Along with all the added fillers (like NASCAR, etc in the Fiscal Bill) that should have been kicked out. What happened to common sense? The initial bill should be the only thing considered. Nothing else.

So again, why raise taxes on the high dollar earners if they are simply slip through the loopholes created?

yeah... from my understanding this is part 1 of a two part consideration.

Hopefully what was voted on has the unnecessary expenditures taken out - like money for Alaskan fisheries. I mean seriously, how far reaching was that storm?

The GOP is just unbelievable. I thought this " stuff " would end after the elections but it hasn't even slowed down.. This should have passed in the first week after Sandy.. Just unbelievable..

'

I'm with the GOP on this one.

The Government is not there to bail you out every-time something goes wrong in your life!

If you were not smart enough to have insurance, too bad!

pretty compassionate there marlen....I live in Washington State and none of us had insurance when Mt. St. Helen's erupted and shut down the entire Northwest....tough nuggies huh !!! As in most cases, you must walk a mile in their shoes before you dance on their grave.

He said his committee would take up a bill this year "to transition to a private innovative, competitive, sustainable flood insurance market

Brilliant. Anyone living near the coast, or in a future hurricane's path, or on a hillside, or even within several miles of a river, lake, or reservoir can choose between living in a house that can't be insured against flood damage, or try to sell as quickly as possible.

Flood damage is far more common than it was just 30 years ago, and it will continue to grow worse in the future. And now we should privatize flood insurance?

Simply brilliant.

Let's thank those countries who have helped us with Hurricane Sandy- AMEN!

As you know, America is the first country to send aid when other countries are in trouble.

It is highly appropriate that we now send THANKS to all of the countries

that reciprocated for our help with their disasters, misgivings, social turmoil, & poverty by sending to the United States of America monetary and physical help when Sandy ravaged our East Coast leaving dead, homelessness, and pure disaster.

Listed below are all the Countries and World Organizations that are giving us gracious assistance. Please assist in thanking these entities by passing on this email so people all over America can join in and THANK our neighbors, whom we have assisted with BILLIONS!!!!

First country on the list to donate or help us:

1 .

2.

3.

4.

Maybe now Americans will realize that charity begins at home. With millions of our people in need and in poverty, let's save our money and spend it at home instead of sending it to Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, etc........

Staten Island, Queens, New Jersey and parts of New York and Connecticut would gladly thank America if we spent the billions there.....

Can any of you idiots read and comprehend? This money was fund claims against flood insurance claims...for people that have been paying flood insurance premiums.

But why bother understanding what the article says...just keep carping. Unbelievable!

No need to borrow money from China! Quit throwing away hundreds of billions on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, help people in our own country without increasing the debt!

not completely correct Dottie's girl, Mexico is sending " undocumented workers" as fast as it can, And Mexico isn't the only one. And after all they are only here to help and do nothing but work....ask Barry.

I wonder who the 67 Republicans who didn't vote for the bill are and where they are from. They wouldn't be too popular among their constituants if they were from the northeast so have to assume that they are not. Thing is, if their states haven't had a disaster lately, they very well could in the future. What are these sterling characters going to do then? Tell their people that they have to fend for themselves like they are telling the northeast states to do?

Thank you House of Rep for doing the right thing in passing the part of the bill that was directly related to Sandy relief. Now as for the rest of the bill.....remove all the pork and non storm relief, pass the remaining and send that back to the Senate. That is what you should morally and ethically do. And itt is time to show some fiscal responsibility, this is a good place to start.

Mike,

This money was fund claims against flood insurance claims...for people that have been paying flood insurance premiums.

How much of that "insurance funding " do you believe the insurance companies will give back? Even so it is not the govts job to prop them up in the first place. They have ...or are suppose to have ..the funds set aside to do just that.

And calling people names.....please .....

Jim Wilson you're a brainless, liberal idiot. As the Representative from NJ said, NONE of the Sandy victims have been waiting for payments. This bill was just to insure FUTURE payments to those victims. All the BS posturing by the democrats to make the republicans look bad and YOU MORONS fall for it hook, line and sinker. WAKE UP! And, it was a brilliant move by the Speaker to have 2 votes on this issue so the House could pull out all the BS PORK that the democratic senators put in the bill. Nothing like an American crisis to have the democrats take advantage of to fund some other unnecessary crap.

The largest holder of Us debt is SS Trust fund followed by the US treasury itself.

Get Real, If no one is waiting for $ to help get back into their homes then why are all of the governors (including Christie) screaming about getting the funding that they want? Because the $ is needed to get folks back to good....

Beaner you have enough time off to think about it? It wasn't your house why hurry?

Borrow Baby Borrow

marlen, you are an idiot! These are people who paid insuance premiums for flood. They should be given money for their claims, they have paid for the insurance. These funds are to pay for claims, the fund will be exhausted. Whether the premiums were high enough to plan for these tragedies is another thing but if you have paid for the insurance you are entitled to submit and get paid on a claim.

I.A. Scooter, there are no insurance companies involved in the flood insurance program. It is a federal program and the premiums are paid to the federal government. Therefore the government is responsible to pay the claims. They just ran out of funds because their reserve was not high enough.

They just ran out of funds because their reserve was not high enough

Yes, well, we have sent so much to foreign countries who have been hit with massive flooding... there just isn't enough for the people in the US.

Republican Congressman Peter King spoke the truth the other day when he said "If you're from NY or NJ and you give one dime to the Republicans, you've got to be out of your mind"! I'm a Sandy victim who DID HAVE gov't mandated NFIP flood insurance and yet I'm still waiting over 2 months to have these incompetents do the right thing so that I can put my life back together.. I'd love to know how all these Republicans who voted "No" can justify it . If they say "pork" I'll have to laugh because I'm pretty sure this is not the first time in history that unrelated things were ever attached to a bill. What did they suddenly get some morality? Seems like Republicans don't like the northeast. OK, the feeling is now mutual. I will never vote R again.

Marlen101917 - I am a Sandy victim, and I DO have flood insurance! I have paid it every year for the 15 years we have owned the house. Unfortunately, I was not told that the federally backed flood insurance did not have enough money to actually pay us if we ever needed the insurance money!! If you read the article correctly, you would see that the bill was passed to make sure there is enough money to pay those of us who DO have flood insurance. I don't appreciate being called irresponsible by people who don't read the entire story!

Agreed, get rid of the unnecessary expenditures(PORK). I donated $50.00 of my hard earned moneys, to the relief fund. I put off paying my cell phone bill to do so, and what happened to that money? I would like an accounting of how much of that money actually reaches the people, and how much goes to payng the employees running these wso called relief programs. There is so much corruption that suckles off the honest taxpayers teet, and the Northeast are some of the worst culprits. Instead of crying for a fair accounting and proper use of billions of our taxes and donations, they look at it as an oppurtunity to take advantage of a horrible situations of real peoples suffering, exactly like the looters that are robbing houses there while people had to abandoned their unninhabitable dwellings. Enjoy the windfall scumbags, because you reap what you sow!

67 Members of the Tea Movement voted against the Sandy aid bill, I find this very very hard to believe that we have so many heartless people in our Congress, these people should be removed from their office, our Country don't need people like this voting on our laws !

The only thing that irritates me on increasing taxes on the $400K to #1 million earners are mant are small business owners, who with increased taxes, would mean less hiring employees and giving more employees multiple tasking. On the million and above I can agree with increase.

Sorry for your loss, truedat, and I applaud you for being responsible enough to carry flood insurance. But before you fire from the hip at the GOP, you really ought to look at some of the crappy, ridiculous pork that was tacked onto this bill, and redirect your anger at whomever added it.....regardless of their party afiliation.

Get Real - FYI - I have well over $100,000 of flood damage to my fully insured home, and have gotten a total of $15,000 from my insurance company so far!! If that were your house, would you consider that "getting paid?" Get Real, you seriously need to get real!

So isn't your beef really with the insurance company, who collected your premiums each year?

