Patch readers in the right-wing, please tell your pals in the House to do the same for NJ that they did for previous US disasters. Stop playing politics and end the obstructionism!

Maybe the first thing that should be done is make the insurance companies pay out what is due to people that have policies.

Thank you "jerseyswamps" for highlighting the key point in the Republicans opposition.....PORK! As I was reading this article I had to stop and re-read it....."The bill......would primarily benefit New York, New Jersey and Connecticut (I'm not even sure about Connecticut)."

Who else would Sandy Relief money go to? If additional money is going to be shelled out, how about including the uninsured or the under insured? The non-resident owners and small business owners should also be offered assistance. The communities that were affected by Sandy should be dealt with as a whole. The alternative would be economically devastating.

Think about it.......if businesses can't re-open, renters leave, 2nd home owners can't rebuild and homes are sold "as is", property values plummet, less money circulates in our community which hurts businesses that have re-built and quite frankly everyone that calls OC home (no matter what amount of time per year). Those businesses cut back on their workforce. Less tax dollars go to the city so non-essential programs are cut. In time "America's Greatest Family Resort" becomes Asbury Park!

Okay, my prediction may be dramatic but I think it's very possible.

Hypocrite Democrats. Should this bill not pass, primarily because of the $$ attachments added by Dems, they'll blame the Republicans and the mainstream media will spread the news about the vile GOP. Pork? What pork? They'll say the Republicans are irresponsible and just playing politics with people's lives.

Meanwhile, we have Benghazi and an administration that is hiding Hillary Clinton with the hopes that tragedy will go away; Fast and Furious, Lisa Jackson and the EPA.... Hello. Anyone there at the NYT, CBS, NBC, CNN? Oh, I forgot. The holidays.

What's with the political attacks and name calling? Why would a Bill intended for Sandy Relief include money for ANYTHING that is not Sandy related? No matter what political party you agree with, you must agree with that. Focus, Focus, Focus!

Tinybull

Just do it! God Bless America !

Lets get the bill passed in the house and start helping so many people hurt from Sandy... Lets come together as a community folks these are our friends and neighbors help them get back into their homes and business. I wish everyone a HEALTHY NEW YEAR AND GOD BLESS EVERYONE ...

Ok Martin, should we just tell the House to act like Democrats and just spend, spend, spend without question? Just throw billions of taxpayer dollars at the FBI for new cars, the Smithsonian new equipment for Alaska agencies, etc., in addition to needed funds for Sandy? That's how Obama and his fellow Dems are destroying our country. Spending our kids future to buy votes. Have you seen the clip of a dentally challenged, welfare recipient coming out of the voting booth praising Obama for giving her a phone? That's what this bill is loaded with - more pork for democrat votes.

People who praise or bitch at Ratpublicans and Democraps amaze me. As long as the public is fooled into thinking either side has your best interests at heart, you'll continue to get exactly what you deserve which is higher and higher taxes, rotting and crumbling infrastructure, politicians bipartisan blind eye on more people each day easily sneaking into the USA, the lame trade agreements that killed the US economy and especially the fact that when disaster strikes in any other country, we're there in days with help, food, clothing & more. A few years ago we actually imported thousands of people after an earth quake hit their country and here they are still today.

It took forever to send minimum help after Katrina. Many deserving people whose lives and property were destroyed way back then, still gotten zip from FEMA or our government.

When Sandy hit and the snow storm that followed tens of thousands of people lost a place to live. Many stayed in their heavily damaged homes without electric or heat because there was no place else to go. Finally last week FEMA released trailers WHOOPIE!

SCREW ZONING, THIS WAS A DISASTER !!!! They should've been in place within days. Pump out trucks could empty sewage every other day, as done with a boat or RV .

This country sucks when it comes to helping our own and thats NOT tolerable!

I'm not a DemocRAT or RATpublican. I'm an American who has distains both parties because there isn't a snake hairs distance between them.

I have missed the end of the world

Guess Who is living in a delusion? Proof: He believes in snake's hair. Even more delusionsal: Ds and Rs are equally screwed up, according to GW. I'll give him that both parties are a mess, but since at least 1994, the Rs have been worse than the Ds and becoming more so exponentially.
And I'm with some of the other posters who point out the hypocracy of the thousands of people craving their FEMA relief money while clinging to the idea that anyone else who needs or wants federal assistance is a lazy, no good, sponge. Add to that the likelihood that the FEMA money grabbers need the money much less than the 47%ers and you got yourself some shamefulness - at least in the eyes of the those who recognize shamefulness, and even rarer - those capable of feeling shame.

