Morning Jolt: Isaac could become hurricane today
Source: www.cnn.com - Tuesday, August 28, 2012
As Isaac closes in on Gulf, officials warn complacency could kill
EXCLUSIVE: As Hurricane Isaac Targets New Orleans, GOP Rep. Calls For Making Disaster Relief Contingent On Budget Cuts
Source: thinkprogress.org - Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) TAMPA, Florida — Though many Republicans are fretting about the optics of holding their party’s convention as Hurricane Isaac slams into New Orleans, a leading Tea Party congressman is vowing to use the opportunity to extract budget cuts if Congress wants to dole out disaster funding to help victims. Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID) told ThinkProgress at a Hispanic Leadership Network luncheon that Republicans should take a similar approach with disaster funding for Hurricane Isaac as they did after natural disasters last year. In 2011, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) led the Republican charge to deny disaster funding following major hurricanes and tornadoes unless the federal budget was cut in other areas. Labrador said that Congress must “readjust everything we do” in order to find cuts to pay for Hurricane Isaac disaster relief. “If there’s emergencies, we don’t always need to keep borrowing money,” said the freshman Republican. KEYES: Last year, for instance, after the Missouri tornado, Leader Cantor was a real “hold-the-line” to call for budget cuts to pay for disaster relief. Do you think that’s still the right strategy going forward if there’s damage from Hurricane Isaac? LABRADOR: I think government should do what every family does. If you have an emergency, then you rethink your priorities and you still invest and you still do the things that you need to do to take care of your family. That’s w
