is a member of the other party, when as an American we should all be on the same team. If you criticize the other party for something, then criticize your own for doing the same. Bush was certainly a big spender, but Obama is even bigger. No sanity in sight.

Gordon90N,

I am well aware that flooding was the major cause of damage. There is such a thing as flood insurance. If people chose not to carry it then screw them. They wanted to cut corners so now it's time to pay the price. If someone chose to only carry liability insurance on their cars, and were then severely injured in a crash, would you think it's fair that other people foot his medical bills? We should not have to offset damages for those who chose not to carry flood insurance, unless we actually live in the United Socialist States of America.

Hey Joe #1.5, Take a good look in your Mirror before you put someone down !!!!!!!!!!!!

So why does Harry Reid want to spend our money on popcorn?

For those who do not know what I'm talking about: Google: "Harry Reid Senate Popcorn". For a good laugh

If we pull our troops out of Germany, South Korea, Japan, and all the other 150+ nations where we have troops stationed for no reason connected with actually defending the United States than much of our budget problems would go away.

Abandoning the hopeless wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the Arab World would save us another half trillion or so per year.

Lets have our "Department of Defense" go back to defending our nation instead of meddling all over the world causing trouble. It is no accident that Muslims are mad at the US instead of Brazil.

You want to help Americans struck by a natural disaster? Better take that money from grandma's health fund. And don't tell me that Christmas is about giving. It's about the birth of Jesus, and we all know Jesus would be a republican free-market capitalist. Didn't he say something about 'screwing widows and orphans in their distress'? Hey, if they didn't want to get hit by a natural disaster, they should have ... not ... been there ...

It's their own fault!

Man, it's gotta be tough for Chris Christie to remain a republican.

How do you do $60 billion worth of damage to a couple of dumps like NY and NJ?

ParkRangerinMichigan

They already got a reflecting pool that cost a fortune, and continues to cost a fortune. The people of Oklahoma did not even get aid when half of their state burned this last summer, and the "coasters" were wishing for the rest of Oklahoma to burn.

I say screw 'em. Let them dig themselves out. Oklahoma didn't get a dime. The "Sandy" storm victims have already been given tens of millions in federal aid. They already got a multi billion dollar fountain as well.

Gotta love the spirit of the grand ol' party! Such warmth. Such human kindness....

"Some congressional Republicans have said that the money spent on Sandy ought to be offset with spending cuts in other parts of the federal budget; most Democrats do not seek offsets."

Give them whatever they need and just make it a loan or something.

We are the United States, and part of being united ought to mean helping each other and I mean very quickly!

TO: Kornfed who wrote:

The Democrats are like children...no concept of consequences.

Statements like that make me wanna puke.

Republicans had a president that they refuse to admit even exists who was the absolute epitome of a child that could care less about "consequences" and proceeded to invade a foreign country for no reason other than he wanted their oil, and then crashed the entire United States Economy. NOW you wanna preach?

Until Republicans get their own house in order, they have no right to try to be anyone's judge OR critic!

Pathetic losers.

TO: ParkRangerinMichigan who wrote:

"...The people of Oklahoma did not even get aid when half of their state burned this last summer, and the "coasters" were wishing for the rest of Oklahoma to burn.

I say screw 'em. Let them dig themselves out. Oklahoma didn't get a dime..."

But Oklahoma is a solidly Red State that can't stand "government intervention" and demands that the government STOP spending, and you wanna know why "Oklahoma didn't get a dime"?

When you demand "less goverment" and you get what you ask for what's wrong with that?

Why couldn't the entire State of Oklahoma come together and take care of its people, like Republicans love to tell everybody else?

Then, when Republicans get in trouble, they wonder why nobody running to help them. Probably because nobody wants to approach any trigger happy, gun toting Republicans who've been reciting hate speech for the past 4 years.

Yo, Bacon Grease, oops, I'm sorry...Pigotry

Just imagine someone kept wanting to spill your purse on the street and then watch it disappear...

Your bank won't let you spend money you don't have, why should the American people???

