Hurricane Irene, Eric Cantor, and the right-wing hostage-taking politics of emergency relief

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Hurricane Irene, currently a Category 3 slamming the Bahamas, is heading directly for the U.S. It is expected to make landfall in North Carolina on Saturday:

Airline flights and events were canceled or postponed in advance of Hurricane Irene, a dangerous storm that is expected to bring widespread damage, power outages and flooding from North Carolina to New England.

A hurricane warning was issued Thursday for coastal North Carolina from Little River Inlet north to the Virginia border, including the Pamlico, Albemarle and Currituck sounds, the National Hurricane Center said. 

At a time like this, of course, it is essential that government emergency services, particularly federal, be ready to help those areas that need relief. Think of the people who will need food and shelter, the infrastructure that will need to be repaired and possibly rebuilt, the devastation that may soon come.

Think back to Katrina. We learned a lot from that catastrophe, did we not?

Well, not all of us.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor didn't -- or at least doesn't care.

Just as Republicans held the country hostage over the debt ceiling ("give us what we want, or else"), Cantor is now doing the same over disaster relief (some of which may be needed in his home state of Virginia, which is in Irene's path). As his spokesperson explained, "Eric has consistently said that additional funds for federal disaster relief ought to be offset with spending cuts."

It's one thing to demand offsets in theory, or even at the negotiating table, quite another to do so with a major hurricane bearing down, with a natural disaster possibly at hand. It would be like if a dying man desperately needed a blood transfusion but you refused to give him any unless he gave you his house and car. (Which is actually how health care works in the U.S., but let's not go there.)

This was Cantor's response to the earthquake that caused significant damage along the east coast, including in Virginia, it's his response to Irene, and it's his response to disaster relief generally. No money unless money is cut elsewhere. In other words: Give us what we want, or else. And you can be sure he won't agree to cuts to military spending. He just wants to cut programs he's ideologically opposed to -- relatively insignificant funding for, say, public broadcasting, or more significant funding for the poor and those who otherwise are vulnerable and need government help, like Social Security and Medicare.

Consider the message he's sending to the people along the east coast, in Irene's path. We'll help you but only if we can also weaken programs that help you. You get some disaster relief, but, otherwise, fuck you. That's what this comes down to. (Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a Republican, has pre-emptively declared a state of emergency. Cantor apparently doesn't give a shit.)

This is cruel and unusual. As Steve Benen provides perspective:

A while back, during a different debate, John Cole noted, "If these guys were comic book villains, no one would buy it because it’s just too over the top." It's a sentiment that comes to mind all the time.

Tom DeLay never went this far. No one has ever gone this far. U.S. officials have always put everything else aside when families and communities are hit and need a hand, but now, thanks to the new House Republican majority, those principles have been cast aside.

*****

We can obviously hope for the best when it comes to Hurricane Irene, but at this point, Republicans are apparently intent on literally adding insult to injury.

"Adding insult" is a nice way to put it. This is ugly ideological extremism operating as insensitivity to suffering, political hostage-taking with lives and livelihoods in the balance.

In 2011, it's the Republican way.

Virginia Senate race in 2012 looking to be very close (again)

By Richard K. Barry

A Washington Post poll came out a few days ago, which would make the 2012 race for the Virginia senate seat about as tight as possible. The presumptive front runners for their parties, George Allen (R) and Tim Kaine (D), find themselves with 46% support each if the election were held today. You will recall that Allen was a senator as well as governor of the state, while Kaine also served as governor and was on President Obama's veep shortlist.

In one of the more interesting races of 2006, Democrat Jim Webb beat Allen, who was at that time the incumbent. Despite Allen's early lead in the polls, Webb closed the gap and won by a mere 49.59% to 49.20% margin (or just 9,329 votes). Most observers have attributed Allen's use of an ethnic slur in reference to a Webb campaign worker as contributing to his loss.

Now Webb has decided that he won't seek reelection, which has thrown things wide open likely making Virginia, once again, one of the most interesting races of 2012.

While Allen's behaviour in the 2006 race may continue to be a problem for him, it has been pointed out that Tim Kaine's close relationship to the Obama White House could be an issue for him especially among independents. Look for the Republicans to be airing ads using the cheerleader motif to describe that relationship. I can almost see the pom poms now.

As The Washington Post points out, Virginia has changed dramatically in recent years, noting that:

Kaine draws support in portions of northern Virginia, which has rapidly gained in population, wealth and clout. Allen, the ex-governor and senator, remains strong in the remainder of the state.

Other details of poll as reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch are that:

• 58 percent of voters approve of the way Kaine handled his job as governor; 55 percent approve of Allen's performance as a U.S. Senator.
• 57 percent of voters have a favourable impression of Kaine; 52 percent of Allen.
• Kaine leads in northern Virginia but trails among independents in the outer suburbs; Allen struggles with female and minority voters.
• Allen is far outpacing his GOP rivals. He had the support of 57 percent of Republicans. Tea Party Candidate Jamie Radke has just 2 percent.
• Kaine would, at this point, also make short work of other Democratic challengers.

As we've commented, it is going to be tough slogging for the Democrats to hold onto the Senate in 2012 as they must defend 23 seats to the Republicans' 10. Virginia would clearly be an essential "keep" if they were to have a chance of doing that.

