The Politics of Disaster Relief

On September 6, Donald Trump announced aboard Air Force 1 that he would suspend the debt ceiling three months, which was the plan congressional Democrats came up with to secure funds for healthcare markets and resolve the legal status of illegal “dreamers;” however, congressional Republicans were requesting six- and 18-month hikes. The 18-month hike would have pushed it back past the midterm elections, in which several of them would need to campaign for reelection, including expected close contests in Arizona and Nevada. Not only that, but this is yet another action by President Trump that directly conflicts with criticism he tweeted out during the last administration, in this case against congressional Republicans who suspended the debt ceiling for four months in 2013.

However, that’s not the real issue. As Speaker of the House Paul Ryan told reporters, “Let’s just think about this: We’ve got all this devastation in Texas. We’ve got another unprecedented hurricane about to hit Florida, and they want to play politics with the debt ceiling? I think that’s ridiculous and disgraceful that they want to play politics with the debt ceiling at this moment when we have fellow citizens in need, to respond to these hurricanes so we do not strand them.” This is a very important point to bring up: Democrats and the President are only politicizing the hurricanes as means to their ends - something cruel to the Americans suffering in those hurricanes. This isn’t new either: Democrats have been blaming climate change for these storms, which only brings up one of their main agendas. In fact, Hillary blamed climate change for Hurricane Harvey just last year - something I remember from my evacuation up North.

(Sorry this one looks weird, it translated from Russian for some reason.)

Besides that example, however, disasters, such as hurricanes, can be used as a political tool to increase spending and expand the federal government, even appealing to the people by making it seem as if the government should be more involved. In fact, yearly FEMA Disaster Declarations have been increasing for each administration since Reagan.

Additionally, average funding per storm by FEMA has also increased since Hurricane Katrina hit.

As a resident of Florida, however, I will be one of the first to call for the end of massive relief and recovery funding by the federal government. As I see it, most of the property damaged is private property, and that which isn’t can easily be rebuilt and maintained by private companies, paid for by whomever hires them, fearing a disaster might hurt them if the levees and whatever else aren’t rebuilt and maintained. It would help jog the economy if the government was to seek a laissez-faire approach, as more jobs and businesses would open up, all for promoting the general welfare. This was a similar idea to what Calvin Coolidge held concerning the Mississippi River Flood in 1927. He did send Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover to carry out some relief efforts with support from the Red Cross, but only reluctantly. Additionally, he did not support expanding the federal budget by making the government the “insurer of its citizens against the hazard of the elements,” and even supported a local, more privatized plan. However, Congress wished to get involved, initially proposing a $1.4 billion relief package, which would take up about half of the annual budget at the time. Furthermore, it wouldn’t require the property owners to pay for any of the costs, which would mostly be benefiting them. Congress did end up passing legislation, but the price was compromised to be lower so President Coolidge would sign it. It’s final cost was $500 million, still a substantial amount, and required local property owners to provide some of the funding.

In a time when major hurricane after major hurricane is battering our cities, we should look further back than to just Katrina to find a reasonable solution to our funding problems - without politicizing the disasters. We should look to Calvin Coolidge’s reluctance, then to his limited response. Take this from a Floridian - someone from a place hit by hurricanes almost yearly, this time a possible Category 5. “The Government does not undertake to reimburse its citizens for loss and damage incurred under such circumstances. It is chargeable, however, with the rebuilding of public works and the humanitarian duty of relieving its citizens from distress." ~Calvin Coolidge, 1927.

Note: I do support rescue missions and private charity; I don’t think people should just be left to die when the levees break.

Ps.

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Sources

1. Bucci, Steven. “After Hurricane Sandy: Time to Learn and Implement the Lessons in Preparedness, Response, and Resilience.” The Heritage Foundation, The Heritage Foundation, 24 Oct. 2013, www.heritage.org/homeland-security/report/after-hurricane-sandy-time-learn-and-implement-the-lessons-preparedness. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.

2. Lindsay, Bruce R., et al. “An Examination of Federal Disaster Relief Under the Budget Control Act.” Congressional Research Service, Federation of American Scientists, 24 Feb. 2016, fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42352.pdf. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.

3. Calvin Coolidge: "Fifth Annual Message," December 6, 1927. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29568.

4. Thomas, Rushad L. “Flowing Waters: Calvin Coolidge and Flood Relief.” Coolidge Blog, Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, 12 Oct. 2015, coolidgefoundation.org/blog/flowing-waters-calvin-coolidge-and-flood-relief/. Accessed 6 Sept. 2017.

Source 1 provides Chart 1, Source 2 provides Figure 1, Sources 3 and 4 provide information of Coolidge’s response to the Mississippi River Flood, and all other information is provided by prior research and education.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at nimrodcreed@gmail.com.