Hurricane Relief RUNS OUT OF MONEY
While White House Sends MILLIONS To Ukraine


Some of you may need to enable closed captioning if you aren't able to decipher a North Carolina accent.

There is always enough US Tax money for whatever the feds want it for, but the things that are needed never seem to get priority.

My thoughts.

I get that the money to Ukraine recently was probably planned weeks if not months ago. And a hurricane is last minute type of monies.  So to compare the 2 isn't fair. BUT, I do understand the concept that is being said.  Also, losses like this happen often enough that more money should be given to FEMA and like places cause we know how much damage a natural disaster can do and it's cost.  Why aren't we giving FEMA or like agencies as much and as often that we are giving to fund wars?

Like I've said before, if we could send money/equipment instead of soldiers, then it's the lesser of 2 evils. But are all the allies paying their fair share?  Or is the US once again per capa paying the most?

My thoughts.

I get that the money to Ukraine recently was probably planned weeks if not months ago. And a hurricane is last minute type of monies.  So to compare the 2 isn't fair. BUT, I do understand the concept that is being said.  Also, losses like this happen often enough that more money should be given to FEMA and like places cause we know how much damage a natural disaster can do and it's cost.  Why aren't we giving FEMA or like agencies as much and as often that we are giving to fund wars?

Like I've said before, if we could send money/equipment instead of soldiers, then it's the lesser of 2 evils. But are all the allies paying their fair share?  Or is the US once again per capa paying the most?

One thing to remember is we still don't have an actual budget for FY2025.  So to excuse the federal government's lack of spending for disaster relief is short-sighted.

With a Continuing Spending Resolution (CSR), the government is only supposed to get enough funding to keep the government running, the military paid, and top priorities paid for.

Near the end of Sept this year, with FY2025 beginning Oct 1, Congress passed a 3 month spending resolution which runs through Dec 20th.

The House and Senate approved a stopgap measure to keep the government
funded for three months on Wednesday, sending the legislation to President
Biden to stave off a shutdown.

The legislation keeps the government funded through Dec. 20 and also includes
around $230 million in additional funding for the Secret Service following the
second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.

Lawmakers had until Oct. 1 to pass the extension or face a shutdown, and
approved the temporary funding measure with some time to spare on Wednesday,
as lawmakers leave town for the final sprint toward Election Day.

Mr. Biden did not indicate when he would sign the bill in a statement thanking
Congress for working together to keep the government open. He also nudged
lawmakers to pass full-year funding bills before the end of the year.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-vote-continuing-resolution-government-shutdown/

Since Congress has a long recess until after the Nov 5th election, it's going to be a pre-holiday season fight over money when the Congress looks for another agreement from Dec 20th going forward.

What this means is, Biden is presiding over a lame-duck administration, so what he wants in the budget is not going to carry the weight it did in previous years especially when we get to his final month -- which begins around Dec 20th.

Since we haven't even touched 3/4 of the 2025 budget beyond the current CSR, that gives Congress plenty of discretionary funding to work with.  They can easily appropriate emergency disaster relief funds today, but that means taking that money off the table for Jan-Oct.

I don't remember this much of a funding issue when it was New York clamoring for aid.

Katrina:  Aug 2005. 

Congress approved $10.5 billion in aid for the survivors without any debate in the House or Senate.
On September 7, an additional $51.8 billion funding package was passed by both houses.

According to the Library of Congress's Congressional Research Service, a total of $121.7 billion
in hurricane relief was allocated for disaster relief following Katrina, as well as the less destructive
Hurricanes Rita (September 2005), Wilma (October 2005), Gustav (August 2008), and Ike
(September 2008).

Of this, around $53.8 billion – worth around $86.7 billion in 2024 terms - was appropriated to
the Department of Homeland Security, which primarily went through the FEMA-administered
Disaster Relief Fund.

In addition, around $27 billion went through the Department of Housing and Urban Development,
with a further $25 billion appropriated to the Department of Defense to undertake engineering
and construction activities.

Hurricane Andrew:  August 1992.

A relief effort was implemented by President George H.W. Bush, which included an
$11.1 billion disaster relief package, signed into law in September, and was then the
largest disaster relief package in history.

According to 2003 FEMA records, the agency's relief costs following Andrew reached
over $1.8 billion, or around $3.2 billion in 2024 amounts, which comprised hazard
mitigation grants, assistance programs, administrative costs and other disaster relief
associated efforts.

A 1995 Congressional Research Service report outlined that FEMA had spent $1.83 billion
on the disaster, raising the current-day cost estimate to some $3.8 billion.

Hurricane Sandy:  October 2012

Congress allocated over $50 billion to fund recovery efforts following Sandy, around
$17 billion of was devoted to projects in New York City where much of the damage
had occurred.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, FEMA spent around $10 billion
(in 2022 dollars) in response efforts in the three years following Hurricane Sandy.
However, many of the related projects – which included efforts to mitigate the impact
of future disasters - remained ongoing past 2015.

