Not only the NY and NJ congressional delegations are furious with Congress, but so is the New York Times – see its editorial on Hurricane Sandy Aid, NY Times, January 2, 2013.  They desperately need federal assistance and in a timely manner to assist with recovery processes.

There is a lot of finger-pointing in Washington about who is responsible for the mess made of the so-called fiscal-cliff negotiations, but there is no doubt about who failed thousands of residents and businesses devastated by Hurricane Sandy and still waiting for help: Speaker John Boehner.

Boehner yielded to the political pressure and now has the bill scheduled for attention in January.

Related Stories:

• New Jersey Governor Calls Congress Failure To Vote On Hurricane Sandy Aid ‘Dereliction Of Duty’ (philadelphia.cbslocal.com)
• Voting on Sandy aid postponed until next Congress (nj.com)
• House releases smaller Hurricane Sandy bill (thehill.com)
• Lawmaker Irate Over $60B Sandy Snub (huffingtonpost.com)
• Obama, NY and NJ lawmakers press for Sandy aid (news.yahoo.com)
• ‘Shame on you, Congress’: Republicans in Sandy-hit areas blast House GOP for delay on relief (usnews.nbcnews.com)

More of the “I Told You So” or “We Warned You” dept.: Jersey Shore Development Failures Exposed By Hurricane Sandy

When you are dealing with recovery issues in the northeast, most of the community development has occured over many decades and in some cases settlement patterns began centuries ago.  It is not a simple matter to make major changes or to
begin to pay attention to resilience and sustainable development.

On Dec. 13th, the HS Newswire featured this story on the aging instrastructure whose weakness were uncovered after the super storm: One more example of the weaknesses of our aging infrastructure and they the problems are uncovered by a disaster. Sandy exposes weaknesses of antiquated sewage systems in N.Y., N.J.
Published 13 December 2012

Hurricane Sandy destroyed homes, apartments, and entire communities, and it also exposed the outdated sewage systems in New York and New Jersey; since Hurricane Sandy, millions of gallons of raw sewage have infiltrated waterways in both states, and it could take several years and billions of dollars to fix the systems; New York governor Andrew Cuomo estimated that it will cost about $1.1 billion to repair treatment plants; officials in the field say that much more will have to be done. Raw sewage overflow flooded much of New York and New Jersey coastal areas //

Given the intensity of the pre-election political debate as well as the near-term arrival of Hurricane Sandy in the nation’s capital this is the time, several critical political issues probably will get some visibility (if not solutions) in the near term. Once the storm clears, there will be intense scrutiny of FEMA and the availability of federal funds and assistance to state and local governments for response and recovery activities.  More specifically,

(1) We can expect some debate about supplemental appropriations by Congress to pay for the expected tens of billions of dollars of damage likely from the catastrophic storm events.

(2) A review and discussion of the form and functions of FEMA.

(3) Effects of sequestration on FEMA.

Re (1) above, here are some details from Roll Call today; essentially saying that funds are available at FEMA presently to assist states with disaster response. Same topic as explained in the Wall St. Journal today.

Re (2) quite a bit a discussion ensued today:

In a  recent ( but pre-Sandy) interview, Romney indicated he wants to abolish FEMA and make the states assume responsibility for disaster relief and assistance.  There might also be a  privatizing effort in there too.

Today, CNN picked up this topic and the Romney spokesperson quoted this morning is sticking to the story.

By afternoon today, Romney is quote as saying he would not abolish FEMA, but gave no details about the agency would do if the states had the main role and functions.

Also this afternoon, a writer with Salon.com weighed in, saying abolishing FEMA was a terrible idea.

My opinion:  I fully expect that his position will change when his Republican colleagues who hold congressional offices in some of the 10 or more states affected by  H. Sandy want their share of federal money for response and recovery, under the current national emergency management system.

Oct.30- hate to say I told you so, but Romney has a”clarified” his stance on FEMA and federal aid about 24 hours after I wrote this posting.  See this report. It would be political suicide to do otherwise.

Re (3) Here is what Ezra Klein has to say in his blog re how costly cuts to FEMA will result from sequestration in 2013.

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