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Sandy disaster relief vote

• Schmidt

  2013-01-15 05:57:08 PM

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  Congress will be voting on the Sandy disaster relief effort today. The vote will be in two parts:
  
  Washington Post, January 15, 2013: House set to vote on Hurricane Sandy relief package
  
  $17 billion to cover immediate relief needs, including $5.4 billion for FEMA in direct aid to individuals and local communities to rebuild.
  
  A $33.6 billion amendment to provide additional money to cover a longer-term effort to rebuild.
  
  The first part stands a very good chance of passage. The second is more dubious. Republican House members might block it unless it has offsets. Watch the late news.
• Schmidt

  2013-01-16 12:02:47 AM

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  As everyone knows, the both parts of the Sandy relief bill were passed. What is significant is that again John Boehner relied on a coalition of Democrats plus 49 Republicans, geographically from the northeast states, to get the $33.6 billion part of the bill passed. However, 179 Republicans opposed the bill.
  
  It will be interesting to see if this will be the trend for the 113th Congress using Democrats and moderate Republicans to by-pass the radical elements of the party. I hope so.
• michaels39301

  2013-01-16 12:49:36 PM

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  Right on Schmidt, and I even heard the pundits suggesting that these 49 Republicans may just be exactly what is needed to go forward with other "on the fence" issues during Obama's second term, like the debt ceiling, gun legislation, immigration issues, and others. Let's hope so anyway.