Post-Katrina Survey Finds Wariness, Desire for Change

Just a short while ago, the Senate approved by voice vote this morning an extension through December 17 of the current continuing resolution (CR) funding the federal government. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) did not object to the voice vote, but went on record as voting no on the CR to highlight the plight of many still recoverying from the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast. It is still unclear what this accomplished for the people of Gulf Coast.

This particular CR is especially egregious because it drastically reduces funding for many federal programs, particularly the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) attempted to include an amendment to the CR that would continue funding the CSBG at a higher level instead of it receiving a 50 percent cut. Despite support for full funding from 58 Senators on a letter Harkin circulated, only 46 voted for the amendment today.

1. Two-Face Talk about "Up or Down Votes": The GOP mantra when radical conservative judges were renominated to the appeals courts -- nominees so radical that they threaten the very ability of the federal government to protect the public -- was that parliamentary maneuvers such as holds and filibusters should not prevent the nominees from going to the floor and getting an up-or-down vote (in other words, being allowed to simply be elevated to lifetime judgeships without any real fight). Much of this talk died down when a centrist coalition agreed to tie the hands of Democratic Senators and "save" the filibuster by making it irrelevant. Apparently, though, hashing things out in the open only matters when it comes to lifetime appointments to the federal bench, not when it comes to $60 billion tax cuts for the wealthy.

2. Unfunded Mandates -- Now They Care about Them, Now They Don't: We have been monitoring developments that threaten to expand the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. A recent change to an UMRA parliamentary procedure was invoked to kill a proposal to raise the minimum wage. So "unfunded mandates" -- in the GOP parlance, it means opposing protections of the public on the grounds that federal policy decisions result in costs to state and local governments -- matter when it comes to killing the minimum wage, but not when it comes to kicking abused and neglected children out of federally-funded foster care. By restricting eligibility for the Title IV-E entitlement, the House bill shifts the cost for the now ineligible abused and neglected children entirely to the states. (By the way, those kids aren't getting any less abused or neglected.) Get more details on the cut programs here.) Just goes to show that the phrase "unfunded mandates" does not signify a problem that demands solutions; instead, it is a political weapon, deployed to freeze new public protections and then conveniently holstered when it would otherwise threaten an anti-government agenda.

Join liberal and conservative groups in asking President Bush to put Katrina contracts online! Groups can add their name to our sign-on letter by emailing us.

Congress has put $62.3 billion into Hurricane Katrina relief, with billions more expected in help for Gulf Coast recovery efforts. With the federal government spending so much so quickly, opportunities for waste and fraud abound. To help find and stop misuse of taxpayer dollars, Congress, reporters, and the public must be informed of how the dollars are spent.

We call on President Bush to post on the Internet copies of every contract, requisition, task/delivery order, agreement or other authorization for spending on Hurricane Katrina relief and reconstruction as soon as contracts are signed, checks are approved or money is disbursed. For such spending that has already occurred, we urge President Bush to direct agencies to put such information online as soon as possible.

Posted by Emily Feldman, 02:17:27 PM

Friday, November 04, 2005

Tuesday, November 01, 2005