People like Pigotry are an indication of how far Disaster can really go.She must live ,eat, and breathe next to her computer just so she can get her opinion in.If the Republicans are truly the party of the rich i wonder whre all the money comes form that the democrats are spending.Soon the dollar bill won't be worth the toilet paper it is printed on.Pigotry is not worried about the value of a dollar.I doubt any of it is coming out of her pocket.

slowly but surely....they will get it. The U.S.A. is broke. If Uncle Sam were me, looking for used car loan, the bank would laugh at me, or have arrested for loitering, no kidding- let the left wing, rich, bleeding heart rockers pay for it. thats what the concert is for,,,,right?

Yes by all means, pass this bill and spend this money. After all, no one could have predicted that people, local governments, and state governments building tunnels under rivers to connect an island to the mainland at the edge of the ocean, and then building houses and businesses on the shore, and then failing to carry adequate insurance for flood protection (individuals, businesses, cities and states alike) would ever suffer consequences from not having flood insurance at the edge of the ocean. How could anyone have predicted that low ground would flood? There simply was no way to see this coming, so it is only fair that the federal government step in and provide insurance benefits for free after the fact.

This is a wonderful precedent to set. Just think, in the near future when cities and states are going bankrupt due to financial disaster brought on by paying and promising salaries and benefits no one could afford, we can bail them out too because no one could ever have seen that comning either.

This is America. No one should ever be accountable for making bad decisions, or for not carrying sufficient insurance, or for spending themselves into oblivion on school loans or buying too much house, or for making wrong decisions for any other of life's choices. We should ban once and for all negative consequences for our actions and inactions.

I hear that to be a good American now we should provide young women with free birth control so they can have "Free" sex. I think we should add toilet paper and food and medicine and housing and transportation and education and even burial at the end to this "free" sex coverage. Why stop at "free" sex? That limitation of "free" is just plain arbituary and selfish. There really aren't any limits, only stingy selfish people in powerful places in government.

We should just print the money and give it to anyone that can vote and fog a mirror so they can pay for anything they want. There should be no limits at all. If we can get rid of consequences, then everyone can build a house in a flood zone, or at the edge of the ocean, or in the 9th ward in New Orleans. And when the flood hits, we should just pay up and move on, and if it gets flooded again, we should pay again. That is our fair share.

States bankrupt? No problem. Print more money. We should also just declare that no one has to carry insurance for anything. Free medical care without insurance. Free auto protection without insurance. Free flood coverage without insurance. We don't need the insurance industry at all because we have the federal treasury. Why should anyone have to pay for insurance? That is mean to make people pay for insurance instead of being able to buy a big screen TV or take a vaction to somewhere exotic. Everyone should get free insurance for everything... flood, fire, life, auto, investment, employment, medical, ... everything. There really is no limit to how much money the government can print, so why fight over spending money as though money was some valuable limited resource. It isn't. We can print all the money we want, so we should be able to spend all the money we want to spend. This is America. there are no limits.

And if a business goes bankrupt? Bail it out. Heck, we could even invest government money into businesses the government deems worthy so those businesses don't have to borrow money from other businesses called banks. Maybe, we should just get rid of banking as well. We could hire government workers to disperse the money printed by the government and then hire more government workers to act as consultants to help people spend the money, and then hire more government workers to work in the government run businesses and have full employment in no time. Just ask every employee at the end of the week how much money they want to be paid for that week, and then give it to them. This would also eliminate all debt in no time. think about it. No debt.

This is after all, America, where equality means no consequences, no accountability, and no responsibility. All we have to do is get rid of these two stupid concepts, that actions have consequences, and that money does not grow on trees. There should never be consequences and money does grow on trees. Trees make paper and paper becomes money when you add government ink to it. There simply are no limits.

We can even stop holding elections in the future. Since there are no limits on spending, why have elections to elect people to decide how much to spend and on what to spend? All we have to do is cast aside this nonsense of accountability and responsibility. Neither should exist because we can print all the money in the world, therefore no one should suffer because they have too little money, or because they failed to carry insurance and spent the money that would have paid for insurance on something else.

Or, we could loan funds to the states where disaster strikes and allow the states the dignity to repay the loan over time, but no, that is a conservative, obviously minority, and certainly mean spirited way of looking at things. There is no limit on how much money we can print or on how large each bill printed can be. I think we should just print billion dollar bills.

