Posted on 12/07/2012 10:18:22 PM PST by Uncle Chip
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama asked Congress Friday for $60.4 billion in federal aid for New York, New Jersey and other states hit by Superstorm Sandy in late October. It's a disaster whose cost is rivaled only by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2005 Hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
Obama's request adds a huge new to-do item to a congressional agenda already packed with controversy on how to resolve the nation's budget woes and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.
"Our nation has an obligation to assist those who suffered losses and who lack adequate resources to rebuild their lives," Jeffrey D. Zients, deputy director of Obama's budget office, wrote to congressional leaders.
"At the same time, we are committed to ensuring federal resources are used responsibly and that the recovery effort is a shared undertaking."
The measure blends aid for homeowners, businesses, and state and local government walloped by Sandy and comes with just a few weeks to go before Congress adjourns. Whether it passes this month or gets delayed in whole or part until next year is unclear. Most of the money — $47.4 billion — is for immediate help for victims and other recovery and rebuilding efforts. There's another $13 billion for mitigation efforts to protect against future storms.
The massive request comes after protracted discussions into late Friday afternoon with lawmakers and officials from impacted areas. Officials from the affected states had requested significantly more money, but they generally praised the request and urged Congress to enact it as quickly as possible.
"This is a powerful first step," said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a news conference in New York City..... This is going to be a significant asset for this state."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I can hear Chris Christie while visiting the White House.. “C’mon man, I won the election for you dude, sooo PAY UP!!”
Two months later...
What if instead of blowing all of the stimulus money on ‘Green Energy’ we had used it to put all of the electrical lines in the Northeast underground.
Just a thought on spending wisely.
You know, it’s funny because it’s true, underground power lines are way safer, only don’t ever suggest it to the government, because it’s all personal solar panels or nothing at all to them. Anyways, yeah, power lines underground actually makes sense, because they’re almost impossible, minus a few unlikely circumstances to break, and being underground, unlikely to freeze too.
House Republicans should just laugh.
Instead, Boehner will weep, demand we support it, then weep some more after it passes.
Re: “Underground Cables”
Yes, they worked perfectly in Lower Manhattan, didn’t they?
Can underground electrical lines be drowned like the subways and damaged by salt water?
These states should raise their taxes to pay for this..tax lovers all
Underground power lines are somwhat lossy. They also cause some heating of the cable due to that loss. That loss depends on conductor size and material (aluminum vs coppper), insullation type and length of run.
Underground power lines can be a real problem if you dig a ditch.
I have a friend that right after Sandy was begging everyone to send money to help. I refused and told her......trust me, we will pay for it in the end anyway. Guess I was right.
I doubt that an underground powerline would have taken out 100 homes in Breeze Point.
Not sure I understand your comment.
My point...
Massive flooding of underground power lines in Lower Manhattan caused at least a hundred thousand people to lose electricity, some of them for weeks.
In general, underground power is a good idea.
But in low lying areas or during really hot weather, underground power can cause more problems than it solves.
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