WASHINGTON — It’s a recurring pattern: A right-wing Republican, like South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem or Texas Senator Ted Cruz or, this week, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, is rebelling against voting Democratic lawmakers. for federal dollars and oppose funding – then grab the gelt, take credit and brag about what the dollars are doing in their states.

Hypocrisy, do you like it?

The latest example of the benefits of the Democratic pandemic stimulus bill came when tornadoes roared across five states over the weekend of December 10-11, literally demolishing the small town of Mayfield, Ky. did not let workers leave to find shelter even as tornado warnings were issued.

No sooner had the reports reached DC than the entire Kentucky Congressional delegation, including GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, Paul and all Representatives, joined Democratic Governor Andy Beshear in request a Federal Disaster Emergency Declaration for Bluegrass State. Only one of that group, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, John Yarmuth of Louisville, is a Democrat.

Democratic President Joe Biden, of course, in a long tradition of calling on the federal government to step in on behalf of the whole of the United States to help hurt residents who have lost their homes, jobs and lives without it was their fault, quickly posted it. He also visited Kentucky this week to assess the damage.

But not until everyone has noticed that Paul, since entering the Senate in January 2011, has consistently spoken out against and voted against disaster aid, for other states. Sometimes he claims he wants to make up for it elsewhere, by eliminating foreign aid, a GOP favorite punching bag. Not this time.

Paul not only wanted Biden to help Kentucky “quickly”, but he even has a prominent “Disaster Assistance” tab at the bottom of his Senate website home page. No offsets, however.

“The Republican stance against disaster aid” for you, but not for me “is a perennial on Capitol Hill,” commented Michael Hiltzik in the Los Angeles Times.

But it’s not just disaster relief that brings out the hypocrisy.

• “In his annual budget speech this month, Noem blamed President Biden’s economic policies for the price hike, mocked the ‘giant handout’ of federal stimulus funds, and suggested that it had considered refusing the money because of ideological objections. But like many Republican officials, Noem found it difficult to say no to his state’s share of the $ 1.9 trillion pandemic relief aid that Democrats adopted along party lines in March. “Said the New York Times
• Biden’s US back-up act has allocated $ 8.8 billion to Florida, over objections from right-wing GOP governor Ron DeSantis, who is re-elected next year and is considering a GOP presidential race in 2024.

Florida got $ 3.4 billion in cash and DeSantis, the Time noted, did not refuse it. It goes towards “infrastructure, transport and retention of the workforce”. His excuse for taking the money: Biden’s law “disrupted the economy” by imposing coronavirus masks and vaccine warrants.

DeSantis also opposes these mandates. He even withdrew public funds from local Florida school districts that obey them. Biden’s education department stepped in to make those districts whole. In October, the DeSantis State Department of Education docked the districts again, for assistance equal to federal dollars. Districts affected by DeSantis are found in “blue” counties, and many educate large numbers of students of color.

• Former United States House Member and Senator Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, joined a Red State lawsuit to dismiss the US back-up plan over aid conditions, wrote Nobel Prize winning economist / columnist Paul Krugman in the New York Times. The trial has not been decided.

But when the time came to accept the relief bill money, DeWine said “yes,” Krugman reported. DeWine allocated $ 2 billion of the $ 5.4 billion Ohio got from the measure to replenish the state’s unemployment benefit fund, to fix water and sewer lines and ” to improve pediatric behavioral health facilities ”.

Needless to say, the Democratic National Committee’s “War Room” function has had a busy day with all the hypocrisy. But they are not the only ones to denounce the double-sided conduct of the GOP.

In an editorial by Time, Krugman took the baton and pointed out how routine it was.

Resurrecting a point that the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, DN.Y., made for decades with his annual reports on “federal tax,” Krugman noted that residents of some states are still sending more to the US government in terms of wages and income taxes that they do not receive. in discretionary federal spending, including disaster relief. And vice versa.

Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey were the top four states in 2019, the latest fiscal year available, recording such shortfalls between the dollars their taxpayers send and the discretionary dollars they collect, according to the Rockefeller Institute, a non-partisan think tank Krugman cited.

And Kentucky and, yes, Texas and South Dakota, have collected more money than their residents have sent – and their politicians are among the leaders in speaking out against federal spending for people in general.

The institute reports that Kentucky received $ 14,173 more from the federal government, per person, than its residents sent. It is the largest grant in the country. The Texans took in an additional $ 673 and the South Dakota $ 1,607.

“Kentucky’s net federal inflows in 2019, $ 63 billion, represented about 30% of the state’s GDP that year,” added Krugman.

“As a low-income state, Kentucky benefits fully from federal programs like Medicare, but pays relatively little income or payroll taxes, so it receives far more than it pays. And that’s actually how the social safety net is supposed to work.

“We want people who for whatever reason are suffering financially to receive support from the wealthy, which necessarily involves large transfers from rich states like New Jersey to low income states like Kentucky. “

Someone is talking to Ron Paul, or Kristi Noem, or Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, or Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.

Gosar, who recently posted a video showing he would like to assassinate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y. – who like other Democrats backs disaster aid – voted against Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion U.S. coronavirus relief plan earlier this year and these voters would ‘hate’ him .

Then, MSNBC reported on December 14, Gosar issued this press release: “I am pleased to announce that the City of Kingman will receive this critical funding for economic assistance related to the operational costs of cleaning and disinfection of the Kingman Airport to combat the spread of COVID. -19 “, the coronavirus.” This funding is essential to maintain a safe and reliable air service for the community. “

No mention of the source of the money, nor of his vote against.

And when Hurricane Sandy devastated the Jersey Shore and flooded the New York City subway system in 2012, Paul denounced the dollars and voted “no.” Cruz too. The same goes for 23 of Texas’ 24 American Republicans and its other senator, then-Republican whip John Cornyn. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, which has yet to recover, years later, Paul voted “no”.

Hurricane Sandy help came through, anyway, but not until rep. Peter King, RN.Y., from whom Long Island voters suffered, called on Texans and the rest of his party to come out.

“These Republicans have no problem finding New York City when they raise millions of dollars” for their re-election campaigns, King said. “What they did last night was put a knife behind New Yorkers and New Jerseyers. It was an absolute disgrace.

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