Baltimore Riots Will Cost Taxpayers at Least $20M

According to the Baltimore Sun, estimates put the cost of the city's riots around $20M...so far.

The $20 million figure includes expenses for police and firefighter overtime, damage to city-owned property and payment to other jurisdictions that assisted with policing duties.

Baltimore’s finance director, Henry J. Raymond, said that the city can cover the costs from its rainy day fund, but that it is only a temporary solution and that they are planning on requesting up to 75 percent reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

That's right, Baltimore wants 75% of the costs of the rioting to fall on the backs of the American taxpayer.

"The city remains on strong financial footing,” Raymond told the newspaper. “Hopefully with the FEMA reimbursement, it will reduce the financial stress that we’re under. In terms of the city’s overall revenue structure, we’re on firm footing and we’ll move forward.”

Both the Mayor of Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Governor Larry Hogan have asked for federal aid.

The $20 million estimate includes the purchasing of equipment, like riot gear and tear gas and for public works crews to clean neighborhood streets affected by the rioting. Not included is the cost to businesses that were damaged.

So included in the $20M figure are the costs submitted by various city agencies but not other costs like economic impact and lost tax revenue. Other lost revenue include "the loss of conventions, tourism, leisure spending, and revenue from Orioles games that were closed to the public, canceled, or moved to other cities."

Via: Truth Revolt

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The Town FEMA Turned Down The tide goes out on religious liberty

When Sandy swept across the Jersey shore in October 2012, the coastal town of Ocean Grove was spared the worst. Sure, half the town’s boardwalk was destroyed and its pier was swept out to sea. And yes, sand, trees, and concrete benches were carried two blocks inland, while entire buildings were picked up and moved across town. But Ocean Grove’s crown jewel, an ornate and beautiful 6,250-seat auditorium, built in 1894, survived. It only had a third of its roof torn off. The auditorium’s foundation was intact and, most important, its 11,561-pipe organ was unscathed by the wind and rain.

CORBIS/ AP WAYNE PARRY / NEWSCOM

So despite everything, the residents of Ocean Grove counted themselves lucky. That is, until they had to deal with the federal government. Ocean Grove has been denied rebuilding funds from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In one sense, this denial is part of the Obama administration’s quiet campaign against religion in the public square. Yet the story of FEMA’s conflict with Ocean Grove is about more than just Barack Obama. It’s the story of modern America’s rebellion against its religious foundations, rendered in miniature.

In the late 1860s, a Methodist preacher named William Osborn assembled a small group of pastors from around Philadelphia to purchase a patch of land at the shore in central New Jersey. On July 31, 1869, they christened their one square mile of paradise “Ocean Grove.”  

Via: Weekly Standard

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GOP READY TO DEAL ON DEBT, KEEP GOV CLOSED

House Republicans are preparing a proposal for a short-term increase in the debt ceiling, expected to last about six weeks. The move would allow talks between the House, Senate and Obama on a longer-term plan dealing with government spending and ObamaCare. The risk of triggering default when the debt ceiling is hit later this month would be put off until December. The partial government shutdown would continue.

The partial shutdown, itself, is gradually shrinking. About half the roughly 800,000 "non-essential" workers originally furloughed will be back on the job this week. The Defense Department recalled all its civilian workers, around 350,000, after a new interpretation of recent legislation to fund the military. Numerous other agencies, like CDC and FEMA, has recalled workers after agency lawyers expanded the definition of "public safety," a key trigger to be deemed "essential."

The Veteran Administration has said it is likely to recall all of its furloughed workers if, as expected, the Senate approves House-passed legislation to award back pay to furloughed workers. This actually makes some sense. If an agency or office knows its workers are going to be paid whether or not they work, it is probably better to at least have them do the work. 

National Parks and other government offices will still be close, but with most furloughed federal workers back on the job, the political costs of the shutdown will be mitigated. The sad irony, of course, is that federal workers will among those few groups not impacted by the shutdown. 

Via: Breitbart

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Vets agency furloughs 7K, closes offices

Regional offices run by the Department of Veterans Affairs closed Tuesday as furloughs began for 7,000 employees of the agency’s Benefits Administration (VBA). 

“All public access to VBA regional offices and facilities will be suspended ... due to a lack of funds,” Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman Victoria Dillon said in a statement provided to The Hill. 

The government shutdown, in its eighth day, has caused agencies to send government workers home who are deemed “nonessential.” 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, called some of its furloughed employees back to work to track Tropical Storm Karen, but they were then refurloughed Monday. 

No one would be answering phones at regional VA offices, which veterans call to check on the status of their disability benefits. 

