Texas whine: Why does Obama love Alabama more?

[sasha031]

Last year, Rick Perry was talking secession. Now, with fires raging, a handout doesn't look so bad.

With God apparently unmoved by Texas' official declaration of three days of prayer for rain, Gov. Rick Perry has turned his attention to another awesome potentate -- President Obama.

Specifically, Perry wants Obama to declare a federal state of emergency, which would allow Texas to recoup some 75 percent of the funds it is spending to combat devastating wildfires. But Perry is griping that despite having sent in his application on April 25, Obama still hasn't acted. Meanwhile, tornado-racked Alabama was lavished with immediate state-of-emergency love.

"You have to ask, 'Why are you taking care of Alabama and other states?' I know our letter didn't get lost in the mail," Perry, a Republican and frequent critic of the federal government, said after addressing a Texas emergency management conference.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already authorized 20 emergency declarations for individual fires in Texas. But the obvious implication of the "you have to ask" phrasing is that Obama is delaying a statewide declaration as some kind of punishment for Texas, possibly in retaliation for its governor's well-publicized antipathy to the current administration.

That seems unlikely -- although one could understand why the president might be a bit peeved at the governor. A year ago, Perry was rejecting federal stimulus aid that would shore up Texas' unemployment trust fund, and firing up Tea Party audiences with talk of secession. But now, when disaster hits, suddenly he's looking for federal handouts! Somehow, it's OK to ask for aid when fires are burning but not when a financial meltdown has thrown millions of out of work.

Adding a further layer of irony, the Christian Science Monitor reports that "the state legislature, meanwhile, recently proposed slicing $34 million out of the Texas Forest Service's $109 million biennial budget, with most of the cuts coming from training and equipment grants for volunteer crews who deal with wildfires."
http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2011/04/29/rick_perry_askes_for_federal_handout/

[hobbit709]

1. Hey Goodhair, you want some cheese to go with that.

Amazing how fast he switches from TX doesn't need the federal government to asking for foreign aid.

[Enrique]

2. don't look it as not getting aid

look at it as a partial secession from the federal government.

[The Magistrate]

3. Seriously, Ma'am: We Should Sell the Place Back To Mexico For Five Dollars

[brewens]

5. If they'd take it! n/t

[obxhead]

10. Hell, I say give them $100 and hand them the title.

[OHdem10]

4. I do mean to be mean spirtied. Here I am speaking to the

Texas Legislature and the Texas Representatives on the HILL.
and Tea Baggers.


How shocking--I thought you wanted to Secede from the
UNION. Where is that marvelous Self-Reliance???
Government is the problem, and you are asking for help
from the Government. SARCASM SARACASM SARCASM

To the ordinary people of Texas, I feel for your suffering,
really I do, but think long and hard about whom you
send to lead your state and country.

[brewens]

7. Doesn't Texas already come out way ahead in federal expenditures?

Better try an emergency tax of some kind on the wealthy in your state. Most of that federal money ends up in their pockets anyway.

[zbdent]

6. Where's the "liberally-biased media" pointing out how Perry

didn't want federal $$$?

silence ...

[MatthewStLouis]

8. Obama should drag things out and make Perry beg!!! n/t

[Doctor_J]

9. Grab your bootstraps, you steaming turd

I loathe every single republican with every fiber of my being.

[Brigid]

11. Where's all the big secession talk now, Gov. Perry?

Or did you think it had been forgotten?

[toddwv]

12. The final sentence is a kicker:

"Adding a further layer of irony, the Christian Science Monitor reports that "the state legislature, meanwhile, recently proposed slicing $34 million out of the Texas Forest Service's $109 million biennial budget, with most of the cuts coming from training and equipment grants for volunteer crews who deal with wildfires."

Cutting the Forest Service's fire fighting budget by 30%? GREAT decision...

[MasonJar]

13. Oh Ho! On your knees, Rick, you piece of slime. How about reinstating

the $34 million before you beg?

[Uncle Joe]

14. Perry is a dipshit.

Thanks for the thread, sasha.