Here it comes again … the debate over whether the federal government should rush to the aid of stricken Americans without cutting costs in other areas to pay for it.

I cannot believe we’re having this argument.

Moore, Okla., has been torn to pieces by an F5 tornado. The cost in human lives and property is still being calculated from the storm that ripped through Moore on Monday. The suffering has been beyond anything I can imagine. The folks there need Americans’ help.

But now we’re hearing talk that some in Congress might not approve emergency expenditures until lawmakers can offset the cost of the aid with budget cuts. Astoundingly, I understand that Oklahoma’s two Republican U.S. senators, Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe, might be among those who will insist on cuts before allocating the funds for their stricken constituents.

We’ve traveled this road quite a lot in recent times. Hurricane Sandy relief for New York and New Jersey residents was held up for months over this kind of debate. Aid to Joplin, Mo., residents also got delayed in 2011 after a tornado tore through that community.

Fiscal tightwads do make the point that the nation must watch its expenses. I get that. What I fail to grasp, though, is the lack of urgency to help those in dire need.

I’ve always thought Americans were wired to set aside politics when disaster strikes. The tragedy that leveled huge sections of Moore, Okla., in my view, qualifies as one of those events.