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When YOUR State Needs Aid, It's 'Set Aside Politics' Time: DeSantis Needs 'Brandon'


BarryLaverty

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Such a transparently pandering 

 

DeSantis, Once a ‘No’ on Storm Aid, Petitions a President He’s Bashed
The Florida governor, who as a congressman opposed aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy, is seeking relief from the Biden administration as Hurricane Ian ravages his own state.

By Matt Flegenheimer
Sept. 29, 2022
As a freshman congressman in 2013, Ron DeSantis was unambiguous: A federal bailout for the New York region after Hurricane Sandy was an irresponsible boondoggle, a symbol of the “put it on the credit card mentality” he had come to Washington to oppose.

“I sympathize with the victims,” he said. But his answer was no.

Nearly a decade later, as his state confronts the devastation and costly destruction wrought by Hurricane Ian, Mr. DeSantis is appealing to the nation’s better angels — and betting on its short memory.

“As you say, Tucker, we live in a very politicized time,” Mr. DeSantis, now Florida’s governor, told Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night, outlining his request for full federal reimbursement up front for 60 days and urging the Biden administration to do the right thing. “But you know, when people are fighting for their lives, when their whole livelihood is at stake, when they’ve lost everything — if you can’t put politics aside for that, then you’re just not going to be able to.”

The tonal whiplash for Mr. DeSantis reflects a different job and a different moment — a Tea Party-era House Republican now steering a perennially storm-battered state dependent once more on federal assistance to rebuild. Yet even in the context of his term as governor, the hurricane has required Mr. DeSantis to test another gear.

He has, to date, often used his executive platform to elevate himself to Republican rock-stardom, positioning himself as a possible 2024 presidential contender with a series of policy gambits that can feel precision-engineered to maximize liberal outrage.

His most recent stunt — flying undocumented Venezuelan immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard — reinforced that he is more than willing to turn the machinery of state against specific political targets. He has suggested that the next plane of immigrants might land near President Biden’s weekend home in Delaware.

The present circumstances have inspired a less swaggering posture toward a leader whom Mr. DeSantis has long called “Brandon” as a recurring troll, aimed at the man he might like to succeed. “Dear Mr. President,” the governor’s request for a major disaster declaration and federal assistance began on Wednesday.

“Ironically,” said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Florida, “there’s nobody in America that Ron DeSantis needs more than Joe Biden.”

More than that, Mr. Jolly said, a governor who self-identifies as unswerving in his principles now finds himself with little choice but to push for storm relief actions “antithetical to his professed ideology.”

“He held those convictions strong in the House,” said Mr. Jolly, who has been sharply critical of the party in the Trump years. “I doubt he will hold them as strongly in the governor’s mansion.”

In 2013, Mr. DeSantis and Representative Ted Yoho, another hard-line conservative, were the only House members from Florida to oppose the Sandy package. For Mr. DeSantis, who represented a coastal district in eastern Florida, the vote at once established him as an eager combatant from the party’s ascendant right wing — he was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus — while at times placing him on the defensive back home.

In a local interview that year, Mr. DeSantis said the bill contained “extraneous stuff” that could not be classified as emergency spending. “I never made the point of saying we shouldn’t do anything,” he said, adding that he could have supported a leaner package focused on immediate relief. Asked then if he would vote against a relief package that affected his own district, Mr. DeSantis was noncommittal, suggesting he would support a responsible plan.

Through the years, critics in both parties have accused Mr. DeSantis of applying this standard selectively. In 2017, as he was poised to run for governor, Mr. DeSantis supported an aid package after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria as places like Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico strained to recover.

His 2018 primary opponent, Adam Putnam, made an issue of Mr. DeSantis’s voting record during the campaign. Storm-weary voters, a Putnam spokeswoman warned then, should protect themselves against “further destruction at the hands of Hurricane Ron.” Mr. DeSantis’s congressional office denied any inconsistency at the time, rejecting a comparison between the two disaster packages and saying he had supported emergency spending “when immediate and necessary.”

Asked about the governor’s past positions on Thursday, a DeSantis spokesman said the administration was “completely focused on hurricane response.” “As the governor said earlier,” the spokesman, Jeremy T. Redfern, said, “we have no time for politics or pettiness.”

 

Some Northeastern lawmakers, including Republicans, have not forgotten how Mr. DeSantis and some of his peers responded when the New York area was under duress. “Year after year, we had given them billions of dollars,” said Peter King, a former Republican congressman from Long Island, alluding to aid packages for Southern states and calling the resistance to Sandy relief his angriest moment in office. “Every one of them comes to New York to raise money. They either go to the Hamptons or they go to Manhattan. And both areas were devastated by Sandy.”

This week, Mr. DeSantis said he was “thankful” for the Biden administration’s efforts so far, moving to place himself in the tradition of above-the-fray leadership from past Florida governors who negotiated catastrophic weather events on their watch.

 

The president and the governor have each made a point of saying publicly that they and their teams are in touch. “He complimented me. He thanked me for the immediate response we had,” Mr. Biden said on Thursday, suggesting that any political conflicts with Mr. DeSantis were irrelevant in these times. “This is about saving people’s lives, homes and businesses.” (In February, Mr. DeSantis baselessly said Mr. Biden “stiffs” storm victims for political reasons, insisting that the president “hates Florida.”)

Haley Barbour, a Republican former governor of Mississippi who presided over the state’s response to Hurricane Katrina, said there was nothing inherently inconsistent about a conservative governor seeking federal storm money. “People think this is a role for the federal government — that some disasters are too big for the community to bear the cost to get back to where you need to be,” he said.

