Thursday, July 24, 2008

Show me the Money!


I was listening to WHO the other day when a top of the hour news report came on by Jim Boyd. One of the items he was reporting on was Governor Culver’s trip to D.C. to ask for assistance. The report featured a Culver proudly saying he had requested 1.2 billion dollars. The weird thing is I almost expected the Big Lug to say that billion with a “B”. Anyway, I didn’t really think much more about it till I read today’s article in the Register stating that the American Red Cross thinks Culver’s number is inflated, not by a little bit, but by 50% or so.

Now, I’m all for Iowa getting its fair share, but I don’t think it is right to fleece the American taxpayer for more than we need.

So how did Culver come up with his number; by using the number of request for assistance that has been submitted. On the other hand the American Red Cross actually does a visual assessment, reported that 12,302 homes in Iowa had some type of flood-related damage, and that another 704 were damaged by tornadoes. Culver’s number was 32,000.

On the surface Iowa’s flood recovery seems to be going smoothly, but with every passing day flood victims are going to become more and more anxious. Culver’s actions put Iowa flood victims are at risk. People need assistance and they need it quickly. Now I imagine that Congress will need to reexamine the request, or they simply might use the numbers from the Red Cross.

I know a lot of people where impressed by the way that Culver handled the floods when they were occurring, but that’s the easy part. Look at how the country rallied around President Bush after 9-11. Culver and our members of Congress will be judged not by their initial response, but by how quickly they can return life back to normal for the flood victims.

If people are frustrated in November it will not be good for incumbents.

4 comments:

  1. I am so glad that members of Congress will get a "recess" before they tackle the Flood Relief. I hope they come back tan, rested, and ready. Meanwhile those individuals on the eastern side of this state will continue to figure out where to live, where to relocate there small business, or how to pay the tax bill coming due in September.

    It is sad that Culver couldn't convince members of his own party that delaying this until September is a slap in the face. This is a huge disappointment.

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  2. Culver practicing 'FUZZY" math????

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  3. Forget Culver, where is the leadership from Harkin, Loebsack, Braley and Boswell?

    Last I checked they were in control of congress (which handles the gov't spending for those of you in Rio Linda).

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  4. I heard someone say that the 2.3 billion that was previously allocated should be "enough" to tide us over until Sept.

    Well..guess what..That's just barely enough to cover the expenditures made by cities and the State to fix damaged public infrastructure and for pre-flood preparations.

    This is WHY people have such a low approval of Congress. They see the so called "leaders" as being there to only benefit themselves...and not to help people, especially when they are truly in need.

    One of the roles of government is to help its citizens after massive natural disasters such as this.

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