title:  Ted Cruz Awkwardly Explains Why Texas Should Have Federal Relief Money But Not Victims Of Hurricane Sandy
text: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was against federal aid for natural disasters until he was for it. The Texas Senator voted against Federal funding for victims of Hurricane Sandy, the deadliest and most destructive hurricane in the Atlantic in 2012, but now he wants funds after Hurricane Harvey barreled down on his state. At least 14 people have died after Harvey hit Texas. More than 3,000 people have been rescued as responders work around the clock in devastating conditions.During a press conference on Monday, Cruz said that Trump has pledged  whatever the state needs  for water-soaked Texas. But, just after that presser, Cruz was in the awkward position of having to defend his position to MSNBC s Katy Tur on the 2012 Hurricane Sandy relief package, calling it  filled with unrelated pork. There is time for political sniping later,  Cruz said without one bit of irony or acknowledgement of his hypocrisy. It s not really political sniping, senator,  Tur shot back.  These are people who needed money and who needed funding right after that storm, I covered those people. Many of them, just like those in Houston, lost absolutely everything they owned. Cruz told Tur that hurricane relief is a  vital, central role  of the federal government and should continue to be for a long time. The problem with that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork,  Cruz said. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy,  he continued.  And what I said then and still believe now is that it s not right for politicians to exploit a disaster and people who are hurting to pay for their own political wish list. Disaster relief needs to be focused on the victims of disaster relief, and I supported that for Sandy, disaster relief there, and I would support that anywhere there s a major disaster without getting distracted by political, unnecessary pork spending,  he added.The Washington Post begs to differ with Cruz:The Congressional Research Service issued a comprehensive report on the provisions, and it s clear that virtually all of it was related to the damage caused by Sandy. There may have been some pork in an earlier Senate version, but many of those items were removed before final passage. There were also some items that appear to have been misunderstood.Regardless, Ted Cruz voted against it but now he wants all that delicious disaster relief money for his state. And, Texas should get that money asap. The victims of Sandy should have, too.Image via screen capture. 