White House denies TX as "major disaster area"; local leaders frustrated

You are exactly correct, BUT, it would be nice for the sanctimonious righties to remember what you said the next time they spread their horse-pucky about how those who do not think exactly as they do are a bunch of worthless, degenerated idiots. Those who use the easy sound bites of hate and condescention to regularly drive wedges should remember the part about people living in glass houses throwing stones. Unfortunately, there are some peoople who need help that may not get it because of fallout from how Gov. Perry treated a sitting President when he visited Texas. If it's not clear now, Obama isn't the candy-ass the hard-on right would like to think he is. He just is real short on bluster. Originally Posted by Randy4Candy
Not sure why you quoted me, but I am assuming you are not casting me in the far right light or a sound bite idiot. Because I’m waaaaay not. I’m a right of center Independent that hasn’t watched TV since Miami Vice went off the air or voted for a winner since Reagan. (That means I’ve voted Democrat and Republican.) I feel that all the people as far right as you are talking about and are as far left as you seem to be are part of the overall problem we have in America today. Everything has to be so cut and dry and along party lines. Well that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. I wish to death that we didn’t live in a fascist (In the classical sense where industry and government are one in the same.) oligarchy, but we do. Money snuck in where decent folks decided to turn their backs on what is right and moral to embrace what is PC, fueled by sound bites or handed to them by spin doctors and career politicians that live for their power and have no real love for America anymore.

I believe Obama is not only an indecisive candy-ass, but a vindictive little man. To disavow the extreme problems with the fires here in Texas and to systematically try to destroy the economy of one of the biggest states in the Union is petty. Because what? Governor Good Hair picked on him? Because he won’t win here? Good and sound logic. Not only will we not forget, but he’ll be drug through the wringer by the environmentalists who aren't blind to him for turning his back on 2.2 million aces of scorched earth if nothing else.
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How many people have died because of these grass fires??????????????
How many people have did because of these grass fires?????????????? Originally Posted by ibechill
Does it matter? It is still 2.2 million of acres burned. How many people were killed at Mount St. Hellens? How many people were killed in the natural disaster in Alabama a couple of weeks ago? Then, how many square miles were destroyed in that said disaster?
ibechill's Avatar
Yes it does matter...

What the heck does Mount St Hellens have to do with this? Didn't that happen in the 1980s?

The Texas fires were compared to the Alabama diaster. Up to 350 people have been killed due to the tornados in Alabama and other southern states. Up to 200 people are still missing in Alabama.

Perry will be the first to say the federal government wastes too much money. But he will be the first in line for a hand out from the federal government.
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Not sure why you quoted me, but I am assuming you are not casting me in the far right light or a sound bite idiot. Because I’m waaaaay not. I’m a right of center Independent that hasn’t watched TV since Miami Vice went off the air or voted for a winner since Regan. (That means I’ve voted Democrat and Republican.) I feel that all the people as far right as you are talking about and are as far left as you seem to be are part of the overall problem we have in America today. Everything has to be so cut and dry and along party lines. Well that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. I wish to death that we didn’t live in a fascist (In the classical sense where industry and government are one in the same.) oligarchy, but we do. Money snuck in where decent folks decided to turn their backs on what is right and moral to embrace what is PC, fueled by sound bites or handed to them by spin doctors and career politicians that live for their power and have no real love for America anymore.

I believe Obama is not only an indecisive candy-ass, but a vindictive little man. To disavow the extreme problems with the fires here in Texas and to systematically try to destroy the economy of one of the biggest states in the Union is petty. Because what? Governor Good Hair picked on him? Because he won’t win here? Good and sound logic. Not only will we not forget, but he’ll be drug through the wringer by the environmentalists who aren't blind to him for turning his back on 2.2 million aces of scorched earth if nothing else.

 Originally Posted by OliviaHoward
Actually, since your quote was a succinct thing, it suited my point well. My point was that what you said was correct, but the "sound bite idiots" (really like that one) usually tend to stray towards the far right field foul pole and are the ones who get there firstest with the mostest when it comes to declaring others not to be "real Americans" (w-ever-tf that means). The thing is, those sorts of actions wind up having real-life consequences. After all, it's not like Obama invented tit-for-tat. The foot dragging and general effed-uppedness of the Katrina thing, while probably not really Dubya's fault, reveals another way some group can be shorted if an overall don't-give-a-damn-about-(insert name of group here) attitude is allowed to prevail.

Hmmmmm. You're right about the state of the current fascist state though incorrect about its foundation in PC. Fascism is a right wing thing. One doesn't find a lot of corporatists hanging out with the ACLU.