Consequently, many veterans’ benefits will be delayed. VA’s ability to reduce the claims backlog, Dillon says, is hampered without claims processors who work overtime. Overtime was eliminated when the shutdown began.  

“Clear progress for Veterans and their families is at risk without immediate action by Congress to make fiscal year 2014 funding available by passing a clean continuing resolution to reopen the government,” her statement said. 

House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) slammed Senate Democrats for not agreeing to piecemeal bills to fund the VA. The ball, Miller said, is now in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) court.

“Harry Reid could stop these furloughs and ensure veterans’ benefits immediately by acting on either of these bills, but instead he’s content to let them gather dust on his desk," he said in a statement. "It’s well past time for Harry Reid to stop the games and fund VA. If not, he owes America’s veterans an explanation for why he’s putting their benefits at risk.”

Via: The Hill

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Republicans press Obama to back FEMA $$ bill as storm nears

The House voted Friday to fund the Federal Emergency Management Agency amid the partial government shutdown, with Republicans casting the bill as an emergency measure to help Americans threatened by the approaching tropical storm. 

The bill was one of several House Republicans have pushed in recent days to fund chunks of the government. 

They've been pressuring Democrats, with little success, to support these mini-spending measures while the budget impasse drags on. Republicans upped that pressure on Friday, saying disaster response is critical as Tropical Storm Karen tracks toward the Gulf Coast and is poised to hit this weekend. 

"When you've got a storm in the Gulf of Mexico, this is not a time for partisanship," Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said after the vote, flanked by Gulf state lawmakers. Scalise called on President Obama to remove his veto threat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to pass the bill in the Senate. 

"This is about people's lives, people's businesses," Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, said. 

The House voted 247-164 to approve the FEMA spending bill. 

The chamber plans to vote later in the day on nutrition services for low-income women and children. 

Via: Fox News

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MORMON VOLUNTEERS OUTPERFORM GOVERNMENT IN NEW ENGLAND SANDY AID

Many who are still without heat, water, and power following Hurricane Sandy, are looking to the federal government to provide the kind of organized and effective disaster relief that can restore their lives. Can private groups and citizens offer what is needed in this time of crisis?

In Milford, Connecticut, for example, where entire expanses of beach homes have been destroyed by the storm, one family member reports to us that FEMA and the Red Cross were nowhere to be seen. What she did see, however, were “dozens of people in yellow vests helping to gather up all the debris that residents were putting out in the road.” Our observer tells us that these individuals assisted homeowners in clean-up, helping to load town trucks to remove destroyed decks, furniture, siding, and other debris. 

Recalling that she saw the same group of people “in yellow vests” helping out after Hurricane Irene last year, she later discovered that the helpers were Mormon Helping Hands volunteers.

The Mormon volunteers consisted of both adults and older children. Our observer tells us that what she noticed about this group is that they were “friendly, very busy, and, yet, unobtrusive.” She comments, “They didn’t get in the way of us getting our cleanup done, but they really helped the overall effort of getting the streets cleaned up.”

"If anyone wonders how people will survive without big government, they need look no further than our beach in Milford. The residents put their heads down and worked, and the Mormon Helping Hands volunteers chipped in big time,” she states.

Let’s thank and give credit due to all private individuals, church, and community groups that are helping those in need in practical, labor-intensive ways. This is the idea that is America in action.

Breitbart

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Obama Refuses to Answer About Storm Victims’ Frustrations

President Obama this morning ignored a reporter’s question about the mounting frustration victims of Hurricane Sandy are having with the response to the storm, refusing to let a question from the press interrupt a FEMA photo op in which he was on display taking action.

An excerpt rom the press pool report, which starts with a quote from Obama:

“There is nothing more important than us getting this right. And we’re going to spend as much time, effort and energy as necessary to make sure all the people of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut know that the entire country is behind them in this difficult recovery effort.”

He spoke for about five minutes. Pool asked about frustrations of people, particularly Staten Island. He did not respond.

No doubt aware of the political perils – and potential benefits – of the fallout from the hurricane, Obama arrived at FEMA with multiple members of his Cabinet in tow in a massive display of presidential concern. Even Cabinet secretaries you wouldn’t expect to be involved in hurricane relief – such as the Secretary of Labor and the Small Business Administration Administrator – have been enlisted and were at this morning’s meeting.

Obama’s effort will indeed have some practical effect – anytime a president shows he is personally engaged in an issue, it helps get the various agencies involved into a higher gear.

But with scenes of devastation proliferating on voters’ TV screens around the nation and evidence mounting of an insufficient response, Obama obviously felt he had to be seen at FEMA for a second time this week before heading back out to campaign.

After the visit to FEMA, Obama departed for Ohio.

Via: White House Dossier

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