In the wake of the catastrophic tornado that tore through Joplin, Missouri, the likes of which has not been seen in the 61 years since record-keeping began, areas that have been affected are in desperate need of disaster relief. You would think the party that so vehemently claims the title of “pro-life” would be first in line to assist those lucky enough to survive. Instead the pro-lifers have predictably unmasked themselves as the heartless scoundrels they are. In an effort to force further spending cuts, the GOP has stooped to a disturbing new low:
Virginia U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor said Tuesday that any spending costs associated with federal disaster funding for Joplin, Missouri, tornado victims must be offset with spending cuts.
The Virginia Republican said “if there is support for a supplemental, it would be accompanied by support for having pay-fors to that supplemental.”
The House Republican leader is the first to push for spending cuts related to the disaster that has already claimed over 100 lives. Democrats slammed the Republican leader, saying it amounted to “ransom.
Cantor and his ilk are attempting to hold disaster relief ransom to enact more of their failed economic agenda. Just when you think the GOP has hit rock bottom, like when they try to privatize Medicare or allow guns in bars or loosen child labor laws, they pop out of nowhere with another repulsive proposal. I wonder what cruel, vomit-inducing legislation they will surprise us with next.
Things are coming to a head- there’s bound to be a civil war between the Democrats and the Republicans, like North and South in 1860. Yippie! Cant wait.
The Repugnants are going down. The Dems just won a House seat in a very conservative section in New York State.
Yes….the Republican Party is nothing short of criminal…but as a lifelong Democrat, as one of the blindsided multitude that fell hook, line and sinker for the illusion of the Obama Brand, we can’t keep on ‘keeping on’.
We blamed the minority Right for blocking Progression….now we blame the House majority Right for promoting Regression.
Until we accept the fact, and face the music that the SPINELESS Democratic Party is EQUALLY responsible simply for acquiescing and kowtowing to the COMMON AGENDA of CORPORATE interest…and promote change accordingly…America is a done deal.
Any article that accentuates either Republican or Democrat is blatantly illusory.
They ARE….one in the same.
Our own big mistake as a people is looking to the politicians for guidance and for solutions to what ails the county. We must find these things in ourselves. By its very structure the Constitution assumes that politicians are self serving and not to be trusted with their power. In the main, they are to be regarded as a necessary evil . We should create a democracy that is true and fair and independent of the influence of corrupt politicians. This is possible.
If we think such a democracy is impossible, then it’s high time we give up the sham democracy we have and admit that a nation of, by and for the people cannot long endure.
A world-weary body here. I’ve, at times, lived in europe, Africa, Central America, and Asia. I remember always being tiold that it would take time to get acclimated to these various locations. I’d say 24-48 hours was all that was required. I’ve now been essentially back in the U.S. for over 30 years and still haven’t been ‘reacclimated’. Can’t seem to find a way to justify the viciousness in this, our homeland. 30 years and each gets worse. We are so close to being the bottom of the world’s trash heap, in terms of human value, I can’t even say the Pledge of Allegiance without have my stomach church with guilt.
I share your pain, Frank.
I hardly find this “rock bottom” or “more vicious that previously imagined” for the practices of the GOP. Natural and man-made disasters have long been regarded as opportunities for exploitation. Resort hotels now line the beaches of villages destroyed in the Indonesian tsunami. The dismantling of civil rights and the U.S. constitution were the rewards the GOP exploited from 9/11. The entire corporate hegemony relies on the availability of expendable people and their desperation as fuel for its engines. Joplin is hardly an unmasking or new low for this group of power mongers – tame, in fact, for what they do on a routine basis. Recommend Naomi Klein’s ‘Shock Doctrine’ for any who may think otherwise.
@frank – yes, I gave up on ‘acclimation’ from my years spent in West and Central Africa some 40 years ago. “Repatriation” never happened when I returned to the states. Villages in the middle of jungles far from all contact with the “outside world” are more socially advanced that the most decent of western societies.
Please don’t call these people “pro-life.” There are actual people who are truly consistently pro-life, who oppose the shift of resources from the vulnerable to the wealthy, oppose the death penalty, oppose the senseless killing in our wars, oppose 45,000 dying per year for lack of medical care AND oppose killing unborn children through abortion. There is nothing pro-life about what the Republicans are doing and there is nothing progressive about the destruction of human life at any stage. To learn more, please google “consistent life,” “democrats for life” and/or “feminists for life.”
I am a voter who wants major change from the detrciion of increased size and scope of government under the Obama administration (and also the Bush administration both administrations increased the size and power of the federal government).But I’m not satisfied with the GOP’s pledge to America. Why?I strongly support minimal government and fiscal conservatism, but I also I care very deeply about environmental issues I think sustainability is the #1 challenge facing America right now. I also think sustainability and our economic woes go hand in hand. We are in the hole economically because we have been living unsustainably. The ballooning national debt is probably the biggest example of unsustainable living it’s borrowing from future generations the same way polluting the environment is borrowing from future generations.The GOP’s pledge to America does not even mention sustainability or the environment. I do not understand why the GOP and conservatives in American cannot band together with the goal of protecting the environment? Why let democrats and liberals own this issue?I explained in a recent blog post that I think that there are just as many (if not more) ways to approach sustainability from a conservative perspective.Where does this leave me? Is there anyone I can vote for? I’m forced to support a fringe, third-party candidate who probably has next to no chance of winning. That’s why I’m trying to get the debate going among conservatives and liberals liberals need to address the fiscal conservative issue, and conservatives need to make a commitment to sustainability. The two go hand in hand!