Jason Altmire's Snow Job

PA representatives Jason Altmire (D) and Tim Murphy (R) are showing they can work together in a bipartisan effort - to beg for federal funds. And they're willing to bend the space-time continuum to do it.

You see, it snowed here. A lot. I may have mentioned it once or twice...

And now Altmire and Murphy have decided PA is entitled to FEMA money to clean up the mess. There's just one problem... FEMA rules say that to qualify for disaster relief, there must be one all-mighty big snowstorm and we actually had two storms. So despite the fact that two separate systems moved through the state three days apart, these two would like the feds to consider it one big storm and cough up some money. The Post-Gazette quotes Altmire:

"The other two big snowstorms, in March 1993 and Thanksgiving 1950, were at a time of the year when it got warm very quickly after the snowfall," he said. "This happened in the dead of winter when it's as cold as it gets. And the snow didn't melt in between. It just piled the second snowfall on top of the first, and that's why we think we can make the case that this should count as a singular event."

Yeah. Except that it was two distinct events. AND, it's supposed to be above freezing for most of the coming week, and when that happens snow... well... melts away on its own. Duh.

Maybe I'm being overly sensitive about this, but for all my own complaining about the weather, it hardly strikes me as an emergency on a scale requiring federal funds. It doesn't really strike me as an emergency at all, matter of fact. Everywhere I go I see clean, dry roads. If we have areas of the state that haven't been cleared, send the trucks from areas (like mine) where it is clear to lend a hand. Why involve federal agencies and make a mountain out of a mole hill?

It's snow, fer gawd's sake. And a couple-three feet of it at that. I can just picture folks who live where it really snows (Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Buffalo, etc) laughing at us. A lot.

Ooooh. Three feet of snow in three days? We get that before breakfast - every winter! You people in Pennsylvania are a bunch of sissies, don'cha know?

But let's not be cynical... I'm sure this being an elecion year has nothing to do with these stalwart public servants going hat-in-hand to the federal government to bring home some money. I mean, I'm sure the Federal EMERGENCY Management Agency was designed with things like snow removal in mind, right? No sense letting that money sit around waiting for a hurricane, or an earthquake, or a terrorist attack when we can use it wisely for something like... rock salt.

Good grief.