Ratpublicons believe in vaginal probes, legit rape and magic underwear unlimited military spending what more can I say oh yeah limited govt that is unless their house or business got flooded and they didnt have insurance then its ok to have your hand out they are also against ppl who worked their whole life and want to retire after all we need 70 yr old truck drivers and roofers while the republicons in congress get their entitlements of a free lifetime pension and free medical benefits
pull your fema claims you right wing hypocrites

Does this mean that the PPB Boardwalk will be repaired in full and not just the north and south ends like the Mayor and Council want to do.
Why not go after everything while the money is there.............

jerseyswamps - no kidding? So then FEMA - through the SBA - is not making low interest loans to republicans who had flood insurance, is not underwriting and supplementing the flood isurance republicans purchase, is not paying to repair and rebuilt public infrastructure and buildings republicans with flood insurance rely upon,
is not paying out rent assistance to displaced republican property owners who have flood insurance?????? Take a peak outside of the bubble - reality will shake you to the core but in the end you will be better off, if for no other reason than you will make fewer goofy points based on clearly incorrect info....

where to begin? you are a fount of info - useless, incorrect, irrelevant, etc but info nonetheless....so you have to apply for a loan - darn!...you may not get the loan? - how unfair!....the government is acting like a real business - crazy and objectionable, right?!....flood insurance expensive? how much more so if it was not underwritten and supplemented by the feds? the answer....well, hard to answer given insurance companies would not carry it....wanna self-insure - go ahead - no law against it but good luck getting a mortgage (from a private lender, that is)....and right, the 53%ers sure like to be bailed out.

My only problem with our government acting like a business is that they don't do it enough! What a fantasy! Can you imagine? What would happen to our leaders and our CEO with the record he's compiled over the past 4 years?
You're the one saying FEMA has been so helpful and is giving things away that Republicans are lapping up. I point out they are giving nothing away to those who have insurance. I've heard nothing but complaints about FEMA's response to those who they are suppose to be helping. But I'm not surprised. I've seen how social programs have "helped" those target groups.
You bring up an interesting "what if". What if there was never any flood ins. here in NJ? Banks probably would not have made loans to home buyers in flood zones. Then only those who could afford to purchase without a loan would buy in flood zones. The entire risk would be on them. They'd have to make sure the place was constructed in such a way to withstand a flood. They make a bad decision then the loss is all theirs. No bailouts. Simple, fair.
But, some liberal Dems would say it wasn't fair that only rich people live near the shore. They'd force banks to make loans to anyone then come up with a program like FEMA or FREDIE something to back up the loans. This sound familiar to anyone?

Well, all I want to know is are they going to repair the beaches and rebuild the dunes? We were desperate for refurbishment on the south end BEFORE Sandy. Will any federal funds be allocated to beach rehab? Doesn't sound like it from the article.

Not quite coolerhead. The only ones objecting to the pork in this bill are the republicans. And don't think our tax-happy president would ever line item any spending. That would only slow the destruction of the country that he is hell bent on achieving.

jerseyswamps

4:04 pm on Saturday, December 29, 2012

And I was replying to the contributor who suggested some people should "pull your fema claim". I or we have little control over politicians demanding help from the feds

but you will be standing there with your hypocrite republicon hand out

Politics aside, both republican and democratic homes will be swept away if the dunes are not rebuild and some sort of dredging of the bay does not occur soon!

dredging of bay???? Not at the top of the list of recommended flood protection measures but surely at the top of list of Rs whose slips and lagoons need dredging. Gee...I wonder what percent of them resent the 47%ers and their sponging off the government. As to the bay side....wetland protection and restoration is vital but not even mentioned by the city in its list of flood protection measures. Wonder why that is???

only $34 billion of the $60 billion in this bill is allocated for sandy relief. the rest is for pork projects spread out throughout the rest of the united states in order to generate enough votes to pass the bill. while we desperately need legislation to help us recover from sandy, is this the type of legislation that we want to support!

I don't own a boat, but live on a harbor adjacent to the bay. The harbor was dredged recently, but as I see it, there is now 2-3' of newly deposited sand from Sandy. How this is not at least in part responsible for the water coming over my bulkhead 2x since Sandy, when it never happened before in 35 years, I do not know. It seems like a must do to me.

