While the nonsense continues on the fiscal slope, which increasingly looks like something the nation will have to weather, the Senate has been working on an appropriation for states suffering from the disaster caused by Hurricane Sandy. The parallel has to be understood: in one part of Washington, they’re trying to put in a deficit deal to replace politically driven forced austerity, and in another part, they’re trying to respond to a national emergency the way the federal government must in these cases, by spending money. Look at these two things together and you’ll understand a lot about Washington – the compartmentalization, the forced blindness, the lack of knowledge about the economy, everything.

And both sides of the Senate are taking up their predictable positions in the matter. Specifically, Senate Republicans want to nickel and dime disaster relief victims.

Late on Friday, the Administration made a $60.4 billion supplemental appropriation request for dealing with the effects of Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast. The request went directly to House Speaker John Boehner. The total is actually a bit higher than estimated. This is a rough sketch of what the Administration plans to use the funds for.

Joining New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie revised his estimate upward in asking for disaster relief funds to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, seeking $36.8 billion.

It remains a longshot, which is really stunning.

Chris Christie thought it a proud moment to claim, two weeks after Hurricane Sandy, that all power would be restored in the state of New Jersey. The public suffering most from the effects of the storm has not been amused by the boasts and exhortations of politicians.

The New York/New Jersey cleanup from Hurricane Sandy has been decent in areas, but the response in Staten Island is being harshly criticized by local residents. Nineteen people are dead and 80,000 still without power.

Whatever the failings of political leadership on both sides of the aisle, there’s still a residual belief in the validity of government on the Democratic side that simply does not exist on the Republican side. In times like this, where the effects of FIRE sector lobbying doesn’t come into play, you see that difference in the proper role of government shine through. In order for this to become definitive, however, all government programs have to show the same diligence and dedication. One program like HAMP can wipe out years of proper actions in organizations like FEMA.

By now you’ve probably heard about or seen the consequences of Frankenstorm Sandy, especially along the Jersey Shore and in the five boroughs of the New York City metropolitan area. The evacuation of NYU Hospital. The flooding of the New York City subway system. The shutdown of the New York Stock Exchange on consecutive days due to weather for the first time since 1888. The transformer explosion on 14th Street which cut power to most of Manhattan below 39th Street. The evacuations in Bergen County after a levee broke. The alert at the nation’s oldest nuclear plant. The 16 inches of snow in West Virginia. The 7.5 million people without power.

The Romney campaign responded to Ryan Grim, who dug this up, by saying that “Gov. Romney wants to ensure states, who are the first responders and are in the best position to aid impacted individuals and communities, have the resources and assistance they need to cope with natural disasters.” But that requires a federal response, or else you have the death spiral I previously described, where emergency response must get paid for by taking money out of other areas of the state budget. That’s if primary Romney doesn’t get his greatest wish, to privatize disaster response.

As many as 50 million Americans living in the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington are bracing for the Frankenstorm, the combination of Hurricane Sandy, high tide and a nor’easter, which is likely to create storm surges of up to 11 feet in places that do not normally contend with them. Manhattan, for example. Or Atlantic City. Or Long Island’s south shore. Or Long Island’s NORTH shore, simultaneously. The National Hurricane Center describes it as a “life-threatening” storm surge. The shallowness of the water near the coast will make the storm surge higher, especially in and around the New York Harbor area.

The President spoke about an hour ago about the preparations for Hurricane Isaac (it has now graduated to hurricane force), asking residents to listen to their local officials and follow calls for evacuation should they arise. President Obama also signed a state of emergency declaration for Louisiana, which makes federal funding available for emergency efforts to deal with the storm. This isn’t good enough for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who wants more emergency federal funding now.