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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks to reporters after attending a healthcare bill meeting with fellow Republican senators at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on July 19, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
(Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
'Two-Faced' Texas GOP Seeking Hurricane Relief After Rejecting Sandy Aid
Ted Cruz, who voted against a relief package for states impacted by Superstorm Sandy, urged President Trump on Friday to quickly deliver aid to Texas
Aug 28, 2017
When Superstorm Sandy slammed New York, New Jersey, and a number of other states in 2012, Ted Cruz and more than 20 of his fellow Texas Republicans voted against an emergency aid package devoted to the areas devastated by the storm. Now that Hurricane Harvey is currently ravaging their own state, however, many of these same Republicans are changing their tune.
"The devastation of Hurricane Harvey has two-faced Texas politicians looking for the same sort of relief funding they flatly opposed five years ago."
--Larry McShane, New York Daily News
Last Friday, Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn--two of the more vociferous opponents of the Sandy emergency aid package--sent a letter to the White House urging President Donald Trump to "provide any and all emergency protective measures available by a major disaster declaration." The senators also called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to expedite emergency funding.
The two letters were quickly highlighted by lawmakers and commentators as shamelessly hypocritical.
"The devastation of Hurricane Harvey has two-faced Texas politicians looking for the same sort of relief funding they flatly opposed five years ago," noted Larry McShane of the New York Daily News. "Cornyn and Cruz were among the 39 Republican senators to oppose the [Superstorm Sandy aid] package, along with 179 GOP members of the House. Republican senators further delayed the vote by trying to offset the aid with budget cuts." Many of these senators, as ThinkProgressreported, had previously backed emergency aid packages after disasters struck their own states.
The relief was ultimately passed by Congress, 91 days after Superstorm Sandy struck.
On Sunday, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) highlighted Cruz's about-face on hurricane relief aid, and vowed to support aid to Texas.
"I won't abandon Texas the way Ted Cruz did New York," King wrote.
In a column for the Los Angeles Times on Monday, Michael Hiltzik underscored the hypocrisy of Cruz, Cornyn, and others, and concluded that there was a common ideology underlying every vote against Sandy relief: "climate change denial."
"[V]irtually every lawmaker who voted against the package had also denied or expressed extreme skepticism about climate change, even though it may well have magnified the impact of of the storm on low-lying districts, and may well have contributed to the devastating potency of Hurricane Harvey," Hiltzik writes.
This climate denialism, combined with a decline in "regional cooperation," is "a particular danger today, when the possibility--nay, probability--of future devastation from climate change, not to mention other natural occurrences, is staring us in the face," Hiltzik concluded.
As for who will vote against aid to Texas, Hiltzik writes: "We'll know soon enough. The bills for Harvey will be coming due very, very soon."
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republican partyhurricane harveyted cruzclimate emergencyextreme weathergreg abbottsuperstorm sandyjohn cornyntexas
When Superstorm Sandy slammed New York, New Jersey, and a number of other states in 2012, Ted Cruz and more than 20 of his fellow Texas Republicans voted against an emergency aid package devoted to the areas devastated by the storm. Now that Hurricane Harvey is currently ravaging their own state, however, many of these same Republicans are changing their tune.
"The devastation of Hurricane Harvey has two-faced Texas politicians looking for the same sort of relief funding they flatly opposed five years ago."
--Larry McShane, New York Daily News
Last Friday, Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn--two of the more vociferous opponents of the Sandy emergency aid package--sent a letter to the White House urging President Donald Trump to "provide any and all emergency protective measures available by a major disaster declaration." The senators also called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to expedite emergency funding.
The two letters were quickly highlighted by lawmakers and commentators as shamelessly hypocritical.
"The devastation of Hurricane Harvey has two-faced Texas politicians looking for the same sort of relief funding they flatly opposed five years ago," noted Larry McShane of the New York Daily News. "Cornyn and Cruz were among the 39 Republican senators to oppose the [Superstorm Sandy aid] package, along with 179 GOP members of the House. Republican senators further delayed the vote by trying to offset the aid with budget cuts." Many of these senators, as ThinkProgressreported, had previously backed emergency aid packages after disasters struck their own states.
The relief was ultimately passed by Congress, 91 days after Superstorm Sandy struck.
