President Obama has proposed an emergency relief bill that is intended to help with the ongoing Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. The bill, which comes to a tune of $60 billion, has endured increased criticism over the last few days — on account that roughly 20% of the bill's proposed allocations don't have much to do with storm relief..
In spite of much needed fiscal responsibility, it appears that the federal government will continue to spend taxpayer money like the words "fiscal cliff" are inconsequential. Although much of the East Coast is still recovering from Sandy, it seems that the president's bill may be more about increasing government spending than it is about helping Sandy victims — not to mention, that through already available government funds and private donations, it may not be needed at all.
The bill in question, among other things, provides $150 million for Alaskan fisheries and $8 million for the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to purchase new cars and equipment. Also, an additional $13 billion of the bill would go toward projects that are designed to prepare for future storms.
Although the bill's supposed intent is to provide emergency assistance, the Congressional Budget Office contests that only one-third of the money would be spent over the next 21 months — in turn lessening the emphasis on emergency relief. This raises brows to what exactly President Obama's true intentions are for the bill, especially when considering the timing and possible (although not likely) spending concessions that he'll have to make during the fiscal cliff negotiations.
Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill Contains Billions in Wasteful Spending
