This is something that Congress should have done all along; separate the flood insurance from the rest of this pork-laden package. Wall Street Journal: Friday's vote was the first of two anticipated votes, with a much larger appropriation of $51 billion coming up for consideration Jan. 15. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who blasted the leaders of his own party in the House when they failed to vote on an aid bill earlier this week, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, issued a joint plea for Congress to pass both parts of the aid package. "While we are pleased with this progress, today was just a down payment and it is now time to go even further and pass the final and more complete, clean disaster aid bill," the governors said in their statement. "We are trusting Congress to act accordingly on January 15th and pass the final $51 billion instrumental for long-term rebuilding in order for New Jersey, New York and our people to recover after the severe...(Read Full Post)