Why Mittsy? Is It Because Disasters Only Affect The 47% Of Americans You Find Unworthy?

Well, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and a great part of the Eastern seaboard are coming back after the Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy, ravaged the area last night and into today. 

A lot of folks can consider themselves lucky that we have federal disaster relief--President Obama has designated many areas "disaster areas" freeing up federal funds and FEMA to help with those folks left homeless and powerless by the storm.

I guess we can consider ourselves lucky, if you can call it that, that Sandy stormed up the coast this year rather than next. See, if Mitt Romney wins the White House, we all better pray that we don't have Sandy's and Katrina's and earthquakes because Mittsy doesn't want to help.

Mittsy’s plan, if he wins next week, would be to delegate core federal responsibilities to the states and to blindly impose a 5%, across-the-board budget cut to all discretionary programs "excluding military." Now, 5% doesn't sound like much, but it would leave a federal government ill-prepared to coordinate a response to a regional natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy, and would leave federal agencies unable to provide storm forecasting, emergency housing, or even Superfund cleanup in the toxic aftermath of a storm. 

Here are Mittsy’s cuts on "Day One" of a Romney Regime:

1) FEMA: Cut $500 million

Romney's budget cut would slash Federal Emergency Management Agency funding by nearly half a billion dollars. And the Republican nominee has gone even farther, suggesting a far more radical plan for FEMA: disband it and throw its duties back to the states. Asked about the agency during an early GOP primary debate, Romney said that disaster relief was a state responsibility, and might even be privatized. "Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states," Romney said, "that's the right direction. And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that's even better."

2) NOAA: Cut $255 million

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is responsible for daily weather forecasts and severe storm warnings. It runs the National Weather Service and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; those amazing pictures you've been seeing of Sandy from space are courtesy of NOAA. The agency also operates a "hurricane hunter" fleet of jets and turboprops that fly directly into hurricanes to measure their intensity. Most important: NOAA coordinates federal climate science investigating the links between global warming and severe weather events. 

3) SuperFund: Cut $60 million

Sandy has already caused flooding of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, an EPA-designated "SuperFund" site contaminated with toxins ranging from PCBs to heavy metals to untreated sewage. Superfund cleanup is chronically underfunded, resulting in painfully slow remediation work. The agency is just getting around to funding cleanup of toxics stirred up by the monster tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, in May 2011. And Mitt Romney wants to slash funding for this crucial work.

4) Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Cut $50 million

There were 16 nuclear power plants in the path of Hurricane Sandy. Enough said.

5) HUD: Cut $2.05 billion

The department of Housing and Urban Development rebuilds housing and restores neighborhoods in the aftermath of catastrophic storms. HUD spent more than $16 billion to help the Gulf Coast recover from Katrina in 2006. Under a Romney presidency, those efforts will be seriously hampered.

So, there you have it.

Hurricane Sandy, under a Mittsy Budget would look entirely different than it does today. No federal money for you. No federal aid, for you; maybe just a private company to clean up and house you and restore your life.

For a price we can't afford.

That's a Mittsy White House, so all of you who are "praying" for him to win next week better also start "praying" that hurricanes stay away and earthquakes don't rumble the earth, and fires don't start and ......

via Rolling Stone