Dottie's girl: Let me fill in that list for you:

1: Iran

2: China

3: Canada

4: a guy on Homeland security's list as a terrorist offered aid too, which was refused

Seven countries were affected by Sandy:

United States

Fatalities: 131

Missing: 0

Damage:$63 billion USD

Haiti

Fatalities: 104

Missing: 15

Damage in USdollars: $100 millon USD

Cuba

Fatalities: 11

Missing: 0

Damage: $2 billion USD

Bahamas

Fatalities: 2

Missing:0

Damage: $300 million

Canada

Fatalities: 2

Missing:0

Damage: $30 million

Jamaica

Fatalities:1

Missing: 0

Damage: $55.23 million

Although the dollar amount of damages in those countries are not as high as in the US, you also have to look at how much money those countries have to help rebuild. Haiti, for example, still hasn't completely rebuilt from their earthquake.

After Hurricane Katrina, 70+ countries offered aid, assistance, supplies, etc.The US refused most, accepted some, but then were plagued by news reports that said the people who were supposed to get the aid never got it--there were allegations of fund mismanagement, fraud, etc. So after Hurricane Sandy countries across the world sent aid to the Red Cross and other charities instead of offering it directly to the government.

The pork that was put, or trying to put into the Sandy bill was the tea movement of the GOP !

Great Blessed Goddess, will you people PLEASE go have a look at this bill before you decide if it's pork?

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1eas/pdf/BILLS-112hr1eas.pdf

HR1, as originally passed by the House, was not a 'Sandy Relief bill' it was originally for allocating funds for all Departments of the Federal Government. The opening paragraph of HR1 says:

In the Senate of the United States, December 28, 2012. Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1) entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other Departments and Agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for all other purposes.’’, do pass with the following AMENDMENTS....

The Senate made amendments to the original bill that would authorize spending on disaster relief for EVERYONE affected by a disaster in 2012 and sent it back to the House on Dec 28.

So adding funds to the Dept of Agriculture for the damage done to AK fishery equipment from debris washing up from the Japan tsunami is not pork. The damage done to gulf-coast fisheries is not 'pork'as they were damaged by Hurricane Issac earlier this year before Sandy.

So adding funds to the US Army Corps of engineers to fix the Smithsonian roof is not pork because that crack has been there since the East Coast Earthquake, and while the us ACE is fixing the Washington Monument, they can fix the Smithsonian roof at the same time.

Exactly, why are the victims not getting the help they need. Why are the programs, like required flood insurance, that people have paid into for years more fiscally secure. But yet unneeded govt' programs are so well funded, while these people remain homeless or shacked up in crowded family members homes. Cut off all foreign assistence, until these people get their lives back on track. The treasury has been pilfered for the past four years, and learning from this experience can be incentive for our elected officials to be more fiscally responsible. So we can rush more speedily to the assistance of our citizens in need after catastrophies like this, and provide finacial assistence.

Max, Don't forget Israel! We have given them $3billion per year, for as long as I can remember, and I am 71! All we have got in return is Israel shooting up the USS Liberty, killing 35 americans, and then Israel sending Jonathon Pollard to spy on us!

Just what the #$%$ do you think insurance is for?? Doesn't anyone carry insurance on their own property anymore? This bailout is for the ins. companies plus a lot of PORK plain and simple. Every congressman and woman should be fired, and the Senate, then start over. No full pay for the rest of their lives, live on the social security you never paid into. Doubt my grandson or his children will ever get out of this bovine defication.

jan-1678944...Thanks to you, womens still have the right to choose, to use abortion(kill babies) as a contraceptive. Use your right to choose please?!

@IA.ScooterTramp,

He's not saying it is to fund the insurance companies, the federal government required these people to have National Flood Insurance through FEMA. Those insurance funds were what these people have been required to pay by the Federal government in order to live there because the Feds require them to have flood insurance and now the Feds don't want to pay up!

Amanda -

Haiti will never rebuild. To even include it on a disaster list is a non point. It is never off one.

TO: Get Real 2011 who wrote:

"... As the Representative from NJ said, NONE of the Sandy victims have been waiting for payments. This bill was just to insure FUTURE payments to those victims. All the BS posturing by the democrats to make the republicans look bad ..."

Some folks sure have a nasty way of trying to express themselves.

I can absolutely gurantee you that Republicans do NOT need any help making themselves look bad.

If these folks haven't been waiting, then why is this Front Page News?

And if this matter isn't "urgent" and is not needed now, but rather is only intended for "future" payments, then WTF was Chris Christie screaming at everybody about and disrespecting his own Republican Party?

The New Jersey Governor sure was acting like it was "urgent".

gene said:

Just what the #$%$ do you think insurance is for?? Doesn't anyone carry insurance on their own property anymore?

That is what this $9.7 billion is for! To cover everyone who opted to purchase flood insurance for their homes from the National Flood Insurance Program and now need that insurance in order to rebuild their homes and lives!

This bailout is for the ins. companies plus a lot of PORK plain and simple.

This isn't going to private insurance companies, this is going into the government's flood insurance program which people bought for their homes and now need the insurance payout in order to get their lives back together! Please rad the article--never mind, I'll post the relevant portion for you;

The Federal Emergency Management Agency notified Congress Wednesday that additional borrowing authority was needed -- otherwise NFIP funds available to pay claims would be exhausted next week.

FEMA said that to date nearly 140,000 NFIP claims have been made and $1.7 billion has been paid to people affected by Sandy.

Amanda, I think the issue is that they are being identified as a "consequences of Hurricane Sandy", not all are, some are transparent like upgrades to super computers for the NOAA and such. It just seems there should other avenues to get the other funding that is needed. The media is pounding this as a "Sandy Bill" creating a perception that it is for Sandy related items, when in truth it isn't. If they wanted it to be for natural disasters from 2011-2012 then it should be named as such.

Smithsonian Institute Line Item, reads:

"For an additional amount for ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ for necessary expenses related to the consequences of Hurricane Sandy, $2,000,000"

I'm ok with getting the roof fixed and any needed maintenance for the Washington Monument, I'm just asking for transparency.

I live in Indiana. My family and I were very tramatized by Sandy. Where do I pick up my check?

Why expand borrowing? Just take the pork out of the bill instead of borrowing. Also, revoke the do-nothing-congress pay raises. They don't like it, they can always leave/give up their seat.

I live in Indiana. My family and I were very tramatized by Sandy. Where do I pick up my check?

www.IWantMyPorkToo.gov/IneffectiveCongress

or

call 1.Add.Mor.Pork

Matt said:

Amanda, I think the issue is that they are being identified as a "consequences of Hurricane Sandy", not all are, some are transparent like upgrades to super computers for the NOAA and such. It just seems there should other avenues to get the other funding that is needed. The media is pounding this as a "Sandy Bill" creating a perception that it is for Sandy related items, when in truth it isn't.

THANK YOU, someone gets what I've been trying to get across for three days now!

HR1 is not a 'Sandy Relief Bill', and the media needs to quit calling it that already!! The bill was originally meant to detail spending 'for the Department of Defense and all other Departments and Agencies of the Government'.

In the Senate of the United States, December 28, 2012. Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1) entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other Departments and Agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following AMENDMENTS:

If they wanted it to be for natural disasters from 2011-2012 then it should be named as such.

After it left the senate, yes, that isexactly what they did. The bill was renamed the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, HR1, and the full text can be found here:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1eas/pdf/BILLS-112hr1eas.pdf

Keep in mind that these additions are simply the Senate's amendments to a goverment spending bill that the House already approved, and that the Senate already passed.

Amanda, nobody will read the actual bill, that's just boring. It's more fun to just come here and argue with people just because they belong to a different political party, don't even need to read the article if you don't want to!

Amanda covered what the bill does, but a couple more things to reply to Gene with about the insurance situation. If you have a mortgage you are required to have flood insurance, but many of the homes in that area have been family owned for generations and don't have a mortgage. Also insurance companies designated those zones as low-risk of flooding, so the agent would have recommended that they do not have flood insurance if money is tight.

