So now it's official. Republicans in the House of Representatives can't chew gum and walk at the same time. Either that, or they are deliberately playing partisan politics with human suffering. Or both. Anyone with the slightest bit of sense knows they didn't want to sign off on a bill to avert the "fiscal cliff" that contained no spending cuts.
Yet they did, and 86 of their number sided with Democrats. No sooner was the vote done, however, than the House adjourned without even considering a bill aimed at helping the thousands of victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Ironically, some of the harshest language used in condemning these cowards come from members of their own flock. That would be Rep. Peter King, whose district was particularly hard hit by the hurricane, as well as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. As soon as these eyes read the news, the first instinct was to utter an expletive followed by the word "payback".
Could it be payback to those New York Area GOP legislators who sided with the majority on the fiscal cliff bill? Might it be the House Republican leadership is paying Christie back for the kind words he said about President Obama after the storm? Needless to say, none of these cowards would have the guts to admit that's what they did by forcing the Sandy Bill to be taken up by the new Congress.
This wasn't just a slap in the face to lawmakers, or the thousands of people still trying to put their lives back together after losing everything. It's also an affront to the countless number of people who reached out to help those same victims of the hurricane. They don't want money for themselves, they never did. What they did want was to see those they were helping get their lives back to some semblance of normalcy.
The penny pinching petulance of House Republican leadership has made the hope a little bit further away.
For shame!!
Update!!!! They do have some shame Boehner now says he'll bring the bill up in two stages this week. This of course, after a barrage of criticism. Still, as one person I've admired for a long time once said, "Do it once. Do it right. Then move forward".
