When natural disaster strikes, the legacy of Ronald Reagan haunts

When natural disaster strikes, the legacy of Ronald Reagan haunts
Reagan's nine most "terrifying" words in the English language: "I’m from the government, and I’m here to help"

By Lucian K. Truscott IV
Columnist
Published October 1, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) It’s long been a cliché that Republicans are against the government until disaster strikes. At a 1986 press conference, Ronald Reagan uttered the words “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help” as an irony-laden expression of Republican distrust and suspicion of the federal government. An argument could be made that Trumpism has only amplified the anti-government ideology that has been the heart and soul of the GOP for decades. Yet those exact words are expressed by the actions of thousands of federal government employees fanned out over the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Virginia to help with rescue and cleanup operations in the wake of Hurricane Helene last week.

....(snip)....

Only state governments and the federal government are large enough and have access to enough resources to deal with devastation of this magnitude. After rescue operations and the supply of immediate food, water, and shelter needs are concluded, it will take months just to clean up the damage done by the storm. Photos of some of the towns show carpets of two-by-fours and roof rafters where homes and businesses once stood. Cars and light trucks were tossed around by the flooding as if they were toys.

....(snip)....

Politics will inevitably enter the picture of the reaction to this storm as it has after others. Already, a Tennessee legislator has been quoted as saying that the federal declaration of emergency necessary for FEMA relief was “finally” given, as if the White House was late in granting it. Actually, the White House approved a federal disaster declaration immediately after the governor of Tennessee asked for it. All states affected by Hurricane Helene have received a federal declaration of disaster, setting in motion federal emergency relief through FEMA and other federal agencies.

In 2019, Donald Trump redirected $271 million, including $155 million from FEMA, to efforts on the Mexican border to stem the flow of refugees, reducing the amount of disaster relief available to Puerto Rico for Hurricane Dorian. In 2020, Trump took $44 billion from FEMA’s disaster relief fund to pay for a $300 per month supplement to regular unemployment benefits. Trump looted the FEMA funds because he refused to urge Congress to approve a bill to extend the additional $600 a month unemployment relief passed by the CARES Act when it was held up by Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in the Senate. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/10/01/when-natural-disaster-strikes-the-legacy-of-ronald-reagan-haunts/