UPDATE:
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has promised to hold a vote on the disaster relief bill by Jan. 15, according to Rep. Peter King.
Original story...
The House of Representatives will not vote on a $60.4 billion disaster relief bill that the Senate approved last Friday to aid Hurricane Sandy victims in New Jersey and New York, including Long Island from Long Beach to the Hamptons, House officials said Tuesday.
WATCH: Outrage in Congress After Sandy Aid Stalls
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pulled the bill back from a vote that was expected Wednesday after a late night session in Congress on New Year’s Day. Rep. Peter King, R-Seaford, the congressman who is primarily pushing for the emergency aid package, said failure to hold the vote means certain funds that require authorization – including FEMA disaster monies – will be delayed, possibly by another five to six weeks, according to Newsday. Said King:
"Tonight's action not to hold this vote on the supplemental is absolutely indefensible. The bill was ready to go."
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-Mineola, Tweeted
Tuesday night, "Washington at its worst: House R majority saying "drop
dead" to Sandy victims by keeping aid bill from getting vote."
Additionally, she encouraged her Twitter followers to "Call House
Speaker John Boehner's office at 202-225-0600 to help demand a vote on
the Sandy aid bill."
Meanwhile, Boehner spokesman, Michael Steel, said the speaker is “committed to getting the bill passed this month,” according to the Associated Press.
In a joint statement released by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the pair called the inaction 'inexcusable.'
"It has now been 66 days since Hurricane Sandy hit and 27 days since
President Obama put forth a responsible aid proposal that passed with a
bi-partisan vote in the Senate while the House has failed to even
bring it to the floor," they said.
The Senate last week passed the emergency aid package by a vote of 63-32.
This story was last updated at 7:07 p.m. on Jan. 2.
Jaime Sumersille contributed to this article.
House Fails to Vote on Sandy Relief
A West End Street the day after Hurricane Sandy slammed Long Beach in October. (Credit: Joseph Kellard)
Boards
All Boards »
BSM June 19, 2013 at 01:39 pm
While I agree there seem to be problems in the LB school district, I'm not sure this takes into…Read More account the financial reasons for opting for NCCC. For many families finances, not academic performance dictates the college. I think a more meaningful number would be the percentage of graduating seniors attending ANY college.
Richard Horn June 19, 2013 at 04:01 pm
The smart thing is going to NCC for two years and then transferring to a 4 yr school.. If they can't…Read More cut it at NCC, the parents save a ton of money. NCC is a pretty fine 2 yr school. You get out of it what you put in.
Fred Weintroub June 19, 2013 at 10:45 am
That STUPID Trapeze thing and the fence around it on the lot adjacent to the Boardwalk is going to…Read More cost us Volley Ball players and Beach goers about 30 to 40 parking spaces. Whoever thought this thing up should get their Heads
Charlie Cheswick June 19, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Jimmy Two-Times here, going to get the papers, get the papers...
js June 19, 2013 at 12:18 pm
I SAW A SUV WITH ADVERTISING ON IT FOR A TRAPEZE IN LB--I WAS WHERE IT WAS--
Penny Riordan June 19, 2013 at 10:51 am
Hi Nicholas. Thanks for using the boards. Your post may work better as a blog, where you can add…Read More photos and have a headline. From the homepage, click the 'start blogging' button in green about halfway down. Fill in the fields and then your blog will appear on the homepage. Let me know if you have any questions: penny.riordan@patch.com. Thanks!
AEA President June 18, 2013 at 04:46 pm
yes - by sheer coincidence, their employees work more overtime than ever before in their last 3…Read More years of employment before retirement (as it so happens, their pension is based in part on their last 3 years of employment).
Jack Kett June 18, 2013 at 07:41 pm
Bottom line re: LIRR is that people in suburbs who ride LIRR and Metro North are paying to subsidize…Read More the bankrupt NYC Subways and subsidize minority riders in the outer boros. Its the price we pay to not live in NYC. The subways charges a cheap fixed fare to subsidize low income NYC residents. Its a form of socialism.
