UPDATE: Among Many Potential Casualties Of Musk/Trump Shutdown Effort Is Critical Disaster Aid

House Speaker Mike Johnson worked out a deal to prevent
the government from shutting down, but it appears his 
overlords Elon Musk and Donald Trump don't approve.
Which means the government has a high chance of 
shutting down, and badly needed FEMA disaster
relief won't go to victims who have 
already been waiting a long time for help. 

 So, President Musk, I mean, President-elect Trump don't like the budget deal that would prevent a government shutdown, so these kings of chaos want to make a mess.  

They're doing a good job of it. 

Sure, the negotiated deal between Republican and Democratic house members is a bit o a cumbersome mess.

The whole effort by Musk to shut everything down, though, seems designed solely to throw a monkey wrench into the workings of government by any means necessary, and this is just the opening salvo of the chaos that we will endure for the next four years. 

This being a weather and climate blog, I'll ignore for now most of the zillions of things that will go wrong if there is a government shutdown.

But part of the deal that Musk and Trump and the MAGA crowd don't like is the more than $100 million in badly needed FEMA relief money from the weather and climate disasters we've had in the past year. Those included Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the some of the flood disasters here in Vermont.

Per CBS News:

The now-threatened funding "included $110.4 billion in disaster aid:  $29 billion for FEMA's disaster relief fund; $8 billion for federal highways and roads, $12 billion for the Community Development Block grants and disaster relief; and $3.2 for Tribal Assistance grants. It also replenishes the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program with $2.2 billion. The program was exhausted in the aftermath of Hurricanes Milton and Helene earlier this year."

Vermont's Congressional delegation say they are ready to vote for the continuing resolution if it includes  the disaster aid. "I will not abandon Vermonts. I will not abandon those around the country impacted by flooding, wildfires, hurricanes and other extreme weather. I will not vote for a continuing resolution without comprehensive disaster aid," Sen. Peter Welch, D-VT said via a posting on Threads. 

Bottom line: Those of you who need help from the federal government after enduring climate and weather disasters are on their own, at least if shadow president Elon Musk, Trump and his minions have their way. Which seems a near certainty.

We'll see whether a deal is reached by Friday, but I'm not holding my breath.  

Surprise! Another Politician's Hypocrisy On Climate Change Policy

Republican Congressman Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania hated
President Biden's climate spending, but his business
dipped right into it to the tune of $315,000

 Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa) really didn't like President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Not a lot of Republicans did. And that's their right, the loyal opposition and all that. 

That is until the hypocrisy sets in. There's plenty of examples, but Kelly's is the latest and one of the more over the top of all the examples. Kelly used the climate portion of the act to receive a grant to install solar panels at one of his car dealerships. 

He got quite a bit of money out of the deal, too.  According to HuffPost:

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave a Uniontown dealership owned by Mike Kelly Automotive Group a nearly $315,000 grant to install a 261.9 kilowatt solar panel array, according to the Erie Times-News, the local news outlet that first reported the grant on Monday. The grant is set to save the firm $23,700 per year in energy costs, according to the USDA."

After the Inflation Reduction Bill was signed into law, Kelly said it was "loaded with bad policy and wasteful spending that will ultimately worsen inflation, expand government and hurt the middle class.

He really hated the law's climate provisions, at least supposedly. Kelly said in a statement at about the time the Inflation Reduction Act became law that the climate change portion of the spending package was wasteful and elitist. 

I guess Kelly forgot to mention he was one of those "elitists."

Responding to all this, a Kelly spokesman said:

"Representative Kelly's energy policy has always supported an all-of-the-above approach.... Additionally, Rep. Kelly does not have an active role in the day-to-day operations of his family's business. "

Ya, sure he's invested in the business but has no idea what's going on with it. Tell me another one.