Harris hits DeSantis, Trump on storm aid
Hurricane Milton takes aim at Tampa Bay
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 8, 2024:
Big repairs needed on Blue Ridge Parkway.
Supreme Court deals defeat to X (Twitter).
Budget group forecasts more red ink from Trump.
DISASTER AID. After days of taking shots from Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris fired back on Monday. She criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for not taking her phone call, and ripped Donald Trump for his false claims about federal hurricane aid efforts. That came as the White House defended aid work for Hurricane Helene and made plans to deal with Hurricane Milton.
CALL. After news reports that DeSantis aides refused to take a phone call from the Vice President, Harris jabbed at the Florida Governor, accusing him of being 'utterly irresponsible' and 'selfish.' "It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first," Harris said.
TRUMP. In remarks to reporters on the tarmac, Harris also blasted Trump, who continues to claim the Helene aid response is the 'worst' ever. "There's a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former President," Harris said, calling Trump's remarks, 'extraordinarily irresponsible.' "It's about him, it's not about you."
POTUS. Whether it was related to the dustup about the missed Harris call or not, President Biden spoke to Gov. DeSantis last night about the prep for Milton. No other details were given by the White House about the call.
ENIAL. Asked about the Harris call, DeSantis seemed to say it never happened. “I didn't know she called me, I did not hear about that.” But other news reports - citing aides to the Governor - indicated that she had tried.
NO ANSWER. The White House also went on the offensive against DeSantis, reminding reporters that the Florida Governor had opted not to meet with President Biden last week when he visited Florida to see some of the storm damage.
PRESS. "We invited the Governor of Florida to come," said Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre of Biden's trip to Florida last week. "It was his decision to not attend, or not be there with the President."
TRUMP. All that played out as Donald Trump turned up the volume on his attacks over the federal response to Helene, calling it “the worst storm response in history,” in a post on his Truth Social website on Monday. (It's not hard to imagine Trump repeating that about Florida in the next few days.)
GOP. Republicans in Congress joined with Trump to try to tar Vice President Harris with anything possible. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s reliance on FEMA to address the border crisis they created has weakened FEMA’s readiness for disaster relief,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
BIDEN. The White House sternly denied accusations that it was falling short on disaster relief. “We've helped thousands of Hurricane Helene survivors jumpstart their recoveries with more than $210 million in federal assistance – and more is on the way,” the President said Monday.
MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. As Hurricane Milton became more dangerous, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last night again embraced a weather conspiracy theory. "Ask your government if the weather is manipulated or controlled," Greene tweeted. "Did you ever give permission to them to do it?"
DAMAGE. We already know that the price tag for disaster relief is going to be large for Hurricane Helene. But Hurricane Milton could be on course to be even deadlier in terms of damages, as it takes aim at the Tampa Bay region, which hasn't been hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
CONGRESS. "We need this storm to weaken," said Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who once served as Florida's state emergency director, after watching Milton go from a tropical storm to a Category 5 with 175 mph winds.
DAMAGE. Remember, when Hurricane Helene brushed by the Tampa Bay area, it did a lot of damage. It’s not hard to find photos of that debris on the streets, with a major hurricane on the way. Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel was showing off that on Monday.
TAMPA. A 2015 study warned of the dangers of a direct hit on Tampa Bay. "A severe storm with the right track orientation will cause an enormous buildup of water that will become trapped in the bay and inundate large areas of Tampa and St. Petersburg," as the study called Tampa 'the most vulnerable U.S. city to storm surge.'
WORST CASE. On Monday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said the National Hurricane Center once briefed him on the worst case scenario for Florida when it came to a hurricane. "What they showed me back then is almost identical to the Milton forecast."
BLUE RIDGE. One of the more expensive disaster repair bills for Congress may involve the Blue Ridge Parkway, the scenic road run by the National Park Service, which winds its way through the hills of Virginia and North Carolina. All 469 miles of the road are currently closed as cleanup and damage assessment continues.
ASSESSMENT. The National Park Service's initial assessment is bad. "Based on what the teams have seen so far, significant, and in some cases catastrophic, damage has occurred along the parkway," read the latest update. Here is a photo of the parkway at milepost 336 near Gooch Gap. This is not a one-day repair.
