Flood insurance splits GOP, spurs bipartisan dealmaking as deadline looms

[RandySF]

LOUISIANA — Coastal state Republicans are bucking members of their own party and teaming up with Democrats as lawmakers struggle to salvage an agreement to keep the National Flood Insurance Program alive.

Dozens of Republicans from New York to Mississippi have fought proposals by the House Financial Services Committee that they say would make flood insurance unaffordable. A member of the House leadership, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, is among those uneasy with the panel’s plans. And in the Senate, Republicans are joining with Democrats to find a deal before the program lapses at the end of next month.

In contrast to the party-line approaches surrounding health care and tax reform, geographic boundaries are trumping partisan divisions in the flood insurance debate.

“Floodwater has a way of making it pretty clear what the priorities are," Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) said.

At issue is the future of a government backstop that protects millions of Americans from the financial risks of flooding, but at a steep cost: The program has racked up almost $25 billion in debt. Its survival is a concern that is being grimly highlighted this weekend as the remnants of Hurricane Harvey inundate Texas.


http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/27/flood-insurance-deadline-looms-242068

[Dustlawyer]

1. With Republicans it is always only if it affects them!

[Lotusflower70]

2. Sad but true

But Harvey is going to be brutal as far as overall damage total.

[DFW]

3. The Sandy/Harvey contrast proves it

Cruz and Cornyn wanted to let New York and New Jersey drown in the November cold, but as soon as Houston gets flooded, they expect all hands on deck and all pockets emptied.

Well, they'll get it, because Democrats are not an angry vindictive group who would rather see cities in other states drown than allocate resources to help them. But anyone who does NOT see the difference was probably not born when Sandy hit.

[OnDoutside]

4. True, but once again the good nature of Democrats is going

To leave the vile Republicans off the hook. It only perpetuates this cycle of Republicans being able to hop on/hop off the Big Government bus, and Democrats are enabling this. Democrats should be demanding they go way beyond what looks like the current possible Rep Dem agreement, so that it forces the Republicans to flush out their own hypocrisy. Meanwhile the Democrats should be wall to wall, saying we want to help far more but the Republicans want let people in misery. You just KNOW they would do that given a chance.

[DFW]

5. I don't think we can play politics with people who risk drowning in their attics in the next hour

Formulate how we are going to frame this, obviously, but save their lives NOW. We can't wait for our own speechwriters to have the perfect response before sending in the helicopters. What we CAN do is not let the Republicans get away with their hypocrisy--starting yesterday.

[elehhhhna]

6. We just found out here in Fort Bend County outside of Houston

That our local government has known that our levees were unstable since 2006 and has done nothing. We pay some of the highest property taxes in the country . They spend it all on their developer friends