Joe Henderson
I have a suggestion for U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Jerk. He’s the Texas Republican Congress Creep whose grandstand look-at-me move is holding up $19 billion in hurricane relief.
Mr. Congress Creep, come on down and experience Florida Panhandle hospitality, Hurricane Michael-style. The good people of Mexico Beach will be happy to find you accommodations in a FEMA trailer. That’s an upgrade, by the way, from the tents that many of them lived in for weeks after Michael turned their homes into piles of rubble.
It should be easy to find where you’re going. Just look for the blue tarps covering the roofs of too many homes. You better bring some snacks, though. There is no grocery store in Mexico Beach, and no gas station either.
The state has tried to help its neighbors in the Panhandle. The Florida Legislature just approved $220 million in relief, but that’s a spit in the bucket. After all, many places, especially Mexico Beach, are still trying to clean up and remove mountains of debris.
It finally looked like a substantial bipartisan federal aid package was on its way to areas struggling from hurricane damage. That includes parts of Texas, the home state of Roy, R-Balderdash.
But then Roy objected because, he said, “This is a bill that includes nothing to address the clear national emergency and humanitarian crisis we face at our southern border.”
His one-man show of political theatrics was enough to hold up the bill for at least 11 days and could delay the release of funds for considerably longer.
You could say he learned from the master, though. Roy was the Chief of Staff for Ted Cruz, who led a 16-day government shutdown in 2013 over Obamacare. Cruz voted to approve this aid package, by the way.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was incensed at this turn of events. Being a politician operating in polarized times though, she expanded the blame to more than Roy.
“House Republicans’ last-minute sabotage of an overwhelmingly bipartisan disaster relief bill is an act of staggering political cynicism,” she said. “Countless American families hit by devastating natural disasters across the country will now be denied the relief they urgently need.”
Let’s be clear about something.
That “urgent need” has been there in the Panhandle since Michael roared ashore last fall. It has been there for longer in Texas and Puerto Rico, which had widespread devastation in 2017.
But people whose homes are reduced to splinters become pawns for political theatrics because they can’t fight back. Cruz, remember, voted against a $51 billion aid package for New Jersey in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
So did Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Cotton was even more cynical, asking aloud why his state should have to bail out another. South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham also turned thumbs-down on aid requests for Sandy, but he changed his tune when floods devasted his home state.
It’s nothing but damned posturing with people’s lives so they can say they are more conservative than the others. There is no sense of national unity because of people like Chip Roy. When disasters like Michael or Harvey strike, nothing should be more important to both political parties than speeding whatever relief is necessary as quickly as possible.
Stop being politicians and try becoming human beings, if you’re capable.
That’s something to ponder as we commemorate Memorial Day. We honor those who put others ahead of themselves to defend America. Those extraordinary individuals understood words like duty, honor, and unity.
They have been wet, cold and hungry.
These people are the first ones to help and the last to leave. They would do so without fanfare.
Chip Roy, R-Clueless, could remember them the next time he goes looking for cameras and a microphone after a hurricane. Playing a game with people’s lives is out of bounds. These are real people, and Chip, you’re a real jerk.
6 comments
Mike
May 26, 2019 at 9:20 pm
Hope he kept his day job. His ignorance surely will not be rewarded with a second term by the great people of Texas. Northwest Floridians will help with the cause to find a smarter, more sensitive rep who serves you better. Just can’t fix stupid.
stan
May 27, 2019 at 6:32 am
who has FEMA trailer most don’t many are still living in tents and now with the temperature over a 100 degrees, rise of mosquitoes, poor conditions, injuries from debris, chainsaws and heavy equipment. Conditions just went from bad to worse.
Karen
May 28, 2019 at 11:52 am
There are so many people who are even worse off than a lady I know: 64 years old, on disability for reasons beyond her control, severe COPD requiring constant oxygen, no government assisted housing available, no vehicle. Was displaced from the damaged rental house she had shared with another elderly person, because neither could afford a place on their own. Had it not been for her niece, who generously travelled out of state to buy a travel trailer, since there was nothing available locally, which the aunt couldn’t have afforded anyway, but now has to park it in her own front yard, because the least expensive lot she could find was nearly the aunt’s entire monthly income, she likely wouldn’t have survived. Rescue missions only allow so many days/nights at a time, tents don’t have electricity to run her oxygen concentrator, and this IDIOT thinks that building a wall (which really won’t do much to keep illegals out, never mind the fact that most drugs come in through tunnels and other means the criminals have found to circumvent the law) is more important than helping our own citizens?? Dear Lord, how incredibly stupid is he?!?
Christine Reiss
May 30, 2019 at 4:06 pm
Those in northwest Florida decimated by Hurricane Michael are gasping for breath from one gut punch after another, and just when Congress was poised, after seven unconscionably long months, to finally allocate disaster relief funding, we looked up to find Rep. Chip Roy on his high horse, where he figuratively spit into our mouths by single-handedly blocking the relief bill because it didn’t provide funding for border issues. This relief bill is not to rebuild our homes or businesses – we are battling with our insurance companies to take care of that. The federal disaster funding killed in the procedural stunt by Rep. Roy was funding to save our community from collapsing under the weight of the massive damage to every part of our public infrastructure and the near total destruction of Tyndall Air Force base, which makes up one-third of our local economy. Shame on Representative Roy and the other pedantic Republican bullies who have since taken turns blocking the passage of the bill. Like all bullies, I guess they get a rush from kicking us while we are down.
Sherry Erhard
June 3, 2019 at 12:19 am
I have had asthma my whole life but about 5 years ago my asthma got so bad and I was diagnosed with emphysema/COPD which was most likely due to the asthma. I was on double antibiotics and steroids, still didn’t feel any better. I already used Advair, Spiriva, and albuterol in my nebulizer, they just didn’t do much. It was awful for me due to the difficulty in breathing, nothing gave me better relief from the severe breathlessness and Wheezing till i started on this COPD Herbal from Organic Herbal Clinic ( w ww.organicherbalclinic.c om )Its been 4 months since i completed the Emphysema Herbal Formula, all my symptoms are gone including constant coughing, i breath very much easier and can never be thankful enough to nature
Karen
June 4, 2019 at 2:43 pm
Thanks for your comments, Sherry. Glad that your COPD is improved, but what the heck does that have to do with Hurricane Michael or the lack of attention and help that the government has provided to the devastated people of the Panhandle???
Comments are closed.