This morning I went to check on the beach. My beach. In October, we had a Superstorm, the New York meteorologists called it a Turducken storm, a Nor'Easter in a hurricane. My boardwalk looks just like it did on Halloween night, when I still didn't have any power and my children were not permitted to go trick-or-treating. At this time, my town is asking local residents to donate, and Belmar has had multiple fund-raisers to help pay for replacing their boardwalk.
Last week, the Governor of New Jersey went to Washington to ask Congress to vote on our federal disaster aid, which at the time was over 60 days after the storm. Chris Christie did everything but shake a little red cup at them, asking when the vote will take place, and reminding them that this delays people and businesses from moving on.
Our tracksuit-wearing Republican governor had to remind the Republican House representatives that New Jersey only gets 60 cents back for every dollar we send to Washington. This disparity is understandable, the northeastern part of the country has higher incomes. When my hefty property tax bill comes, I suck it up, knowing that my federal tax burden is part of the reason for this. No, it's not the only reason, but it's a part. Some aid will eventually go to businesses that fuel the $38 billion-a-year tourism industry. If this income goes down, so does the 40% cut that goes to Washington. Surely even a Republican can understand the concept of an investment. And we should have had our relief aid before the documentaries were out of the can. I can't wait until the mid-term elections. Our act of God is no less deserving of funds than any of the others.
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Sat Jan 12, 2013 at 3:39 PM PT: http://www.dailykos.com/...
Thanks Jed. That's what I thought.