Disaster aid has never been part of any kind of deficit reduction plan.... It's a one-time allocation and you don't need it after that. We prefer to keep it separate and I think that's the White House plan," Schumer told reporters in a briefing with Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D- Ill.

Obviously it is not a one time allocation as we have a massive program set up to deal with it(FEMA), Maybe if we just eliminated FEMA then when we actually needed the money we would still have it instead of having to borrow it from the Chinese.

If my home burns down and I was stupid enough not to have insurance FEMA would not cover it, Then why is it that when it happens to a group FEMA covers it, It does not make sense.

I guess Detroit will be the next big bailout, I mean after all according to the politicians there it is quid pro quo, They did after all vote for Obama.

Ok, so what all of you are saying is that the government should not help with disaster assistance when those of you who live in tornado alley have the infrastructure of your town wiped out. You will pay for all the new buildings and equipment you need. The gulf coast and southern US coastline who are in areas prone to hurricanes will no longer accept money from the government to rebuild. The west coast doesn't want money to rebuild its infrastructure when major earthquakes hit. No money for the farmers who are suffering through the drought. Of course when things are good in the plains states, no government help to raise the cost of your crops so you can afford to move forward. Also, when New Madrid lets loose again, no government money spent in the states affected. Finally, we need to stop spending money to control the path of rivers that have wandered for millenia until idiots started building along them and then start whining everytime they flood or try to move with their natural course changes.

If I have missed anyone, let me know and I will personally call all of my state's congressional delegation to stop all taxpayer funding of your state's issues.

PS. Forgot about all of you who build in the woods and want the government to put out fires so your house doesn't burn down.

PS. Forgot about all of you who build in the woods and want the government to put out fires so your house doesn't burn down.

Hey...I live in the woods, I also have clear cut a 200' radius around my home so that I am protected from wildfires, Further I have retention basins to store rain/groundwater to use as a water supply in case I need to put out a fire. For your information, We also have volunteer fire departments and not paid fire departments, We support our volunteer departments thru volunteering our time and giving donations. over 70% of the fireman in the US are volunteers.

Sending the money to the federal government and then expecting the same amount to be sent back to the states is foolish, More money is lost on beauracracy than ever gets back to the states.

Piggy....suprised me you did not responde to your first post.

Yep, is has been almost FOUR YEARS now so it is Obama's fault.

These people need help and give it to them. However, as others have suggested balance the budget against it.

so progressive is your comment saying anything about working together and going forward or are you just pointing fingers and blaming others because you are'nt getting enough candy.you do realize that belittling people in not a way to win their cooperation.Some of the article i have seen on the news tend to lead one to believe that neither side is willing to negotiate.

Ido...name one single thing Bush did in 8 years that didn't benefit the 1%...Can't can you? What's with righties all crying poverty? Is this the new age of the Poor Rich? Where you get to earn 6 figures and then bitch you can't possibly live on that paltry salary? Sure you can...and you will ...because you've already tapped out the working poor and Middle Class...if you earn 6 figures you are NOT middle class.

Middle Class means you live on a middle income...a hundred thou as year isn't a middle income. It only becomes that when half the people in the US earn 6 figures...and that's never going to happen...get real.

@ ewent So which class do you live in? have you done anything to improve your way of life ?or are you just going to continue blaming Bush for your woes and then hope Obama has enough food stamps left for you too.Quit blaming others and put you nose to the grindstone as they used to say and do something for yourself.

Ewent is a taker, She is one who gets money from the government.

Dancing your life away

oneman - the whineyness of your post is truly disgusting! If President Obama could find gold that would cover all of the country's bills people like you would still find a way to put him down. It must be disheartening to wake up every day so filled with hatred for someone for no reason.

SeekingSanity....."It must be disheartening to wake up every day so filled with hatred for someone for no reason."

Yep, tell that to the Liberal Progressive media and Obama surrogates, then you have hit the nail on the head.

@oneman-1166944#4: If no one has ever called you "dumb" you've always been around some very polite people.

Mac, I'd call him being honest.

you really think he can just print money?? Go back to your high school and demand an education.

Obama is smarter than us, so why would anyone disagree with his language, rhetoric, or proposals? Us common folk are too stupid to even realize how great he is. That is why we should just agree with everything he says and does period!