In October 2017, FEMA said that it had contributed "more than $25.5 billion" in
recovery efforts for New York and New Jersey alone as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
This figure – around $32.8 billion in 2024 – comprised around $15 billion spent on
debris removal, as well as direct financial assistance and mitigation projects to reduce
the damage of future storms.

Hurricane Helene:  September 2024

It appears as though FEMA's immediate response to Helene – at least in dollar terms –
pales in comparison to that of other major American storms, despite the hurricane being
the deadliest to strike the U.S. mainland since Katrina.
.....
As a result, FEMA may need to allocate far more than the $137 million that has so far doled
out to the disaster-hit areas, making the agency's apparent financial woes a cause for
increasing concern.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/how-fema-funding-for-helene-compares-to-hurricanes-andrew-katrina-sandy/ar-AA1rQ1Rx

Basically, the money is there, and it has yet to be appropriated for the entire FY2025 budget.

Other relief efforts found billions in appropriations at the same time of the year as Helene -- Hurricane season is kind of a regular thing every year.  They found the money even when there was already a 12 month budget in place and all appropriations were complete.

Priorities.

Once Trump is in office, all these budget failures will be blamed on him.  So, they will continue to do nothing and let all the problems accumulate, giving them lots of issues they caused to lay at Trump's feet.

One thing to remember is we still don't have an actual budget for FY2025.  So to excuse the federal government's lack of spending for disaster relief is short-sighted.

With a Continuing Spending Resolution (CSR), the government is only supposed to get enough funding to keep the government running, the military paid, and top priorities paid for.

Near the end of Sept this year, with FY2025 beginning Oct 1, Congress passed a 3 month spending resolution which runs through Dec 20th.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/house-vote-continuing-resolution-government-shutdown/

Since Congress has a long recess until after the Nov 5th election, it's going to be a pre-holiday season fight over money when the Congress looks for another agreement from Dec 20th going forward.

What this means is, Biden is presiding over a lame-duck administration, so what he wants in the budget is not going to carry the weight it did in previous years especially when we get to his final month -- which begins around Dec 20th.

Since we haven't even touched 3/4 of the 2025 budget beyond the current CSR, that gives Congress plenty of discretionary funding to work with.  They can easily appropriate emergency disaster relief funds today, but that means taking that money off the table for Jan-Oct.

I don't remember this much of a funding issue when it was New York clamoring for aid.

Katrina:  Aug 2005. 
Hurricane Andrew:  August 1992.
Hurricane Sandy:  October 2012
Hurricane Helene:  September 2024https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/how-fema-funding-for-helene-compares-to-hurricanes-andrew-katrina-sandy/ar-AA1rQ1Rx

Basically, the money is there, and it has yet to be appropriated for the entire FY2025 budget.

Other relief efforts found billions in appropriations at the same time of the year as Helene -- Hurricane season is kind of a regular thing every year.  They found the money even when there was already a 12 month budget in place and all appropriations were complete.

Priorities.

Once Trump is in office, all these budget failures will be blamed on him.  So, they will continue to do nothing and let all the problems accumulate, giving them lots of issues they caused to lay at Trump's feet.

Correct me if I'm wrong, so right now, they're choosing not to allocate more funding or be prepared for the next one with "money in the bank" waiting? And any unused money in the bank can be carried over to next years natural disaster budget so they don't have to allocate as much.

Correct me if I'm wrong, so right now, they're choosing not to allocate more funding or be prepared for the next one with "money in the bank" waiting? And any unused money in the bank can be carried over to next years natural disaster budget so they don't have to allocate as much.

There are a dozen or more methods for allocation of funds at the federal level. 

Congress has the power to do anything they want as long as (1) it doesn't violate exiting law, or (2) they get enough votes to change that law.

The budget has two major categories:  mandatory liabilities and discretionary spending.

We rarely have enough tax revenue most years to cover all of the mandatory expenses, like entitlements, Social Security benefits, military, interest on existing national debt, etc.  So, most of the discretionary stuff is what drives up the national debt -- the entire 20 years fighting in the Middle East was funded by additional debt.

Discretionary spending is what relief spending falls under.  Congress can reallocate discretionary allocations and appropriations any time they wish.  Also, the WH budget is at the discretion of the President. 

If you know what the Washington Monument Syndrome is, then you know the game they play.  In order to grab more money (debt) to be spent on constituents and big donors' issues, Congress claims any reduction in spending will always hurt the services Americans are least likely to accept -- like closing down the Washington Monument and other national parks and monuments.

Priorities.

They don't have "money in the bank".  It's a Ponzi Scheme.  Taxes get spent before they are even collected, and what is collected mostly pays for government salaries and facilities plus interest on our massive debt.

This is why it's ridiculous to argue "Social Security is not an entitlement, because I paid into it all my life."  That money you paid was spent on beneficiaries at that time.  Any benefits you get will be paid for by future payments from others plus more debt.  So, arguing it's not an entitlement means you're arguing you are entitled to what others have yet to pay into it.

Ponzi Scheme.