According to the Financial Times, the insurance industry estimates the total bill for insurers from Hurricane Sandy will be between $20 billion and $25 billion. President Barack Obama’s emergency request for Hurricane Sandy totals $60.4 billion. One must naturally wonder how the damages not covered by insurance could be roughly …
An example of fiscal responsibility turned up yesterday in an unexpected place: the U.S. Senate. Senator Dan Coats (R–IN) offered an amendment to President Obama’s $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill that would be far less costly and much better focused on the storm’s victims. Maybe common sense in budgeting …
Transportation agencies and programs including the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Amtrak, and other transit stand to benefit handsomely from the Senate’s $60.4 billion Hurricane Sandy spending bill, which it will consider this week. Though cast as disaster relief, much of the bill’s spending would not reach …
The Hurricane Sandy relief bill racing through the U.S. Senate is a perfect example of the spend-now-save-later practices that are driving the government deeper in debt. Lawmakers cannot seem to find $55 billion in offsets to prevent a devastating cut in national defense, but they can easily whip up $60.4 …
Federal watchdogs warn in a new report that a pilot Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program designed to keep Hurricane Sandy victims in their homes may be highly susceptible to waste, fraud, and abuse. The administration of FEMA’s Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power (STEP) program “requires increased vigilance to monitor the expenditure of public funds,” …
Legislation to provide $60 billion to areas affected by Hurricane Sandy includes $100 million for the federal Head Start day care program. According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, funding for the FY 2013 Disaster Assistance Supplemental bill will be used to repair 265 Head Start centers. Specifically, funds appropriated to …
Many Americans will find it difficult to return to their daily routines today. The massacre at a Connecticut elementary school Friday, in which 26 people were murdered in an act of senseless violence, including 20 small children, has left the country shocked. The Heritage Foundation expresses its condolences to the …
Last week, President Obama issued a request for $60.4 billion for Hurricane Sandy response and recovery. Yet as the fiscal cliff continues to loom nearby, many on Capitol Hill are asking exactly where that money would come from. While House Speaker John Boehner (R–OH) has indicated that he is still …
Heavy rains wiping out crops, the Baltic Sea freezing over, unusually powerful earthquakes triggering tsunamis, and the largest flood recorded in central Europe. Top it off with famine, plague, and social unrest, and people began talking about the end of the world—in the early 14th century. These days, 14th-century Europe …
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and a snowy Nor’easter, grassroots rescue and support endeavors across New England came to the rescue. They presented a vivid contrast between the sluggish response of a government bureaucracy and the helping hand of neighbors and community groups that comprise the bedrock of our …