Joe June 18, 2013 at 08:19 pm
Jack, racist much? Why don't you go have a tea party with the rest of the little Republican girls?
Eddie June 18, 2013 at 02:55 pm
Great photos, Richard. With joists like those, you could drive a firetruck up that thing!
Eugene Torres June 17, 2013 at 07:57 am
Heron St is like a bombed out war zone. Many of the residents
drive the wrong way to avoid the…Read More potholes at the beginning of the street.
Charlie Cheswick June 18, 2013 at 03:13 pm
"Working" storm drains like the one between Regent & Greenway on Lido Blvd?
Susie Pennachio June 15, 2013 at 09:13 am
yeeeepppp i always see people trying to get thru it or go around it to get onto the beach
Jaime Sumersille (Editor) June 15, 2013 at 12:44 pm
Thanks for the notice, Ally! I posted this on Facebook to make people aware! - Jaime Sumersille,…Read More Regional Editor, Nassau County
RackEmUp Gomez June 14, 2013 at 03:55 pm
Those murderers from Boston were students, right?
How about importing some kids from Brooklyn that…Read More need help?
Lets stop being patsys.
But to his credit, meaning to save something for Pete King out of this utter mess, leadership requires both leaders and people willing to be led by them. I think it is clear that my party, the Republican Party, has been hijacked by a faction that will not allow themselves to be led, yet, are incapable of leading, themselves. Until this moment I believed that the Republican Party could be saved from within, by leaders like Pete King. I presently doubt that very much. I also believe that the party has done too much damage to its own reputation, its repute, to be effective (meaning constructive, creative, dynamic, and beneficial to we, the people) at the national level. We may actually be at the brink of the kind of schism within the current GOP that could lead to the formation of the first successful Third Party in our history. No, that party will not be the Tea Party. The Tea Party will become the remnants of the dying Republican Party, and the real Republican leaders, like Peter King, will be at the heart of the new party, which does not presently have a name. The best way for real Republican leaders to deal with the hijacking of the national party by the Tea Baggers would be for sitting lawmakers, like King, to change their affiliation from Republican to Independent, and thereby remove the majority status from Boehner, Cantor, and McCarthy, leaving them without the ability to rule.
You assertion that Boehner was "busy with" anything concerning either the fiscal deadline or Sandy relief funding is inaccurate at least to some degree. Presumably you saw a chastened Pete King eating crow this morning on national TV after his "time-out" with Boehner yesterday. The lack of true Republican leadership in the House which they supposedly ""control"" is nauseating. As a result of the failure of any real House Republican ""leadership"", the national media are proclaiming this entire fiscal affair to be a "huge victory" for President Obama. Boehner appears severely beaten. I don't want that guy in the driver's seat, behind the wheel of our Congress, and neither should you. I suggest Boehner, Cantor, and McCarthy take the afternoon off, and listen to Kenny Rogers "The Gambler" several times, until the quintessential message sinks in: "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj4nJ1YEAp4
RINO stands for Republican in name only. The problem I have with your accusation is that, at this precise moment, it is not possible to definitively say who or what is a "Republican". I think that I am one, but I would not want to be associated in any way, shape or form with the ""leadership"" of John Boehner or the behavior of the Tea Party. Conversely, if you think Pete King is a RINO, then I would submit that you are no true Republican, meaning of the same cloth as Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, or Abraham Lincoln. So RINO is a very apt word for the situation with our party. Who are true Republicans and who are the imposters, the posers, the neo-cons, and the right-wing reactionaries (all different stripes of "Republican"). Right now, I think being registered Republican doesn't cut it, any more than it does any good for an elected office holder to have an "(R)" printed next to his/her name in the paper or an online article. We are all RINO's to each other.