Lastly, there are some despicable insurance companies that are taking advantage of something called the Anti-concurrent Causation Provision. With this clause if your house was affected by flood, wind, or fire(all 3 occurred during Sandy), and you aren't covered for all 3, you get compensated for none of the coverage. This happened after Katrina and Irene also.

"Robert Hunter, insurance director for the Consumer Federation of America says this clause states that if an insured event, such as wind, happens about the same time as an event excluded in your policy, such as a flood, neither is covered – regardless of the sequence of events."

The National Flood Insurance Program exists because there is NO private insurance market. After getting hit from various floods, all of the national insurance companies left the market.

The US, as a country, had a choice, either put together an insurance program, or abandon all areas that could, in a 100 year time frame, potentially flood.

Since all banks require flood insurance for those areas, flood insurance MUST be provided.

The premiums usually are sufficient to pay for damages, but there is NO reinsurance market, so the US government must cover shortages.

Without this type of insurance, ALL areas near any water would have to be abandoned. This includes every city along the east coast, any major river, any lake, all the west coast cities, most of the major TX cities.

Saying that the government should not be doing this is as dumb as saying that insurance should not cover contraceptives.

To all you idiots who blame the Republicans ... again ... for NOT jumping in on this the day after the storm, just look at the "relief" Bill and see how it has been larded up adding Billions that have NOTHING to do with the Hurrican Sandy damage! THAT is what a lot of those silly Republicans have been trying to defeat ... and I see ALL Democrats voted in favor of this one ... so there must be some pork belly in there for them again. Libiots!

It seems one important point is not being discussed.

The borrowing authority referred to in the article is simply a means for the flood insurance program to make up for the lack of funding it has created through its insurance premiums. In other words, the Federal Flood protection inusrance is being sold at a subsidized level. Why is this important? Because it lowers the cost of living too close to the big water and understates the financial risk. When the cost of living too close to the ocean is artificially too low, more people are encouraged to live there. So now, the flood insurance program has no money in reserve to pay claims becasue the insurance protection sold was priced too low. Kind of like selling credit default swaps and not holding anything in reserve. We saw how that worked out too.

Now the federal flood insurance scheme has to borrow (it will never pay it back) money to pay those claims, meaning it is operating as an insurance business without adequate capital reserves. Private business is not allowed to do that. only the government can run a business with such a business plan because it is backed up by the government. This is exactly how we got into the mortgage mess. It's how we got into the student loan mess. It's how we have undunded retirements for federal and state workers. This is what I have come to expect of a "business" run by the government. I expect it to be porly run and managed because there is no accountability because the government can just step in and write a check. It never works out.

So go ahead, borrow 9 billion to cover the current damages, and then what? Do you raise the insurance premiums to levels that will cover these damages in the future AND provide capital in reserve? Or do you just hose the taxpayer again in the future when the next flood hits?

I also think it is time to have a discussion about why the government should be in the business of insuring losses for people that refuse to carry flood insurance. I agree with disaster relief and I feel for those that were hit by Sandy, but why is it that the federal government (you and me) have to pay for rebuilding homes for people that refused to carry insurance? We don't do that for deaths of those without life insurance. We don't do that for those that have accidents and fail to carry car insurance? Why is flood insurance different? People made the choice to buy a big screen TV or take a vacation or buy a car instead of carrying flood insurance even though the flood insurance was priced artificially low. They made the choice to live without being insured and now they are entitled to the benefits of insurance without ever paying for it. Why is that?

Maybe we need a bill that says you either have to carry flood insurance if you live within 1 mile of the ocean or at less than 30 feet of elevation or in some other designated flood zone, or if you don't, then you assume all risk and have to sign a statement saying so.

Or, we could just eliminate all insurance and have everyone that has a claim send a form to the government to be reimbursed for auto, fire, storm, or life insurance claims. I just don't understand how we got to the point that the federal government is expected to be the insurer of last resort without ever even receiving the premiums. But hey. It's not like it is our money. It's our kid's money and the money of thier kids so why worry? Pass a bill for two hundred billion and build everyone a new house.

comment0508:

look at the "relief" Bill and see how it has been larded up adding Billions that have NOTHING to do with the Hurrican Sandy damage!

HR1, as originally passed by the House, was not a 'Sandy Relief bill'. It was originally for allocating funds for all Departments of the Federal Government. The opening paragraph of HR1 says:

In the Senate of the United States, December 28, 2012. Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1) entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other Departments and Agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for all other purposes.’’, do pass with the following AMENDMENTS....

The Senate made amendments to the original bill authorizing spending on disaster relief for EVERYONE affected by a disaster in 2012, titled it Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, HR1, and sent it back to the House on Dec 28.

So yes, it would be loaded with 'pork' if it was simply a bill for Hurricane Sandy BUT IT WASN'T.

IT IS FOR EVERYONE AFFECTED BY ANY DISASTER UP UNTIL Dec 28, 2012.

PLEASE go read this thing for yourself!

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1eas/pdf/BILLS-112hr1eas.pdf

Jan you are incorrect. The pork in the Sandy Bill was put in by Reid and others in the Senate. Everything from Guantanimo, to forrest restoration, to Alaska fisheries, Animal disease research, NOAA, Community development block grants, Homeland security, Smithsonian, cemetaries, etc. etc. Not sure if any of that was left in this vote, i would imagine so as to why some voted against it.

The bill was to ensure additional future payouts.

A large portion of our population, 50% i think, lives near the coast. I used to and struggled getting everything straight for a couple of years after Katrina. Flood insurance is much higher there now. There used to be a problem of the govt paying off many times to the same people that had many claims. Some had a dozen or so claims and the govt kept rebuilding them with no increase.

Insurance companies don't determine flood zones, i think its the corps of engineers.

Oh for pity's sake.

BigATC, did you read ANY of the post immediately above yours?

THIS WAS NOT A 'SANDY RELIEF BILL'!!!!!

The original title of this bill was 'An Act making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other Departments and Agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for all other purposes"!!!!

The Senate made amendments to the original bill authorizing spending on disaster relief for EVERYONE affected by a disaster in 2012, titled it Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, HR1, and sent it back to the House on Dec 28.

Let's look at how his relates to the issues you raised:

Guantanamo; Guantanamo is in Cuba. Cuba was one of the countries hardest hit by the hurricane. They suffered damages from a disaster in 2012,therefore, getting funds to fix the damage from a bill titled 'Disaster Relief Appropriations' is, well...appropriate.

Forest restoration: There were wildfirs across the countryearlier this year, yesthat's counted as a disaster, yes theyget disaster relief funding too because if those hillside aren't reforested mudslides will wrecjk surrounding houses.

Alaska fisheries: they've been taking damages from debris from the Japan tsunami washing up on our shores, hitting fishing equipment, hitting boats and causing damage, all this year.You have to have heard of some of the stuff that's been washing ashore on the west cost?

Animal disease research: With power knocked out everywhere, sewer systems becoming inoperable and backing up, conducting research into how that affects our food supply. Not to mention which, we have to monitor radiation levels in fish on the west coast due to the Japan nuclear disaster. I don't want to eat a tuna fish sandwich today and wake up tomorrow with a third eye or gills, thank you very much!!!

NOAA: Thisshouldbe a nobrainer. A lot of NOAA's buoys were damaged by the stormall acrossthe eastrn seabord, in US provinceslike puerto Rico,andthe us base atGuantanamo. Of youthink we shouldn't fix thosebuos you're mad.

Community development Block Grants: This will allow those who lost their homes to rebuild. That should be clearly evident.

Homeland Security: Homeland Security is the parent department for FEMA, and FEMA is the one giving out these flood insurance payouts. That should be clearly evident too.

Smithsonian; there has been a crack in the Smithsonian roof since the East Coast Earthquake years ago. Funds haven't been available and it has been ignored--but as every homeowner knows, the longer you delay fixing a small problem,the bigger it's going to get. Let's skip the Smithsonian roof now, even though it could be done very quickly and easily with the USACE working on the Washington Monument right nearby) and shell out billions later for a new building--that is, if thieves and terrorists don't get in through the roof and steal everything first.