You just described how liberals see him. Scary isn't it?

Yep, just like the so called Conservatives discribed Reagan! Shoe is on a different foot now huh. Remember he was your god. Or at least that is how you guys talked about him.

verno, how pathetic, is that the best you could come up with. No wonder why liberals are such under achieving losers

@oneman = WHERE were you when DUBYA signed those huge tax cuts and signed us into TWO WARS ON CREDIT?? Bet ya didn't have a thing to say then! Bet you're a "real patriot."

WHERE were all you great Americans that were so concerned with our national debt at from the time George DUBYA Bush arrived in the White House? ONE WEEK after arriving he gave away $1.3 TRILLION of money that was supposed to be paying down our debt... then, we have 9/11 and contrary to all intelligence he starts two wars and rolls out another huge tax rebate. WHERE were all you BIG MOUTH RIGHT WINGERS then??? Obama walked into a $10 TRILLION plus DEBT and rabid mess.

The Democrats really have it made don't they?If they do something right it is all said and good.If something goes wrong they can blame everyone else but them.Must be nice to be faultless.The Democrats can even rewrite history too.forget the fact that it was southern democrats that seceded from the the union in 1861 because they refused the idea of emancipation of the slaves.Must have been that republican Lincoln's fault.Let's not forget Kennedy and the bay of pigs!!! oh wait that was Ford's fault.Or the fact that Johnson kept us in Viet Nam..of wait..that was Nixons fault.Anything else not covered in this post was Bush's fault.From the garden of Eden to present day.The Democrats are as shiny and pure as the North star.

Talk bad about Reagan if you want to but at least he stood up to Russia instead of apologising to them.

Yeah, what a great leader, print another $60B and have no way to pay for it.

Let's take it out of that $120B a year we spend occupying Afghanistan. Agree?

Hey Verno- learn how to spell, not speel your rhetoric.

The article only mentions New Jersey, well what about Staten Island and the other boro's of NY?

the gov't will take another 18 mths to allocate that money and then all those politicians will gather around to take thair share. None of that money will be seen by any of the victims of that storm. Fema , Red Cross, and Tyson company were there the longest amt of time. Fema gave what they had to give until there weren't anything left to give and expedited applications for some finacial help in small amts but still some kind of help. The troops were also there for a very long time. I have not heard NJ say anything about who has been helping them. This is a replica of New Orleans only to the tenth power. Three quarters of Staten Island was under water the devistation is still surmountable and so many peopl are still displaced with no where to go . Many have fled to other states only because they have family there. The stench of contamination still to this day fills the air no matter what the weather is. So do these people believe that 60.4 billion dollars will be allocated to them? No they don't. If you in the amt asked for is "60.4" , who gets the .4 , the mayors and gov. of those two states? And the rest goes to Who put in the request for it . Why did they wait so long to ask for this kind of money, Fema did its accessment of the damage within the first 2 weeks. It's almost 2 mths since the storm hit all of those areas. There are a lot of poeple who had no choice but to try and stay in what ever is left of their homes even though it may have been tagged , simply because the banks and mortgage companies don't care they wnat that monthly pymt. And that I got from the home owners themselves. Not 3rd party hearsay. You can now call it the NY waste land. Well I thank you all for the ear . I seen this article and it infuriated me because I know a lot of people from both states whose lives were devistated by this storm. To those who are still suffering try to be strong and hold on a little harder. You've got to keep on pushing. Laugh in the face of dispair so the impossibilities don't eat you alive.

Joe...President Obama pulled right wing asses out of a near Greater Depression...now..the joi bois with the snarky attitudes can't admit that. It takes more than raisins in a man's jeans to be a man. Get a clue.

Talk bad about Reagan if you want to but at least he stood up to Russia instead of apologising to them.

And he was also willing to meet with its leaders instead of outright shun them.

Jim, speaking of spelling: Speel=spiel, need help spell-check might help, or GED refresher courses.

deweydan...Not true. When President Obama came to NJ the day after Sandy hit, he and Governor Christie, a Republican by the way, worked together to come up with immediate assistance. NJ was prepared for Sandy. Two weeks before, we knew we had to start buying candles, batteries, water etc. One week before we knew we might have to evacuate if the storm was as bad as predicted.

