Senator Pat Toomey Lies Right After His Recent "Town Hall" (His Superstorm Sandy Funding Vote)

First off, let me say that this was a "Town Hall" in name only (a THINO?).

Look at the set-up:

Of the 54 seats in the audience, 24 will be split between Democratic and Republican committees in the Lehigh Valley. The remaining 30 became available to the public at 9 a.m. this past Saturday – and according to DaWayne Cleckley, vice president of marketing at PBS39, they ran out at 9:06 a.m.

So he was guaranteed at least 12 republicans from Lehigh Valley Republican Committee.

You'll remember that before he was Senator, Pat Toomey was a member of the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District - which includes the Lehigh Valley.

So this was very friendly territory for good old Pat.

I am guessing this is by design - keep your friends close and your enemies...on the other side of the studio door so you won't have to answer their questions on live TV.

But we all knew this was going to happen, didn't we?

But let's get to Pat's lie. The AP is reporting this bit of nonsense:

Speaking to reporters afterward, Toomey warned lawmakers against larding any relief bill with spending unrelated to the devastating storm, which dumped about 52 inches (132 centimeters) of rain on part of Texas and caused dozens of deaths. Toomey said that’s why he voted against a Superstorm Sandy aid package in 2013.

“If it becomes a Christmas tree where every member of Congress adds whatever his or her favorite pork barrel spending program, well, then, I’m going to fight that,” he said. “That’s what Sandy became.”

Currently the Texas Republicans, like Senator Ted Cruz, who voted against Sandy funding are now scrambling to explain why they want guv'ment funding now have the same problem as Pat.

This story (that Sandy funding was filled with political pork) simply isn't true:

From the Washington Post fact-checker:

Cruz is repeating a number of myths about the funding for Sandy disaster relief. The vast majority of the spending was for Hurricane Sandy, including elements (such as Smithsonian repairs) that some lawmakers incorrectly believed were unrelated to the storm. The slow rate of projected spending that Cruz had criticized at the time was actually based on how quickly the government had spent funds after previous major storms.

Cruz clearly misspoke about the “two-thirds” being pork. Still, it is wildly incorrect to claim that the bill was “filled with unrelated pork.” The bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters. He earns Three Pinocchios.

In the piece there's also this:

The Congressional Research Service issued a comprehensive report on the provisions, and it’s clear that virtually all of it was related to the damage caused by Sandy. There may have been some pork in an earlier Senate version, but many of those items were removed before final passage. There were also some items that appear to have been misunderstood. [Emphasis added.]

As you can see here. Pat Toomey voted with Ted Cruz against that funding and he's using the same dishonest justification for it.

You lied, Pat. You lied about your Superstorm Sandy funding vote right after your so-called "Town Hall."