Does anyone find interesting that members of congress, especially the republicans have a problem sending funds to those tax payers who need help now but have no problem at all inadding "pork " to most every bill passed. It is not just the republicans in this...the democrates are deep into it also..yet the claims of not enough money does not stop congress from adding their pet projects to whatever they can. It has as yet to stop them from charging everything they do to the tax payers.

If you refuse to carry enough INSURANCE to cover the cost of rebuilding, then starve and freeze to death. WHY do the taxpayers have to once again bail out the ignorant owners of property at or below sea level??? If NY or NJ government doesn't have the money for INFRASTRUCTURE repairs, then TAX the people that live in the state and leave the PEOPLES money alone. I'm so sick of the massive give away that keeps adding to the nations debt. I've never ridden in a NY subway and more than likely NEVER WILL so fix it YOURSELF!!!

rightwingscrewball, that's the way you talk to other people on this vine, calling people stupid and a retard ?

Amanda,

The problem with the bill is it was added to. The Republican bill did not have the support to pass in the Senate. For the Democrats to add Sandy to it says that they were going to get some spending that they wanted that wouldn't have passed.

If there is one thing that the Democrats do well, it set up legislation so that they set up a win no matter which way the vote goes.

Knowing the bill did not pass previously and in effect was then really chock full of excess spending, they did the right thing to strip out the Sandy relief portion that must be passed and get it through.

Since many of you throw around the $Billion this and $Billion that number, maybe it's time to once again open some eyes to what you are REALLY talking about. I know it's old, but I don't think the people nor the morons in Congress care of even know what they are talking about anymore.

Here it is...http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

Or a different look that should scare the crap out of everyone...http://usdebt.kleptocracy.us/

The way I read the article this portion is to re-fund the NFIP and this is a loan that will be paid back with interest (probably 2% or less). I really don't have a problem with it being a loan.

The problem I have with it is that tax dollars are being used to fund a program that should be self sufficient. If the NFIP is collecting fees for flood protection insurance. How can the NFIP be so insolvent? Unless those payments were being used for normal bureaucratic overhead, or were the premiums just that low that the NFIP never calculated the risk of this magnitude. Lastly is the NFIP such a specific disaster base that not enough people pay premiums to keep them solvent in these types of disasters?

People have the right to live where they wish. However, when I was purchasing my primary residence I did a lot of research to find a place where I was not in a flood zone. I am close enough to enjoy the coastal regions of the east, but far enough away to be shielded from the impact of coastal flooding.

There are risks in everything. I was told many times growing up, People who ride on two wheels eventually fall over, and people who live near the water will eventually get flooded.

Jeanne Donaldson, you can go to Open Congress.org to see who voted how.

Cowboy 17,
I also grew up in Washington State and Mt.St Hellen's did not even come close to shutting down anything except a very few areas mostly unpopulated,I had friends staying with us while their parents were fishing up close to the area where the ash came down and yes it spread for a few days,but If you remember only one guy died because he refused to leave,so Im thinking that's not a fair comparison,almost nobody shut down,But Im sure you already knew that.And Im not sure if ins Co. Offer volcano coverage....

The DOW hit a 4 year high, today. Which means, of course, that Obama is a crappy SOCIALIST!

Ster2 - Regarding the Mount St. Helens eruption... 57 people died and it actually did quite bit of damage to surrounding infrastructure. I agree that the damage caused by Sandy is in a different category, but the Mount St. Helens eruption was still a very significant event.

The Sandy 67 must be targeted exposed and made to feel the same way these kooky groups make others feel.They go around and target and pick off, the men and women who have enough, heart,compassion and good old common sense, to come to the aid of our fellow man,women and children when they are in dire need of "HELP." It is time to turn the table on these heartless "highly paid decision makers"Aslo we must keep a watchful eye on the gun cotrol votes. If after seeing 20 innocent babies being "blown to pieces" anyone who does not see a need for some changes needs to be exposed. DEMS stay focused...2014 :)

All Democrats voted for this bill as it should be. Now lets talk about Republicans, 67 Republicans actually voted to not help those people in their time of need. Now these are places that support the Republican movement every time there is a campaign. Maybe now, after seeing 67 of their own constituents voting no on helping them, maybe now they will not send money to a group that really don't care about them. Want to spend your money right, send it to the Democrats who 100% voted yes to help.

• Day by day, hour by hour, issue by issue, the GOP is slowly is slowly killing itself.

Beagles wake
I stand corrected,you are correct,57 is the number of deaths from Helen's,I was a kid and all I remember hearing was about old Harry who refused to leave.
It was very scary but it didn't shut dwn the NW was my point,and the warnings were very adamant that it was dangerous and yet people still went there even my friends parents.
Anyhoo thank you for pointing out my error :)

Bonehead steps in it again. This run away clown train know as the rethuglican party jumps the track once again in their slow motion odyssey to oblivion. Couldn't happen to soon, mind you.

What some folks seem to miss is that these storm victims PAID for flood insurance. Which (trust me) is NOT cheap! That is the responsible thing that you are supposed to do if you live in areas at risk for flood. So, there is a CONTRACT that if there IS a flood, damages are covered (albeit with HUGE deductibles.) To then tell those who did the responsible thing to take their contract and SHOVE it, is apparently the Teathugs way!

Wants to know

What some folks seem to miss is that these storm victims PAID for flood insurance. Which (trust me) is NOT cheap! That is the responsible thing that you are supposed to do if you live in areas at risk for flood. So, there is a CONTRACT that if there IS a flood, damages are covered (albeit with HUGE deductibles.) To then tell those who did the responsible thing to take their contract and SHOVE it, is apparently the Teathugs way!

Not sure what a Teathugs is or what their way is either, but I do know the money is not just for people to rebuild their homes, it's for streets, bridges, parks, public utilities, etc etc. Plethera of things besides helping families resettle. What amazes me is your lack of caring in the aftermath of a major natural desaster. Must be a pre-requisite to being a Republican.

I agree yeahbuhwha?, but a portion is better then waiting for the clowns to get their act together. Too often BIG things are held up by stupid pork. I'd love it if they were this specific with every bill.

Please read the article;

...the House voted Friday to approve $9.7 billion in additional borrowing authority for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) which covers property owners in flood-prone areas.

Friday’s vote was a prelude to another vote on Jan. 15 to make additional outlays to cities, towns and property owners affected by the storm.

The 'split bill which you refer to and that has been the topic of some dissent the last few days was HR1, which, as passed by the House, was originally for allocating funds for all Departments of the government. The opening paragraph of HR1 says:

In the Senate of the United States, December 28, 2012. Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1) entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other Departments and Agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for all other purposes.’’, do pass with the following AMENDMENTS....

I would guess this has been tabled for now and a vote was called for IMMEDIATE disaster relief just for Sandy victims,and the rest of HR1 will be taken up at a later date as it involves allocating spending to 'other Departments and Agencies of the Government.'

There actually was no pork in the original bill. It was an amendment (illegal non-germane though) to the DOD authorization bill that was titled National Disaster Relief 2012 and was to cover ALL recovery from the many natural disasters throughout the 2012 calendar year. The original amendment was going through the channels when Sandy hit, and funds for that disaster were ADDED to the amendment. The bill passed today was simply allowing the NFIP to borrow money to cover the insurance losses their insured had suffered. Remember that almost ALL flood insurance is paid for through this NFIP program, not through private insurers. Private insurers WON'T cover floods because of the high risk of payouts they would see. Any attempt by the GOP to convert the NFIP to a "private innovative, competitive, sustainable flood insurance market.” is a real joke because NO homeowner (other than the multi-millionaires) would be able to afford the premiums.

But yet, $51.8 billion in aid was passed for Hurricane Katrina aid within a month. Interesting that the Repubs in congress jumped on aid for the red states of Lousiana, Mississippi and Alabama, but hold up aid for blue states of New Jersey and New York. Partisianship needs to stop and Americans need to come first.

