Have They No Shame?

From the NY Times:

In Congress, Storm Relief is Grist For Dispute

Senate democrats introduced measures yesterday to provide relief funds to help recover from hurricane Irene.  Senator Reid's stance:

"I don’t see how we — this great nation we have — can stand on the sidelines while our people are suffering,” said the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid.

Okay, fair enough.  Response from Rep. Eric Cantor:

"I am not for holding up any money,” Mr. Cantor said. “I am not for taking any hostages here. I just think we can act responsibly.

To be fair to Rep. Cantor's point, the article goes on to say:

Mr. Cantor complained that in the past “there have been games played with disaster money.” Lawmakers, he said, often provided too little money at the start of a budget year, knowing that Congress would later provide whatever was needed, free of annual spending limits, in the event of a catastrophe.

Ok, I can see that.  You don't want to take advantage of a situation in order to push through a spending agenda... unless you're Eric Cantor from the debt ceiling debate this summer.

I guess the word "responsibly" is a nuanced creature.  It could mean not spending money you don't have, but it could also mean not taking the country's credit rating hostage during a world wide financial crisis.  It could mean not spending money you don't have, or it could mean not slashing necessary expenditures in order to cover massive devastation just because balanced budget blinders seem to sexually arouse tea-party members, or it could mean working with President Obama to get this country going again economically rather than opposing all efforts just to sway the 2012 election.

The truth of the matter is we are still shamefully behind on Katrina repairs, and while I can understand the fear of something becoming a runaway cost, national disasters are one of those things where you just have to roll up your sleeves and get it done.  Throwing up your hands in defeat really isn't an option under certain circumstances just because an arbitrary FEMA number has been hit.

And let's talk about that out-of-control number of seven billion dollars to respond to and recover from national-level disasters.  Back in the day, the Congressional Budget Office predicted our Iraqi ventures would cost about $9 billion a month during the war, and between $1 billion and $4 billion a month during subsequent occupation.  Cantor ponied up for that with a Yea vote.

The Iraq War seemed like the motherlode of open-ended costs.  If there was ever something that fit Cantor's "lawmakers providing too little money at the start of the year knowing that Congress will provide whatever is needed" litmus test, it would be the Iraq War.  But Cantor felt compelled to go along with that expenditure, but now balks at the comparatively inconsequential $7 billion to repair damages domestically.  So international war-mongering is okay, but repairing destroyed infrastructure and aiding US citizens is irresponsible.

Begs the question... why does Rep. Eric Cantor hate America?  And babies?  And Freedom?

Dammit, Rep. Cantor seems to have avoided being photographed eating phallic food. so no go on an image.