For decades the Republican Party has advocated for lower taxes, smaller government, fewer federal regulations and federalism (basically, states’ rights).  These policies were the core of GOP ideology as the party became closely aligned with corporations and the wealthy.    

During Ronald Reagan’s administration, Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist authored a pledge to never raise taxes on anything – ever.  It was signed by almost all Republicans in Congress and no Republican will vote for a tax increase to this day.  Norquist wanted to drastically cut the size of government by starving it of tax revenue.  He believed mounting budget deficits would eventually force Congress to drastically cut spending, even for Social Security and Medicare.

Last year, Project 2025, the conservative effort to reform the federal government, produced a nearly 900-page plan, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise (the “Mandate”) that provides details on what today’s congressional Republicans want to achieve.  It recommends either delegating many federal functions back to the states or privatizing them.  And it calls for changing the current disaster cost sharing formula of 75% federal, 25% state to a graduated formula where the states’ share would be 75% for small disasters and the federal government’s share would only reach 75% for truly catastrophic disasters. 

The Mandate also calls for winding down the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that FEMA administers and replacing it with private flood insurance starting with the NFIP’s least risky areas. Many homeowners in flood prone areas can’t afford flood insurance even under this generous federal program and no doubt many more would be unable to afford more costly private insurance.

When the scientific community overwhelmingly blamed human activities, like fossil fuel burning, for the greenhouse gases that cause climate change, Republicans scoffed and fiercely fought legislation and other efforts to solve the problem.  Not one Republican in Congress voted for the Inflation Reduction Act, which is primarily a climate change mitigation law, despite the increasing intensity of wild fires, hurricanes and other weather disasters. 

Even as hurricane Helene was churning up the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward the Florida panhandle, 29 Republicans who represent the southeast states being threatened by the storm recklessly voted against a stopgap spending bill that would provide $20 billion in funding for FEMA’s disaster relief fund.  And Republicans refused to include billions in additional disaster funding that President Biden had requested.

Well, I believe the tragic death of a 75-year-old Western North Carolina man who got caught in tropical storm Helene is a perfect analogy for what will happen if Republicans who deny the threat of climate change get their way.  As described in a September 30 New York Times News article, Mr. R stubbornly refused to believe his elevated trailer home – which had weathered previous storms – was threatened by the rapidly rising French Broad River, even after all nearby residents had left the area as the storm approached.   

He was standing in the doorway, waving to his family on higher ground, when suddenly he – and his entire home – were swallowed by the raging flood water, leaving behind only parts of the foundation, which are pictured above. 

Miraculously, Mr. R managed to grab onto a tree and for around seven hours kept calling for help as distressed family and neighbors looked on from higher ground, helpless to save him.  Even a local river rescue team decided it was too dangerous to enter the treacherous water.  Finally, just before 11PM, Mr. R plunged headfirst into the water and disappeared out of sight.

Like Mr. Roy’s plight, there will be no way to rescue parts of the planet ravaged by climate change disasters if scientists’ worst fears are realized.  And while Helene’s horrific damage may take a year or more to clean up, a 12-inch or more rise in ocean levels or unrelenting warming temperatures or a mini-ice age, could take centuries to resolve, if ever.

A hurricane with destructive power like Helene has not ravaged the southeast U.S. for decades.  But what if one occurs again this year or begins occurring every few years due to climate change?  Well, as I am writing this blog, tropical storm Milton in the Caribbean is expected to strengthen to a major Category 3 hurricane or stronger before making landfall along Florida’s West coast on Wednesday.

Yet, these examples of the Republican’s disastrous ideology are merely the tip of their wrongheaded and nation-damaging policy proposals.  Cutting taxes, slashing federal programs and forcing states to bear greater responsibility and funding for disaster mitigation, health care, education, infrastructure maintenance and other programs as the Mandate and Republican authored budgets always propose are sheer idiocy.  And here is why:

Not all states are equal in their ability to handle added costs and functions and many of the least able are Republican-controlled, including the poorer states in the south and west.  They simply don’t have the economic base necessary to afford more responsibilities. 

The financial website WalletHub’s report on the states most dependent on the federal government in 2024 shows that the third most dependent, Kentucky, receives $3.45 in federal funding for every $1 its residents pay in taxes and that federal funding comprises over 46% of the state’s budget.  Numerous other dependent red states are in a similar weak financial condition.

Isn’t it about time for many of those who support Republicans to realize they are voting against their best interests?