Homes sit smoldering after Hurricane Sandy in the Far Rockaway area of New York.

Homes sit smoldering after Hurricane Sandy in the Far Rockaway area of New York.

Here are the 36 votes against Sandy relief, a $50.5 billion emergency spending bill to aid victims of super storm Sandy. It passed in a 62-36 vote in the Senate Monday evening,Steve Benen did a little math with these votes. In the House,voted against emergency aid. In the Senate, those 36 votes represent. The overwhelming majority of Republicans, well more than three-quarters, now approach natural disasters as political fodder, another opportunity to push deficit hysteria and to force massive cuts to other domestic spending. Tax cuts to the wealthy? Those pay for themselves. Rebuilding destroyed communities populated by millions of Americans? Only if you cut other government programs. In other words, the vast majority of Republicans are assholes.

But the king of the assholes, at least on this vote, is Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, number three on that list up there of votes against Sandy relief. Let's rewind to May 2011.



ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Missouri Senator Roy Blunt says he’s asking the federal government to reimburse 100 percent of the cost to local governments dealing with the Joplin tornado aftermath. [...] “I’m asking for 100 percent federal reimbursement to local governments,” Blunt said, “They’ve agreed to 75. I think they have to come to a better number than that, and the right number, I think, would be 100 percent.”

Note what's not included in that demand: offsets.