Calling Cruz irrelevant is a defense that will bite him in the arse. He can show he cares by meeting with the Governor and offering any support he can to the people.
He could be working with and coordinating FEMA efforts, as a start.
This was another self-inflicted Cruz wound.
I don’t see Cornyn anywhere, he’ll be the next one in line on the chopping block. Not many understand how big this is and will be for months. We were already hit hard, this is just kicking the chair out from under us in a sense.
Again, I don’t feel all that strongly about this one way or another and clearly some do. That is okay by me. I acknowledge that it is bad optics.
However, beginning with Katrina, there has been a massive “overresponse” by DC to every storm. This storm, while rare, is not an impossibility so my argument is “how/why is this the responsibility of congress to “fix”? The only fix they ever offer is to spend our money and much of those expenditures go to questionable stuff.
I like Texas as someone who does not live there. A lot. However, this was NOT a failure of congress or a Senator. This situation was created by a lack of preparation or planning for such a rare event by utilities and state officials. Without prior planning and infrastructure, no amount of finger pointing during the event will fix the circumstances in which people find themselves.
FEMA was supposed to be a checkbook to come in and help local communities and states with “disasters”. The expectations that congress and Uncle Sam will act as a first responder and come in and take over everything dropping checks all over the place is not a good thing in my humble opinion. Let those on the ground work through it and offer support as needed.
There will be plenty of naval gazing after this and hopefully some lessons and changes come out of it to prevent it in the future, but while I concede the point that it is bad optics politically for Cruz, in my personal experience as a “first responder” to natural disasters the dignitaries only get in the way, clog traffic, and take resources away from helping people for photo ops.
I guess reading this thread it is obvious Cruz should have gotten some photo ops here handing out blankets and water bottles. I am not really trying to “defend” Cruz. I just find such gestures an impediment to the response - not a help. I also find the Pavlovian response of congress to rush out and throw money at stuff to be corrosive to our constitution (and deficits).
Texas created this problem. I imagine the same would be possible in other southern states given the issues that are now apparent. Therefore, lack of effective preparation on their part will put my kids (who go through power outages in winter that I prepare for) further in debt.
It’s the same thing every time...... foreseeable and predictable event happens, FEMA rushes in to “help”, politicians do photo ops and lots of media hits, reporters fan hysteria, checks are written, and everyone goes back to sleep until the next predictable disaster often and usually in my experience caused by incompetence or failure to prioritize on the part of local and state officials.
Hope this makes sense. Prayers for those impacted by this crazy weather in Texas.