Senate rejection of disaster aid bill prolongs stalemate

[TomCADem]

Source: LA Times

A dispute over disaster aid has quickly grown into another partisan standoff that threatens to shut down the federal government, with no clear indication of how Congress will end the stalemate.

The Senate on Friday overwhelmingly rejected a House-passed bill to temporarily fund the government and provide emergency aid for victims of Hurricane Irene and other recent disasters. But it also would have cut green energy programs supported by Democrats. The Senate voted 59 to 36 against the measure.

A compromise proposal is scheduled for a vote in the Senate on Monday, but it is likely to fail. Both sides may negotiate over the weekend as a shutdown looms on Oct. 1. The issue is more urgent for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which said its disaster aid accounts would run out of money by Tuesday. FEMA has been assisting communities hit by floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and other disasters this year.

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"Every chance they get, they want to hold the government hostage," said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). "People just realized this isn't working for our country."

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-congress-shutdown-20110924,0,7576981.story

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The problem is that Republicans are not held accountable for such hostage taking tactics. Instead, they get to create artificial crises with impunity, and the worst thing that happens is that the American blame both parties equally, which is a win for them. Indeed, by blaming both parties equally, President Obama's chances for reelection are hurt, and Republicans are once again encouraged to discover new ways to harm the country.

Traditionally, disaster relief was regarded as what it was, an emergency, that did not require immediate draconian cuts to pass. Now, Republicans use disaster relief as leverage to advance their ideology against reneable energy programs. Sadly, the American people have been conditioned to blame Democrats and give Republicans a free pass.

Can you imagine how the media would react if Nancy Pelosi as speaker had attached unreleated crap to emergency bills? Do you think the media would protray the ensuing chaos as the fault of both parties?

The media failure to hold Republicans accountable directly leads to what has become the worst Congress in history, the 112th Congress.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Gotta stand up to bullies. I'm glad they're starting to do this.

[Cool Logic]

2. "Federal assistance for the victims of storms and floods should be beyond politics,..."

said a letter from Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, both Republicans, and Democrats Andrew Cuomo of New York and Bev Perdue of North Carolina.

Indeed, let the private sector risk their $$$ on the Solyndras of the world. Re-direct the People's $$$ to things that help the People.