Free Republic

The New York Times is pleased with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 438-page, $20 billion plan to protect New York from the effects of future hurricanes. It notes benignly that the cost is probably an underestimate but agrees with the mayor, "Whether you believe climate change is real or not is beside the point; the bottom line is we can't run the risk." Really? Imagine the argument: "Whether you believe zombies are real or not is beside the point. ... We can't run the risk." Clearly one's willingness to undertake these sorts of preparations depends completely on whether the perceived danger is...

Democrats are practically pleading with President Obama to sharpen his message. After successfully raising taxes on every working American at the beginning of the year, the progressive movement has suffered one debilitating blow after another. In March, many in the media laughed when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) declared conservatives were winning. But the rallying cry of collective action that rang throughout Obama’s second inaugural address now seems like more empty rhetoric, not an emerging reality. Still buzzed from their victory over Mitt Romney, Team Obama held the misguided belief they could convince Americans (not collectivists to begin with) that they...

President Obama will gain one more day of respite from the controversies that have crowded in on his administration Tuesday, as he tours the New Jersey coast to inspect the recovery and rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Obama will be visiting the Jersey Shore at Belmar today. Rt. 71 and all roads east of 71 will be closed to traffic after 11 AM. No actual time, route or destination has been announced.

Gov. Chris Christie today defended his starring role in publicly funded tourism ads that Democrats say gives him an unfair advantage in the race for governor. “I’m happy and proud to have me and my family in those ads and I hope that what they do is they bring people to the Jersey Shore,” the Republican governor said at a campaign event where he got the endorsement of Burlington Mayor Jim Fazzone, a Democrat. “There’s nothing political about the ads.” The Star-Ledger was first to report that Christie, First Lady Mary Pat and their four children will appear in six...

It's been six month since one of the most destructive natural since Hurricane Katrina hit the eastern seaboard, and while there's been a good deal of progress on cleanup and rebuilding, there are still thousands of displaced people and closed businesses waiting for the rebuilding phase to pick up the pace: Tens of thousands of people remain homeless. Housing, business, tourism and coastal protection all remain major issues with the summer vacation — and hurricane — seasons almost here again. …By many measures, the recovery from Sandy, which struck Oct. 29, has been slow. From Maryland to New Hampshire, the...

Six months after Superstorm Sandy devastated the Jersey shore and New York City and pounded coastal areas of New England, the region is dealing with a slow and frustrating, yet often hopeful, recovery. Tens of thousands of people remain homeless. Housing, business, tourism and coastal protection all remain major issues with the summer vacation — and hurricane — seasons almost here again.

Philip Checchia’s home in Barnegat, New Jersey, escaped undamaged from Hurricane Sandy in October, but the 67-year-old is bracing for a different kind of storm damage—higher property taxes. New Jersey home owners already pay the highest taxes in the country, with the revenues going to fund schools, police, firefighters, roads, and building projects. When the value of taxable property drops in one area, the burden often shifts to others to make up the difference. At the epicenter of the problem is Ocean County, where Checchia lives, and where miles of long, fragile barrier islands bore the brunt of the storm's...

Three months after some of his fellow Republicans voted against aid for Hurricane Sandy victims, New York Rep. Peter King is still furious, saying “nobody gave a damn” that there were “people close to dying in my district” and again calling out Florida Sen. Marco Rubio by name... “Guys like Marco Rubio in Florida and all the money your people have gotten in Florida over the years from every hurricane that comes along and this guy has the nerve to vote against money from New York, and they come up here and try to raise money,” King said. “He can...

Underwater doesn't even begin to get at the heart of Maurice Corkery's predicament. "This was my summer home," the Delaware County plant manager said of his little rancher on Third Street in Ocean City, N.J., flooded with its foundation cracked - totalled, really - by Sandy. "I was trying to think of a time line," he said. "It's been so long. I'm so screwed up. I haven't seen any money. Where is the money? All they do is talk about it." [snip] "It seems like people who are responsible and have paid for coverage are the losers," he said. "The...

Staten Island residents already suffering from the ravages of Hurricane Sandy say they are now seeing their neighborhoods infiltrated by squatters and looters. As CBS 2’s Dick Brennan reported Wednesday, when darkness sets in on Wavecrest Street in New Dorp, people say squatters make their move – crashing empty homes wrecked by the hurricane.