But, since I have more than a little experience in what happens to ranchers in particular after a wildfire I need to clue you and others in about programs within the Dept of Ag that cut down the need for FEMA. Not necessarily eliminating that need, but reducing it. And, regarding the environmentalists' take on the fires, well fires are generally a good and a natural way to replenish the soil and clear away things, natural or not, that have become useless. Obviously, they're not so good for anyone with a non-mobile structure or non-rolling stock. What's is darkly humorous about this is the idea of the "Tree Huggers" shaming the Democrat into helping Texans (not a group renowned for progressive thinking on the environment). I would, however, urge those with lots of cash who think that condition gives any strict constructionist argument (or any other of the usual righty-tightie one for that matter) they make extra merit to get out west and start strictly constructing some g/d fences since they seem to be all about "bootstrapping." Or, at least send money...lol. I guess another quote that could come from the "you're on your own boys" is: "What, you didn't have the right kind of insurance?"

But, with regards to your opinion about Obama and your perception of his vindictiveness - think Tricky Dick's Enemies List (Nancy Reagan's, too) and Cheney's Valerie Plame Wilson stunt. Shit happens, it shouldn't but it does - that's hardball politics. On a side note, go read about Andrew Jackson and his tiff with the Bank of the US back in the 1830's. Now THERE's some personal, petty, vindictive stuff behind all of that. I don't necessarily hang with the candy-ass idea. I just think all of the bluster (think "I am the Decider!!!") and suchlike white noise isn't his thing and that he'll take the best political deal circumstances will allow. That doesn't make me a total fan of his every move, but I'm not so sure he's giving away the store, either.
Yes it does matter...

What the heck does Mount St Hellens have to do with this? Didn't that happen in the 1980s?

The Texas fires were compared to the Alabama diaster. Up to 350 people have been killed due to the tornados in Alabama and other southern states. Up to 200 people are still missing in Alabama.

Perry will be the first to say the federal government wastes too much money. But he will be the first in line for a hand out from the federal government. Originally Posted by ibechill
Maybe it would be different if your house burned, or your business was destroyed or whatever. I was making a correlation to how bad a natural disaster Mount St. Hellens was verses this one. Not granting emergency status to Texas is politics. Side with your guy. You aren't doing something that everyone else isn't already doing. It seems that is all anyone wants to do anymore is sit on their side of the isle and snipe. Anytime 2.2 million acres of land burns with no hope in putting it out, it's a natural disaster. So, I'll agree that we disagree. No point in going back and forth talking in circles.
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White House denies TX as "major disaster area"; local leaders frustrated

News
Ashley Aldrich Reporter/KETK News

POSTED: Wednesday, May 4, 2011 - 6:32pm



UPDATED: Thursday, May 5, 2011 - 11:59am



Related

TEXAS — This year, almost 7,000 separate wildfires have destroyed more than two million acres in Texas, burning hundreds of homes, businesses, and farms.
Conditions are still dry. In fact, 210 of Texas' 254 counties are under a burn ban.
Back in March, Texas Governor Rick Perry requested a statewide disaster declaration from FEMA that would give the state financial aid to combat the fires..
When tornadoes ripped through Alabama in April, White House officials immediately declared it a disaster area. Meanwhile in Texas, fires the size of Rhode Island were burning, and FEMA still had not responded to Perry's request.
"I think this administration needs to be responsive to the people of the state of Texas. It seems to me they were very responsive and appropriately so to the citizens of Alabama," says Governor Perry.
U.S. Senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison from Texas wrote a letter to FEMA asking them to expedite the request and got no response.
Tuesday, they wrote a letter to President Obama urging for assistance, and they finally got an answer. Senator Cornyn says, "I'm very disappointed that the Obama Administration...yesterday... after dragging their feet for weeks informed Governor Perry that his request had been denied."
Senator Cornyn says there was no explanation. "I'm frankly baffled," he says.
FEMA says Texas has received 25 fire assistance grants in the last two months. "I think we've had 9,000 separate fires in the state of Texas, and the federal government has only helped us with 25 of them. I think that's inappropriate," says Gov. Perry.
Now, some state leaders say it's hard not to speculate. Sen. Cornyn says, "Texas has not been a place that's received, to my view, equal and fair-handed treatment with other places in the country. There seems to be a lot of politics in the calculation."
Texas has 30 days to appeal the denial. Governor Perry says the state is considering its options. Originally Posted by Marshall
If we had seceded the money that would have gone into our own coffers would be here for us to use.
Better yet, if we downsized the government and had more of that money in our own pockets individually and corporately then we would be in a better position to help ourselves.
We pay our taxes just like everyone else so we deserve the same consideration. Ever hear of that little complaint "taxation without representation"? Stop taking from us and we will stop asking for it back when we need it.
The fact is the Fed. Gubment takes away and gives it somewhere else that suits them better, politically speaking, that is.
I can assure you of one thing. As bad as some of you would like to see Texas burn to a crisp we will find a way not to let that happen. Remember the Alamo! Remember San Jacinto!
ibechill's Avatar
House did catch on fire once. Government didn't do a damn thing to help me. Didn't expect it to.
Actually, since your quote was a succinct thing, it suited my point well. My point was that what you said was correct, but the "sound bite idiots" (really like that one) usually tend to stray towards the far right field foul pole and are the ones who get there firstest with the mostest when it comes to declaring others not to be "real Americans" (w-ever-tf that means). The thing is, those sorts of actions wind up having real-life consequences. After all, it's not like Obama invented tit-for-tat. The foot dragging and general effed-uppedness of the Katrina thing, while probably not really Dubya's fault, reveals another way some group can be shorted if an overall don't-give-a-damn-about-(insert name of group here) attitude is allowed to prevail.

