If you're at the Republican National Convention, this morning's New York Times editorial page isn't the place for you. In a scathing piece, the Old Grey Lady argues that Tropical Storm (and soon to be Hurricane) Isaac stands to expose the Republicans' approach to handling disasters for the boondoggle that it is. Led by Paul Ryan, House Republicans slashed the disaster relief fund to the bone--and the timing couldn't possibly have been worse.
(T)he budgets assembled by Mr. Ryan and warmly embraced by Mitt Romney severely cut spending for emergency preparedness, exactly the kind of money needed in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and scores of other states for this and future storms.
Between 2010 and 2012, House Republicans forced a reduction of 43 percent in the primary grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that pay for disaster preparedness. That is $1.8 billion that will not be available for evacuation equipment and supplies, communications gear that lets first responders speak to one another, and training exercises. (House Republicans tried to cut $354 million more in this year’s homeland security spending bill, but Democrats restored the money in a conference with the Senate.)
Granted, the effect of these cuts won't be felt this year. But they could potentially come back to haunt the GOP in a big way in future years.
These latest cuts come on the heels of last year's House Republican demand for offsets whenever FEMA went over its budget. While they were forced to back down under pressure from the Senate, it says a lot about the teabagger approach to governing that offsets to disaster relief were even being discussed at all. Then again, we are talking about people who, seven years after Katrina, still subscribe to Grover Norquist's dream of shrinking government enough that it can fit in a bathtub.