With the Federal Emergency Management Agency reeling from major staffing and funding shortages amid the impact of Hurricane Helene, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refused on Sunday to commit to reconvening the House before Election Day to aid recovery efforts. In response to a letter from President Biden urging congressional leaders back to replenish federal disaster loan funding, Johnson said during a Fox News Sunday interview that he’d only do so after the election—all but ensuring the funds will run out.

  • @robocall@lemmy.world
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    72 hours ago

    Voter suppression helps Republicans win elections. Asheville, NC slightly swung towards Biden last presidential election.

    • Flying Squid
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      63 hours ago

      “If people starve to death because we have no post-disaster emergency services, that’s God’s will.”

      • @pyre@lemmy.world
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        52 hours ago

        “If people starve to death because we have no post-disaster emergency services, that’s God’s will we can campaign on that.”

  • Maple Engineer
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    296 hours ago

    Why the fuck doesn’t Biden just use his absolute presidential immunity for official acts to bypass Congress and allocate the funds? Then, once the election is over have anyone who says anything about stolen elections or massive voter fraud and the corrupt members of the Supreme Court arrested and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay. Official presidential acts!

    • @ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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      21 hour ago

      Moral high ground. “They go low, we go high”.

      The biggest issue with liberals are them taking their opponents in good faith, while their opponents exploit this fact.

      Except on the republican side it goes like “We go low, you go high”, and the republicans are not the only ones using it. In fact, the nazis used it to get into power, and so is Putin, Orbán, etc.

    • @ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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      135 hours ago

      He doesn’t need that. The constitution already gives the president the permission to summon Congress for emergencies.

      he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them

  • @prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    296 hours ago

    Can’t do anything that might make the current administration appear competent. Regardless of what the consequences may be for the American people.

    • Noxy
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      32 hours ago

      The speaker of the house is second in line to assume the presidency if both the president and vice president die, and they run the house of representatives. It’s a rather powerful position.

    • @thisbenzingring
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      196 hours ago

      The Speaker leads the House. The House is in charge of the budget. This is it’s main function, the House is supposed to be the voice of the majority but of course it’s been broken due to gerrymandering.

      • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod
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        72 hours ago

        the House is supposed to be the voice of the majority but of course it’s been broken due to gerrymandering.

        And also the Reapportionment Act of 1929, which capped the size of the House at 435. If we went with the original model of one representative for every 30,000 people the House would have 11,000 members.

      • @leftytighty@slrpnk.net
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        45 hours ago

        I mean even that isn’t quite right, it’s not meant to be about the dictatorship of the majority, it’s meant to be representatives of the population debating and cooperating in good faith to pass legislation that takes all viewpoints into consideration.

        Dictatorship of the minority is quite far removed from functioning government.

    • HobbitFoot
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      87 hours ago

      On funding issues, a lot. Especially when the funding runs out.

  • @originalfrozenbanana@lemm.ee
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    3512 hours ago

    Really, this is win win for the GOP. If Biden finds a way to fund disaster recovery they can claim all this was posturing. If he doesn’t they can say the government is ineffective and hates the gop. Either way they will say the money ran out because of refugees or hunter bidens laptop or Kamala’s addiction to thin mints or some insane shit.

    • @frezik@midwest.social
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      166 hours ago

      The President can call a special session of Congress. Now, they can gavel straight out if they like, but when shit hits the fan, that’s going to put the media narrative against them.

      I’d like to step back for a moment and remember something: people are going to be hurt by this in just the next couple of days. I detest the fact that we have to play these games with media narrative. I also don’t really like making fun of GOP politicians who are actively working against helping their own constituents. But apparently, that’s what we have to do to get people in charge who aren’t goddamn fucking children.

      • But you’re playing a game they are not playing. The GOP no longer believes in consensus based governance. They don’t believe that convincing people through argument is important. Engaging them on those terms will fail because they don’t care and their constituents don’t either.

        Of course we should try to help people regardless but no matter what we do the GOP will oppose it, usually by lying.

  • @LANIK2000@lemmy.world
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    2912 hours ago

    I’m disgusted that every time those fucking dimwits flip the bird to a dying populace, nobody makes a big stink about it. These fucking assholes are out for blood, yet a third of the nation is offering them selves up to the sacrifice altar, and the rest is doing fuck all!

  • Cyborganism
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    13316 hours ago

    This is insane. They already got hit by a hurricane and an even bigger one, the biggest we have seen until now, is about to hit the same area. Speaker Mike Johnson is refusing to send help. Even when Kamala wants to ask Desantis if they need more help, he refuses to speak to her.

    People will die over this political bs. I really hope they will realize how the republicans don’t give two shits about them and their well being.

    • @fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee
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      77 hours ago

      I think Desantis and the phone call thing is mostly political theatre. She wants to look presidential. It’s understandable she wants to pursue this “opportunity,” but she’s just VP. Not a key role in this kind of thing.

      But Johnson refusing to fund disaster response is intended to prevent the Biden-Harris admin from doing it’s job and helping people in desperate situations. That’s fucked.

      • madjo
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        11 hour ago

        Had trump called, desantis would have wet himself in supplication.

      • HobbitFoot
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        106 hours ago

        These sorts of phone calls are common, though. Desantis isn’t picking up Biden’s phone call either, and he isn’t running.

          • HobbitFoot
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            12 hours ago

            Apparently this call happened Monday evening per the Miami Herald, after a lot of the criticism had been made.

      • @frezik@midwest.social
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        36 hours ago

        Having direct continuity with the next President is useful. There’s some plausible arguments (though by no means a slam dunk) that the delay in transition after the 2000 election left the Bush Admin unprepared and led to 9/11.

  • subignition
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    8215 hours ago

    wish kamala’s campaign would run some attack ads about how the Republican speaker is refusing to provide hurricane relief to Republican states

    • @danc4498@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      That would be in poor taste…. To democrats. Much like inflation, I’m sure there will be tons of republican attacks ads blaming democrats for the thing caused by republicans.

    • FuglyDuck
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      4415 hours ago

      And how DeShitStain is too busy violating people’s first amendment rights to pick up the phone and coordinate for Milton.

      Which.
      Most of middle-Florida is going to go away. If we’re lucky, only for a few days or weeks.

      • @WalnutLum@lemmy.ml
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        1710 hours ago

        Most of middle-Florida is going to go away. If we’re lucky, only for a few days or weeks.

        The tinfoil hat in me is telling me this is a play to give them reason to not certify the election

  • @formergijoe@lemmy.world
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    6416 hours ago

    “Joe Biden isn’t giving people in Florida proper help because Donald Trump lives there!” Mike Johnson in a week probably.

  • Zier
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    3015 hours ago

    Republicans want everyone to die in misery, including other republicans. If you voted republican, you deserve this cruelty, it’s what you voted for. The rest of us normal Humans will carry on without you.

    • @stetech@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      IIRC something like <40% of people in “red states” are voting for Republicans (Gerrymandering, anyone?). Sure, some, arguably too many, are non-voters, but you can’t leave all of these people out to dry just because some are to blame. Unfortunately.

    • @Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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      1312 hours ago

      Problem is that all of the states run by the kakistocracy of the American Fascist Party also contain good people who absolutely LOATHE them but are powerless to get rid of them due to gerrymandering and other forms of voter suppression and also can’t just move to somewhere with competent non-villains in charge.