The Christie-Cruz Quarrel

If you have been checking Facebook recently and you have a bunch of friends from South Carolina, it would appear as if we are all going to die because of Hurricane Irma. Everybody is freaking out. A lot of clickbait articles and fake models of the storm have come out and have invaded my newsfeed causing me to become frustrated.

            I was most annoyed by the posts claiming that all of the catastrophic events and anomalies of the past month are evidence that God is coming to �save us.� When in reality, the extremities of this hurricane season and the wildfires out west are the effects of climate change, not the foreshadowing of the coming of God. The water is warmer than usual in the Caribbean which helps fuel hurricanes. California is experiencing their hottest summer ever this year which has effects on the magnitude of the wildfires in that region. Maybe if we stopped ignoring the effects of climate change so much, we could face the reality of our situation and work to prevent these disasters from becoming even worse in the coming years by reducing carbon emissions, among other things.

            Tonight�s main story concerns two embattled Republicans pointing fingers at each other. These Republicans are Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Chris Christie. Both failed to win the Republican nomination for President last year and became subjects of ridicule for the American people. The finger-pointing started last Wednesday when Christie went on CNN�s �New Day� to slam Cruz for urging Congress to move quickly to provide financial aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey. As I mentioned in last week�s blog, Cruz hypocritically voted against sending aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 but was the strongest supporter of it when Harvey hit. Christie complained, �I have no sympathy for this� and I see Sen. Cruz and it's disgusting to me that he stands in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop.�

            Cruz responded with a written statement that read, �For folks who are focused on raising political shots and snipes about the Sandy bill, facts matter.�

            He went on to explain that 70% of the $50 billion bill was not directed towards hurricane relief and was why he was against it. Cruz called the bill mostly, �unrelated pork.� This term makes no sense but sounds so American because it somehow brings meat into the debate of hurricane relief. In reality that claim is a complete and utter lie.

            Despite his anger at Cruz, Christie is in full support of providing aid to victims of Hurricane Harvey. He said, �If the federal government is not here to help people when 50 inches of rain fall on them in a historic way, then what the hell are they there for?�

            His anger is understandable. Following Hurricane Andrew, it took 10 days for a bill to pass providing aid. Following Katrina, it took only 6 days. However, after Hurricane Sandy, it took 66 days for federal aid to come.

            As much as I don�t like Chris Christie, I completely agree with him in this situation. Providing aid to victims of a hurricane should be a bipartisan effort that is immediate. A few hours ago, the House passed a relief bill of $8 billion with almost unanimous approval. Only 3 Republicans voted against it. That�s a good sign.

            As Hurricane Irma approaches South Carolina, there is a lot of uncertainty. I don�t know if I will be able to write a blog next week depending on where I am and if I have an internet connection and a computer. I will be posting updates on Facebook as to whether or not there will be a blog next week. That�s all for this week.