If the left had kept the pork out of the bill it would have been passed sooner rather than later. Odd everyone's so worried about the length of time it took to pass this bill but not a peep about why after almost 4 months we have no answers from Hillary regarding the MURDER of 4 Americans in Benghazi? 4 MONTHS!!!! She's as guilty as your prez folks. People were up in arms about Romney's money but don't see anything about Al Gore's $100 million dollar payoff????? He wanted the sale to go through BEFORE the fiscal cliff deal so he wouldn't have to pay as much in taxes. He's one of those EVIL rich people that you all rail on. Crickets? Hypocrites.

Dottie's girl:

There was no pork in the bill.

HR1, as originally passed by the House, was not a 'Sandy Relief bill' it was originally for allocating funds for all Departments of the Federal Government. The opening paragraph of HR1 says:

In the Senate of the United States, December 28, 2012. Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1) entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other Departments and Agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for all other purposes.’’, do pass with the following AMENDMENTS....

The Senate made amendments to the original bill authorizing spending on disaster relief for EVERYONE affected by a disaster in 2012 and sent it back to the House on Dec 28.

The entire bill detailing spending for all Departments and Agencies of the Government was supposed to be voted on after the fiscal cliff agreement was reached, but Speaker Boehner never called it to a vote in the House.

Ah, yes, Amanda

There was pork in the bill, some of it removed. Fisheries in AK and the gulf were included in the bill, just to mention, and there are more. The insurance companies estimated damages at $20 billion and the original bill was for $60 billion.

Sharrianne;

The bill that passed today simply puts emergency funds into the National Flood Insurance Policy. The actual bill, HR1, still sits on the table waiting to be voted on.

Since the purpose of HR 1 was to allocate money for 'All Departments and Agencies of the Government' and is designed to assist ALL of those affected by a disaster up to Dec 28, 2012, the AK fisheries, which have been sustaining heavy losses due to the debris washing up from the tsunami would be included in the funding meant for the Department of Agriculture. The fisheries in the Gulf were affected by Hurricane Issac...remember that one?

This is NOT the $60 billion bill that wasn't voted on by the House, this is a separate bill to prop up the government flood insurance program that was overwhelmed by the size of the Sandy losses. That other bill will be voted on in a week or so.

Rumours the GOP Tea Movement was trying to load the Sandy aid bill with pork, what a disgrace this party has become !

Please, lets hurry and bail out the insurance companies!!!

Dottie's girl,

since you are so concerned over Benghazi, may I suggest you go take a fact finding tour there. Let us know what you find out

okie joe;

Thank you, why does no one else seem to get that fact?

Ron:

This isn't going to private insurance companies, this is going into the government's flood insurance program which people bought for their homes and now need the insurance payout in order to get their lives back together! Please read the article--never mind, I'll post the relevant portion for you;

The Federal Emergency Management Agency notified Congress Wednesday that additional borrowing authority was needed -- otherwise NFIP funds available to pay claims would be exhausted next week.

FEMA said that to date nearly 140,000 NFIP claims have been made and $1.7 billion has been paid to people affected by Sandy.

Amanda- do you feel like the lone voice of reason in the wilderness? I can't believe all the people in this thread who can't understand what the article said, or what you said. Good grief.

And for all of you that are going off topic, I have this:

A lot of what you think is pork was going to Red states, like Alaska, Iowa and Louisiana.

And I'll repeat what Amanda said-People had insurance. There just wasn't enough money to cover the incredible amount of damage. How much simpler can it be made for you people with an ax to grind.

It would be nice if we can get a list of the 67 names of the people in our Congress that voted against the sandy aid bill, these losers need to be put on notice for their heartless votes !

Dottie's Girl;

I'm going to take this little side trip re: Benghazi with you and give you the facts that you apparently haven't had time to read for yourself:

Ambassador Stevens' diplomatic party requested an extension of the SST's team's deployment to Libya, which the State Dept refused to do saying they needed to develop ties with the locals. However, a security team was available at a CIA annex about a mile away from the consulate in Benghazi. When the attack began, two members of Stevens' security detail locked him and Smith in a panic room while they went to retrieve weapons; however by the time they got back with weapons and tactical gear the consulate was filled with smoke. They found Smith's body but not Stevens; they retreated from the burning building and headed back to the CIA building.

A group of locals found Stevens in a small locked room, pulled him out of the window, found he was still alive and rushed him through the streets to the nearest hospital, where doctors worked for 45 minutes to save the ambassador, then, failing that, placed his body on an airlift and sent him on to Tripoli, to the US Embassy there.

In the meantime the militants had followed the retreating CIA security team to the CIA building in Benghazi and commenced an attack roughly 3 hours after the consulate burned. Doherty and Woods, both ex-Navy SEALS now privately contracted by the CIA to provide security, went up to the roof machine guns to lay down cover fire, to cover the retreat of the 30+ Americans being evacuated. A mortar went off, killing them and crumbling the roof of the building, but the rest of the Americans were evacuated safely.

News articles and reports from eyewitnesses specified they saw the militants responsible gathering people in the street to protest the film. One of the the attackers beat up a member of the Libyan security team claiming the Libyan military guy was an 'infidel protecting infidels who insulted our prophet'.

Yes, they were later proved to be members of an al-Quaeda splinter group, but there was eyewitness evidence that could lead one to make a reasonable assumption that a protest about the film was involved.

Now let's get back to the topic at hand--the millions of Americans who have been affected by natural disasters this year.

Hey Blueunicorn, That's funny they had enough to give out 2.1 billion in bonuses .

Blue Unicorn:

I've been shouting this all over the Newsvine boards for the last three days since the story about Boehner not calling the vote first broke. Few people 'got it'and I suspect that's because few people cared to. They are happier just accepting what certain politicians said about it being 'pork' and lambasting the current political power for supposed failures rather than digging and finding out it was their perception that was skewed. It would really help if the media stopped calling it a 'Sandy Relief Bill' and call it what it is--Natural Disaster Relief 2012.

Jan:

I looked on the House website and they don't have anything on it yet in reference to the NFIP resolution. Give it a couple of days, we'll know then.

Amanda, I gotta give you a ton of kudos for your efforts. Thank you for explaining so much so clearly. Now if folks would read and learn. Good job.

To all who want to know about bills - who votes how, go to opencongress.org

In my newspaper it said the Sandy Aid Bill - the GOP was trying to hold the bill up to put pork into it, but the two Governors from N.Y. & N.J. put a stop to it, the way I see it the pork was coming from the tea party !

My God. There are 67 house republicans that need to be whisked away in the middle of the night, and forced to relocate to ruined houses in New York and New Jersey, forced to live there without help for 3 months. They can wait in line for gas. They can huddle under blankets. Their most prized sentimental belongings should be soaked in sewage and left in their new digs.

We pay far to much respect for politicians. I would rather live next to a serial killer on one side and a pedophile on the other then a paul ryan. These people make me feel sympathy for people that call for forced sterilization.

Ryan doesn't like Northerners, he was one of the first to vote against the sandy aid bill, this is not about pork, all bills have pork, this is more about a hateful movement in the Republican party called the tea extremist !

lukewarm

Absolutely. The "fiscal cliff" fiasco opened the eyes of many in Washington. Some discipline is on the horizon.

There's "pork" in every bill. Botton line is that republicans from the south and midwest decided that the democrats in the northeast don't deserve relief aid.

lukewarm:

The Senate bill was not 'pork.'

Did you not go read this thing for yourself? HR1, as originally passed by the House, was originally for allocating funds for all Departments of the government. The opening paragraph of HR1 says:

In the Senate of the United States, December 28, 2012. Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1) entitled ‘‘An Act making appropriations for the Department of Defense and the other departments and agencies of the Government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, and for all other purposes.’’, do pass with the following AMENDMENTS....

