While I kinda like the idea of permanent funding to a "disaster relief fund" and letting it roll over if not needed, I can think of several ways to identify "other budget cuts to offset disaster funding" ~ beginning with the billions being showered on the military even tho the military [via Panetta] has publicly identified billions that could be cut from military budget with NO adverse effects ~ ~ Sooz

GOP Threatens To Hold Disaster Relief Hostage To Spending Cuts — Again
By Travis Waldron on Dec 13, 2012 at 9:00 am

The White House last week requested $60 billion in federal disaster relief to rebuild the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, but some Republicans are again threatening to hold disaster relief funding hostage unless it is offset by other budget cuts.

A day after Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) called disaster relief for Hurricane Sandy “wasteful spending,” Reps. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Steve King (R-IA), Raul Labrador (R-ID), and Jeff Landry (R-LA), all from the more conservative wing of the House GOP, told The Hill that they will demand offsets for disaster spending:


After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) rebuked conservative members of his caucus for demanding spending cuts for disaster relief. “It is right to borrow to pay for it,” he said. But since the GOP took over the House in 2010, it has routinely made such demands. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) promised to block disaster funding in the wake of tornadoes that devastated Missouri, an earthquake that hit his own state, and Hurricane Irene.

House Republicans also cut disaster relief funding in a 2011 spending measure and cut it this year to preserve military spending. The GOP also reneged on a deal it struck with Democrats to make emergency disaster relief funding easier in the future.

Update: Politico reports that other Republicans, like Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), want spending offsets for disaster relief:


Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) told Politico, “Anything needs to be offset right now.” And Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) added, “If you look at what we’ve pushed for in the past, it’s to properly fund for disasters and when we fund for disasters, we also control spending in other places. We can’t give up our desire to control spending on any front.”

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/12/13/1327511/gop-threatens-to-hold-disaster-relief-hostage-to-spending-cuts-again/

The GOP appears determined to become a fringe party.

It would not hurt my feeling to see the GOP become a thing of the past.

More detail, none of it encouraging ~ ~ there are several "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ bolding/emphasis below is mine ~ Sooz

Hurricane Sandy relief aid already in jeopardy in Congress
By Steve Benen - Thu Dec 13, 2012 10:06 AM EST

President Obama has submitted a $60.4 billion relief package for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, which is actually below the total aid request from the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, but as promised, Congress is not in a generous mood.


Though Republican leaders in both chambers have been cautious, saying very little about Sandy-related relief, The Hill reports that several rank-and-file House GOP lawmakers have already explicitly said they will demand funding offsets before emergency aid is approved. In other words, unless Democrats accept $60.4 billion in spending cuts, affected areas can forget about $60.4 billion in disaster relief.

And that's a real problem.

To reiterate an item from a few weeks ago, post-disaster aid didn't use to work this way. Last year, however, congressional Republicans came up with an entirely new standard when it came to emergency relief: Congress will consider helping struggling Americans and devastated communities, but only if Democrats accept comparable spending cuts.

It came as something of a shock. The same GOP lawmakers who saw no need to pay for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tax cuts for millionaires, or the Wall Street bailout said American communities struck by a natural disaster can get help, but only if the costs of the aid are offset elsewhere, penny for penny. It was a standard without precedent.

Steve M. reviewed the recent history: "Republicans, led by Eric Cantor, pulled this stunt in the spring of 2011, after a tornado cut through Joplin, Missouri, and then a couple of months later, after Hurricane Irene and an East Coast earthquake (which damaged Cantor's home state of Virginia). This was wildly unpopular, even with Virginia's Republican governor, but when has being unpopular ever prevented Republicans from posturing as obnoxious hard-asses?"

Senate action on the Sandy relief package may come as quickly as today, though House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) indicated his committee is "scrubbing the numbers," and won't act anytime soon.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/12/13/15884696-hurricane-sandy-relief-aid-already-in-jeopardy-in-congress?lite

Accept the $60.4 billion spending cuts... to the military, who have repeatedly stated that they don't mind.