As is wetland restoration projects. My neighborhood is holding it's own clean up day to try and abate some of the refuse that landed in our wetlands. I will drive 1.5 hour from my temporary home to help on this day even though my own home has no heat or floors or walls.

BTW, as I understand it, part of the reason we pay higher prop taxes on the waterfront is due to the fact that waterways need upkeep. Time for the town, state and Feds to come through for what we have been paying for all along. As far as sponging, I can not imagine a group of people who have paid into the system more! We pay some of the highest prop taxes in NJ, which has some of the highest prop taxes in the nation...rich or poor, no one got a free ride on the Jersey waterfront...that much is for sure!

Just a reminder___President Bush with the consent of Congress gave Iraq $87 billion to rebuild back in 2003. President Bush also gave the Gulf Coast $130 Billion to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Yet far more homes and apartments were damaged or totally destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. NYS "alone" has 305,000 damaged or totally destroyed housing units from Sandy.

Where is this 60 billion coming from? More borrowing we will never pay back? Why don't we just borrow another couple trillion and fix everything. It's not like the debt matters right or will be paid back so who cares.

Sell Sarah Palin's "bridge to nowhere." The Tea Party, Faux News and the angry commenters here on Patch will buy it for $60 billion.

missing brick - your recent lagoon deposition has nothing to do with your flooding and neither does the debris in your "wetlands" which are likely not wetlands but uplands in the wetlands (perhaps similar to the abandoned RR access road in the southend of OC?). Thanks for cleaning up the trash. Can you be counted on to devote even 1/100 of that energy to protecting our wetlands from unecessary instrusion and construction too?
As to to the meat of the rest: Rs despise government until they need it and obstruct government and then complain about its lack of progress. Pointing out these facts will not change one R mind, but the reality-based community is compelled to do so, you know, to keep it real.

to marty the know-nothing leftist.......the sandy recovery bill passed by the senate includes funding for the fishing industries in the gulf and west coasts in addition to funding for the recovery of the fishing industry in alaska. just how was fishing in these areas effected by sandy? strange how you leftists are always willing to spend other peoples' money. nj, ny, and conn need aid, not these other areas.

marty, read the senate bill! that's where you will find the proof. it includes aid to america samoa, repairing museum roofs in washington, dc, aid for hurricane issac, army corp of engineers study to protect shore lines in the future, etc, etc, etc. we need aid to recover from sandy now, not all this pork that has been added. you must be a true leftist who believes in wasteful spending.

i did not vote for romney, and although i suffered over $25,000 in damages from hurricane sandy, i am not elligible for any compensation from either my flood insurance policy nor from fema because it did not directly effect my "living area". foyers and garage areas are not covered.

once again corp welfare takes over
vic here has insurance and still got screw because corp are more important then ppl
corp are evil greed is not good
the high and mighty are one car accident or one pink slip away and dont/cant see it

Wilson

if 50 % of ppl dont pay taxes you might wanna look into who set up the tax code?
you might wanna take a look at the greed of corp who wont pay a living wage

sounds like "look" would be happier living in a socialist country like cuba or china. then he wouldn't have as much to complain about.

People waiting for beach replenishment in the south end? Keep waiting. When the small group of biking enthusiasts wanted to take protective wetlands for a tourist attraction at Crook Horn Creek, the previous Mayor spent thousands of OC tax dollars to apply for a permit to do just that but was denied by the NJDEP. And then these same guys wanted to take protective wetlands from 35th Street south - almost made it too except this Mayor knew that the permits would never be approved so he didn't waste the money trying. Now of course, the same guys want the protective wetlands behind 59th Street for a little bike trail. Will they get the wetlands or will common sense prevail since the south end almost got wiped off the earth with Sandy. We need the beaches replenished, we need the dunes and we need the wetlands for protection and we need these people to either leave the south end alone, or work to protect the south end. They take our taxes don't they? If the south end beaches are not on the list for replenishment, not a big surprise since we are ignored - but can you please stop trying to take the wetlands too like you have now for years? South end is narrow and low and we need all the protection we can get!!!

