Congress Cool to Trump's Proposal to End Heating Aid

[IsailedawayfromFR]

The summer air is sizzling as the Fourth of July approaches, yet 86-year-old Richard Perkins already worries about how he's going to stay warm this winter.

President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating heating aid for low-income Americans, claiming it's no longer necessary and rife with fraud. People needn't worry about being left in the cold, he says, because utilities cannot cut off customers in the dead of winter.

But he is wrong on all counts.

The heating program provides a critical lifeline for people like Perkins, and officials close to the program don't see any widespread fraud. Guidelines for winter shutoffs by utilities vary from state to state and don't apply to heating oil, a key energy source in the brittle New England winter.

The summer air is sizzling as the Fourth of July approaches, yet 86-year-old Richard Perkins already worries about how he's going to stay warm this winter.

President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating heating aid for low-income Americans, claiming it's no longer necessary and rife with fraud. People needn't worry about being left in the cold, he says, because utilities cannot cut off customers in the dead of winter.

But he is wrong on all counts.

The heating program provides a critical lifeline for people like Perkins, and officials close to the program don't see any widespread fraud. Guidelines for winter shutoffs by utilities vary from state to state and don't apply to heating oil, a key energy source in the brittle New England winter.


"It's beyond my thinking that anyone could be that cruel," said Perkins, a retired restaurateur who relies on the program to keep warm in Ogunquit, Maine.

The proposal to kill the program, which has distributed $3.4 billion to about 6 million households this fiscal year, will face strong opposition in Congress.

Forty-three senators from mostly cold-weather states already signed a letter urging the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee to ensure funding for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, known in many states by its acronym, LIHEAP (pronounced LY'-heep).

In Maine, the poorest state in New England, the program helped nearly 77,000 people over the past winter, and those numbers represented less than a quarter of eligible households, said Deborah Turcotte of MaineHousing, which helps to run the program.

Perkins is a typical recipient.

His income was fine 10 or 12 years ago when he retired, but gasoline, food and other expenses grew faster than he anticipated. In the winter, he keeps an eye on his oil storage tank, and the local community action agency sends 100 gallons when it gets low.
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/APFN-US-Trump-Heating-Aid/2017/07/02/id/799417/

Now libs are saying Trump wants people to freeze to death.

Time to return the duty of this type of welfare to the states.  Texans do not need to pay in here.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

"officials close to the program don't see any widespread fraud"

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

@IsailedawayfromFR BTW, link?

[IsailedawayfromFR]

forgot it.  I modified post. sorry

[Applewood]

This is charity, and as we all know, government doesn't do charity very well. Put this into the hands of real charities which know how to manage resources and give you those truly in need.

[corbe]

   They will at least be able to say 'Merry Christmas' as they freeze their a$$ off in the dark. 

    Irony, not everyone gets it.



Trump brings up the war on Christmas — in July
By Amy B Wang 
July 2 at 12:27 PM    

The war on Christmas came early this year.

That is, according to President Trump, who devoted a large portion of his speech at a Celebrate Freedom event at the Kennedy Center on Saturday to railing against those who might try to shy away from overt references to Christianity in American discourse.

“Our religious liberty is enshrined in the very first amendment in the Bill of Rights. The American founders invoked our Creator four times in the Declaration of Independence,” Trump said. “Benjamin Franklin reminded his colleague at the Constitutional Convention to begin by bowing their heads in prayer. I remind you that we’re going to start staying ‘Merry Christmas’ again.”

Though the rally was meant to honor military veterans, Trump opened his speech by attacking the media and boasting of his election win.

“The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House,” he said, “but I’m president and they’re not.”

He then declared that he would fight any “bureaucrats” who “think they can run over your lives, overrule your values, meddle in your faith and tell you how to live, what to say and where to pray.” The mostly evangelical Christian crowd at the event — which was sponsored by the First Baptist Dallas megachurch and Salem Media Group — responded to Trump’s remarks with resounding applause.

“Politicians have tried — oh, have they tried — to centralize authority among the hands of a small few in our nation’s capital,” Trump said. “I see them all the time … But we know that parents, not bureaucrats, know best how to raise their children and create a thriving society. And we know that families and churches, not government officials, know best how to create a strong and loving community.”


After a pause, he added: “And, above all else, we know this: In America, we don’t worship government. We worship God.”

As cheers broke out after that line, Trump nodded his head and mouthed: “Thank you.” He then pumped his right fist as the crowd began chanting: “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

<..snip..>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/07/02/trump-brings-up-the-war-on-christmas-in-july/?utm_term=.afabb9880c5a

[Emjay]

"officials close to the program don't see any widespread fraud"

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

@IsailedawayfromFR BTW, link?

That sounds like a bunch of bovine excrement.  I never heard anything about this.