Though the $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy bill fell victim to complete Congressional collapse, the House of Representatives managed to at least get a $9.7 billion relief bill through yesterday. But even that paltry sum, intended to help cover flood insurance premiums, was too much for some people, and New York politicians and lawmakers are blasting the 67 Representatives who voted no on the bill.
A few anti-Sandy bill stars of the hour included one-time Vice Presidential candidate and "reformed" Ayn Rand enthusiast Paul Ryan, eight Representatives from Texas, and a few Congressmen from Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, states that received some serious government dollars after a little storm called Katrina way back when. Former New York Senator Al D'Amato, a Republican, called these anti-voters "a bunch of jackasses" for balking at the bill.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn called the delay in aid "a cruel betrayal" in a letter she wrote to SI Advance yesterday. And in an editorial today, the Daily News ripped House Republicans for voting on the tempered aid bill "grudgingly." "This is not how Americans treat other Americans in crying need," the editorial read. "This is a national disgrace."
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Boehner says he'll bring back a vote on the bigger Sandy bill later this month.
