Trump Cheating Blue States With Disaster Relief

Vermont received FEMA disaster aid after the 
catastrophic July, 2023 floods, shown here. But that
was during the Biden administration. If another 
flood happened now, Trump very likely wouldn't
approve disaster aid because too many 
Vermonters voted against him. It's Trump
disgusting retribution against perceived enemies

 Things have gotten so bad that if a disaster strikes your blue state, you won't get assistance because the Orange Cockwomble, Donald Trump is butt hurt you didn't vote for him.

As Politico reported on July 29,  Trump earlier this summer overruled his own agencies when he denied disaster aid for four Democratic-led states.

The latest issue involves New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, who were seeking federal disaster funds to help recover from a massive, record-breaking blizzard this past February.

FEMA field offices verified that the damage qualified for disaster assistance, but Trump overruled them. Presidents have sole authority to grant disaster relief to states, but historically, until Trump, presidents never overruled the field offices. 

Presidents Since George W. Bush and before Trump approved all 69 state requests for snow assistance, except for one, Politico reports. The one denial was because FEMA funds had been mishandled. 

This is a continuation of Trump ignoring disasters in Democratic-led states. Politico says Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the entire 47-year history of FEMA. Meanwhile, Trump has approved nearly 90 percent of disaster aid requests from states run by Republicans. 

Politico continues: "He approve just 23 percent of disaster funding requests from states with a Democratic governor and two Democratic senators since returning to office 14 months ago. For states with a Republican governor and two Republican senators, it's the opposite - Trump has approved 89 percent of their requests."

In all previous administrations, there has been no discernible bias in presidential disaster declarations.  Democratic and Republican-led states got equal treatment. Until Trump. 

Interestingly, during the first Trump administration, his pattern of approving disaster assistance almost exactly matched previous administrations. It was only during the current term that the disparity became apparent. 

Since taking office for his second term, the Associated Press says Trump has approved 65 requests for major disaster declarations and denied more than two dozen others. 

On top of all that, Trump is taking longer to declare disasters than any other presidential administration.

Trump's spokesperson Abigail Jackson, wrote, "There is no politicization to the President's decisions on disaster relief."

Riiiiiight.  

Jackson also explains the slow approval on Trump conducting a more thorough review than any administration before him.  Yes, of course, sure. Can I do a rolling eye emoji here?

Democrats in Congress have asked the Government Accountability office to look into the criteria of how FEMA determines whether to recommend disaster declarations from Trump. But even if there's some sort of smoking gun at FEMA, that won't stop Trump from politicizing all current and future disasters. 

Two of the most recent disasters to hit the United States were the severe floods in Indiana and the extreme wildfires in and around Spokane, Washington.  Indiana is a red state. Washington is a blue state.

Two different states, two different disasters. But both have caused a lot of heartache and loss for residents of those states

Will Trump help Indiana and snub Washington? My guess is yes. 

It should be obvious to everyone except Trump and his minions that economically strapped individual, towns and states can't handle mega disasters on their own. But Trump only cares about himself. 

We knew that before he became president. But too many Americans didn't care, and here we are. 

 

Trump Cancels Green Energy Projects In Mostly Blue States To "Punish" Democrats For Disobeying His Lordship.

Trump canceled nearly $8 billion in clean energy projects,
and many observers think this to punish states
that lean Democratic. 

Democrats are "the enemy" in Donald Trump's world. 

So why not make the best of a government shutdown to punish those Democrats?

Per the Washington Post:

"The Energy Department on Wednesday canceled $7.56 billion in funding for 223 projects aimed at research and deployment of clean energy and other climate-friendly technology mainly in Democratic-led states."

People in the Trump administration could barely keep a straight face when they said that this wasn't a punishment against Democrat-led states. No! It was just about rooting out waste of taxpayer dollars. 

 More WaPo

"An Energy Department press release late Wednesday said the projects 'did not adequately advance the nations energy needs, were not economically viable, and would not provide a positive return on investment of taxpayer dollars.' 

But of course the Trump people just can't help themselves.  The money that was shitcanned was "Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left's climate agenda," said Office of Management and Budget Director in a post on X.

So much for high government officials showing any semblance of dignity. 

 Of the affected states, 17 are led by Democrats, and seven are led by Republicans. But one of those Republican-led states is Vermont. The governor, Phil Scott is a moderate, non-MAGA type, and as everybody knows, Vermont is politically as blue as blue can get.

The cuts include:

$1.2 billion for a public/private partnership to kick start the hydrogen industry in California.

$1.1 billion in energy grants for Washington State, including the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub. 

$400 million to add 28 gigawatts of new energy generation the Minnesota power grid, mostly from wind and solar.

$90 million to build Pennsylvania's biggest solar array on the site of an old coal mine. 

$30 million for battery storage at a California children's hospital. 

Under the Trump administration, the job market is getting shaky. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the hydrogen project would have created 200,000 jobs.

But screaming that climate change is a hoax is more important than creating jobs, I guess. 

The cuts we're talking about here. came on the same day the Trumpsters froze $18 billion in funding for two big infrastructure projects in New York City.  The city is represented in Congress by some of the nation's most prominent and popular representatives. 

One of those New York Democratic congress people is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said, "Instead of playing politics with the shutdown, President Trump should be working on bipartisan solutions to lower Americans' costs and create jobs."

Good luck with that. Trump spent the weekend playing golf. To be fair, the weather was awfully nice. 

As CNBC reported, some of the projects involve manufacturing, which Trump allegedly wants to promote. For example, $500 million was earmarked for a project that produces carbon-neutral cement. Another canceled project in Massachusetts was aimed at manufacturing low carbon cement.  

But the Trump and his minions don't care. It's all about revenge and whining instead of governance with these folks.