Tsunami from Japanese earthquake crashes ashore (Kyoda/Reuters)
Sam Stein:
Thursday night's massive earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami warnings that have alarmed U.S. coasts, seem likely to ignite a debate over a previously little-discussed subsection of the spending bills currently being debated in Congress.
Tucked into the House Republican continuing resolution are provisions cutting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including the National Weather Service, as well as humanitarian and foreign aid.
Presented as part of a larger deficit reduction package, each cut could be pitched as tough-choice, belt-tightening on behalf of the GOP. But advocates for protecting those funds pointed to the crisis in Japan as evidence that without the money, disaster preparedness and relief would suffer.
The really important thing to remember is that these sorts of cuts ultimately don't save us any money, because the less prepared we are, the bigger the costs will be when disaster strikes.
Today's tsunami obviously brings this particular cut into sharp focus, but it's just one example of the GOP's short-sighted plan: cut now, pay later.
In the short-term, you can 'save' a lot of money by ignoring national infrastructure (just imagine how much money Haiti 'saved' before their earthquake!), but when that infrastructure crumbles, you're screwed. It's a foolish strategy, doomed to failure.