In his first address as Secretary of State, John Kerry said we must safeguard “the most sacred trust” we owe to our children and grandchildren: “an environment not ravaged by rising seas, deadly superstorms, devastating droughts, and the other hallmarks of a dramatically changing climate.” Even the IPCC and British Meteorological Office now recognize that average global temperatures haven’t budged in almost 17 years. No evidence suggests that sea level rise, storms, droughts or other weather and climate events or trends display any statistically significant difference from what Earth and mankind have experienced over the last 100-plus years. So Mr....

Gov. Cuomo said yesterday that 169 of 192 residents of Staten Island’s storm devastated Oakwood Beach have taken him up on his offer to buy out their Sandy-ravaged homes. The people who live in the battered neighborhood have been enticed by a deal that will pay them 100 percent of their damaged home’s prestorm market value — plus 5 percent if the homeowners stay on Staten Island, Cuomo said. The feds will pick up 75 percent of the tab. “Let’s build back smarter than before, and let’s do it right,” Cuomo said during a visit Monday to the College of...

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, scientists and officials are trying to protect the largest US city from future floods. Joe Leader's heart sank as he descended into the South Ferry subway station at the southern tip of Manhattan in New York. It was 8 p.m. on 29 October, and Hurricane Sandy had just made landfall some 150 kilometres south in New Jersey. As chief maintenance officer for the New York city subway system, Leader was out on patrol. He had hoped that the South Ferry station would be a refuge from the storm. Instead, he was greeted by wailing...

I think the answer is clear: no. I also think the question deserved to be asked. My own history with obesity is here, in all its gory glory. Fat stigma is an anathema to me, and I wish that we could ignore the issue entirely. We can't. And that means that the fat of Christie's will inevitably bleed over into the zone that perpetuates stigma and stereotypes. We have to find a way to judge Christie's weight in the context of what the job of being presidential entails, and then, at the same time rigorously segregate it from any other...

Sandy-related salvo against the Obama administration, Gov. Christie slammed the National Flood Insurance Program today, saying that the pace of its payouts to victims of Sandy has "stunk." During a news conference in this small community on the Raritan Bay that was ravaged by Sandy, Christie said that 30 percent of flood insurance claims, which are paid by the federal government, have been resolved, compared to 85 percent of homeowners' insurance claims, which are paid directly by insurance companies. "I've been as patient as I'm going to be...and now I'm going to turn my special brand of love and affection...

Ted Cruz (R., Texas) has been a United States senator for only 34 days, but already he is making his mark on national politics. His conspicuous presence and aggressive tone have thrilled his conservative cheerleaders, while inducing fits of rage in liberal detractors and Joe Scarborough. In the past week alone, Cruz has tangled with veteran Democratic spin-master Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) on Meet the Press, sent a tongue-in-cheek letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, introduced legislation to fully repeal Obamacare, and recorded “no” votes on major items, including Hurricane Sandy relief, raising the debt ceiling, filibuster reform, and...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three months after Superstorm Sandy ravaged coastal areas in much of the Northeast, Congress on Monday sent a $50.5 billion emergency relief measure for storm victims to President Barack Obama for his signature. "I commend Congress for giving families and businesses the help they deserve, and I will sign this bill into law as soon as it hits my desk," Obama said in a statement late Monday. Despite opposition from conservatives concerned about adding billions of dollars more to the nation's debt, the Senate cleared the long-delayed bill, 62-36, after House Republicans had stripped it earlier this...

I remember some consternation in the media a few weeks ago after Boehner split the original $60 billion relief package into two smaller bills that this meant the GOP was going to gut part of it. Absurd. Did anyone seriously believe Boehner et al. would risk more bad press by stripping out the pork after Chris Christie threw a big tantrum about how evil his own party was for even delaying the initial vote?I hereby retract my skepticism that the GOP leadership collectively has no balls. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives approved measures Tuesday to send more than $50...

The Republican-led House Rules Committee late Monday approved a rule for a massive Hurricane Sandy relief package that shuts out most GOP proposals to pare back the size of the bill. The main bill provides $17 billion in relief, and an amendment made in order would add another $33.7 billion, for a total of $50.7 billion. Late last week, Republicans offered amendments that would trim the bill significantly, but few of those were made "in order" by the Rules Committee on Monday. For example, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) proposed amendments that would have slashed $22 billion from the total package,...

