Shorter Mo Brooks: We Got Ours

by: mooncat

Mon Sep 26, 2011 at 11:30:00 AM CDT

Congressional Republicans have been using the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund as a political football.  Now there's a real possibility of a government shutdown because they've insisted on budget resolutions that either don't replenish the FEMA fund or cut fuel efficiency programs to offset disaster relief funding.  Amazingly, even Republicans (like those from Alabama) representing areas recently been struck by natural disasters and receiving FEMA aid are opposed to funding FEMA.

Now Mo Brooks (R, AL-05) offers a window onto the thinking of such Republicans, essentially "We already got ours, screw everybody else!"

U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R) said most of the FEMA money for north Alabama storm victims had already been distributed, minimizing the local impact of any potential shutdown.

Apparently the April 27th tornadoes have inoculated Brooks' district so he doesn't expect any more natural disasters for awhile, thus no need to fund FEMA.  Even leaving off the FEMA funding, it's incredibly shortsighted of Brooks to pooh-pooh the consequences of a federal shutdown when his district includes Redstone Arsenal, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and federal contractors who employ tens of thousands of Alabamians.