Hmmmmm. You're right about the state of the current fascist state though incorrect about its foundation in PC. Fascism is a right wing thing. One doesn't find a lot of corporatists hanging out with the ACLU. Originally Posted by Randy4Candy
Fascism in it’s classical sense IS industry and government coming together or at least that’s how Mussolini defined it. I’m not talking about Jack-Booters. I’m talking about the systematic purchase of our representative government by industry.


But, since I have more than a little experience in what happens to ranchers in particular after a wildfire I need to clue you and others in about programs within the Dept of Ag that cut down the need for FEMA. Not necessarily eliminating that need, but reducing it. And, regarding the environmentalists' take on the fires, well fires are generally a good and a natural way to replenish the soil and clear away things, natural or not, that have become useless. Obviously, they're not so good for anyone with a non-mobile structure or non-rolling stock. What's is darkly humorous about this is the idea of the "Tree Huggers" shaming the Democrat into helping Texans (not a group renowned for progressive thinking on the environment). I would, however, urge those with lots of cash who think that condition gives any strict constructionist argument (or any other of the usual righty-tightie one for that matter) they make extra merit to get out west and start strictly constructing some g/d fences since they seem to be all about "bootstrapping." Or, at least send money...lol. I guess another quote that could come from the "you're on your own boys" is: "What, you didn't have the right kind of insurance?" Originally Posted by Randy4Candy
Yes, yes we all know that eventually wild fires and volcanoes spring lif anew. But in the here and now they kinda suck. No new seeds are being sown when someone’s house or business burns. And all the good that comes from a wild fire takes quite a while to set itself right in most places.

No insurance? Really, that’s the argument for not rendering aid to Texas? Do you really want to have to make a total loss claim on your house? Prove how many pairs of underwear you have and how much you paid for it. I have friends that are still trying to settle up with the insurance companies after Ike almost three years ago.


But, with regards to your opinion about Obama and your perception of his vindictiveness - think Tricky Dick's Enemies List (Nancy Reagan's, too) and Cheney's Valerie Plame Wilson stunt. Shit happens, it shouldn't but it does - that's hardball politics. On a side note, go read about Andrew Jackson and his tiff with the Bank of the US back in the 1830's. Now THERE's some personal, petty, vindictive stuff behind all of that. I don't necessarily hang with the candy-ass idea. I just think all of the bluster (think "I am the Decider!!!") and suchlike white noise isn't his thing and that he'll take the best political deal circumstances will allow. That doesn't make me a total fan of his every move, but I'm not so sure he's giving away the store, either. Originally Posted by Randy4Candy
Give away the store? How about all that Hope and Change? That's justification for not helping? He’s no different the rest of his kind. I’d say he’s just as petty, maybe even more so, than W. Hardcore politics wouldn’t be so flippant and fun to talk about if YOU were the one with the losses or caught in the crossfire. Sorry, extremists on either end – including the left – shouldn’t be able to justify hardball politics. It’s what’s wrong in the country today. There’s a middle ground everywhere. Yes, Obama is being vindictive. Yes, Bush was a war-starting ass. Yes, Dick Cheney was a dick. Yes, Ken Star was an over reaching ass. Yes, Polosi played hardball and ramrodded Health Care through. But that doesn’t make any of that right. Come on! When did it become illegal to “just get along”?
Y'all are ignorant. Fires rarely, if ever, result in a major disaster declaration and Perry knows it. This is all GOP PR BS.

FEMA provides money to help states fight fires. Since the beginning of the year, FEMA has provided over 30 fire management grants to Texas.

