DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Hurricane Irene death toll rises to 35; Cantor seeks to slash FEMA funding

**soydaykam** · 08-30-2011, 02:12 AM

Over the weekend, Ron Paul said that he doesn't see why we can't eliminate FEMA completely and deal with our hurricanes like his district including Galveston has done in decades past. Of course, he doesn't get very descriptive about how that worked.

Here's an example: The hurricane of 1900 that slammed into Galveston killed an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 people. They don't really have a count because since they were on their own, they couldn't process the dead or care for the dying, who then died as a result. So they piled them up into massive piles and burned them, paying the conscripted men in charge of the fires with whisky to numb the horror of the situation.

I think most people would vote for having FEMA than taking any steps back in that direction.

Eric Cantor won't publicly state that he wants to kill FEMA. But he will say that they don't deserve a dime in new funding during times of disaster.

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...,5537241.story

As FEMA's budget is under new strain in the aftermath ofHurricane Irene, a top House Republican maintained that any new funds allocated for federal disaster relief must be offset by budget cuts elsewhere.

Speaking on Fox News Channel, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a natural disaster like Hurricane Irene is an "appropriate instance" for a federal role, but that the government can't go deeper into debt to pay for unexpected outlays.

Cantor equated the situation to what an ordinary family would do in a crisis, doing without a new car to pay for the needs of a sick loved one, for instance. I think a better comparison would be this: A member of the family has to devote all their time to taking care of a gravely ill member of the family. So everyone pitches in what they can to make that around-the-clock care possible. That's how reasonable people see support for a functioning FEMA organization.

08-30-2011, 02:12 AM	#1
soydaykam Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 523 Senior Member	Hurricane Irene death toll rises to 35; Cantor seeks to slash FEMA funding Over the weekend, Ron Paul said that he doesn't see why we can't eliminate FEMA completely and deal with our hurricanes like his district including Galveston has done in decades past. Of course, he doesn't get very descriptive about how that worked. Here's an example: The hurricane of 1900 that slammed into Galveston killed an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 people. They don't really have a count because since they were on their own, they couldn't process the dead or care for the dying, who then died as a result. So they piled them up into massive piles and burned them, paying the conscripted men in charge of the fires with whisky to numb the horror of the situation. I think most people would vote for having FEMA than taking any steps back in that direction. Eric Cantor won't publicly state that he wants to kill FEMA. But he will say that they don't deserve a dime in new funding during times of disaster. LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...,5537241.story As FEMA's budget is under new strain in the aftermath ofHurricane Irene, a top House Republican maintained that any new funds allocated for federal disaster relief must be offset by budget cuts elsewhere. Speaking on Fox News Channel, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a natural disaster like Hurricane Irene is an "appropriate instance" for a federal role, but that the government can't go deeper into debt to pay for unexpected outlays. Cantor equated the situation to what an ordinary family would do in a crisis, doing without a new car to pay for the needs of a sick loved one, for instance. I think a better comparison would be this: A member of the family has to devote all their time to taking care of a gravely ill member of the family. So everyone pitches in what they can to make that around-the-clock care possible. That's how reasonable people see support for a functioning FEMA organization.
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