January 13, 2013 — A formal hearing is planned as part of the investigation of the sinking of tall ship HMS Bounty, in which two lives were lost. The United States Coast Guard has announced a formal hearing into the sinking of the tall ship HMS Bounty. The nine-day hearing is scheduled to begin February 12 in Portsmouth, Virginia. "The investigation will examine the facts and circumstances relating relating to the sinking of the vessel and will develop conclusions and recommendations to improve the safety and operations of similar vessels," the coast guard says. Strong winds and rain from Hurricane...

Can anyone name the countries that sent aid to the United States after Hurricane Sandy? I am asking this because I got an e-mail from a friend that I am trying to fact check. Here it is ... ____________________________________ As you know, America is always the first country to send aid to other countries when they are in trouble. It is highly appropriate that we Americans, must now send our "THANKS" to all those countries that reciprocated our help with their disasters, misgivings, social turmoil, & poverty when they returned to the USA monetary and physical help after Hurricane Sandy...

Conservatives are taking aim at the pork-laden $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package that Northeastern governors and lawmakers hope to push through the House this coming week. Too much of the aid will go to recovery efforts for past disasters and other projects unrelated to the late-October storm, they say. The bill includes $150 million for what the Commerce Department described as fisheries disasters in places as far afield as Alaska and Mississippi, and $50 million in subsidies for replanting trees on private land damaged by wildfires. … The objections have led senior House Republicans to assemble a $17 billion...

Just a few days after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the New York Times' Paul Krugman crowed triumphantly about the federal government's response to the disaster. "[A]fter Katrina the government seemed to have no idea what it was doing; this time it did. And that's no accident: the federal government's ability to respond effectively to disaster always collapses when antigovernment Republicans hold the White House, and always recovers when Democrats take it back." What a fairy tale. Mature adults understand that earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters are an unfortunate fact of life. They...

Whether he's publicly recapitulating the hallucinations of an imaginary friend, or wrongly assuring the public that various government programs are "fully funded," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tends to struggle with the truth.  The recent high-octane bout of partisan wrangling over whether to pass a porked-up Sandy relief bill is finally complete, and Reid is unhappy that Congress didn't spend more money.  To emphasize his frustration, he downplayed the severity of Hurricane Katrina's destruction in order to cast Sandy as far worse -- thus indicting those who opposed even one cent of unrelated "relief" spending as uncaring, heartless bastards:  ...

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) criticizes Congress for not hastily appropriating federal money for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts in New York and New Jersey while praising a more prompt response to Hurricane Katrina. REID: It's too bad that it's taking so long. When we had that devastating [Hurricane] Katrina, we were there within days taking care of Mississippi, Alabama, and especially Louisiana -- within days. We are now past two months with people of New York and the people of New Orleans and that area, they were hurt but nothing in comparison to what happened to the people in New England....

President Barack Obama has signed into law a $9.7 billion bill to pay flood insurance claims from Superstorm Sandy. … The House has yet to act on a larger, more comprehensive Sandy aid package. Republican leaders did not bring the bill to the floor before the last session of Congress adjourned. …

Hurricane Sandy victim Scott McGrath unloaded on President Obama and Washington elites in an interview with Neil Cavuto today on "Your World." Here are some great quotes from Scott McGrath. Full Transcript to follow McGrath: 'This country is in debt. We are so eager to help other countries that we forget our own people.' 'They have to change this and cut out the pork. We can't accept it if it's gonna put us in more debt down the road.' 'A quick fix is not gonna help us....in the long run I don't want to be paying more taxes down the...

Living in this city your entire life gives one the opportunity to experience things you would not normally encounter in any other part of the country. Many of these experiences are deeply unpleasant and disturbing, including periodic attempts, with varying degrees of success, by terrorists to blow up large sections of it, along with its inhabitants. Putting aside the preternatural feeling that I’m living in a very bad Michael Bay film-as if there is any other kind-there aren’t many things that occur to or in New York that shake me out of the existential torpor which stems from spending most...

A pork-barrel feast of goodies for federal agencies to fix museum roofs in D.C. and aid fisheries in Alaska, cooked up in the middle of the night, is not the way to aid hurricane victims or run a government. As if the fallout from agreeing to a bad deal that raises the debt by $4 trillion and accepts a 41-1 ratio in tax hikes to spending cuts weren't enough, Speaker of the House John Boehner has New Jersey's Chris Christie on his case. "There's only one group to blame," the New Jersey governor said of the Sandy relief bill that...

