God forbid a Governor puts his constituents ahead of his party. Oh the [Bleeeeep!] humanity of it all! Good for him and in my mind really puts to light how the average politician is more concerned about their job then their constituents.

And don't even get me started on the idiot talking heads!

Fuckin RINO.

He'll be facing some ridiculous TeaBagger in his next primary who will put video of Christie complimenting the President for doing his job on 24 hour loop.

The wingnuts will probably give the primary to his "severely conservative" challenger, who will then get roundly stomped in the general election.

Fish on...

Todd

I don't disagree with that at all.

Probably explains why a libtard would never compliment a Republican President

Sad commentary on our current political environment. Winning trumps all!

I'm not sure what's more pathetic-The politicians or the voters??

He did his job, regardless of who is in the Whitehouse. Get over it.
NJ is heavily democrat voters. Christie has to run for re-election in two years. This storm is Christies test.

About damn time we had a govern who would work with the other side, even in a pres election, and say what he thought was right. Nice someone can tell the truth.


Of course he will be attacked on it from his party for doing just that. They will use it against him and the wackos will try but likely fail to unseat him.

The worst attacks will come later when he runs for pres next cycle. Todd will be here telling everyone what a RWWJ he is and that he wants granny pushed off a cliff, food stolen from colored babies, and anyone not white killed or deported. But for now he is a good one since he is not in a position to take power away and he is giving praise to BO.

I can also say I wish he had run this time as he would be far better than Romney or Obama. To bad presidents dont seem to come from the cream at the top and more the sludge at the bottom.

Yeah, praising him for doing his job, and doing it well, and helping his constituents.

Period.

He'll pay for it later...book it.

Fish on...

Todd

the best part is he is doing his job and also pissed uff the big wind bag rush

+ ten zillion.

Fish on...

Todd

Too bad that in today's political climate, doing the right thing for your constituents opens the door for criticism from your own party.

if his ticker doesn't pop, he will run for president in 2016 and might very well win with Rubio at his side.

Is it possible that Limbo cares more about Party than about the people of NJ ?
Nah, say it ain't so.

Is it possible that Christie and Obama do praise and exultation better than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? So many questions...

Scarier than Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meier? I rest my case...

She's already scary to look at.

Those Mormons are a shifty bunch with all those wives etc, etc.
Shiftier than Coach Spurrier and he's a shifty one.

Sarah Palin?

Gov. Christie has to lose at least 80 pounds to be a serious prez contender. For whatever reason, that's a presidential requirement. Superior leadership ability, not so much.

As far as I'm concerned, Christie has gone way up in my estimation. He has his priorities right which is helping the citizens of his State respond to a true crisis. Nicely done.

He wont have a republican or a Tparty challenger. He is doing his job and part of his job includes getting money from the feds to rebuild. Its a silly assumption given that NJ is majority Democrat, that its an open club to republicans. He only won because, the Obama Bundler and former Governor, Former Senator, phucked the taxpayers so bad, they had to go with a fighter.

In presidential politics, Obama would have destroyed Christie as being unhinged. That stuff may fly in NJ and NY, but it wont fly in the rest of the country. John McCain supposedly lost his temper once and it made headlines. They called Romney a bully after the first debate. Everybody thought Rudy Guliani should be president too. Same for Lee Iacoca. Few really good people who have a record, wont run, due to the bias and the destruction. Romneys wife did not want to go thru it again. All Perot had to do was say "you people" and he was called a racist. Given the bigotry of people, a lot of people could not vote for a fat man.

As far as the sludge comment, I dont share that perspective. He is a giving person and has done many acts of personal charity and help to others, that most people have never heard of. He shut down his company, flew everyone out of town, when one of the kids of an employee was missing or kidnapped. They set up a command post. He paid out of his own pocket for years, the milk delivery and 7000 cartons of milk to a hospital, after he did an audit of the hospital. The only reason he was outed for the generosity was because the truck driver retired and he gave up the name. He apparently donated all the money he inherited from his father. No DUI, no divorce.

Compare all this to Newt... There wasnt much wrong with Santorum, other than being wrong for the job and the wrong agenda.
Nothing wrong with Huckabee, who now has his own show on fox for nearly four years. When I think sludge, I think Kennedy. I think Clinton. There is a long list of convicts who use to be politicians on either side, that fit that description. Its not often we get one that has a clue and a plan. Compare him to some of the rich folks that make the news. Who would you rather have as a neighbor?

Considering the fiasco and the development regarding Benghazi, its only a matter of time, the news will be everywhere, that the current president left an Ambassador and soldiers in harms way and denied them support. The military past and present is fumming. Its not being widely covered, but it is leaking into the news.

Its wont matter if she was 45. Benghazi will be her legacy.

Yeah, he and Obama worked pretty well together on the disaster, meanwhile that other guy was down in Florida passing out "stewed prunes" to the senior citizens. Gov. Christie took some heat from Rush Limbaugh for the way he's been praising Obama's leadership. Christie vs Limbaugh is a Sumo wrestling match I'd pay to see. I'm sure "The Donald" would promote it.