TOURISM. Remember, the Blue Ridge Parkway is a major tourist draw. Keeping it closed for months on end is not a palatable option. Technically, the parkway is the most popular national park destination in the United States, drawing more visitors than Yellowstone and Yosemite.
BUDGET. Detailed debates over action policy outcomes have not exactly dominated the 2024 campaign. But one thing has been a constant, and that is budget watchdog groups have found that Donald Trump's campaign promises would be a lot more expensive than those from Kamala Harris. But neither one comes close to balancing the budget.
CRFB. The latest budget wisdom comes from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "Neither major candidate running in the 2024 presidential election has put forward a plan to address this rising debt burden," a new paper states before delivering the verdict on the red ink from each side.
DEFICITS. "Under our central estimate, Vice President Harris’s plan would increase the debt by $3.5 trillion through 2035, while President Trump’s plan would increase the debt by $7.5 trillion." You can read more of the details at this link.
JAN. 6. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a case brought by X - which sought to challenge the process behind a search warrant for Twitter data involving then-President Donald Trump, because it included a nondisclosure order, barring Twitter from tipping off Trump or his lawyers about the warrant.
ORDER. The court's order came with no comment, just one of dozens of cases rejected by the Justices. X wanted the Court to hear arguments about 'whether the First Amendment permits gagging a provider in a highly public investigation.' Lower courts ruled in favor of Special Counsel Jack Smith, and Twitter was fined $350,000 for delaying the production of those Trump records.
PROBE. This development was interesting because of what we learned last week in a brief from the Special Counsel - that the feds had access to data on Trump's cellphone, including what he was accessing on Twitter while watching his supporters attack the Capitol on Jan. 6.
OCTOBER 7. Donald Trump used the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel to again make a play for Jewish votes, as he again complained about the lack of support. "I did more for Israel than anybody," Trump told Hugh Hewitt. "I did more for the Jewish people than anybody."
SOUTH FLORIDA. Republicans have tried - not with a lot of success - to peel away Jewish Democrats with Trump's tough talk about the Mideast. One surprise endorsement came yesterday from ex-Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-FL), who said he would vote for Trump - worried about Israel policy under Kamala Harris. Deutsch left Congress back in 2004.
TRUMP. There was an interesting email that arrived yesterday from the Trump campaign, noting a rally in Coachella, California on October 12. That's in the desert, east of Palm Springs near Joshua Tree National Park. It's a gorgeous area, but I have no idea why Trump would waste time or money going there for a rally - with less than a month until Election Day.
RAP SHEET. A New Jersey man has been arrested for assaulting police on Jan. 6 at the Capitol. Predrag Jovanovic joined other rioters in trying to break through police lines in the Lower West Terrace Tunnel, trying to physically push their way inside, a few floors below where I work. At one point, Jovanovic grabbed an officer's baton, dragging the officer towards the mob outside.
MUSE OF HISTORY. October 8, 1913. On this date, the barbs started on the House floor before the Chaplain even gave the opening prayer. GOP Leader James Mann accused Democrats of forging the signature of Speaker Champ Clark onto a letter which designated Rep. Swagar Sherley as the Speaker Pro Tempore for the day. "Does it bear his signature?" asked Mann, who called it an 'impossibility, because he is not here this morning.'
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on November 12.
The Senate comes back for votes on November 12.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree.
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What’s worse about those road repairs is the fact the Congress has not increased any funding for the Smokies and Blue Ridge Parkway in over 20 years. It wasn’t until last year have they had any additional money from the sale of parking passes.
Also, remember that fixing mountain roads is already 1.5x more expensive than roads in flat areas (Nashville and Memphis).
While on the subject of playing politics with hurricanes, it’s beginning to feel like Speaker Johnson’s refusal to bring the House back is just that. He doesn’t want to give Biden-Harris a perceived political “win” this close to the election. But if Florida takes a direct hit this week, there will likely be increased demand for Congress to get back to work and approve more money for FEMA.
Meanwhile, DeSantis is dodging calls and visits with Biden and Harris all while feigning ignorance. Let’s see how long his political games last if his state is underwater on Thursday.