Besides, he suggested, Mr. DeSantis and the White House suddenly had something in common. “Biden likes to say, ‘Build back better,’” Mr. Barbour said. “Well, that’s what Florida wants to do.”

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9 minutes ago, Monte1076 said:

Exactly like all politicians, right? Name ONE in the last 20 years that hasn't pandered, Democrat or Republican. I'll wait.

Nope, not exactly. Not all completely switch a position when it benefits them or applies to them. This is an example of DeSantis being a hypocrite. You can plainly admit it. Will you do that? I'll wait. 

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6 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

Nope, not exactly. Not all completely switch a position when it benefits them or applies to them. This is an example of DeSantis being a hypocrite. You can plainly admit it. Will you do that? I'll wait. 

That's not the point. You mentioned "pandering". I simply pointed out that all politicians pander. Do you disagree with that statement?

Quote

This is an example of DeSantis being a hypocrite. You can plainly admit it. Will you do that? I'll wait.

Yes. Just like a lot of politicians, Democrat and Republican alike. Do you disagree with that?

Your turn. Name ONE in the last 20 years that hasn't pandered, Democrat or Republican. I'll wait.

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1 minute ago, Monte1076 said:

That's not the point. You mentioned "pandering". I simply pointed out that all politicians pander. Do you disagree with that statement?

Yes. Just like a lot of politicians, Democrat and Republican alike. Do you disagree with that?

Your turn. Name ONE in the last 20 years that hasn't pandered, Democrat or Republican. I'll wait.

Knew you couldn't do it. Never doubted it for a moment. 

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18 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

Knew you couldn't do it. Never doubted it for a moment. 

What part of "Yes" was unclear to you in my response? I think you saw and read what you wanted to in my response. I'll make it easy on you.

You: This is an example of DeSantis being a hypocrite. You can plainly admit it. Will you do that? I'll wait.

Me: Yes. Just like a lot of politicians, Democrat and Republican alike. Do you disagree with that?

This time I bolded the "Yes" to make it clear. I'm not wrong, though.

Your turn. At least I answered the question. More than I can say about many of the questions you're asked.

Edited by Monte1076
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6 hours ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

The DISASTER MONEY comes from tax dollars paid by Florida along with the other states.....it's being RETURNED to those from whom it was stolen in the first place....looks like a teacher would be intelligent enough to understand that simple concept .....

The taxes are paid by the citizens of Florida.  The State see's the money, and FEMA only loans it back to the people.  The Government might provide housing, but that's about it for the citizens.  Most of it goes to build or rebuild the infrastructure in Hurricane hit counties.  Harris County to receive $1.25B for flood mitigation | khou.com  They finally began spending this money in July of this year, 5 years later.   Having been through Harvey was an eye opening experience for me on how the Government does basically nothing for it's citizens, but only for the city, counties, and contractors to rebuild.   

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Just now, RETIREDFAN1 said:

Loaning back stolen money sounds like the mafia.....lol

It's actually not stole money, considering that in the early 1900s a bunch of liberal progressive used propaganda to convince people they should help pay for their countries "stuff" before they get their money--the income tax. While many of us think it is a waste of our money, it is legal, because of the amendment clause of the Constitution. Until the 16th Amendment is repealed, it is not stolen money--it is tax money. :rofl:

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1 minute ago, DannyZuco said:

It's actually not stole money, considering that in the early 1900s a bunch of liberal progressive used propaganda to convince people they should help pay for their countries "stuff" before they get their money--the income tax. While many of us think it is a waste of our money, it is legal, because of the amendment clause of the Constitution. Until the 16th Amendment is repealed, it is not stolen money--it is tax money. :rofl:

Taxation is theft......

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1 minute ago, DannyZuco said:

So when Jesus said "give unto caesar what is caesar"  did he call it theft.... I can't remember, maybe I'll ask Kirt or Hagar, since they lived back then....:rofl:

Though we are required by our Lord to pay it, taxation is theft......turning the other cheek and giving our cloak to someone who has already stolen our coat.......

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10 hours ago, BarryLaverty said:

Nope, not exactly. Not all completely switch a position when it benefits them or applies to them. This is an example of DeSantis being a hypocrite. You can plainly admit it. Will you do that? I'll wait. 

Tell us a few of Biden being a hypocrite.  This should be real easy.  There’s a lot to chose from.  We just want you to tell us one

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Spin it any way you want...but a bunch of right wingers in Florida that claim to hate socialism will be lining up for federal help asap. Seems like this would be a good time for them to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps". With that said...they are my American brothers and sisters and I hope they get the assistance they need to get back on their feet. I do not begrudge them this aid...even if I do not directly benefit from it.

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2 minutes ago, EnjoyLife said:

Spin it any way you want...but a bunch of right wingers in Florida that claim to hate socialism will be lining up for federal help asap. Seems like this would be a good time for them to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps". With that said...they are my American brothers and sisters and I hope they get the assistance they need to get back on their feet. I do not begrudge them this aid...even if I do not directly benefit from it.

It's THEIR money, commie....

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11 hours ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

It's stolen from us for that reason ......

In that case...since I have been a taxpayer for many years...if I decide to just live on  welfare and foodstamps from now on wouldn't I just be getting back the money that has been stolen from me?

Edited by EnjoyLife
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3 hours ago, KirtFalcon said:

Why is this only an issue when it involves a state with a Republican governor? .....

Somebody not oblivious might realize that it is just pointing out a double standard. Most won't refuse to vote for aid for others. DeSantis did that. You get it? 

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