The Senate made amendments authorizing spending on disaster relief for EVERYONE affected by a disaster in 2012 and sent it back to the House on Dec 28. The entire bill detailing spending for all departments and agencies of the government was supposed to be voted on after the fiscal cliff agreement was reached, but Speaker Boehner never called it to a vote in the House.

And from the looks of this line in the article, he still hasn't called it to a vote; they simply took the amendment for the National Flood insurance agency out and voted on that separately, the vote on the rest of the Senate's amendments to HR1 is still pending.

I would ask that everyone read the bill for yourself before you decide what is pork and what is not. The bill is called the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, HR1, and the full text can be found here:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1eas/pdf/BILLS-112hr1eas.pdf

Keep in mind that these additions are simply the Senate's amendments to a government spending bill that the House already approved, and that the Senate already passed.

Im sorry this may be a dumb question , But what is "pork"? Just want to be sure what is meant by it. thanks.

And the entire bill is now null and void because of the new Congress. Any legislation not finalized by a "current" Congress must be resubmitted to the new Congress and go through the entire committee process of both houses before it can legally become law.

William:

The definition, in the context of a legislative bill, is 'spending unrelated to the topic of the bill.'

Thought so Amanda , I have now prob with helping ,but they always seem to get other useless bills passed by attaching to a bill we realy need. And that needs to stop. Thanks for reply.

The Rep's did the right thing and did not throw our money away on all the pork that was put into the Sandy issue. No body was wanting for the availability of money...lets not construe the availability of the money with the inefficiency of the standard government agency and empoloyee...two different things. As noted the money, was, has and will be there, getting it out to people is another matter. Horray for some fiscal sanity here. Oh, after I heard of all the Senate pork that went into the fiscal cliff bill...ie 160,000,000 to Hollywood for quicker depreciation...or...put another way...the payoff for Hollywood being pro democrat....what a total immoral disgrace to waste more our our childrens money

67 if you're not going to read posts on the site regarding what's in the bill being debated then please refrain from commenting... (see Amanda's post above about bill being argued with no pork).

And you do realize that the depreciation adjustment put into the Fiscal cliff was a continuation of past policy and affects ALL BUSINESSES BIG AND SMALL? No of course you don't because you just like to yell about @!$%# you know nothing about. Good job.

Well, since this bill (as originally passed by the House) was to detail spending for 'All Departments and Agencies of the Government' and the Senate's amendments simply moved some of the allocated funds into departments related to disaster relief for everyone affected by any disaster until Dec 28, 2012, I really can't see that there is any 'pork' in it at all.

I was up late Wednesday night glancing over the entire 100 page document, look forward to a full perusal on Saturday when I have time, but it does address all the departments of the government and seems pretty thorough in addressing everyone who has been affected by a disaster this year.

Look at what happened this year. Warmest year on record. Droughts in the Midwest; fires in the west; mudslides and landslides, sinkholes opening up when heat caused roads to buckle. Superstorm Sandy, and her nearly-forgotten older brother Issac. debris from the Japan tsunami still washing up on our shores, hitting fishing equipment and damaging boats; earthquake swarms all over the country, then add in the tornadoes and early-December blizzards the west just went through....the Smithsonian roof that Republicans were talking about as being 'unrelated'--that's a crack that's been there since (i believe) the East coast earthquake a couple of YEARS ago, and as any homeowner knows, if you don't take care of a little problem when it appears it's just going to get bigger and more costly the longer you delay fixing it. Since some of these funds are going the the Army Corps of Engineers and will help fix the Washington Monument, what's a little bit diverted to repair a museum roof at the same time? both the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian are priceless US national treasures.

When you look at it in that light, no, it's not 'pork' at all.

Amanda

From the Heritage Foundation:

Fraud related to Hurricane Katrina spending is estimated to be 2 billion. In Addition debit cards provided, to hurricane victims, were used to pay for Caribbean vacations, NFL tickets, Dom Perignon champagne, "Girls Gone Wild" videos and at least one sex change operation.

This is what happens when the pigs (Congress) run wild in Washington. It's not things such as fixing the Washington Monument.

One of the House members, according to an article I read yesterday, said that such items in HR1 as fixing the Smithsonian roof, and helping the AK fisheries, had little to do with a bill meant to help Hurricane Sandy victims and inclusion in a 'Sandy Relief bill' would make it pork.'

Now, I would agree with that if HR1 was a Hurricane Sandy relief bill. It was not.

It was to help EVERYONE affected by a disaster up to Dec 28,2012.

The AK fisheries certainly qualify--they have been experiencing steady losses due to debris from the Japan tsunami colliding with equipment and fishing boats. And the crack in the Smithsonian roof--and the Washington Monument--were caused by the East Coast earthquake years ago and we all know if little thing like a crack in a roof isn't taken care of immediately, it gets worse and worse and next thing you know we'll be shelling out billions for a new museum--if thieves don't get in though the roof and steal everything it it first.

Good grief!! If you don't know what 'pork' is then you aren't smart enough to comment here. And if you don't see 'pork' in every bill that comes through the government then you are just plain stupid!!

Ron.

For someone who may be unfamiliar with politics in general and American politics in particular, it's a valid question.

And how is William going to learn what it is and stop being 'stupid' if he doesn't ask questions and someone doesn't answer in a calm, rational, non-judgmental manner?

Educate, don't judge.

I agree, Amanda. Things are complicated, and the joy of posts is that you can ask questions and you can learn things. When people respond as Ron did, simply insulting, it lowers the intellectual level of the site - a sad thing. Few people actually take the time to read articles, look things up, or contemplate the issues.

We certainly have things that need to be worked on, but how can we hope to find solutions when a certain group of people absolutely refuse to engage in discussion or to learn anything new. They think they are right and they are in the know, and they have whole lists of reasons to back them up. No problem if they get their information from unverifiable blogs or extremists. If you want a strong, healthy, fiscally responsible government, you have to work for that. A large group of the people involved only want to eliminate the government, so nothing will ever satisfy them.

I agree ....No more "private" beaches either .....turn these places into preserves and open them to all the public.

One of the misunderstood things about the flood insurance program is that the Government through bad planning cause many of the houses that require flood insurance. For example my house is not in a flood zone but my backyard is. This is because the city I live in decided to have the run-off from a major highway snake through my backyard because they never planned otherwise to run to a larger river. Additionally they keep building (read concrete) where no more people can live and therefore result in terrible drainage causing flood zones to form. I believe people should be forced to move out of low lying coastal areas but many people who have flood insurance are basically forced to react to the governments (local governments) mishandling of their zoning....

The problem is too many people, period. Because if you make everyone move from coastal areas (hurricane threats), the Mississippi River, earthquake faults, areas prone to landslides and fires, then we're going to be pretty cramped for living space! Oh, and the growing dustbowl situation in the midwest, the possible volcanic activity in the Yellowstone area and the northwest. Goodness.

Then you have the Outer Barrier Islands of the lower East Coast. Some pretty spendy homes there, and they get rebuilt constantly with federally subsidized insurance.

And the power of water. If it is going through your backyard due to the flow being changed, and they move it to accomodate you, then it's going to harm someone else, because the water has to go somewhere.

There is no easy answer to any of this, folks, but it's made harder because a lot of politicians count on peoples' ignorance of the facts to manipulate them. And bless Amanda for her patience in trying to repeatedly explain the situation to you.

Amanda has the patience of Job. I tend to get frustrated after the first couple of explanations. This, however, is why politicians get away with lying. Everyone listens to their favorite politician and takes his/her diatribe as gospel truth without bothering to discover how much fact is included in the diatribe. It is painfully easy to lie to the voters. We get the government we deserve, not the government we want. Instead of letting your local partisan politician tell you what's in the bill, read it and figure it out for yourself. We will get better government when we get better voters.

cold and callous??? Your country (aka taxpayer) is supporting 47 MILLION people with some sort of government aid. Do YOU pay taxes????? What happens when you run out of other peoples money, you get Greece, Italy, France, Argentina, Portugal. YOU are what's wrong with this country -- everyone has their hand out but no one is concerned about being fiscally responsible. I am disgusted and fed up of paying for everyone else. It's time EVERYONE paid their fair share not just the select few chosen by a class warfare prez.

