They’re getting pretty good at hostage taking, and it worked before. Alex Seitz-Wald reports:
Despite the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene this weekend, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) today stood by his call that no more money be allocated for disaster relief unless it is offset by spending cuts elsewhere. The Washington Post reported this morning that FEMA will need more money than it currently has to deal with the storm’s aftermath and is already diverting funds from other recent disasters to deal with the hurricane, but Cantor’s comments suggest Republicans won’t authorize more funds without a fight….
Cantor referred a bill the Republican-controlled House passed that approves $1 billion in disaster relief, which was financed by a $1.5 billion cut from loan program to encourage the production of fuel-efficient vehicles. But the need in the wake of the hurricane will likely greatly surpass $1 billion, and that spending package was supposed to be used for tornado recovery efforts, for which several hundred million dollars has already been outlayed.
The recent disaster in upstate New York, Vermont, and parts of North Carolina and Massachusetts show just how stupid and irresponsible imposing a de facto gold standard through spending caps is.
People need help, and we are artificially limiting the response due to false currency limitations. The ~$700 million Cantor proposes will only be a small fraction needed to repair the damage.
If the president and the Congressional Democrats don’t call this what it is–morally degenerate hostage taking–then what damn good are they? They need to be partisan, since there is one side trying to be responsible and perform the basic functions of government, while the other (Republicans) is being irresponsible and cruel. If Democrats can’t figure out a way to make this case to the American people, then they aren’t worth our support.
Can we sue for political malpractice?
and it doesn’t have anything to do with the observation that Irene hit state that voted for Obama…
Political malpractice is the only kind of political practice there is.
It’s called an “election.” I’m sure that the good people of Alabama (to name one) will hold the coon in the White House responsible and vote him out.
More than likely they’ll vote against racists. Obama may not be everything we hoped for, but blatant racism is what we all hope against. It’s not a difficult choice, really.
Why dont the republicans just come out and say – disaster relief is not a government function – States, fix your own damage.
Guess Irene didn’t do enough damage in Cantor’s state of Virgina for him to care.
ne kasirgaymis birader