Am I the only one who notices just how smoothly and effortlessly the Democrat Party plays the American people and establishment Republican leadership?Basic timeline:Last week of October: Hurricane Sandy visited destruction upon the East Coast, most severely New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.First week of November: With the presidential election just days away, Obama lands in New Jersey to get bear hugged by Gov'r Chris Christie in order to give off a semblance of "bi-partisanship," and to secure extra votes from stupid Americans who actually thinks Obama caaaares about them. (Indeed it worked: Exit polls showed many still-undecided voters ended up pulling...

“Superstorm” Sandy killed more than 100 people, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and left millions without food, water, electricity, sanitation or shelter for days or even weeks. Our thoughts and prayers remain focused on its victims, many of whom are still grieving as they struggle with the storm’s wintry aftermath and try to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, too many politicians continue to use the storm to advance agendas, deflect blame for incompetence and mistakes, and obfuscate and magnify future risks from building and development projects that they have designed, promoted, permitted and profited from. Sandy was “unprecedented,” the...

Nearly two months after homes in Staten Island, NY were devastated by Hurricane Sandy, residents say they’re still struggling with red tape as they try to get the government to help. … Victims are shuffled from one desk to another for registration, an identification check, and one-on-one interviews—then referred to something called a “Mitigation Desk,” a FEMA official at a local Disaster Recovery Center explained to MRCTV. …

Last December, as you may remember, I went to my old neighborhood of Dyker Heights to share some of the more ostentatious seasonal displays with our readers. This year I decided to stay on the island and visit a local hair salon which was holding a toy drive for families who’ve been impacted by Hurricane Sandy, whose devastation encroached into nearly every part of Richmond County. This was an extraordinary event for a number of reasons, not the least being its rapid turnaround. To have planned and successfully executed a fully-catered party with live entertainment-including a DJ and magician-which hosted...

An effort by a Livingston billionaire to hand out free $100 gift cards to Jersey City residents affected by Hurricane Sandy turned into a fiasco last week after some residents who spent hours on line say they were later not able to obtain the gift cards. The effort led to long lines at some community groups last Monday night as people sought to register for the cards and long lines again two days later when residents showed up to pick them up, according to residents, community leaders and organizers of the charity effort. Two City Councilwoman blasted the effort at...

With emotions running high in response to the heart wrenching events that took place at the Sandy Hook Elementary School December 14, many of my liberal friends and family members believe now is the perfect time for gun control legislation. As heartbreaking as it is that 20 children in Connecticut will not have the chance to open Christmas presents, celebrate birthdays, go on a first date, drive a car, graduate, get married, and have kids, there are millions of kids out there who will. And they are the reason why the rest of us need to fight for the...

I'm curious about this 12.12.12 relief concert. Why do they need financial support from private citizens? New York and New Jersey voted for a candidate that promised big government is the solution to their problems. Has the government not provided for all their needs after the hurricane destruction?

The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Paul McCartney, Bon Jovi, The Who, Roger Waters, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Kanye West and many other artists will perform at the benefit to the Robin Hood Relief Fund and victims of Hurricane Sandy. The broadcast will be accessible by an estimated 2 billion people worldwide, according to the concert's website http://www.121212concert.org. U.S. television viewers will have a difficult time missing the event. The broadcast will be carried on 34 channels, from AMC to VH1 Classic. Even pay channels HBO and Showtime 2 and the newsy Bloomberg will carry the...

President Barack Obama asked Congress Friday for $60.4 billion in federal aid for New York, New Jersey and other states hit by Superstorm Sandy in late October. It’s a disaster whose cost is rivaled only by the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2005 Hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Obama’s request adds a huge new to-do item to a congressional agenda already packed with controversy on how to resolve the nation's budget woes and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. “Our nation has an obligation to assist those who suffered losses and who lack adequate resources...

Mayor Bloomberg made an impromptu visit to the Rockaways this week—although he was predominantly there to discuss Sandy recovery efforts with local paper The Wave (and declare that the age of the wooden boardwalk is so over), Bloomberg also was confronted by some Occupy Sandy members. And for once, he had nothing but praise for them: "Thank you for everything you've done. You guys are great," Bloomberg told them, as you can see in the video below. "We really do appreciate it, all kidding aside. You really are making a difference. Goodbye," he said. (VIDEO AT LINK) Bloomberg probably would...