"Had no idea how bad it would be"? I live in Florida too and was watching the storm before, during, and after is passed us. Hurricane Sandy was one of the most predicatable, well forecasted, extremely foretold storms I have ever seen in decades of hurricane seasons. They knew it was going to hit the north east, they knew with the seasonal high tides it would be bad, and they told people it would be bad. There is no excuse that people didn't know it would be bad, and it isn't like you can do anything with a house never meant to withstand surge getting hit with 10 feet of it, other than get out of the way.

I have no problem with people helping others, and even the government helping people under certain circumstances, but I have a problem with this attitude that because we live in America we are OWED a bailout anytime something bad happens to us. Where do you get the idea that the government HAS to "come to the rescue" at all? I am not asking a moral question of whether they should or not, but rather where does this attitude that they HAVE to help people come from?

And I should also note I am not asking about the money that the federal government apparently owes because their affordable national flood insurance plan was not sufficent to cover the costs of a disaster. Smart decision on their part or not to offer it, if you offer it you need to stand behind it, which appears to be what they did today.

I am talking about this "I live in America and if I have a big problem now so the government needs to come make my life better than it was before and they need to do it NOW NOW NOW because I live in America and it isn't fair that this happened to me" attitude. Where did it come from?

For instance if you roof leaks and your neighbor offers to help you put a new roof on your house, do you complain that he doesn't work fast enough, or that he isn't also buying the materials for you. Or when your other neighbor also has a roof leak do you expect him to walk up to your neighbor and you and demand that you both come help him? I should think not, yet somehow that is the exact attitude peopl have when the government offers aid.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence,^{[note 1]} promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Commonly we refer to it as the Preamble...

Come on, that is all you have? That I could see from a mile away.

Notice how they used the word "provide" to describe "common defense," indicating the need for direct action, such as writing a check to buy a tank. Whereas for "general welfare" they used "promote" which would indicate indirect action, not writing you a check for your house.

There was a time people actually cared about what words meant, and used them very specifically.

ALL many of us want is money from the insurance coverage that we paid into for many years!! I was never told when I bought my flood insurance policy that it would take an act of congress for me to collect what I paid for! I am not asking for a handout. I want the insurance that I responsibly paid for. And, if the government did not fund it correctly, it should be fixed for future flood victims, but why do those of us affected by this disaster have to suffer when we PAID for insurance??

DJD- according to some in this thread you shouldn't live anywhere near a possible disaster area. Like I said above, it's going to be pretty cramped in the "safe" areas.

Why did it take so long to update services is many of these regions? A major storm didn't come through for quite a while. My brother spend Thanksgiving week (4 weeks AFTER Sandy) to get a power plant on-line. Why did it take 4 weeks to bring him out there from the Midwest? Why was he having to replace 50 year old equipment? Why wasn't this done before? Why does it take a huge storm to get it done? Why are tax payers supplementing flood insurance? More rich person welfare-who else can afford the beach front property. Stop building on the beach-the beach actually protects the inland areas from flooding. Start updating power grids and other utilities.

hiap,

I don't think this condition is a recent development. When people are hurt and traumatized they want someone to make it go away. There will always be people who believe they are the center of the universe and deserve to be helped first. But frightened and traumatized people are not at their best. Additionally, when a disaster hits, there are so many layers of beauracracy and red tape and 100 pages of paperwork to fill out, that people get frustrated and angry. Most people calm down and become more rational. Others spend the rest of their lives whining about how badly they were treated.

I had a house fire and was stunned by the amount of paperwork and receipts necessary to get anything done. It became a full time occupation for almost six months. This was with a regular insurance company, so I doubt that the federal government requires less.

I have no problem with people getting the insurance money, the system should probably be more streamlined to make sure it gets into the people hands that need it, and deserve it. Is that not the whole point of insurance? My issue is with all of the other things rolled into this bill. How are fisheries in Alaska even remotely effected by Sandy? Well they are getting 150 million out of this... That in my mind, unless someone can explain it to me, is criminal. Pork, pork, spending, and spending. We need to get our government in check. Maybe, just maybe, if we had decent, law abiding, budget minded people making the decisions, we could afford to help our neighbors when disaster strikes.

I have explained this, over and over and over the last couple of days and STILL people have managed to miss those posts, those explanations.

Morisk: One of the House members, according to an article I read yesterday, said that such items in HR1 as fixing the Smithsonian roof, and helping the AK fisheries, had little to do with a bill meant to help Hurricane Sandy victims and inclusion in a 'Sandy Relief bill' would make it 'pork.'

Now, I would agree with that IF HR1 WAS A HURRICANE SANDY RELIEF BILL.

IT.WAS.NOT. It was to help EVERYONE affected by a disaster up to Dec 28,2012.

The AK fisheries certainly qualify--they have been experiencing steady losses due to debris from the Japan tsunami colliding with equipment and fishing boats. And the crack in the Smithsonian roof--and the Washington Monument--were caused by the East Coast earthquake years ago and we all know if little thing like a crack in a roof isn't taken care of immediately, it gets worse and worse and next thing you know we'll be shelling out billions for a new museum--if thieves don't get in though the roof and steal everything it it first.

I can't resist this.Rightly so the people who have paid for flood insurance are demanding that they receive what they have paid for. I agree.So those of us who have paid for S.S. Medicare coverage and Unemployment coverage are demanding the same thing.We are considered not eligible because the Federal Government is deciding that it is too expensive. How are we any different?

I guess the same amount of times that we pay over and over again for those who live in the paths of hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf Coast who rebuild over and over again. It is what it is - also a lot of the damage and flooding was done in areas that hardly ever flood, like areas of Manhattan. Remember this was a "super storm", one of those once in a 100 years type of storms. What are we supposed to do with the island of Manhattan - relocate EVERYONE and all the businesses there?

Why do people continue re-building in hurrcaince alley?

Not relocate but pay for insurance that will cover full rebuilding of there properly in the future instead of asking the goverment. you no the great free market every body keeps tooting there horn about, or like everbody knows there no money making if they actually payed out insurance claims.

New Jersey and New York did not used to be hurricane alley, with global warming that could change.

Do you advocate that the people of those two states just pack up and leave?

The one issue we are forgetting is PAYING for all of this. The Republicans refused to renew Pay As You Go in 2003, that is when the huge deficit spending resumed after Clinton.

I guess it's time to evacuate Florida and the Gulf Coast and most of the East coast(hurricanes), the West Coast(earthquakes), the Great Plains and the rest of the South(tornadoes) and the Mountain West(volcanoes). There may be room for all of us to stand elbow-to-elbow in part of Arizona, if you don't mind the heat, that is.

Oh, yeah, don't forget all those rivers that flood every year.

I don't think Cuomo and Christie requested money to go to NASCAR or the Alaska for salmon (some of the pork in the original bill). Those were put there by senators from the states that would benefit from it, not NY & NJ.

Since those subways, parks, and infrastructure are PUBLIC, the public (that's all of us) have to pay for that renovation. We've stalled necessary upgrades for too many decades and now our roads, bridges, water/sewer lines, etc. are all collapsing (some after 100 years of usage.)

NASCAR is not part of the relief bill. It was one of the many expired tax loopholes that the "cliff" measure renewed.

BTW, those "salmon" in the original National Disaster Relief 2012 bill was actually restoring the fisheries destroyed by debris from the Japanese Tsunami, a natural disaster just like Sandy.

Rebuilding ports is good for the country. Money going to rebuild those resources is MUCH better for the overall economy than refurbishing 1000 M1 tanks when we already have 3000 refurbished units sitting in the California desert. I don't think we need 1000 $200 million F35 jet fighters either.

I personally saw Katrina 'victims' order $250 lobster dinners and pay for it with a g'ment credit card. More waste and fraud!! I can't wait until a hurricane hits Indy. I'm very hungry and I love Lobster.