I live less than 10 minutes from a town that was so badly decimated that the water came inland for more than 2 miles. I live inland from the water. My town had flooding because...DUH...the ocean flows westward into the Raritan Bay which flows inward into every lake, river and stream within a 15 mile distance.

FEMA did an excellent job in NJ. They had trailors already 2 weeks before the storm. Our biggest problem during Sandy was power outages, homes submerged and trees down.

First Energy did a scummy job of restoring power. These asses from First Energy in Texas sit on piles of money consumers pay for electricity and then when a disaster comes along once in 58 years in NJ, they are like Big Insurance...they put people through hell waiting to get what we've already paid for.

LetusReason...Liar. The President DID present a budget....One after the other was rejected by your prissy ass Republicans who somehow have gotten the idea that OUR tax dollars are theirs to use to create slush funds to create the next round of tax cuts for the rich.

Our President wasn't allowed to do his job for 4 years...What the cheap asses of conservatism hate is paying their fair share of taxes. By the very concept of wealth they choose to amass, they are required as American citizens under American constitutional laws to pay taxes at the rate of the incomes they earn...they don't. They skank away year after year...looking for handouts from taxpayers in as many forms as they can possibly afford to lobby for. They spend more on their GD lobbyists and then have the raisins to bitch how paying workers salaries is too unaffordable? How paying decent employer benefits is too unaffordable? We're tired of hearing this washed out, worn out, exhausted BS.

No one bitched while Bush was spending like a drunken sailor. No one bitched when Cheney and Halliburton used taxpayer dollars like it was their private domain. No one bitched for 8 years while the CEOs bought $7,000 shower curtains, fleets of private jets and private islands for the McWifie. Now, they earn over $520K a year and bitch about paying their fair share of an additional $120K in taxes...pigs never know when enough is enough...that's why their called pigs.

ewent - Obama's budgets have NEVER received a single vote. Not even in the DEMOCRAT controlled Senate.

How is it a realistic budget if it doesn't even receive a single vote from his own party?

Don Harris and Letusreason have got it right on the button. While we hope and pray for speedy recovery for the victims, yet i have to ask "why did these people build houses on stilts in the water on a beach that gets hit by hurricanes all the time---and then expect the rest of the country to pay for it?"

Why do people build in earthquake zones (West Coast0, or flood plains (ND, SD, Mississippi valley), hurricane country (Gulf and East Coast), tornado alley, etc? Gotta live somewhere.

Agree with Woodbutcher, every area has some disaster area, why do some people build in desert areas when there are droughts and wildfires there, or mudslides, or noreasters, or massive rain storms, or crop failure, or disease, sure (sarcasm) there are obviously some areas that are completely immune to disaster, not.

Sigh, this kinda thing didn't used to be what people argued over, if we didn't have the money, we paided for it by increasing taxes, we didn't say well lets not do it at all unless we cut somewhere. Or we did do it on the credit card, because this was a emergency thing, a thing that we should fix now and worry later when we could afford to.

If aliens were invading, or a asteroid were going to hit I'd like to think we'd do better, but if we whine about normal emergency measures, it's depressing to me that we'd probably whine about those emergencies as well, and then we go extinct, trala trala la la.

Prediction, this thing doesn't get passed, New jersey and New York go down the toilet, wait for other states to do the same when their particular emergency comes true, gosh people depress me.

we all need a place to go on vacation.

They will not be allowed to just rebuild on the beach without current codes being applied like raising the house on stilts or bringing in earth to build up the land. These places that were wiped out were built years ago before any of these regs were in place.

I live in NJ. Tourism is a huge industry here. Millions of people flock to our beaches every year. Part of the charm of the shore is the antiquity of the boardwalks. So because some very greedy little bitches in Stars and Bars states don't want to pay for a disaster that occured once in 58 years as opposed to the disasters NJ and surrounding states taxes contribute to in Stars and Bars states every year, we are now supposed to kowtow to the ones causing these disasters?

Next time Texas has a spate of wildfires, get the funding from Big Oil...after all, they get their funding from taxpayers. The next time any of the other Stars and Bars states has another yearly tornado, they better get their rich industry CEOs to do the funding.