Hurricane Sandy victims in Staten Island are suffering far more than is being reported. Won’t you please help? We need help feeding our neighbors whose lives have been destroyed. We need your prayers as well. The Red Cross and FEMA are doing very good work, but even they are falling behind. I am a volunteer at a relief center set up by and for ordinary Staten Islanders with no government help. We are retired New York City Police Officers and Firemen. We serve 800 to 1000 meals a day from our own pockets and the generosity of other ordinary people....

Throughout his tenure as Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo has chosen to maintain a suprisingly low profile. Think quick: how much footage have you seen of him in the Hurricane Sandy aftermath compared to his cross-George Washington Bridge buddy, Chris Christie? But has Cuomo finally decided the time has come to make himself more visible? A PSA for Hurricane Relief, aired on Morning Joe today, featured a star-studded cast of Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Whoopi Goldberg, Edie Falco, Michael J. Fox and Julianna Margulies and Nathan Lane. One panel, devoid of reference to the relief organization, starkly read "Join...

Stopping veteran Dem retirements is top priority for Reid, SchumerBy Alexander Bolton - 11/25/12 06:00 AM ET One of the highest immediate political priorities for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Democratic political guru Charles Schumer (N.Y.) is to persuade veteran colleagues not to retire in 2014. Democratic sources identify four senators as most likely to retire: Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Another possible veteran retirement is Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has yet to announce his decision. But Democratic aides expect him to run...

<p>NEW YORK (AP) — Some residents of a New York City neighborhood that suffered fire and flooding during Superstorm Sandy say thieves looted their damaged houses over Thanksgiving.</p> <p>The New York Post reports (http://bit.ly/QgcssM ) that thieves struck at least three homes in the Breezy Point section of Queens.</p>

I've been doing some searches, cannot come up with news accounts to support an email that claims that guns were taken from hurricane victims (either Staten Island o elsewhere) at *gunpoint*--rendering them helpless. Has anyone else heard of this, and any links would be appreciated. I'm skeptical, simply because I don't think the left could organized a gun grab so quickly after the storm....

The Material Girl has been showing more than a lot of love for victims of Hurricane Sandy. At her most recent concerts in Cleveland and New York, she stripped for the audience in order to get donations for storm relief (videos follow with transcribed highlights and commentary, mild vulgarity).

President Obama praised the resilient New York attitude and the efforts of rescue workers during his talk after touring areas of Queens and Staten Island that were ravaged by Hurricane Sandy.‘I´m very proud of you, New York. You guys are tough you bounce back,’ he said while visiting New Dorp Beach in Staten Island. After a brief helicopter tour of Queens- passing over particularly devastated areas like Rockaway Beach and Breezy Point- they arrived in Staten Island where they examined the damage by foot.

In an emergency evacuation, there will always be people who stay behind to protect their personal belongings. People who ignored evacuation warnings had to be rescued and some lost their lives in one of the worst storms in the history of natural disasters in the United States.The biggest challenges were hunger and cold because of electrical outages. More than 8.1 million homes and businesses lost power.In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, city leaders across the country are asking how their city would respond to a similar disaster and examining their preparedness and self-reliance needs. Sandy would have resulted in much...

In the aftermath of last month’s Superstorm Sandy, the way New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie handled the disaster by working with President Barack Obama left some conservatives questioning Christie’s motives and political future. One of Christie’s fellow New Jerseyans, HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher, spoke highly of Christie. Maher is an outspoken liberal, donated $1 million to Obama’s reelection bid and may not be an endorsement that Christie would otherwise seek out. On Current TV’s “Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer,” Maher explained his admiration for the current New Jersey governor. “You know, on the one hand you have people...

Kathy Maggio, 56, lives a half block away from the beach on 126th Street, in a one-story brick house in Rockaway, Queens. Hurricane Sandy severely damaged her house: Flood waters gushed in, leaving leaking ceilings, a ruined skylight, water-logged walls and a basement full of destroyed furniture, rugs, and boxes of photos and keepsakes. Maggio said she saw volunteers in her hard-hit neighborhood shortly after the storm hit. "So I saw these guys walking around, removing debris at a neighbor's house," Maggio said. Two days later, she said, half a dozen volunteers were at her door. They were members of...