I hope this is not true about Ocean City wanting to destroy wetlands. Why? (please don't tell me its for a bike path again!!!) I thought the DEP and FEMA are encouraging towns to protect wetlands and restore them after the Sandy disaster.

hey "wilson b goode" unlike your "johnny b good" fake name which you didnt even get right so you used wilson frank rizzo is my real name. funny thing you sound a lot like a patch troll named barney who the patch banned this week for racist and moronic comments. look like youre just a few comments away from being S##tcanned too. the reason 50% of people pay little or no tax is because they hardly make any money. your answer is to increase corporate welfare and more freebies for the wealthy while raising the tax on that kid working in mc donalds. sounds like a great plan. let us know how all that works out for ya.

heres a newsflash for wilson. bush ran up the deficit to $10 trillion. of the $6 trillion you lay on obama $1.6 trillion was to pay for the unpaid for bush wars that obama put on the books for the first time. $1,4 trillion was to pay the interest bush ran up on the deficit and $1.4 trillion was for lost revenue from the useless bush tax cuts. the rest of the money obama tried to use to rebuild the 77,000 crumbling roads and bridges in this country to which those like you called him a socialist for. it seems that republicans had no problem spending $10 billion each a month for iraq and afghanistan to have new roads instead. hey at least they have a starbucks in bagdad now. as borat would say " great success".

ann powers in 2007 the guy who was behind the attack in benghazi was released from gitmo. i wonder who was president in 2007? . if you republicans spent half the time investigating the lies that led us into war as much as you did benghazi we wouldnt have been in places like iraq to begin with.

wilson

is a guy who would gladly turn his brown blind eye to the fact that Bush started a war in iraq based on lies he supports things like the bridge to no where,vaginal probes,legit rape,magic underwear, the right to own a ar15 but wants his in the form of fema
what was the tax rate under St Ronnie?

wilson doesnt get the fact your only a car accident away or one pink slip away from having nothing

Galye - Yes...OC is considering giving wetlands over to the DEP who will wreck them for a bike path. And in the southend - the most flood-vulnerable part of the island. It's pure rotten politics...pathetic. the money should be used to protect the wetlands...there's a lot of pressure on the DEP to drop the plan - which threatened to take the OC property in the courts if the city did not just hand it over, especially after Sandy and because they are promoting wetland protection and a flood prevention measure elsewhere in the state. Government incompetance at its worst. Let the OC mayor know you oppose this crazy plan.

Yes the bike path enthusiasts (and we do know exactly who they are, don't we?) have once again cozied up to council to promise them anything for a vote to give away south end wetlands for yes - you got it - a bike path! Again, because these guys want what they want and they want to destroy more wetlands for an unnecessary bike path that will connect to an illegal bike path that was installed by cutting down a maritime forest in Corson's Inlet State Park during the Perilllo administration. Yes the quest to destroy south end wetlands continues by the boys club in Ocean City. Too bad these guys cannot find a hobby that doesn't contribute to the destruction of the south end homes in Ocean City by taking protective wetlands away - but you know how it is. They have pull with some of the biggest self promoters on council you know like Hartzell who would sell his soul to be Mayor and bases all his decisions on how many votes it may get him in the future. Give it up Keith, When you cannot even string together a few words to make a coherent sentence, I don't think you can be mayor. Sorry.

all of you "not in my backyarders" pose as phony environmentalists in order to keep the rest of us residents from enjoying the same nature areas that you have access to. the majority of you do not permanently reside in ocean city and are just selfishly attempting to keep the marsh areas for yourself when you visit our city. we are wise to your schemes and will not allow you to hoard this precious area.

vic you are in the minority of uneducated, uninformed, ignorant of the facts - especially now after Sandy - you want to enjoy the marshes? they were in my garage at the end of October. Maybe you would like to stop in and help me dig out the mussel shells from the insulation in the walls. What a fool - yes the stinking second homeowners are keeping you from accessing nature - you want nature? go look at the beaches in the south end - that's nature - nature that needs to be respected. There are ample opportunites to enjoy the marshes - go take a walk on the new 9th st. bridge - get a kayak - - or better yet sit by your computer and illustrate your stupidity endlessly on the Patch access nature bet you don't move from the couch except to go to the computer bet you are overweight too you sound fat

vic - Though you have established yourself in this string and on tons others on The Patch - you are fact-averse, irrational, and suffering from crippling ideology - so against my better instincts I'll whistle into the wind and point out that a very very small percentage of those who oppose the wetland bike path in corson's inlet state park live where any reasonable person would consider to be near the project - so don't meet the definition of NIMBY....so how to explain their opposition? In fact there are only about 5 houses from which the project area can be viewed and about two hundred people have officially and publicly gone on the record in opposition in letters, emails, and phone calls to city council, the mayor, the governor's office, and the DEP, and about half are year round residents (re: your idiotic "visitor" reference). More relevant though, and impossible for you to comprehend let alone acknowledge the legitimacy of, is that what matters in land use controversies is not the parties' motives but the merits of their position. The opponants utterly prevail on the merits, especially in light of the unfortunate lesson that was retaught with the back bay flooding during Sandy and the role the wetlands play in mitigating it.