Limbaugh also told dittoheads that NYC Mayor Bloomberg endorsed Romney. However, this afternoon the former Republican, but now Independent Mayor Bloomberg endorsed President Obama's reelection bid. That's big...

The photo ops are the easy part! Now comes the hard part which is actually getting these folks gas, power and food. And I wish them both the best for that.

But of course, for the partisans, the photo ops are really the only important thing here

And then early next year us taxpayers can rebuild these millionaires 2nd homes.

And then bail out the insurance company's.

And then stop funding FEMA because we are going broke.

And god forbid we ever invest in our infrastructure to avoid future disasters! That would ruin future photo ops

Gotta love America

I heard talk this morning on MSNBC about building surge ways ala the Netherlands. Would that mean no more beach front houses?

I wonder, if a poll were taken, how many days food supply the average American keeps on hand ?
A week ?

Perhaps it would be a good idea to load up considering the winter we could likely get. I dont normally fill the tank but its probably a good idea to fill up and keep it at least half full or rotate a couple 5 gallon cans of fuel, or just backup. Takes forever to pump it out of the boat.

A week?
I have a few months on shelves.... And some still alive out in the pastures....
I dont keep more then 55 gallons of gas on hand... And I have 6 - 7 gallon propane tanks full...

"And some still alive out in the pastures...."

Good idea Timber - I better not chase the possum out of the bushes around my home. It might come in handy if we're needing some grub.

Thanks for thr recipes! I like the ingrediants in the possum pot pie:
"3 shots gin or moonshine"

"1 possum ---if roadkill: make jambalaya"

Probably don't have to cook it as long since usually roadkill has already been 'grilled'.

and tenderized.

and how many of the "self-sufficient" with gardens and stored goods would be any better off after 12 ft of saltwater takes it all away.

[Bleeeeep!] "i got mine" and "blame the victims" [Bleeeeep!] gets old quick.

Not everyone makes the decision to lay down in a floodplain and call it home. IF 12' of saltwater can get over your home, you need to reconsider your CHOICE of "home" !

not all disasters happen in floodplains.

when the tsunami hits there will be loads of people impacted not living in "floodplains"

fires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, massive storms, etc all can happen here. it is great to be as prepared as possible, but thinking you are prepared enough to say that the federal government shouldn't help in disasters misses the fact that sometimes events and disasters cannot be predicted and circumstances can screw up any amount of pre-planning.

There are some catastrophe-prone areas that should not be continually supported by others.....we all know that. Building below sea level next to the sea is a perfect example.....also building next to low lying shorelands. People who choose to live there should be liable and suffer their own consequences rather than rely on others to bail them out, don't you think?

What about when the next big earthquake hits your part of town, Hank? Gonna refuse any help or money that comes thru FEMA if your place of work, home, or anything else is utterly destroyed?

Fish on...

Todd

Something tells me that it won't be waste if it helps you and yours, no matter how wasteful it might look to someone else...I doubt all the folks without power and food find anything that helps to be wasteful.

Fish on...

Todd

Of course they can...everything can always be done with more efficiency and less waste, and nothing like this is ever done without messing parts up...it's a pretty big disaster.

Just think if the Ryan/Romney plan of abolishing FEMA and letting the states fumble with it were in operation now...it would be a fuckin disaster piled on top of a fuckin disaster.

Fish on...

Todd

P.S. Don't bother showing me the Romney quote where he flip flopped on FEMA two days ago, and now congratulates them and would fully fund their mission...he's a waste of air every time he talks.

Hank,

Anything short of abolishing FEMA (or any other federal agency) assures the continuation of waste. One constituent's waste is another constituent's sacred cow. It's part of pluralism. i.e., the part of FEMA that protects a fancy schmancy mcmansion (that shouldn't be built on the beach in the first place) of an east coast one percenter is obviously federal waste. The FEMA relief that comes to your aid after the next SF quake is your sacred cow.

Every federal agency could be run more efficiently by just about anybody's point of view. It just depends on whose ox you want to gore and which ox you want to save.

Sg

Am I hearing that waste is a natural consequence of the federal government being involved so no need to make FEMA more efficient?

Hank, are you saying FEMA should be a pass-thru agency, just sending relief funds where they are needed, and let the states decide how to allocate the money?

I'm not sure how to avoid the conflict between agencies. FEMA and the Corps are notorious when it comes to bundling actions under the umbrella of "emergency response" and in the process of responding to a variety of response actions that are considerably less than life or death situation, they authorize and fund actions that destroy the holy livin' schit out of fish and wildlife habitat, for instance. So you can take efficiency on the one hand, and give one agency "authority in charge" status, and damage or destroy other public property and investments in the process of emergency response, both real and contrived. Then later, more public funds are needed to undo some of the damage caused by allowing one "super-agency" decide how to respond. Or you can let the bureaucracies sort out the mess, with less efficiency in the near term, and maybe address the crisis immediately and avoid incurring future costs due to ill-advised responses. Each agency's area of expertise tends to be very narrow.

