President Obama has rescued arrogant and ungrateful Texas Republicans by signing a federal disaster declaration for those areas impacted by the state’s deadly floods.
The White House announced that President Obama signed the disaster declaration for the areas of Texas hit by flooding:
The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Texas and ordered federal aid to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding beginning on May 4, 2015, and continuing.
The President’s action makes federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Harris, Hays, and Van Zandt.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Federal funding also is available to state, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, and flooding in the counties of Cooke, Gaines, Grimes, Harris, Hays, Navarro, and Van Zandt.
Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Kevin L. Hannes as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.
FEMA said that damage surveys are continuing in other areas, and additional counties may be designated for assistance after the assessments are fully completed.
These are the same Texas Republicans who have been arrogantly dabbling in succession talk for years, and most recently have been gripped by a paranoid conspiracy theory that President Obama is sending the military to take over the state.
Gov. Greg Abbott has not thanked the President for his quick action to help Texas. Instead the statement of gratitude was spoken by“> Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, “I thank the President and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for their prompt response to Texas’ urgent need for a federal disaster declaration. We have seen so many lives lost, homes damaged or destroyed, and communities threatened by this devastating storm system. Texas is grateful for the swift response by FEMA and I look forward to working with my FEMA partners to ensure critical assistance is delivered to Texans in need.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, who demanded the federal aid, has also not thanked President Obama.
The behavior of Cruz and Abbott is different from former Gov. Rick Perry who publicly thanked President Obama after a fertilizer plant explosion in West, TX in 2013, “President Obama called from Air Force One as he was en route to Boston. We greatly appreciate his call, and his gracious offer of support, of course, and the quick turnaround of the emergency declaration that will be forthcoming, and his offer of prayers.”
Arrogant Republicans like Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz won’t thank the President for literally rescuing their state with prompt action in a time of disaster. Cruz and Abbott are ignoring basic civility because they think it is good politics to ignore Obama while begging for a federal handout.
If Texas were capable of going it alone, they could handle their own natural disaster, but they can’t. What’s even worse is that many Texas Republicans lack the basic decency to thank the President for quicking being there for them in their time of dire need.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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