Tell Cantor: "Don't hold emergency aid hostage"

(Update:  It's kind of mind blowing that we still have to push this action, but Eric Cantor has STILL not fully backed off his threat.  The Senate has now passed an emergency aid bill, but House GOP leaders -- most notably Cantor -- have still not said whether they'd support it.  Keep up the pressure!)

Eric Cantor - have you no shame at all?  No sense of decency?  No awareness of what is right? 

Throughout our nation's history, a simple rule has applied when it comes to natural disasters:  help your fellow Americans, and do what is needed to help them get back on their feet. 

Thus, it's frankly appalling that Representative Eric Cantor is threatening to hold disaster relief funds hostage to his partisan pettiness. He is demanding immediate cuts to offset spending, even though it is spending necessitated by a natural disaster of historic proportions -- a hurricane hit his very own district:

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. (source)

Representative Cantor made no such demand for cuts when he was cheerleading huge tax breaks for the wealthy, or subsidies for oil companies. But for some reason, he has chosen to draw his line in the sand now, at a time when tens of millions of Americans are in danger.  He is basically telling them to "drop dead." 

Enough is enough.  Tell Eric Cantor to back off, to cut the dangerous partisan pettiness, and to let this urgently needed spending move forward. 

And spread the word.  Maybe with enough shaming, and enough of a backlash, Cantor will do the right thing -- or at least, the politically expedient thing.

(Video below: Hit "refresh" if it doesn't show up initially) 

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