Virginia governor splits with Cantor on disaster relief

Gov. Bob McDonnell (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Via Think Progress, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has another problem (besides his record) in his insistence that disaster relief funding has to be offset by other cuts.

Now his governor, and fellow Republican, has publicly split with him over the issue.

Virginia GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell, breaking with Cantor, on Tuesday suggested that deficit-spending concerns should not be a factor as Congress and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) respond to the hurricane.

"My concern is that we help people in need," McDonnell said during his monthly radio show. "For the FEMA money that's going to flow, it's up to them on how they get it. I don?t think it's the time to get into that [deficit] debate."

Before Irene hit, McDonnell had requested emergency help from FEMA in 10 districts, including Cantor's. All the requests were granted. Roughly 360,000 people lost electricity in the metro-Richmond area ? the hardest hit region in Virginia, according to local reports.

Ouch. That's quite a dig there, concern that "we help people in need," versus using the natural disaster in the political game that the deficit debate has become.

Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/3krWcJyTJQM/-Virginia-governor-splits-with-Cantor-on-disaster-relief

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