(Photo: Getty)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously declined to slam House Speaker John Boehner over Congress' stalled Hurricane Sandy aid, took his argument to the next level this morning and suggested federal lawmakers are partially to blame for the delay in the vote on the package because they insert "things that are totally extraneous" into bills such as this. Although Mr. Bloomberg didn't specify the extraneous problem items, the legislation has been criticized by Republicans like Rep. Paul Ryan for being “packed with funding for unrelated items, such as commercial fisheries in American Samoa and roof repair of museums in Washington, D.C.”

"There's this 'Christmas Tree effect' where legislators put in their favorite bills and tack them onto something. The [Obama] administration does that, that's why you have an omnibus bill--to force everybody to vote for things that would never stand up in the light of day if they were individual," Mr. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show with John Gambling. “I'm sympathetic. Yelling and screaming at [Mr. Boehner] is just not my style. It may be effective, it may not be. Everybody's got to make their own decisions. I think the legislative leaders who criticize and those in the Legislature should stop and think, they do exactly the same thing in terms of ladling on things that are totally extraneous but it's the only way they get them through."

Mr. Bloomberg's relatively subdued stance places him at odds with the overwhelming majority of the politicians in the New York region in recent days, with one exception in the form of Councilman Dan Halloran. But while name-checking several politicians, including Governors Andrew Cuomo and Christie Christie, as well as Congressman Pete King, who "worked hard" on the bill but have subsequently vented loudly at Mr. Boehner, Mr. Bloomberg reiterated that it's simply not his "style."

The mayor further expressed optimism that the bill would get done, as well as an understanding for why Mr. Boehner decided not to hold a vote on it earlier this week.

"Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader Cantor I've talked to thousands and thousands--it seems like thousands and thousands--of times, both assure me that the bills will come up. We believe there are the votes there to pass it," he said. "It'll have to go back to the Senate but the votes are there to pass it. It'll come a few weeks later than I would have liked. But, you know, it's easy to go criticize the guy. Running a legislature, as anyone that's ever done it will tell you, it is not easy....It's herding cats. They just passed a big tax bill with a lot of dissension about no spending cuts and I assume that the Speaker thought it was not a good time at that night to bring up a $60 billion bill....All that matters is that we get it done. And I think this will get done."

Dan Halloran (Photo: Wikimedia)

House Speaker John Boehner has been blasted by a slew of local elected officials for delaying the vote on the Hurricane Sandy federal aid package, but at least one politician in New York City appreciates the way he handled the situation. Yesterday, all but two of the sitting City Council members joined Council Speaker Christine Quinn in sending a letter to Mr. Boehner calling his decision to delay the vote "heartless and unfair." However, Councilman Dan Halloran did not sign on and instead sent a letter of his own to Mr. Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in which he expressed his appreciation that the House delayed the Sandy package that was approved by the Senate because it contained too much unrelated pork and his desire for Congress to pass a more "responsible" bill than the one currently on the table.

"As a fiscal conservative and a hawk on reckless government spending, I appreciate the House's desire to create a responsible bill that will provide the necessary aide [sic]  to the affected areas," Mr. Halloran wrote. "The federal government must act immediately to pass a bill that will address these storm related costs without creating a slush fund of pet projects around the country and around the world."

In his letter, Mr. Halloran listed some of the elements of the Sandy aid bill that was approved by the Senate that he finds unnecessary.

"The United States Senate passed a bill that would have provided some of the much needed money, but it also provided funds for overseas embassies, new federal vehicles, last year's tsunami in Japan, improvements to the Kennedy Space Center and fisheries in places as far from the east coast as Alaska," explained Mr. Halloran.

Mr. Halloran's letter to Mr. Boehner was identical to the one he sent Mr. Reid.

The letter from the other Council members to Mr. Boehner described his delay of the vote on the Sandy bill as a "disgrace:"

"Like many Americans, we are outraged and disappointed that the U.S. House of Representatives left the current session without appropriating the $60.4 billion in emergency spending for victims of Hurricane Sandy. There was support for this package on both sides of the aisle, and it’s a disgrace that the funding was neither allocated nor even voted on by the House. Congress must make this their first priority and vote on it immediately when they return to Washington."

Mr. Boehner has vowed to hold a vote on a Sandy aid package by January 15.

Mr. Halloran is not the only Council member who didn't sign the letter to Mr. Boehner. Councilman Erik Dilan was not included among the initial signatories, but his office told Politicker he was out of town and has since signed on. Councilman Charles Barron also did not sign the letter. We reached out to Mr. Barron to see whether he intends to eventually sign or objects to its contents but, as of this writing, we have not received a response.

View Mr. Halloran's letter to Mr. Boehner and the one sent by the other Council members below.