Gene Healy on Playing Politics With Disaster Relief

|

Would it shock you to hear that presidents play politics with disaster relief? Current law gives them enormous power to do so, and it seems they don't try very hard to resist the temptation. The 1988 Stafford Disaster Relief Act authorized the president to issue disaster declarations virtually at will, writes Gene Healy. And research shows that they use this power with an eye toward re-election.