Chuck Cropp, center, his son Piers, left, and wife Liz, right, wade through floodwaters from Hurricane Isaac on Wednesday in New Orleans. Isaac dumped as much as 20 inches of rain in several parts of Louisiana.By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – One by one, Republican leaders have lined up at their national convention to push for less government and accuse President Barack Obama of profligate spending. About 500 miles away, under threat from a hurricane, they welcomed federal government aid. One GOP governor even accused Obama of being miserly with the help.
The chance occurrence of a political convention and a Gulf State emergency unfolding in split-screen real time is creating a clash between the rhetoric and reality of federal spending. The calls for fiscal discipline echoing the convention hall in Tampa, Fla., aren’t reverberating in drenched and wind-whipped Louisiana or Mississippi, a contrast illustrating one the sharpest conundrums facing a nation of giant budget deficits.
Reducing the size of government sounds good until someone feels the pinch.