On Sunday, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) highlighted Cruz's about-face on hurricane relief aid, and vowed to support aid to Texas.
"I won't abandon Texas the way Ted Cruz did New York," King wrote.
In a column for the Los Angeles Times on Monday, Michael Hiltzik underscored the hypocrisy of Cruz, Cornyn, and others, and concluded that there was a common ideology underlying every vote against Sandy relief: "climate change denial."
"[V]irtually every lawmaker who voted against the package had also denied or expressed extreme skepticism about climate change, even though it may well have magnified the impact of of the storm on low-lying districts, and may well have contributed to the devastating potency of Hurricane Harvey," Hiltzik writes.
This climate denialism, combined with a decline in "regional cooperation," is "a particular danger today, when the possibility--nay, probability--of future devastation from climate change, not to mention other natural occurrences, is staring us in the face," Hiltzik concluded.
As for who will vote against aid to Texas, Hiltzik writes: "We'll know soon enough. The bills for Harvey will be coming due very, very soon."
When Superstorm Sandy slammed New York, New Jersey, and a number of other states in 2012, Ted Cruz and more than 20 of his fellow Texas Republicans voted against an emergency aid package devoted to the areas devastated by the storm. Now that Hurricane Harvey is currently ravaging their own state, however, many of these same Republicans are changing their tune.
"The devastation of Hurricane Harvey has two-faced Texas politicians looking for the same sort of relief funding they flatly opposed five years ago."
--Larry McShane, New York Daily News
Last Friday, Texas Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn--two of the more vociferous opponents of the Sandy emergency aid package--sent a letter to the White House urging President Donald Trump to "provide any and all emergency protective measures available by a major disaster declaration." The senators also called on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to expedite emergency funding.
The two letters were quickly highlighted by lawmakers and commentators as shamelessly hypocritical.
"The devastation of Hurricane Harvey has two-faced Texas politicians looking for the same sort of relief funding they flatly opposed five years ago," noted Larry McShane of the New York Daily News. "Cornyn and Cruz were among the 39 Republican senators to oppose the [Superstorm Sandy aid] package, along with 179 GOP members of the House. Republican senators further delayed the vote by trying to offset the aid with budget cuts." Many of these senators, as ThinkProgressreported, had previously backed emergency aid packages after disasters struck their own states.
The relief was ultimately passed by Congress, 91 days after Superstorm Sandy struck.
On Sunday, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) highlighted Cruz's about-face on hurricane relief aid, and vowed to support aid to Texas.
"I won't abandon Texas the way Ted Cruz did New York," King wrote.
In a column for the Los Angeles Times on Monday, Michael Hiltzik underscored the hypocrisy of Cruz, Cornyn, and others, and concluded that there was a common ideology underlying every vote against Sandy relief: "climate change denial."
"[V]irtually every lawmaker who voted against the package had also denied or expressed extreme skepticism about climate change, even though it may well have magnified the impact of of the storm on low-lying districts, and may well have contributed to the devastating potency of Hurricane Harvey," Hiltzik writes.
This climate denialism, combined with a decline in "regional cooperation," is "a particular danger today, when the possibility--nay, probability--of future devastation from climate change, not to mention other natural occurrences, is staring us in the face," Hiltzik concluded.
As for who will vote against aid to Texas, Hiltzik writes: "We'll know soon enough. The bills for Harvey will be coming due very, very soon."
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters Thursday that the E.U. was "already finalizing the first package of countermeasures in response to tariffs on steel, and we are now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail."
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A new analysis indicates Republicans' plan to extend soon-to-expire provisions of their party's 2017 tax law, as well as their push to tack on additional tax breaks largely benefitting the rich and big corporations, would cost $7 trillion over the next decade, a figure that a group of congressional Democrats called "staggering."
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Echoing a party-line vote by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee last week, the chamber's Republicans on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, former televison host Dr. Mehmet Oz.
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In the middle of Trump's tariff disaster, the Senate is voting to confirm quack grifter Dr. Oz to lead the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services.
[image or embed]
— Jen Bendery (@jbendery.bsky.social) April 3, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Oz's confirmation came a day after Trump announced globally disruptive tariffs and Senate Republicans unveiled a budget plan that would give the wealthy trillions of dollars in tax cuts at the expense of federal food assistance and healthcare programs.
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