This quote is future tense, the fact is, the house bill had already removed all earmarks. This is no argument for Boehner's refusal to allow a vote, the bill was clean, the Speaker was dirty.
The pork-barrel feast includes more than $8 million to buy cars and equipment for the Homeland Security and Justice departments. It also includes a whopping $150 million for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to dole out to fisheries in Alaska and $2 million for the Smithsonian Institution to repair museum roofs in DC. An eye-popping $13 billion would go to “mitigation” projects to prepare for future storms. Other big-ticket items in the bill include $207 million for the VA Manhattan Medical Center; $41 million to fix up eight military bases along the storm’s path, including Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; $4 million for repairs at Kennedy Space Center in Florida; $3.3 million for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center and $1.1 million to repair national cemeteries. Budget watchdogs have dubbed the 94-page emergency-spending bill “Sandy Scam.” More: $58.8 million for forest restoration on private land. $197 million “to… protect coastal ecosystems and habitat impacted by Hurricane Sandy.” $10.78 billion for public transportation, most of which is allocated to future construction and improvements, not disaster relief. $17 billion for wasteful Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), a program that has become notorious for its use as a backdoor earmark program. Where did you see that it was?
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/01/02/the-pork-filled-and-expensive-nonrelief-sandy-relief-bill-n1477710
As for the Tea Party, well they may have been putting some flakes up as candidates but its still refreshing to see regular ordinary people running for, and in some cases being elected to, office. The problems we face today are precisely because of all the professional politicans and their feeling that they're better than the rest of us. Seems like too many Americans have forgotten what our ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES are supposed to do--represent us, their constituents and their employers, not their own wallets and self interest. That's what you get when a House member makes $175k. They're not supposed to be making that kind of money and the Founders thought it dangerous. Looks like they were right once again.
Your list of items is impressive, even though it was cut and pasted from the Dec. 15, 2012 NY Post http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/little_help_here_1kW6aQ8fElj4CKwbheEV0N
just read the entirety of the bill...first. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1eas/pdf/BILLS-112hr1eas.pdf
1/3/13 12:58 House vote for speaker: KING: "Boehner" That didn't seem like a long way Pete.
Since he will allow it unchanged, he pulled the vote as a stunt. Below is the bill as it was written on Tuesday morning. Please point out the "Non-Sandy" related pork. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr1eas/pdf/BILLS-112hr1eas.pdf
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/275351-new-york-republicans-take-on-issa-over-sandy-relief-bill
For an additional amount for ‘‘Operation and Mainte7 nance’’, $821,000,000, to remain available until expended 8 to dredge Federal navigation channels and repair damage 9 to Corps projects nationwide related to natural disasters: Well here's some of it...I really don't feel like reviewing all 100 pages, but maybe I shall. Enclosing 821 Million for future problems not related to Sandy seems to be pork to me.
17 PROCUREMENT OF AMMUNITION, ARMY 18 For an additional amount for ‘‘Procurement of Am19 munition, Army’’, $1,310,000, to remain available until 20 September 30, 2015, for necessary expenses related to the 21 consequences of Hurricane Sandy: We needed to budget over a million dollars of AMMUNITION for Hurricane Sandy??? And why might that be?
I see no such thing as true "conservatism" on the part of the Tea Party. Financial calcification, okay. But rigid obstinance, failure to recognize one's duty to govern, failure to compromise under any condition and regardless of the consequences...those are certainly not conservative governmental behaviors. Those are immature, intemperate, unrealistic behaviors bordering on economic fascism.
Tucked into the "fiscal cliff" tax package approved by Congress are billions of dollars in tax breaks that should make the new year a lot happier for businesses of many stripes, including film producers, race track owners and the makers of electric motorcycles. In all, more than 50 temporary tax breaks were renewed through 2013, saving businesses and individuals about $76 billion. Congress routinely renews the tax package, attracting intense lobbying - and campaign donations - from businesses and trade groups that say the tax breaks help them prosper and create jobs.