Texas’ vow to streamline Harvey recovery and aid backfires

BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — After Hurricane Harvey hammered Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott pledged that the country’s largest conservative state would lead its own recovery, streamlining federal aid to storm victims while avoiding the staggering inefficiencies of earlier Washington-controlled disaster responses.
“A Texas-sized storm requires a Texas-sized response, and that is exactly what the state will provide,” declared Abbott, who has made bashing the feds a centerpiec