In the 2008 presidential election, Obama beat McCain in Virginia by a margin of 53% to 47%, but Bush beat Kerry by roughly 54% to 45% in 2004.

Virginia has 11 members of the House. In the 2010 mid-term elections, the Republican picked up 3 seats now holding an 8 to 3 margin over the Dems. In 2008, as a part of the Obama surge, the Democrats took 6 seats to the Republican 5 and prior to that in 2006 the Republican were ahead with an 8 to 3 seat margin.

This one certainly seems to be shaping up to be as close as the polls suggest. Perhaps as much as any place in the country, we'll see what kind of coattails President Obama has.

(Cross-posted to Lippmann's Ghost.)

Yes, Virginia, there is a real Virginia

By J. Thomas Duffy

Uhhh... what did she just say? Miss Teen South Carolina 2007



Oh! ... I'm sorry, I meant to post this video:

McCain advisor on the "real Virginia"



What is with these people?

Is it in the water they drink? ... The air quality at the Dead Campaign Express HQ? ... Are they working from a "How-To-Run-A-Presidential-Campaign-for-Dummies"?

I happened to be watching MSNBC when this interview occurred, and it was a jaw-dropper.

McKKKain flak Nancy Puss'n'Boots actually dismissed Northern Virginia, pointed to the "southern part" as the "real Virginia," and then, when given the opportunity to correct herself, reiterated it!

From Joe Sudbay, over at AMERICAblog:

Here's the transcript:

KEVIN CORKE: Okay. You’re talking about winning this year, but that's going to require that you win states like – well, like Virginia, for example. And as someone who is now in northern Virginia, we're both right here, we get it. Northern Virginia is increasingly strong in the state. They have more political clout. Democrats have won the statehouse; Jim Webb’s surprising victory in the Senate. It would seem to me that there could be a tipping of the balance there. Would you agree with that? And that maybe be – you know, maybe that's where he has to focus his energy now.

NANCY PFOTENHAUER: Well, Kevin, I certainly agree that northern Virginia has gone more Democratic. You know, as a proud resident of Oakton, Virginia, I can tell you that the Democrats have just come in from the District of Columbia and moved into northern Virginia. And that's really what you see there. But the rest of the state, real Virginia, if you will, I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain’s message. And remember that, you know, you’ve got places in other states like northern Wisconsin, the iron range of Minnesota, south-central and southeastern Pennsylvania, the St. Louis suburbs and the rural areas of Missouri that are very responsive to our message. And again we're taking it to them in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. He’s having to fight to defend there, as you can tell because he's deployed people like the Clintons out in Pennsylvania. And every speech Joe Biden gives, he says, “I’m from Scranton.” You don't know what else he's going to say, but he sure gets that line in.

CORKE: Hey Nancy, I’m going to give you a chance to climb back off that ledge. Did you say "real Virginia"?

PFOTENHAUER: I did say outside of north – well, I mean real Virginia, because northern Virginia is where I’ve always been, but real Virginia I take to be the – this part of the state that is more southern in nature, if you will. Northern Virginia is really metro D.C., as you're aware, Kevin.

CORKE: All right. I’m just going to let you -- you’re aware of that one. I’m just saying.

Amazing!

This comes within the 36-48-hour window of The Wasilla Whiz Kid shooting out code at one of her mob rallies, indicating how she likes to travel to the pro-American parts of the country (versus, by implication, those pallin'-with-terrorists, anti-American parts of the country), and, of course, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's "flush'em-out-call-to-arms" of bringing back McCarthyism and purging Congress of those with anti-American thoughts.

Now, we know that Stumblin' Bumblin' Fly Boy has no capacity for pulling up Google, or using a computer, but does it extend to the entire staff?

Being in and/or talking about Virginia?

What happened in Virginia, just short two-years ago?

Here's Lowell, from Raising Kane, if Puss'n'Boots wanted to go to a lifeline:

My god, how stupid can these McCain people be? First, they call Arlington and Alexandria "communist country." Then, Sarah Palin talks about how only the rural, "small town" (like Wasilla?) parts of America are "pro-America." Now, McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfotenhauer channels George Allen's "macaca" moment, when among other things he welcomed S.R. Sidarth - a lifelong resident of Fairfax County - to "America and the real world of Virginia."

And, as Steve Benen points out:

Hmm. Virginia is a key swing state, with 13 electoral votes, and recent polling showing Obama with a modest lead. The state's two most populous counties -- Fairfax and Prince William Counties -- are both in northern Virginia.

And the McCain campaign keeps insulting them.

If there's a clever angle to this strategy, it's hiding well.

They really must be strivin' for that Rovian Utopia, of a 50.1% - 49.9% mandate.

**********

Bonus Nancy Puss'n'Boots Paw-in-Mouth Riffs

ABC News: McCain Adviser Says Northern Virginia Not "Real" Virginia

Think Progress: Pfotenhauer Insults Virginians: ‘Real Virginia’ Is Only Where McCain Is Winning

NPR: Nancy Pfotenhauer: McCain and the Faith Community

Crooks and Liars: Shuster refuses to be spun by Nancy Pfotenhauer




(Cross-posted at The Garlic.)