Dear Commons Community,

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been making the talk show rounds pointing out that during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Senator Ted Cruz and others in the Texas delegation voted against a federal aid package.  Ted Cruz has been saying that he voted against the measure because it contained a lot of items unrelated to the storm and has attacked Christie personally. According to the Veuer news feed:  

“Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday slammed what New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had to say about the 2012 Hurricane Sandy aid package on FOX News’ Fox and Friends.

“I’m sorry that there are politicians who seem really desperate to get their names in the news and are saying whatever they need to do that,” the Texas lawmaker said.

Cruz was responding to Christie telling MSNBC earlier this week that Cruz and fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn were “playing politics” by voting against the aid package for New York and New Jersey after Sandy.

Cruz had said the bill included wasteful spending that wasn’t related to storm recovery.

A Washington Post fact check found that the Sandy bill was not packed with funds unrelated to the storm, as Cruz had said, and rated the senator’s comment three “Pinocchios” out of a possible four.

“They were all getting ready to do what they wanted to do for 2016. And make themselves seem like the most conservative person,” said the New Jersey governor.

Christie and Cruz’s old beef over Sandy aid is back after Hurricane Harvey hit Cruz’s home state of Texas and has caused damage expected to require massive federal aid.

President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that Harvey will be the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.

It appears that Cruz and company were playing politics during Hurricane Sandy and should be called out on it, however, there are too many people suffering in Texas right now and the federal government should do all it can to provide aid and relief as quickly as possible.

Tony