Bill Straub: Disaster debate another example of how Kentucky lawmakers in D.C. have lost their way

WASHINGTON – Senate Republican Leader Mitch “Root ‘n Branch’’ McConnell took some time off last week to – quite appropriately – recognize the efforts of Kentuckians working tirelessly in behalf of those devastated by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico as well as the victims of other recent natural disasters.

Many Kentuckians, McConnell noted, “have generously given their time and labor to help their fellow Americans during this time of suffering. And they aren’t alone. Compassionate men and women from around the country have joined the cause to help ease the pain of the victims.’’

While McConnell is quite justified in singing the praises of those from the Bluegrass who have pitched in – and he has worked to make sure those living in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, California and elsewhere get the financial help they need – at least three people didn’t get the message:

Rep. James Comer, R-Tompkinsville, Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, and, our old pal, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-SomewhereorotherLewisCounty.

Last week, in a 353-69 vote, the House opted in favor of a $36.5 billion disaster aid package that included relief for Puerto Rico and funds to assist firefighting efforts in the west. The measure also contained some money to bolster a financially troubled federal flood insurance program facing overwhelming pay-outs as a result of havoc played in the Houston area as a result of Hurricane Harvey.

Comer, Barr and Massie were among those lawmakers who went AWOL, refusing to back the proposal at a time when residents of Puerto Rico, who are American citizens, remember, were going without food, water and electricity as the death toll rose.

It was Portia in The Merchant of Venice who said “the quality of mercy is not strain’d.’’ These guys need to brush up on their Shakespeare.

Now one might think it behooves the nation’s representatives to march into the breech when fellow Americans are so obviously suffering, especially after witnessing the ghastly misery visited upon the people of Puerto Rico. But anyone who believes that is sadly unaware of the records built by this Let-‘Em-Eat-Cake trio who seem to willingly provide help only to their biggest funders.

You can bet if one or two of the nation’s bankers were stuck in Ponce living off the land, drinking water from contaminated wells, ol’ Andy Barr would personally fly a relief jet down on a rescue mission to pick them up.

Rick VanMeter, Barr’s deputy chief of staff, wrote to say that the congressman supports aid to disaster victims (one might say he has an odd way of showing it) but he also opposes combining that aid with “bad policies that will hurt future generations of Americans.’’

Barr’s beef is with the cancellation of $16 billion in debt owed by the financially troubled National Flood Insurance Program. Without the provisions, the program would have proved unable to pay claims resulting from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, leaving thousands of homeowners in the lurch. Barr, VanMeter said, objected that the bill failed to contain “any offsets or attempts at reform.’’

Objections to the flood insurance program are well-taken, given its propensity for opening the door to development in flood plains, leaving taxpayers holding the bill when bankrollers get the cuffs of their trousers damp. And something needs to be done eventually. But an emergency situation, when people’s lives are in danger and insurance holders are looking for funds to rebuild is hardly the time.

Meanwhile, Comer, looking to bolster his right-wing bona fides at the expense of brown people who speak some language other than American, complained to the Kentucky New Era in Hopkinsville that the measure didn’t offset the money directed toward Puerto Rico elsewhere in the budget, asserting his goal is to put a halt to runaway spending and balance the budget, apparently on the backs of the poor people of San Juan.

The problem is on Sept. 6 Comer voted in support of a $7.85 billion relief package for the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and other southern states. That bill, for those keeping score at home, didn’t contain any offsets. It was later rolled into a larger, $15.25 billion measure that Comer opposed.

If memory serves, Comer’s First Congressional District lies smack-dab in the middle of the New Madrid Fault. Do you think he’ll be begging for offsets if that thing goes kerblooie?

Massie, who can always be counted on to come with the crazy – Iowa has Rep. Steven King, Texas has Louie Gohmert and Kentucky offers Massie to that Honor Society – apparently has never seen a disaster aid package he considered worthwhile. He’s 0-for-3 thus far – one of only three lawmakers who opposed the original $7.85 billion Hurricane Harvey deal.

Explaining his no vote on a $15.25 billion hurricane relief package that also increased the debt limit and funded the federal government for three months, which occurred Sept. 8, Massie said on his Facebook page that he proposed transferring money dedicated to foreign aid to pay for disaster aid but rules prevented him from doing so.

“Do you agree that instead of adding to our debt, we should use money that was earmarked for foreign aid, to pay for disaster relief funding?’’ he asked. “I can’t in good conscience saddle our children with more debt… they will have to pay for their own weather disasters and shouldn’t have to pay for ours as well.’’

We will see how dedicated Wonder Boy is when it comes time to vote on the emerging Republican tax “reform’’ plan – better known as a tax cut for the wealthy while middle-income folks once again get the shaft – which everyone outside the GOP caucus realizes will add considerably to that debt despite unsubstantiated, silly claims that the cuts will “pay for themselves,’’ a disingenuous assertion that has proven false in the past.

If he opposes it – fat chance there – he can talk about adding to the debt. But cutting into the nation’s comparatively meager foreign aid budget, further reducing America’s influence abroad, seems slightly dangerous.

The disaster debate is just an example of how Kentucky lawmakers in Washington have lost their way, dedicated to a course of action that sells not only their constituents short, but harms other Americans in peril.

If a crisis comes, don’t look to these jamokes for help.

Permit me a point of personal privilege.

Bert Workum died this week at age 75 after a battle with cancer. That won’t mean a lot to most folks, but I can testify if you ever met Bert, you couldn’t forget him.

Bert was a mainstay in the old Kentucky Post newsroom and he was easy to pick out. About 400 pounds, auburn hair askew, smoking cigarette after cigarette when that practice was allowed, voice piercing through the haze and clatter of typewriters.

He was erudite, light on his feet for a big man and theatrical. He could discuss Shakespeare, Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto, point out if the soprano was coming across a little weak at Music Hall and talk endlessly about food – he was gourmand’s gourmand.

He was a character. He was also very smart, a dependable friend and a terrific reporter, the sort of person disappearing all too quickly from the American scene. And he could be brave – coming out as gay long before many were willing to take that step.

A good man. We won’t see the likes of him again. I will miss knowing he’s there.

Washington correspondent Bill Straub served 11 years as the Frankfort Bureau chief for The Kentucky Post. He also is the former White House/political correspondent for Scripps Howard News Service. A member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, he currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland, and writes frequently about the federal government and politics. Email him at williamgstraub@gmail.com.