Give it up already. We in NJ know why the climate is changing and it's not a natural phenomenon. We know that the air is heated to unnatural levels by the petrochemicals Stars and Bars states are spewing into the air. We know that the soil is being decimated by benzene and 20 other chemicals tha that make the Fracker Crackers billionaires and leave the rest of us with polluted water.

3 so-called independent reports on Fracking were discredited because they were infiltrated by Big Energy scientists, paid millions to skew the truth about the water that's polluted by the fracking industries.

Don Harris...I hate to tell you this but if you live anywhere near the Missouri or Mississippi River tributaries or the Great Lakes....you live too close to water. How stupid do righties need to get?

Nice slicky slicky answers just so these greedy freaks of nature don't have to contribute a dime to people who suffer disasters in any state but theirs...then, it's demand FEMA money and contributions from taxpayers in the rest of the states.

We'll remember your attitudes comes time for your state to need our tax dollars for those yearly wildfires and tornadoes.

ewent...you life must be so sad, It is terrible that you have so much hate, Is it because you have been such a miserable failure all your life, maybe you should have stayed on your fathers farm.

Pine Barrens, I don't see hate in her comments. If you have been reading her posts, it appears that she has been affected by this disaster and is disappointed in the response by the rest of you. From her description, I gather that Ewent lives outside the hundred year floodplain and so would not have flood insurance. I also gather that she has experienced flooding. New Jersey has never taken an east to west hit by a hurricane before. No one in those communities could have anticipated the type of destruction this type of storm would cause.

Since this storm and its damage was caused by a combination of weather patterns caused by global warming and higher sea levels caused by global warming, all states that produce oil and coal should have to pitch in and help. So should we do this through the federal government, or should New Jersey and New York just bill the fossil fuels states themselves?

Witty, ewent posts are filled with hate, go back and read not just this article but others.

soon the piper must be paid and it's not gonna be pretty around here. Most democrats think the printing presses will take care of the piper. not true.

Dick Cheney said: " Deficits don't matter"....during the Bush spending spree which compounded the financial collapse brought on by deregulating the investment Banks......So please don't try to tell me that Republicans can manage money better than Democrats.....LMAO!!!!

DW none of these politicians can manage money.Look at the last 100 years of government spending if you need proof.Now JP Morgan.there was a man who could manage a budget.However i would settle for a single working mother of 3 that is not getting any welfare to balance our budget.

Sure spend money on the Stars and Bars states who regularly know they are going to have wildfires as in TX, MT, WY and the rest of the cowboy states. Sure...spend money on the states that regularly have tornadoes like KS, MO, NB ...what kind of BS attitude is it that says we can hand over $12 billion to Big Oil and then deny people who have lost their homes in a once in 58 year storm?

What a bunch of greedy little red state conservative pigs!

Those who want people in NJ not to live near shore areas are idiots. Most of NJ has a shore line...water flows inward....DUH...And we are also aware of how much Big Rich Texas That Whole Other Country is desperate to turn NJ into an offshore drilling site.

Many in NJ who lived through Sandy now see the wisdom in switching off the grids and finding alternatives to fossil fuels for heat and electricity.

FEMA and Fed assistance has been there for the wildfires that swept the plain states, floods in ND, SD and the Mississippi valley and all other disasters. Point out one time they have not.

I guess there's no such thing as agriculture subsidies.

m...Liar....The East and West coasts taxes pay for your Middle wildfires and tornadoes which occur every year. You don't want the taxes people in NJ pay. The states on the coasts are the ones where industry is heaviest...not in the middle....why? DUH.....ships that sail into our harbors, planes that fly into the coasts with goods ..who the hell is going to ship to Des Moines before they come through port states?

If the southern and midwestern states are not doing well, it's their own faults. They hang onto businesses that were obsolete more than 3 decades ago because they are too afraid of change...this is also why they have an anti-change attitude. The Middle and southern states lack the initiative to make necessary changes.

Hurricane Sandy did more damage than Katrina. The only reason there was less loss of life is because people in the most affected states were prepared in advance...get it yet?

Oh, and there was bipartisan support for it.