I still think doing as you propose will result in goring one constituent's ox while you're protecting another's sacred cow. That is pluralism, and the only effective alternative I know of is single-purpose dictatorship.

Sg

JG,

Any agency or company can be more efficient. I guess I'm saying that you could take an econ supply-demand curve and substitute efficiency and output effectiveness. You cannot maximize one value without diminishing the other, so a prudent manager seeks to optimize the competing values.

And yes, FEMA for sure could be more efficient and effective based on my personal biases toward the values of what is deserving (and in the national interest) of protecting. But again, pluralism, by definition, means that equally good Americans will disagree about those priorities.

If it were up to me, I would dispense humanitarian relief (food, water, shelter) to people who suffered losses on the barrier islands. But I wouldn't provide one cent of relief toward rebuilding on the barrier islands. Students of nature and ecology know that barrier islands naturally serve as protective buffers of environmentally rich coastlines. Other folks see barrier islands as a perfect location for a beach cabin, home, or mcmansion, depending on their economic status. Then they think it is in the public interest to develop levees, dikes, roads, and other public services on those islands. Meanwhile, the ecologist knows that change is the very nature of barrier islands, and the change is caused by storms. Sorry to get lengthy, but maybe illustrating by example increases understanding. If you're really interested in the impossibility faced by FEMA and the Corps, I highly recommend this book: The Control of Nature by John McPhee.

FEMA's mission doesn't include making sense. I think that contributes to why there is so much conflict about the intrinsic inefficiency at FEMA. As far as the "waste" goes, I'm just trying to explain that what you might see as FEMA waste is another citizen's sacred cow.

Sg

Hank,

You'll never balance the budget or pay off the debt with that approach. I think pluralism is so deeply entrenched that it is incapable of deciding that some cows are more sacred than others. Which is why I think partisanship has become so extreme and unable to compromise. We may need a benevolent Czar or dictator.

This is why sequestration might work. Each side gets to gore the other's ox, [Bleeeeep!] for tat, until there are no oxen left to be gored. Of course the nation won't function, but at least we'll have a balanced budget.

Sg

Yeah, 'cuz defunding FEMA and distributing their money to the states, and hopefully after that making sure it all ends up in the hands of private contractors without any of that pesky government oversight, doesn't count as abolishing FEMA.

Fish on...

Todd

Was Todd critical of Fema or just Bush when Katrina help was so slow?

Bitch about private enterprise, but I guarantee, either walmart or any of the large trucking companies could deliver all sorts of goods and food within 36 hours. Most airfreight is run by 2 driver trucks, that only stop for piss, food and fuel. It takes about 23-25 hours for a team to drive from Seattle to LA 1150 miles at 50 mph average. Add a couple hours for food and fuel.

Between police, national guard and private security and (military if they changed the laws), there is no need for a homeowner to try and guard his home while starving, freezing and standing in line for 10 bucks of fuel.
They would then have the opportunity to get a motel, while looking for an apartment somewhere. Its took new york to begin using fuel trucks about 4-5 days to dispense fuel. Thats a no brainer. I know a guy who delivered water to homes for lawns, by tanker, during one of our summers in seattle.

They wont be moving back in for 3-6 months or more and thats if they are not burdened by the costs of red tape and permits to do the demolition, which for most homes is under 10,000. Container hauling on Roll off trucks is about 100 dollars a ton here. So figure triple that for most homeowners tossing their possessions.

They dont need to solicit help from seattle to get all the demolition done. Its takes about 2-3 days on site for each home. All you have is dirt. Plenty of contractors can hire the right people to get it done.

The biggest issue is how to get them paid. So dont wait until the day of the storm and in a week, the reporters will go home.

Is it FEMA's job to handle unnatural disasters?...just asking

Why didn't BP just clean it all up themselves?

I imagine there would be a FEMA response to most federally declared emergencies. Don't know if they automatically get involved with every state declared emergency. Did they respond to the Exxon Valdez spill? I know, lazy scholarship on my part...

The first part is just fundamentally flawed in accuracy. The money isnt going to change. The states can come up with their own recovery plans for the various type of Disasters. I believe Washington did it for the Green River and they did it for earthquakes and storm. The Feds dont need to write a massive check to each coastal state and have the money siting around, while we pay interest on it.

I suspect, like many other govt jobs. Fema is probably "FULL" of patronage positions. If we are going to have FEMA, then it needs to be staffed with professionals that are not subject to politics. Given that we dont have a monthly need for FEMA, there is no need for massive numbers of employees, like trucks and truck drivers when the private sector is available 24 hours a day. Electrical workers traveling state to state and fire fighters going from state to state are the basis, for this type of work. They just need professsional experience managers, to be on site The day of the disaster and coordinating with local and state officials and vendors. I dont care if they stay in a 200 dollar a night room with hookers, but the need to be there until the job is done. They can trade out every two weeks or so, if needed, but they should not leave.