Several have spoken to the environmental concerns over running a bike path thru Corson’s Inlet State Park and perhaps environmental concerns are the most important consideration. But it’s not the only consideration. I attended a council meeting where the bike path was discussed and part of the rationale for promoting it was that it would built for free (without local tax payer money) so why not build it? My comment was that simply because it is free isn’t a good reason to build it. Nothing was said about maintaining the bike trail or who would be responsible for the costs associated with maintaining it. Some of it will run along what is now City (private?) property. I own my shore house but I can tell you it costs me a bundle to keep. Truth be told I rent my place from the City.

Does it make sense to build a thoroughfare thru a nature preserve? I think that is counterproductive to the intended use of the preserve. You can now take a quiet hike thru Corson’s Inlet State Park without bike riders whizzing thru. And how will that bike traffic NOT be disruptive to wildlife in the area?

Corson’s Inlet serves its intended purpose better without a bike trail running thru it. As a bike rider I wouldn’t use it anyway. If I want to ride from Ocean City to SIC I’ll take the most direct course along Ocean Drive. It’s a nice ride along that section of Ocean Drive with wide shoulders and pretty views. I don’t understand the rationale for building a bike path thru Corson’s Inlet. A bike trail thru that preserve will only diminish its usefulness as a wildlife sanctuary.

Eric - Good point well made. As you say, project construction costs would not come out of OC budget, but would be paid for by OC taxpayers from their state and fed taxes (the project is partly federally funded but I'm confident that will be withdrawn soon). And, as you say, 3 blocks of the current plan are on OC property and we would pay directly for that in public safety costs (an unlit elevated 6' wide boardwalk with no railings over the wetlands with bikes permitted unfortunately would require that). FYI - the DEP threatened to take the property in the courts if OC does not cooperate.
You mention environmental opposition but not other bases for the opposition. 1st the environmental - the trail would cut though state-listed threatened and endangered species habitat and over critical and dwindling tidal salt water and freshwater wetlands. Other reasons for the opposition: there is already abundant access to the project area (the proposal is all that the park could come up with as part of a state-wide program - the park is small and has lots of trails now - this is the only conceivable new trail so is superfluous), those wetlands are adjacent to development so are especially vital to the role wetlands play in flood mitigation, the trailhead would require reserved parking in a neighborhood with a big parking problem in the summer. For all of these reasons the directly affected neighbors strongly oppose it as do the local and regional environmental communities.

uneducated and overweight are not adjectives that would properly describe me. people know that i bike to the gym and all over ocean city instead of using my car, and i would like to include the opportunity to bike through corson's state park ( and i would not be adding to congestion to the area by parking my car). so what's wrong with that?

There has been a so called "bike path" in Corson's Inlet State Park since 2007 and apparently you didn't know about it. So basically vic you are full of baloney. You are just one of the small group of resentful, small minded "locals" who cannot stand anyone who may disagree with you (you resent the 2nd homeowners and are maybe a bit jealous too) so you point fingers and say they are NIMBYs cause you have no arguments to contradict the main argument - that wetland protection is an urgent priority on a barrier island like Ocean City (just like beach and dune protection) so if you think your little ride on a bike through the wetlands is more important that protecting the homes and neighborhoods, then your selfishness is only exceeded by your stupidity. Ocean City, especially from September to May, is one giant bike path with no cars (because the realtors and developers destroyed OC as a full time community) so the fact that you also want another piece of wetlands to ride your bike on - what you have is not enough for you - is disgusting. Yes the fact that you need even more when you have so much and it would be detrimental to the environment - there is something wrong with that, vic and you.

Looks like vic, who has a remarkable gut for what that's worth and since he picked up on that, found a fellow nincumpoop to back him up.