You are talking about a $250 dinner, NOT a $250 MILLION jet fight...BIG difference.

Ron/You personally saw someone order and pay for a $250 lobster dinner? Were you one of that crowd Comeon!

"yes join the dems, and prove they are ignorant instead of progressive."

Take a look at Republican controlled Mississippi and then take a look at Democratically controlled Massachusetts and tell us which one has more ignorant people living in it.

I see get mad at govement but not the insurance industry that are denying claims as we speak.

all hail the fee market, its like putting you head in to the noose.

Nine Iron: I have to agree with you....my husband and I gave up all our credit cards a couple of years ago. Now, when we think about purchasing anything....we question whether we "need" it or just "want" it. If we actually NEED it; then we find the money to buy it; but if we just WANT it, we learn to save money to buy it later. If everyone would learn that trick when they go into a store to buy unnecessary purchases (an IPhone, 60' TV, etc.), they'd find that they save money in the long run. There are so many things out in the world now that people buy that are totally unncessary, but some people think they MUST have it in order to function. Sorry, folks, but you really don't need an IPhone unless you are running a business or something. The average person can get along just fine with a regular cell phone. Whatever happened to the main reason why people started purchasing cell phones.....for emergencies? It's gotten to the point where you can't go into a mall or walk down the street without seeing 90% of the people around you on their cell phones. Hey, everyone, you're NOT that important that you have to be reachable 24/7!!

Anyway, getting back to the subject.....I have to agree with Nine Iron. New York didn't need to spend all that money on the New Year's Eve festivities. I'm sure people would have understood if that money had been spent to rebuild the flooded areas. People can go without seeing the ball drop for one year!! The money spent could have been put to much better use! Just my opinion.

It's pretty simple really. Business owners in NY needed the income from New Years Eve celebrations. So of course they insist that the g'ment spend millions of tax $$ so they can benefit from the income. If they had cancelled the celebration the business owners would have screamed bloody murder. Fraud? Ya think...

NY makes a lot more than they spend on New Year's Eve from all of the tourists it attracts. Any business person knows that you have to spend money to make money. Had they canceled the festivities, they would have lost of lof of tourism dollars. However, as a victim of Sandy, I want to point out that I paid for a FEDERALLY funded flood insurance policy. Therefore, it is the federal government who is responsible to pay my claim!

This nation needs to put aside their red/blue states belief and come together for the people in need.

"Most of the people in the nation have. It's a few right wing fanatics in Washington who haven't."

Considering a storm of the magnitude of Sandy has never struck the NJ/NY area before or at least not in the past 100 years or so, it is kind of hard to make the claim that this was a high risk area similar to the NC barrier islands for example. It is true it was considered a risk area and thus owners were eligible to purchase National Flood Insurance but not a high risk area where rebuilding should be at your own risk. Whether is should now be considered a high risk zone all depends on upon if Sandy was a direct result of climate change or just a once in a lifetime anomoly.

oh whatever....red state, blue state, north, south...shut up already

Sound likes a graduate of the Obama school of class, ethnic and regional warfare. "Join Mexico", how stupid is that from one of the self proclaimed enlightened ones?.

pgulrich...actually Yhbua sounds like a huge RECIPIENT of the Obama redistribution "class" .....all take, for a lifetime.

Ms. Yhbua...grow up. Utility companies from the South have helped...insurance adjustors from the South have aided to get people funds due them, etc, etc, etc. Thousands of donations from EVERYWHERE in this nation have been sent to the Northeast. And I'm sure that thousands of donations and help came from blue states to help from hurricane and tornadoes in the South. Try helping instead of condemning.

you bring the booze and we can party at my house.......

Cindy get back to your plantation or your church and keep out of Main St America. Urban centers keep you solvent.

Exactly

Exactly meant for the party, not to Yhbua's comment. And BTW Yhbua, you were the one who mentioned the blue and red states, north and south. If we eliminated the parties, everyone would be on even ground. Get over yourself.

Cindy, you live in a bubble. There are serious divisions in our country. Political, social, economic, regional.

Cindy: I think that is why we left England for the Americas over 200 years ago....we didn't want to be under ONE party. Apparently you're ok with going back to the 1600's or so. Get a brain before you make such a ridiculous comment.....seriously!

And the two party system is really doing a wonderful job. Give me a break, and why don't the two of you stop living in a bubble. If policiticans didn't have to worry about appeasing their special interests and instead started worry about people who put them in office, we wouldn't be in this big mess.

And we also left England because of taxation, but who are being taxed to death here in the US. We are. So don't preach about history and why we left England.

Cindy, WTF girl. Who taught you history? Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin. The Pilgrims came here scaping religious perscution, misery and poverty, not running away from the WKing's IRS....There's another channel besides Fox News called the History Channel

Cindy...One party??? Really??? you sound just like the idiots, Yhbua included, who drink Obama-Aid...One party systems have FAILED...Socialism HAS failed......Communism is a disaster EXCEPT for the Elitists. Yeppers...Obama would LOVE a One-Party System. That would make him a Dictator OFFICIALLY....NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!

Moderate in Madison? Doubt it, it is a progressive city. You forgot that Capitalism has failed in the late 1920's. It also failed to rescue millions of americans after the 2008 financial and real estate collapse and is failing our citizens by putting profit over country with its massive outflow of jobs to a true competitor (if not outright enemy) China. We, as consumers pushed by Capitalist avertisement, step on each other and trample some to death on Black Friday to buy those made in china products. We look at the human stampedes at stadiums around the world and feel horrified but at the same time, we glorify and give TV coverage to the douche bags standing in lines for hours just to be the first ones to own some gadget.

As jobs ship overseas we shrink the consumer base, and income distribution gets even more acutely imbalanced

Yhbua

Cindy, WTF girl. Who taught you history? Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin. The Pilgrims came here scaping religious perscution, misery and poverty, not running away from the WKing's IRS....There's another channel besides Fox News called the History Channel

Actually the Puritans came here escaping religious persecution much more so than the Pilgrims, who mostly saw the Virginia Company as a good investment opportunity.

Correct bob, and the vast majority who came during the Great Migration of the 1650s did so for the opportunity to become land owners, something that was totally beyond their reach in England.

"I think we need to get rid of the democrats, replications and all parties and have one party."

If the Republicans keep doing what they have been doing for the last 4 years, we may have only one party before very long.

Scott what about the the great and all powerfull private insurance companies are they left blameless they take your money and deny your claim or give so little money you couldn't even paint you living room.

so lets all blame the big bad fedreral govement. Free market anyone.

I believe government provided insurance makes a lot of sense. In general, insurance payouts benefit more than just the policy holder. Consider property owners whose house values depreciate if a burned out house isn't repaired. It just seems, abstractly, like a government run insurance system could be a good mix of socialism (in the traditional sense of the word) and capitalism.

Exactly!!!

good luck filling a claim they would actually honor.

If I understand this correctly (and please if not, someone please post the correct answer) FEMA makes you use your home owner's insurance first and then they are supposed to supplemental the insurable loss. Your home owner's insurance is not just for natural disasters: if your dog bites someone, if your tree falls on your house, if someone gets hurt on your property, if you have a fire. Read your policy and see what other items your individual policy might cover.

You pathetic, self righteous pieces of crap. NJ has given more to the nation than any of your rancid regressive states has.(Starting with Thomas A. Edison and Bruce "the boss" Go back to your bible class, or making babies with your relatives, or running a meth labs which is the fastest growing business in middle america.

Homeowner's insurance doesn't cover flooding.

Yhbua you arrogant, racist, nazi cow....how dare you call anyone pathetic!

Try looking in the mirror next time. Talk about a pot calling a kettle black.

JEEZ

The vast majority of homeowners policies exclude damage caused by flood and also carry clauses that deny any coverage if damage was caused by both a covered and non-covered source regardless of the timing of the damage. You just might want to read the fine print in yours and see just what your insurance will cover you for. You might not like what you learn.