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Peter's avatar

I for one am done with these Republican a-holes. From now on, FEMA money should be withheld from the state or district of a Senator or Congressman that voted no. The people should them be told that their member of Congress said they didn't need it. Let them take it up with the Matt Gaetzes of the world.

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Sko Hayes's avatar

You're punishing the wrong people.

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OblivionNecroninja's avatar

I agree with the fundamental sentiment of your comment, but…

1. Is it really democratic (small d) to deliberately insulate people from the repercussions of Who They Elected?

2. At some point you have to start holding people responsible for how they vote.

3. How else can the hypocritical congressmen who advocate for smaller government except when things happen to their own district be ‘punished’?

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Sko Hayes's avatar

Remember in 2017, when North Carolina got slammed by Hurricane Matthew (I think that was the name)? Governor Cooper asked for $900 million in emergency funds. You know how much the state got? $6.1 million. Because Trump wanted to punish the voters in that state.

Similar to how Jared Kushner said they could withhold COVID funds from blue states so Trump could blame the governors.

Do you think Democrats should govern like that?

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OblivionNecroninja's avatar

Hm, I seem to have miscommunicated. My comment was intended as“I agree, but these things still bother me” rather than the “your heart is in the wrong place, but we should still do the thing because” that I think you read it as.

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John Schwarzkopf's avatar

All I can say is 2 inches to the right would have made America a much better place.

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Stephen S. Power's avatar

I'd bet that Coach Walz will emphasize during the debate how Republicans like Vance cut hurricane funding in the face of a hurricane, which is exemplified their selfishness and short-sightedness.

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Sko Hayes's avatar

I hope Harris brings up the fact that North Carolina (Democratic governor Roy Cooper) asked Trump for emergency funds of $900 million after Hurricane Matthew in 2017.

The Trump administration gave them $6.1 million.

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Sko Hayes's avatar

Sorry, should have said Walz (Uncle Tim).

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Cheryl Johnson's avatar

I am in NC, albeit in the Piedmont not Western NC. But I am a frequent visitor to the area and IMO local officials should have anticipated widespread power outages and the smaller towns being cut off at least for a few days. It wouldn't require a storm of the century to cause that amount of damage.

The topography means that there are only a few ways to get on or off the mountain. Obviously no one could anticipate whole sections of road being wiped out, but over the years there have been rockslides that have shut down I-40 for extended periods of time and winter storms with high winds that knock out the power.

It sounds like the county officials knew that flooding could disrupt the water treatment facilities, but didn't have a back-up plan to get potable water distributed. I'm really surprised that there wasn't an effort to distribute some emergency supplies in advance of the storm to cover at least a few days until other resources could reach them.

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