STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It used to be that folks in the young nation, America, lived by a code. Life was difficult and could, quite unexpectedly, turn brutal. For the good of all, neighbors had to depend on each other when times got tough.
Though it was not limited to the nation’s frontier, the ethical precepts of neighborly behavior became collectively known as “The Code of the West” — a distillation of simple neighborliness, based on mutual respect and the Golden Rule.
The Code was never written down, or incorporated into the laws of the land, but it was baked into the American spirit. Once you could count on the Code being almost universally respected in such places as Kansas or Arizona or Oklahoma or Utah or Wyoming.
But no more, it seems. How else to explain why both senators from each of those states did not hesitate to vote against funding any federal aid whatsoever for the victims of Hurricane Sandy?
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Sandy is the second most-costly storm in American history, second only to Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans and a swath of the Gulf Coast in 2005. By the time Sandy blew itself out, at least 253 people in seven countries were dead; 24 of them were Staten Islanders.
The storm caused destruction in 14 states. It reshaped the coastline, destroyed an estimated 300,000 structures and did enormous damage to the Northeast's infrastructure. A FEMA map graphically shows where the tens of billions of dollars worth of damage occurred.
Once upon a time, America’s leaders accepted that natural disasters can affect any part of the country, and it could once be said that no truly patriotic American had ever turned his or her back on disaster-stricken countrymen. After all, the Code requires one to be hospitable to strangers, and to remember that everyone is welcome at the dinner table.
Yet, this time, 32 of the nation’s 100 senators and 67 of its 435 members of Congress recently used the federal budget as an excuse when they voted to deny storm recovery aid of any sort to the areas battered by Hurricane Sandy. Each and every one of those rejections came from representatives of states that have recently received - or are receiving even now - federal disaster aid.
As it happens, and we draw no conclusions here, every lawmaker in each house of Congress who voted “no” is a Republican.
After more than two months of delay, Congress finally managed to approve about $9 billion to fund flood insurance claims. There was really no legal choice but to do that.
But the main recovery package — money to help repair businesses and municipal infrastructure like streets and boardwalks and utility services and the myriad other things damaged in the October 29 storm — has yet to be acted on.
The delay is probably due, in no small measure, to Right-Wing political activist David Koch, the fourth-richest man in America and bank-roller of the SuperPAC Americans For Prosperity, who warned congressmen away from the Hurricane Sandy aid package, under pain of his financial retribution.
Who cast the no-aid-for-you votes
View Congressmen who voted against Hurricane Sandy funding in a larger map
Steve Lonegan, Koch’s lieutenant in storm-devastated New Jersey, famously declared “This is not a federal government responsibility ... We need to suck it up and be responsible for taking care of ourselves.”
Every state experiences disasters, and Americans traditionally respond with generosity and vigor. So it would seem there is a certain hypocrisy, and no little out-of-the-mainstream meanness in those dogmatic “no” votes.
Let’s look at some examples. It is the House of Representatives that is blocking the aid bill. But, for purposes of illustration, we’ll stick to reviewing the absolute refusals by senators because, Koch money aside, senators have more political flexibility than their House counterparts, and so ought to have more sense.
— The Code of the West
Last April 14, a line of tornadoes and severe thunderstorms devastated 14 counties in Nebraska. At Nebraska’s request (all disaster declarations must be requested by the affected state), the president immediately declared the counties to be major disaster areas, making money and other assistance available.
In a matter of weeks, Congress had approved funding and recovery from the disaster was soon well under way.
The previous year, on June 1, 2011, the Missouri River overran its banks, inundating five counties in northeast Kansas. Again, the federal response was immediate. The nation’s other residents stood by Kansas and paid for upwards of 75 percent of whatever it took to get their fellow Americans back on their feet.
In neither case did New York or New Jersey or other Northeastern Seaboard states hesitate, let alone vote against, helping Kansas in its hours of need.
Yet when it came to approving aid for Hurricane Sandy victims, the entire Kansas congressional delegation — senators and congressmen alike — unanimously voted to deny Hurricane Sandy recovery funds of any sort.
Perhaps Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns was just lending moral support to his colleagues in neighboring Kansas when he voted against storm aid for areas hit by Hurricane Sandy. He didn’t raise any complaints when, less than two months earlier — on August 30, 2012, Nebraska’s plea for federal assistance in fighting the Region 23 Fire Complex swarm of wildfires (such fires are named for their geographic places of origin) was immediately and unstintingly heeded.
