superrific
Master of the ZZLverse
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All right, you're laying on the false modesty a little thick. I appreciate that you try for humility and that's laudable, but you're not a dummy and you know it.
Roy Cooper makes it official
- Thread starter GoHeelsweeeehoooo
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Eh, I don’t know that it’s humility as much as it is that I just feel comfortable in my own skin and sincerely comfortable being of average intelligence, especially compared to the majority of the folks on this board. I like to think I’m gifted in being personable in real life, but I don’t have any illusions that I’m particularly smart.
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I always think of intelligence as being like one of those boards in a recording studio that have all the little sliders that each have to be adjusted just right for the particular situation in order to create a great recording. As such, intelligence isn't just one of the sliders but is the combined effect of all the sliders being just right for the situation being dealt with. I can remember one time in a former house when I was digging a hole in which to plant a tree/shrub my wife had just purchased. The ground was pretty hard, and I was using a pickax to break up the dirt. I hit something that gave off a hollow sound, looked down and saw a broken piece of PCV pipe. This was the sewer line leaving my house going to the sewer main. My sliders had not been properly aligned for the situation I was in.
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“Hurricane Helene recovery czar Michael Whatley is blaming Democrats for the growing chorus of criticism over his job performance — but in heavily Republican Western North Carolina, it’s not just Democratic voices calling for Whatley to be replaced or step down.
“It’s kind of funny to say ‘step down,’ because I never saw him step up,” said Margaret Ackiss, a member of the North Carolina Republican Party’s 11th Congressional District executive committee.
… In an audio clip of a brief exchange recorded at a recent event provided to The Smoky Mountain News, Whatley, who President Donald Trump placed in charge of Helene recovery and “making sure everything goes well” back on Jan. 24, acknowledged the criticism.
“What they’re trying to say is that the president has not done a good job in terms of recovery, and therefore I’ve not done a good job,” Whatley said on the tape. “The fact is, $6.5 billion in relief [is what] we’ve brought into North Carolina since President Trump was sworn in.”
Local governments, homeowners and small businesses, however, are still waiting on the remaining $54 billion, nearly nine months after Whatley’s appointment as recovery czar.…”
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“… In September, during his first known visit to the region since his appointment — a meeting of the FEMA Review Council that wasn’t open to the public or the press — Whatley told Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate WLOS he felt recovery was “going really well at this point.”
The FEMA Review Council, established by Trump on the same day he appointed Whatley, is a collection of state and federal leaders charged with presenting a report to the president containing recommendations for FEMA reform. The report is due within 180 days of the council’s first meeting on May 4 — mid-November — but Whatley indicated that like recovery efforts in general, that report is also running behind.…”
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As of July 31:
“… the awarding of the majority of the $3.8 billion in federal funding to the state happened before Trump was sworn in, according to publicly available data.
When asked July 30 if Trump would pressure federal agencies and lawmakers to provide the state additional funding for Helene recovery, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson said the president "has led a historic disaster recovery effort in North Carolina."
Jackson cited the removal of "more than 3,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of debris from roadways, waterways and properties," as well as the six-month 100% cost share for debris removal, which she described as "one of the longest" in the history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She also cited the 90% federal cost share that followed, higher than the typical 75% the agency covers after a natural disaster.
Both measures were approved in 2024 by then-President Joe Biden.
In May, the Trump administration denied, for a second time, the state's request to the extend the 100% cost share for an additional six months, even though cost shares were extended after other natural disasters, like Hurricanes Katrina and Ike.…”
www.citizen-times.com
“… the awarding of the majority of the $3.8 billion in federal funding to the state happened before Trump was sworn in, according to publicly available data.
When asked July 30 if Trump would pressure federal agencies and lawmakers to provide the state additional funding for Helene recovery, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson said the president "has led a historic disaster recovery effort in North Carolina."
Jackson cited the removal of "more than 3,600 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of debris from roadways, waterways and properties," as well as the six-month 100% cost share for debris removal, which she described as "one of the longest" in the history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. She also cited the 90% federal cost share that followed, higher than the typical 75% the agency covers after a natural disaster.
Both measures were approved in 2024 by then-President Joe Biden.
In May, the Trump administration denied, for a second time, the state's request to the extend the 100% cost share for an additional six months, even though cost shares were extended after other natural disasters, like Hurricanes Katrina and Ike.…”
After Helene, federal funds slow to arrive in NC as state presses for more aid
The federal government has awarded the state just $3.8 billion for Helene recovery, 6% of the nearly $60 billion in damage the state sustained.
www.citizen-times.com
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October
NC Gov. Josh Stein pushes for $13 billion in Helene relief despite federal funding delays
“…In a Sept. 15 letter to President Donald Trump and members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation, N.C. Gov. Josh Stein requested $13.5 billion in federal funds to support ongoing Helene recovery work. He also asked that federal agencies unlock billions of dollars in aid that had been approved by Congress in December, writing that the majority of those funds still have yet to be disbursed over nine months later.
… In his plea for additional aid, Stein pointed out that federal contributions have amounted to only 9% of estimated total recovery costs. That number is significantly lower than prior relief for similarly destructive storms — the federal government covered over 70% of the costs for Hurricanes Sandy, Katrina and Maria. Each disaster saw damages of over $70 billion.
… The Trump administration previously said Helene relief efforts were “languishing” under the Biden administration and Stein. It also claimed that Stein’s repeated requests for more funding are inappropriate, with a White House spokesperson characterizing them as “evidence that he is unfit to run a state.”“