Jace C. Gordon...Now check out how much actually went to Bush's own state and how much didn't go to LA.

ewent, your hatred for Texas is mystifying, I'd really like to see your proof that our state got more money then Louisiana, how would that even make sense? Other than maybe it's because my state took in a whole buttload of Katrina people?

Gofigure...President Obama was properly greeted by the top man in my state. He didn't wait 4 days until bodies of Americans were floating in the flood waters. I may have had my misgivings in the past about Governor Chris Christie but no one not even your kind can take away the spectacular disaster preparation plans he put into place that saved lives.

That's the problem with righties...Their mouths speed faster than their brains.

1800 + died during and aftermath of Katrina, 9th Ward still devastated, 5 days before General Honore waded ashore to get some organization going. Bush and his flyover and heck of job brownie, FEMA in total disarray after agency put under Homeland security and funding gutted by Tom Delay republican "Hammer."

Don't go there right wingers, regarding Katrina, you folks haven't a clue of the devastation, death incurred and the excruciating wait for help. I know we lived through the disaster in Covington, La., 40 miles north of New Orleans. A horror beyond description.

My heart and sympathies for the survivors of Sandy, I know, trust me I know what devastation is.

Ewent, I also had a negative opinion of Christie until Sandy. While the national news was focused on NY, Christie was hard at work trying to help your state recover. Local coverage showed him to be a man of action and not sitting high and dry in his office trying to look good. He worked with a Democratic president to get help for his state even when it drew the wrath of his party. This is one republican who puts the people first and party wants and needs second. He is not a credit to his party( they will never approve of what he did). He is a credit to humanity. (I think my fingers are going to fall off for saying that about a republican, lol) BTW That fleece should be put in the state museum.

Yeah...why not....money just grows on trees anyway.

actually, Barry thinks it grows on that printing press...

The fact HE got BinLaden makes it so....right???

warren...rich scum? People in NJ, NY, CT, DE, PA and MD are not rich scum...we work hard for every dollar we earn. How dare you? We don't roll out of bed at 1 in the afternoon and then call 2 hours worth of plunking the keyboard "work."

MY tax dollars paid for Texas wildfire relief...why didn't Texas do what it tells everyone else..."You're on your own?" Why didn't these right wing states go to their RICH ass corporate leaders they adore so much and make they fork over the money for disaster relief?

Get your red state asses out of bed every morning at 5 AM, board trains, buses and subways that take an hour of your life every morning to get to a job that pays the Main Street employees to pay for their own healthcare benefits and pensions. Don't talk about what you righties have never known and never will.

@ ewent

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/210-Roxbury-Ave_Roxbury_NY_11697_M37875-70026

• 210 Roxbury Ave Roxbury, NY 11697
• $249,000
• Status:ActiveBeds:1 Bed Baths:1 Bath House Size:700 Sq Ft

I would call anyone RICH that can pay 1/4 million for a shack.

Sorry ewent our own taxes paid as well, or did you think Texas doesn't pay taxes?

Many of us in NJ poured millions into a disaster fund set up by our Governor for Hurricane Victims...how many people in red states do that before they ask for help from the rest of us taxpayers? Many NJ people went to the disaster sites and helped their fellow neighbors remove sheetrock and debris from homes demolished by Sandy.

This is what New Jerseyans are all about...We don't ever let a disaster keep us down. We don't stand down when our own need help. And, we don't first go to the rest of the country and beg help.

Letusreason...Narrow minds...a wonderful thing to waste. This president could become pope and you'd still find fault. Grow up. Little men with tiny raisins in their jeans are a reflection on their tiny brains in their head.

Get a life bitch. You keep repeating the same crap and I'm sick of looking at your ugly ass picture.

bowtie -

I don't get upset at her ignorance any more...

I put her on ignore long ago so that I wouldn't have to read her hateful, partisan, ignorant drivel.

It does keep the blood pressure down.

Good, if it means money from me now even I say yes, I would like to think when a hurricane comes through to hit my state of Florida, the same would occur for other people, this is what our government is supposed to be for in the first place, doing what I can't do myself, like survive a disaster that I don't have the financial wherewhal to survive without help, then pay for others when they need help.

Not rich, warren SMALL BUSINESS!!!!!!!

Letusreason...Did you mind the $12 billion your tax dollars handed to Big Oil this year alone?