Nebraska received federal major-disaster aid four times in 2011: The incidents include the Thedford Fire on April 22; flooding on May 24 and June 17; and tornado and storm damage on June 19.
—The Code of the West
ARIZONA
May 8 and June 12, 2011, disaster befell Arizona three times, in the form of the Horseshoe Two fire, the Wallow fire and the Arizona Monument fire.
Hurricane Sandy, which struck the East Coast on October 29, 2012, caused widespread damage in 14 states. This map from FEMA displays areas with very high damage in purple. Red areas received high damage are shown in red. Areas of moderate damage are in yellow. (FEMA)
The Wallow fire was huge — the biggest in Arizona history. It consumed 841 square miles in four of Arizona’s vast counties. Thousands of people from eight communities were evacuated.
There was never any question about whether there was federal money to fight the fire or repair the damage. Help arrived quickly and stayed until the job was done.
Arizona Senators John McCain and John Kyle seem to have forgotten the Code when they both voted against helping Hurricane Sandy victims.
WYOMING
Last summer, the wide-open plains of Wyoming were the scene of four fire disasters. The Arapahoe fire on June 29, 2012, the Squirrel Creek fire and the Oil Creek fire, both on July 1; and the September 9 Herder Hill fire were all put down with massive federal assistance. Wyoming senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi showed their gratitude by voting against Hurricane Sandy relief funds.
OKLAHOMA
The summer of 2012 was also a disastrous experience for the Sooner state. The first of no fewer than nine disaster declarations happened on April 28, when tornadoes and damaging thunderstorms raked the state.
The next disaster was the Oklahoma Fair Grounds fire on July 30. Just four days later, on August 3, four more wildfires broke out — the Luther fire, the Freedom fire, the Noble fire and the Geary fire.
The very next day, on August 4, the Glencoe fire was raging out of control.
No state, especially one still recovering from those ill winds of April, could be expected to handle five disastrous wildfires simultaneously. The federal government and Americans from other states did not count the cost before pitching in to help.
Ingrate Oklahoma senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe reciprocated by giving states hit by Hurricane Sandy the brushoff.
UTAH
Utah’s 2012 summer of trial by fire began with the Dump fire on June 22. As federal firefighters streamed in to battle that inferno, the Wood Hollow fire broke out on June 24.
Days later, on June 27, the Clay Springs fire was roaring out of control. It was followed on June 29 by the Shingle fire.
After these five fires came a sixth disaster.
On September 11, 2012, a retention dam failed, flooding Santa Clara, in southwestern Utah. “We’re just devastated,” said a local businessman.
But millions of dollars in aid flowed in without delay. Santa Clara was made whole, and the retention dam was rebuilt by the taxpayers of the United States of America.
Of course it was rebuilt. The Code demanded it. “The Santa Clara flood shows that flooding can happen anywhere,” said FEMA’s Federal Coordinating Officer Gary Stanley.
Less-than-thankful Utah senators Orrin Hatch and Michael Lee nevertheless did not hesitate to turn thumbs down on Hurricane Sandy recovery funds.
IDAHO
The state that brags of its famous potatoes can also claim a long list of federally declared major disasters caused by windstorms, flooding and wildfires.
The Trinity Ridge fire on August 3, 2012 was followed on September 18 by the Karney fire. Both wildfire disasters were dealt with, thanks to major help from the federal government.
If you thought that would temper Senator Mike Crapo’s stand on helping his neighbors, in the case of Hurricane Sandy, you would be wrong.
KENTUCKY
Kentucky has repeatedly benefited from federal emergency assistance over the years. The state has been helped in five disasters — mostly involving windstorms, flooding and mudslides — since 2010.
The most recent disaster was on February 29, 2012, when tornadoes and thunderstorms caused widespread damage.
The swift recovery assistance that followed did not move Kentucky senators Mitch McConnell and tea party darling Rand Paul. Both voted against aid for Sandy victims.
TENNESSEE
The same February 29 storm system that hit Kentucky also clobbered neighboring Tennessee, which has received aid for nine disasters since 2010. Tennessee senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker nevertheless unanimously rejected aid for the folks, now victims of Hurricane Sandy, who rushed to their aid last year.
NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina is a magnet for natural disasters, particularly along the “Outer Banks” of its Atlantic coast. With something approaching routine, hurricanes wreak havoc on the Outer Banks, which are large barrier islands prone to being reshaped — and thus severely damaged — by the seasonal cyclones.
Beach erosion there is so bad that, in 1999, the federal government paid to move the historic Cape Hatteras Lighthouse a mile inland, lest it be consumed by the encroaching sea.
The feds could have simply dismantled toe obsolete light, but it’s a symbol for North Carolina, and politicians there blessed that gift from the people of the United States.
Hurricane Irene is an experience we have in common with North Carolina. The late-August 2011 storm did considerable damage on Staten Island. Its visit to North Carolina on August 25 resulted in two separate major disaster declarations there.
The storm came just weeks after North Carolina called for — and promptly received — federal help in dealing with the Simmons Road fire and its aftermath.
None of this stopped North Carolina Senator Richard Burr from voting to deny any federal funds for Hurricane Sandy recovery.
SOUTH CAROLINA
It’s a similar situation for South Carolina, which has sought and received numerous major-disaster declarations over the years, for everything from fires to ice storms.
Hurricane Katrina, the historic storm that damaged and permanently altered New Orleans and other Gulf Coast areas in 2005, did enough damage in South Carolina to warrant a major-disaster declaration.
That bit of historic fact may not have been foremost on South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham’s mind when he voted to deny any federal aid for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.
ARKANSAS
Like most states, Arkansas has repeatedly received federal help with major disasters, but not since 2011, so maybe the memory has faded. Perhaps Senator John Boozman forgot that on April 14, and again on May 24 of that year, disastrous storms caused widespread destruction in his state. Federal aid helped repair the damage.
FLORIDA
It’s harder to figure out what Florida Senator Marco Rubio could have been thinking when he voted against Hurricane Sandy recovery aid. That aid comes by way of the same federal government that put his perennially storm-struck state back together yet again, in the wake of Tropical Storm Debby on June 23, 2012, and Hurricane Isaac on August 27.
ALABAMA
Alabama found itself in the same disaster-recovery lifeboat as Florida when Hurricane Isaac tore up that Gulf Coast state on August 26. Earlier that year, on January 27, winter tornadoes and thunderstorms visited major-disaster damage on Alabama. No one held back on providing aid then.
Yet Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions still saw fit to vote to deny aid for recovery from Hurricane Sandy.
— The Code of the West
TEXAS
The fact that Texas routinely receives far more money from Washington than it pays in taxes has never stopped its politicians from complaining about the generosity of the federal government, with emphasis on how they could do a better job than the president.
The White House, when not occupied by Texans, is a favorite focal point for ginned up discontent. Before and after his failed bid for the presidency, Texas Governor Rick Perry periodically threatened to lead his state into secession.
Texas did that once, back in the mid-1800s, and it didn’t turn out well. But we took them back.
Client-state Texas has lately been the scene of one disaster after another.
The most recent on this very long list was the Livermore Ranch Fire Complex swarm of wildfires on April 30, 2012. Even swaggering Texas would have been overwhelmed by the myriad, and very aggressive, fires without federal help.
When the Lone Star state is not requesting federal aid for its annual parade of wildfires, it is seeking funds for relief from a merciless drought so deep and persistent that it kills cattle.
Federal disaster aid for these calamities has always been OK with Texas Senator John Cornyn, but that didn’t stop him from voting against any sort of aid for states hit by Hurricane Sandy.
MISSOURI
What is to be made of the “No” vote from Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a state that has been helped by federal disaster aid six times in recent years?
It would have been unthinkable for the U.S. to deny aid to Missouri when, on May 22, 2011, one of the most powerful and deadliest tornadoes ever recorded struck the western Missouri city of Joplin, killing 158, injuring more than 1,100 others and flattening a good bit of the city.
Senator Blunt apparently learned no lessons about generosity or kindness when, as Missouri reeled from the Joplin catastrophe, his Republican colleague, Senator Eric Cantor of Virginia, threatened to hold up recovery aid for Missouri unless the spending was “offset” by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.
That’s like passing the hat and counting the receipts before you agree send the fire department to a neighbor’s burning house. It’s not something most Americans would stand for.
