title:  The Exact Same Texas Lawmakers That Voted Against Hurricane Relief Are Now Begging For Help
text: When Hurricane Sandy hit, affecting states all the way from North Carolina to New England and particularly devastating New York and New Jersey in 2012, Texas lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against recovery assistance. In fact, John Culberson, whose 7th congressional district includes parts of Houston, was the only Texas Republican in Congress in favor of the $50.7 billion relief effort.One of the loudest opponents of Sandy aid was Ted Cruz, who was merely weeks away from becoming a Texas Senator. Cruz s main concerns involved additional spending, which included funding for disaster preparedness and relief in other parts of the country as a means of gaining support for the Hurricane Sandy relief effort. Hurricane Sandy inflicted devastating damage on the East Coast, and Congress appropriately responded with hurricane relief,  Cruz said in a statement at the time in an effort to justify his stance. Unfortunately, cynical politicians in Washington could not resist loading up this relief bill with billions in new spending utterly unrelated to Sandy. Now Cruz, who campaigned for President of the United States, eventually losing the Republican primary in Indiana to Donald Trump in March of last year, has teamed up with fellow Texas Senator John Cornyn to contact President Trump, begging him to sign a major disaster declaration at the request of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, allowing the state to access key federal resources as soon as possible. Given the potential catastrophic impact that the Hurricane may have on Texas communities,  Cruz and Cornyn wrote in their plea to Trump,  we strongly support this request and urge you to provide any and all emergency protective measures available by a major disaster declaration. The irony of Cruz s appeal to the President hasn t been lost on residents on the east coast. MSNBC even quizzed Cruz yesterday on the hypocritical nature of his request, but in typical fashion, Cruz just avoided the question. There s time for political sniping later,  he said.  I think our focus needs to be on this crisis and this disaster. Despite Cruz abandoning them in their time of need five years ago, several New York and New Jersey lawmakers have decided to take the high road and support Cruz during his.Despite my TX colleagues refusal to support aid in #SouthJersey time of need, I will support emergency disaster $$ for those impacted  Frank LoBiondo (@RepLoBiondo) August 28, 2017Disasters & emergencies are just that disasters & emergencies. Must stand together as Americans, not be hypocritical based on geography  Frank LoBiondo (@RepLoBiondo) August 28, 2017Ted Cruz & Texas cohorts voted vs NY/NJ aid after Sandy but I'll vote 4 Harvey aid. NY wont abandon Texas. 1 bad turn doesnt deserve another  Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017As lifelong NYer w/ NY values I will vote for emergency Harvey $ for Ted Cruz's constituents. Above all, true Americans must stand together.  Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017Others were also quick to mention that maybe Cruz should also pursue the funding for disaster preparation that he was so opposed to when Sandy hit.texans should hope cruz helps do what he criticized the sandy aid package for doing: get $ for future texas storm prep. he won't, of course.  chris hooks (@cd_hooks) August 28, 2017Featured image via Michael Reynolds   Pool/Getty Images