President Obama has used his executive power in many ways to expand the role of government. But there’s one area that stands out: Obama’s frequent and repeated use of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue emergency and disaster declarations. Heritage’s Matt Mayer reports that Obama “eviscerated the record books by issuing 243 declarations in 2011,” continuing an alarming pattern that begin under President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush. Mayer says FEMA has become a “political pork-barrel spending agency.” The trend is illustrated in this week’s chart, which …
By the time Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took to the floor Monday to berate Republicans for supposedly blocking emergency disaster aid, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had already announced it did not need the money Reid claimed was being blocked. FEMA’s disaster relief fund became a key issue in the continuing resolution the Senate passed Monday night, funding the federal government through Nov. 18. A record number of emergency declarations this year by President Obama stretched FEMA’s fund to the brink. Republicans offered an additional $1 billion in disaster aid, but coupled …
Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and now blackouts? One might say Mother Nature is on a rampage. On Thursday around 3:45 p.m., 1.5 million people lost power. A mass blackout occurred spanning California, Arizona, and parts of Mexico. Affecting major cities throughout the region, the high-voltage power line outage between Arizona and California left millions without power. Sweltering heat and massive traffic pileups activated emergency operations in areas like San Diego. Blackouts continued throughout the evening, leaving small hope that any relief would come prior to late Friday. Blackouts can come from …
Liberals have spent the past two weeks asking Congress to write a blank check for federal disaster funding. They’ve concentrated their attacks on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) for seeking offsets in other areas of the budget to cover the additional aid. They’ve portrayed Cantor as a callous conservative, suggesting that his stance is extreme and hypocritical. The facts tell another story. The Wall Street Journal reveals that it’s actually congressional Democrats, not Cantor, standing in the way of additional disaster funding. House Republicans have offered a plan that …
As Hurricane Irene heads toward the East Coast of the United States, we also have to worry about tornadoes. Tornadoes often form as a result of hurricanes. Tornado conditions can be predicted, but actual storms cannot. The National Weather Service issues tornado watches (a tornado is possible) and warnings (a tornado has been sighted). They are massive rotating funnel-shaped columns of air that extend from a thunderstorm formation. The columns are transparent, but as they accumulate dust and debris, they take on the shape of a dark spiraling cloud. The …
With the recent devastation in Japan, the paragon of earthquake preparedness, Americans are rightfully questioning the readiness of the United States to handle a large-scale national disaster. In spite of the supposed progress the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has made since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, there is wide spread doubt that FEMA could respond effectively and efficiently to a crisis of Japan-like magnitude. In a recent report, Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard L. Skinner echoes The Heritage Foundation in his assessment of FEMA’s ability to handle to …
Friday morning, a massive earthquake hit Japan and spawned a massive tsunami that is sweeping across the Pacific, requiring evacuation along the Hawaiian coast. This morning the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued an alert that “tsunami warnings and watches have been issued for the U.S. territories of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, as well as portions of coastal areas in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington.” Damage and loss of life in Japan will be significant. We have to be concerned as well about the safety …
As we have written extensively, the federalization of natural disaster response is a losing proposition, as many states that have few natural disasters subsidize the states that have frequent (but fairly routine) natural disasters such as tornadoes, floods, fires, and storms. Now we learn that it isn’t just disaster response and recovery costs we are subsidizing; now we are federalizing and subsidizing health care and pension costs of local government workers. As reported, Stafford County, Virginia, used its FEMA money, allocated for snow removal, to cover the costs of health …
House Republicans are attempting to live up to their pledge to cut $100 billion from the federal government’s current fiscal year 2011 budget. One of the proposed programs placed on the chopping block is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) program—a federal program that subsidizes the purchase of firefighting equipment and vehicles and fitness equipment by state and local governments. Compared to President Obama’s fiscal year 2011 budget request, the plan is to cut $310 million from the highly ineffective program that has inappropriately awarded …
The 2010 hurricane season ended yesterday, utterly failing to measure up to the Category 5 predictions made in the spring. The failure of a single hurricane to strike the United States makes it five years since a hurricane of Category 3 strength or higher has struck the United States. You remember 2005, right? The year Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma pummeled the Gulf Coast, FEMA Director Mike Brown, and President George W. Bush. Those were the busy days of FEMA. Despite no hurricanes striking the U.S. and only one minor …