It’s possible Senator Cantor has had a change of heart since that fit of parsimony. Virginia sought — and received — three major-disaster declarations in 2012. Of those, two were for damage from Hurricane Sandy. This time, with his injured state standing to benefit, Cantor voted for the aid package, with nary a peep about delaying the money until budget offsets could be extracted and enacted.
— The Code of the West
INDIANA
Consideration of others is central to the Code. Indiana’s politicians should know it is worse than bad manners to try blocking federal disaster relief for its Atlantic neighbors.
The state has seen a long list of major disasters over the years. Most have been caused by severe storms. Whenever the Hoosier state has sought federal help, it has always been generous, and quick in coming.
Indiana’s most recent appeal for federal aid was answered on February 29, 2012, when winter tornadoes and thunderstorms wreaked damage and brought a swift federal response — and millions of dollars to repair damage in six Indiana counties.
Nevertheless, Indiana Senator Dan Coats recently voted to deny recovery aid for areas damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
IOWA
The year 2012 was a quiet one, disaster-wise for Iowa. The Corn Belt state spent the summer baking under a relentless drought that, if it continues, bodes disaster, even ruin, for much of its agricultural economy.
But in 2012, Iowa was visited by four major disasters. The worst was prolonged and relentless flooding from the Missouri River, which began on May 25 and lasted until August. It took a lot of federal aid to cope with that one.
Also that year, severe tornadoes and thunderstorms wreaked major disasters on April 9, July 9 and July 27. Each brought swift and unstinting federal recovery aid.
That makes Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley’s vote against any and all Sandy recovery funds all the more perplexing.
DAKOTA
Several consecutive years of severe storm damage and disastrous flooding would have been especially hard on South Dakota, had not federal assistance been rushed to the state.
Help came again in 2012 on two occasions: State calls for help with the Myrtle fire, on July 20, and the Wellnitz Fire, on August 31. Each conflagration resulted in major-disaster declarations.
When citizens of a state plead for help with a disaster, their countrymen do not hesitate to lend a hand. It’s the American way.
So, how to explain why South Dakota Senator John Thune happily accepted federal help repeatedly, but voted to deny it to Hurricane Sandy victims?
WISCONSIN
On August 2, 2012, when powerful storms raked the state, Wisconsin’s leaders asked for federal disaster assistance. The nation quickly responded by helping the Badger state recover from the extensive wind and flood damage.
Storms in summer and winter have repeatedly caused major damage in Wisconsin in recent years, and each time, federal assistance helped put things right.
Wisconsin Senator Tim Johnson repaid those acts of generosity by voting against any Hurricane Sandy recovery aid.
— The Code of the West
OHIO
Ironically, the most recent major disaster declaration in Ohio came on January 3. The declaration, made at Ohio’s request, well after the October 29 storm, makes businesses and homeowners eligible for damage caused by none other than Hurricane Sandy.
Ironic (and we suppose, a bit awkward) because Ohio Senator Rob Portman had already voted to deny any recovery aid for areas devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
Senator Portman seemed to have no objection to Ohio receiving recovery aid caused by severe storms on April 4 and June 29, 2012. Presumably he was simply unaware of the vital role that assistance played in helping his state recover.
PENNSYLVANIA
Hurricane Sandy resulted in a major-disaster declaration for Pennsylvania, too.
That is on top of no fewer than five Pennsylvania weather-related disasters in 2011, including, on August 26, from Hurricane Irene and two more, on September 3, from Tropical Storm Lee.
The other followed a spate of severe storms that brought damage and flooding on April 25.
Even though his state stands to benefit, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey voted to reject Hurricane Sandy recovery aid.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Hurricane Sandy’s reach extended to New Hampshire, which sought and received two separate major-disaster declarations as a result of the storm.
A third disaster, severe storms and flooding on May 29, also brought federal aid to the rescue.
New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte apparently thinks that not even the state she represents should receive federal aid when disaster strikes.
Her website, which prominently displays an insistent national-debt counter, hails the disaster declarations as “good news.” But, inexplicably, she voted against funding the aid package.
Like dismayingly many of her colleagues who have lost touch with the Golden Rule and the ethical code that shaped our nation, the senator from New Hampshire seems to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
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