Here’s something to remember the next time U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is up for re-election: The senior U.S. senator from North Carolina voted against providing disaster relief aid to North Carolina citizens and businesses hurt by Hurricane Irene.
The U.S. Senate voted 62-38 yesterday to provide $6.9 billion in emergency relief funds for fiscal year 2012. N.C.’s junior senator, Kay Hagan, worked to pass the measure. Burr, however, joined the GOP’s unprecedented efforts to delay disaster funding until reductions of an equal amount could be taken from other spending priorities. Burr wrote to The Outer Banks Voice news site that he was in favor of disaster relief for the battered Outer Banks and eastern N.C. farmers, but only if “it will be accompanied with offsets so that we can provide aid to those who need it without increasing our national debt.”
In simpler terms, Burr is busy in D.C. playing political chicken with the Democrats, so the people of N.C., who elected him to represent them and their interests, are just gonna have to hold their horses. Luckily, Burr and colleagues were defeated this time.
Crop losses in the eastern part of the state are reported to be the worst many N.C. farmers have seen in decades, but Burr decided playing political games was more important than working for his constituents. Don’t forget, also, that Burr voted for billions of dollars to rebuild Iraq without asking for budget offsets, but when his own state needed emergency hurricane relief, he decided to “get tough” on deficits. If past experience with Obama’s stimulus spending is any indication, Burr will no doubt still show up for press photos and credit-hogging when the aid starts filtering into east N.C.
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2011.
I’m am beyond tired of Eastern N.C. getting their collective butts kissed by by our state gov’t. What the heck!?! Charlotte pays the bulk of the taxes and we get the leftovers after they gold plate all the roads in the eastern part of the state. Hey, we’re here, throw us a bone once in a while. I drove up to Fuquay Varina a few years oback to take the auctioneer exam and I couldn’t believe how nice all the roads are up there that nobody drives on.
Perhaps you failed to notice that the United States is now broke. The President has asked for and spent money at a rate that has us just about completely bankrupt. Obama and the Democrats have literally spent in just 2.5 years what GW Bush spent in his whole 8 years, and Bush was pretty damned free with our money. Now, it is time we stopped looking to DC for bailouts every time trouble strikes. Did these folks have insurance? How many of them are homeowners on the beach that have been refused insurance because they keep wanting to rebuild right there in that same place? I have a clue for them; move off the beach. Move off those outer banks. Who, in their right minds, builds a home at sea level on a sand bar? Just those that expect the Government to pay for it when Mother Nature wipes it off the beach! I have issues with Sen. Burr, but this vote is not one of them.
He should be looking for a job after the next election….wake up folks…He is not your friend….
What Article and Section of the Constitution authorize the Congress to steal money from the citizenry in order to subsidize rich idiots who build in the path of a hurricane?
jumpdog82 has it exactly right. Fu@k these moneybags retirees who want single mothers to pay for their third vacation homes.
Last time I checked a single Mother gets a child tax credit and earned income credit so lets get our facts correct. SINGLE MOTHERS DONT PAY ANY FU@KING TAXES
I see that manners are alive and well here in the south.
But jumpdog needs to check his/her facts before making ridiculous posts. Obama has NOT spent in 2.5 years what Bush had spent in 8 years.
Federal debt had gone up $6T under Bush 2. Debt has gone up $3T under Obama. You are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.
You can always tell the people who think that Fox is news and Glenn Beck is an authority on anything.
Fox viewers are the most misinformed people in the country.
Burr does what he is told by Rush and his party of elitists.
where was he suppose to get the money from? Oh.. i know lets take it from the rich, there is no way they could have made that much money without cheating. i droped out of high school at 15, i got arrested when i was 22 for selling weed, got out 6 years ago, i’ve working for Mcdonalds for four years now, im 28 years old, and my rich boss wont promote me because he says i need a GED. i dont see how pepole get to be that rich. i love democrates they say that its not my fault its the rich who took all the money, LETS TAX THEM, i need money
Wow, what a buttload of stupid posts from the right’s army of ‘tards. I feel like my I.Q. dropped a few points just reading them. Did anyone bother to read the article before posting comments? If so, how did you miss that the writer was mostly referencing farmers who suffered catastrophic damage? Not rich jerks who build on shifting sands, and not liberals, and not the made-up black kid in Kruschev’s post. Sticking to the issue, Burr is a jerk who couldn’t care less about NC citizens, and he should be thrown out next time around.
Pretty amateur attempt at a troll there Kruschev
Conservitards will never grasp the intricacies of subtlety, takes too much brainpower.
Charlotte, your post refers only to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Those eligible for EITC still pay Social Security taxes which have been stolen for general govt purposes for a generation. They still pay sales taxes that go to North Carolina’s “Beach Plan” (the state fund that subsidizes insurance for the coastal fat-cats). They still pay federal excise taxes on items like tires and state excise taxes on items like whiskey and BOTH federal and state taxes on gasoline and utilities.