See http://www.fema.gov/news/disasters.fema for proof. Look under the section on fire management grants.
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Thank you, charles (I think).

It became illegal "just to get along," Olivia, when it became necessary to feed the cable news cycle beast whereby "newsmakers" stretch their "15 minutes of fame" to "15 minutes per day" each. You are probably too young to remember when all news was received either in print or at 6pm and 10pm for 30 minutes. ABC's "Nightline" evolved from making permanent a nightly report on the happenings during the Iran Hostage Crisis. Then Ted Turner floated CNN and the rest is, as they say, history. The days when pols could duke it out during the day and then go get drunk with each other and screw the secretaries and interns at night, making for some fun male bonding though not necessarily age and status appropriate, are dead and gone.
declaring others not to be "real Americans" (w-ever-tf that means). Originally Posted by Randy4Candy
What this means is that some Americans are better than other Americans. The Americans that are better are the ones who try to move our society back to the principles which founded our country. These are the principals which made us the greatest society in history.....The less good Americans are the ones who move us in a direction away from those principles toward the fairyland principles of other societies which have been proven failures time after time.......These less good Americans do this out of ignorance and/or pursuit of power and/or pursuit of other people's resources (free-loader and deadbeats)..does that help?
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  • Doove
  • 05-07-2011, 09:56 AM
These less good Americans do this out of...pursuit of other people's resources (free-loader and deadbeats)... Originally Posted by Marshall
...by posting whiny complaints about not receiving federal dollars.
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What this means is that some Americans are better than other Americans. The Americans that are better are the ones who try to move our society back to the principles which founded our country. These are the principals which made us the greatest society in history.....The less good Americans are the ones who move us in a direction away from those principles toward the fairyland principles of other societies which have been proven failures time after time.......These less good Americans do this out of ignorance and/or pursuit of power and/or pursuit of other people's resources (free-loader and deadbeats)..does that help? Originally Posted by Marshall
Well, at least you removed whatever doubts might remain about you.

Actually, those of your ilk are the worst Americans, deviod of any sense of civic responsibility, community with others who are not exactly like yourself and completely eaten up with greed and selfishness. Consequently, you and those like you are totally worthless and unreliable. You and your type cannot be counted on to step up should your help be needed. Your type are the first to cut and run because you are more worried about all things pertaining to your "well being" and will gladly let anyone else twist in the wind, especially if it might cause you to break a sweat or contribute a dollar. Your type were the Tories during the revolution, if honest, otherwise just another "entrapeneur" trying to play both ends against the middle.

I'm still waiting for evidence of your trip out west into the fire zone to build some fence, clean-up some damage or even having cut a check over ten bucks to help out your fellow Americans. Of course, you may be waiting to get a good deal on some distressed vacation homes (vacation homes, second homes, etc. were way in the majority of what was lost by the lake - kinda non-qualifying property). If you can't jinny up to any of that, deafening silence on your part is so much more prefereable to your monotonous, dronig, craven babble.
Thank you, charles (I think).

It became illegal "just to get along," Olivia, when it became necessary to feed the cable news cycle beast whereby "newsmakers" stretch their "15 minutes of fame" to "15 minutes per day" each. You are probably too young to remember when all news was received either in print or at 6pm and 10pm for 30 minutes. ABC's "Nightline" evolved from making permanent a nightly report on the happenings during the Iran Hostage Crisis. Then Ted Turner floated CNN and the rest is, as they say, history. The days when pols could duke it out during the day and then go get drunk with each other and screw the secretaries and interns at night, making for some fun male bonding though not necessarily age and status appropriate, are dead and gone. Originally Posted by Randy4Candy
Actually I do remember the days of twice daily news, but I didn’t really watch TV then either. I gave up TV, except for Miami Vice and Dynasty, when the dial went from analog to digital. I didn’t know the stations so pretty much I was screwed. I call TV the idiot box. No offense to the people that watch it.

But I do agree with you. The ENDLESS do-loops of the same tired stores are a drag, and ironically they are also responsible for having a public hopelessly under informed. When I go out, I usually sit at the bar so I can have someone to talk to. It appalls me that EVERY restaurant in the city almost has a TV in the bar. I don’t want to watch that endless shit. Any of it. Dumb shows, shows that make fun of family, dumber reality shows and dumbest of all political pundits blowing their own dumb horns. This is my opinion of TV. I was over at a friend’s house a couple of weeks ago. I counted seven if-it-bleeds-it-leads stories before they finally got to a meat and potatoes story. It’s disgusting.

Be that as it may, some how, some way we have got to get back to putting the collective American experience ahead of individuality and raw political power. The question isn’t how will this play to the base, but rather is this good for the country, Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country kinda thing.