Mike...These right wing loonies won't get it until NJ and the rest of the giver states stop giving them what they don't need. All we are doing in NJ is paying higher costs to clean up the pollution these red state asses cause. New Jerseyans have always been a big, big supporter of our small, local businesses. We know the value of that. And, we have nothing to be ashamed of where the growth of some of these small businesse are concerned....look at Trinity Solar...20,000 customers...and it's biggest competitor? another 20,000 customers...That doesn't count the associated small businesses that are new start-ups.

NJ cannot afford to allow a right wing faction of greedy corporate trough feeders to destory our initiative to pull our state ahead. Most of know who much manufacturing was lost in the past 2 decades...Prediction...NJ will become one of the few manufacturing states to regain that loss.

singla...not true...When Hurricane Floyd hit, one of the guys I work had flood water rise to the 2nd floor of his Victorian home. FEMA paid within that year for the damages.

FEMA under Bush took longer than Hurricane Irene or Sandy to get disaster relief. Why? Bush hired a Texas accountant to run FEMA, Michael Brown and we all know what happened when Brown was remiss in his duties during Hurricane Katrina. Compare that to the trailors sent to NJ 2 weeks before Hurricane Sandy....if you can.

FEMA during Katrina had to wait for the Governor to Ok FEMA to enter the city. The Navy had supplies to land, and had to wait 2 days. The Mayor parked the evacuation busses in the lowest part of the city (brains). Not to mention building a city in a hole near an ocean or river is not the best ideal. Sandy was poorly handled, except for the Presidents photo op. A month later and still no power, trash in parts of NYC. People have home insurance (at least they should) so why the does the government have to pay for this. The Government should get in there fast provide food and shelter until the homeowners, and businesses rebuild. It is the City and state services that should reconnect power, and services like trash. Bloomberg put more intest in the marithon then getting city services going. Not to mention AZ sent in our power company employees to help just to be turned back, because they were not Union. Poor management can not be cured by more money. This is not the first storm to hit that area (my dad lived through the 1938 storm in New Bedford Mass.), and it will not be the last.

ETTECH, wow, Obama should hire you, you make it sound so simple.

Like an 8 year old trying to explain economics to his mommy.

ETTCH...As a modern American I believe President Obama is the best president for the world we live in today. If Paul Ryan is supposed to be the icon of right wing genius...his only method of brainacism is to savage Main Street Americans to create a slush fund for the top 1%. That's not a qualification for the presidency is it? As a matter of fact, a president's duty is to do what's best for the greater good.

Today, we have a 1% among us who believe THEY and only they ARE the greater good...Those obscene salaries they earn are not for work...it's for their overblown egos that make them believe they are worth a hundred million of our hard earned dollars a year. The bigger their overblown egos get, the more money they think they are worth....such BS even God is laughing at.

Wow ETTCH ...You really think the problem isn't spending money we do not have but it's an interest problem. I wish I could use my credit cards like that...Oh I have to pay them off each month or I get charged interest. Can you really be that naive. Maybe you can get these countries to lend ud trillions interest free.

mmm1379...It might be a tight butt right wing enlightenment...but 90% of the best colleges and universities are not in Stars and Bars state. 90% of the most hi-tech industries are not in the Stars and Bars States. 90% of the most progressive new industries don't bother to even consider start-ups in the antebellum plantation mentality states. They start up in the northeast or the Pacific Northwest..jealous yet?

Take it out of defense buddy, there no doubt is 60 billion of waste that we can skim.

We will cut the following from the budget: Fire suppression- Those of us on the east coast can form bucket brigades to save our forests. Army Corp of Engineers - Rivers meander, dams aren't needed for drinking water if you live in a moist climate, flooding is no problem. Farm subsidies - Law of supply and demand will be used. If you grow too much and the price goes down, oh well. If a drought hits, too bad, you go under. All overseas military bases. We can put naval bases on the coasts and army bases at the north and south borders. No need for military in the interior or in other countries. Oil and Gas subsidies - big business can survive on their own. All companies with CEO making over $500,000 in all benefits are big business and get no money from the government. Congressional salaries and perks - Lots of money off the budget there.

These cuts should save more the requested amount.