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- waive the estate tax for deaths from date of storm through yearend;
- repeal or waive environmental regulations;
- provide other business friendly tax incentives; and
- various other pro-corporate ideas; Heritage and similar right-wing groups want them made permanent.
Watch for similar schemes promoted now. Some already surfaced. The Heritage Foundation criticized a New York Times editorial headlined "A Big Storm Requires Big Government."
It called it "a shameless attempt to politicize" Sandy. The Times grossly exaggerated Obama administration federal disaster aid. New York coastal area residents got little.
Two weeks after Sandy struck, hundreds of thousands lack power, heat, and other public services. Cost-cutting, under-investment, poor infrastructure, and indifference bear responsibility.
One report called Staten Island "the forgotten Borough." Residents say it closer to hell than any of them ever saw. A local firefighter called the island "a dump." An area nurse said people will die from lack of heat and proper shelter.
Another resident asked "where's FEMA or the Red Cross? Down here, it's people helping people." The Times claimed Obama restored FEMA to "working order." Neglected New Yorkers haven't seen it.
Heritage, of course, wants most government functions privatized. Other than major disasters, it wants no federal involvement post-"tornadoes, fires, floods, snowstorms, severe storms," and similar events having "no national impact."
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