Shame on KC-Area Republicans for Opposing Harvey Relief Bill
I have to agree with the KC Star editorial board, the debt ceiling is just an artificial stage for wingnut political theater.
Since 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has spent $849 million for public and individual assistance in Missouri following natural disasters. In Kansas, FEMA has spent $910 million. More? According to the Government Accountability Office, Kansas ranked ninth in the nation in federal disaster spending per person between 2004 and 2011 — far ahead of Texas, California and New York. Missouri was 19th.
All of this seemed to matter little to our representatives, who said they were worried because the Harvey relief was attached to a bill temporarily raising the nation’s debt ceiling.
Ridiculous. Emergency relief bills are attached to other measures all the time — some Hurricane Katrina relief was packaged with additional spending for the military, for example.
The debt ceiling vote is a political gesture, a way for members to pontificate while their colleagues actually govern.
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