House Republicans Show How Mean They Are

Sometimes I wonder if the Republicans in Congress are even capable of feeling shame. Some of their recent actions would make it seem doubtful.

When the 9/11 terrorists attacks occurred in New York City, many people threw caution to the wind and rushed to help save any survivors. Many were first-responders like policemen and firemen, while others were just ordinary citizens stepping forward to help their fellow man. I don't think any of us would deny that these brave people were all heroes -- nobody but Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives that is.

Many of these people have become (and are still becoming) ill due to the toxic fumes and substances at ground zero of the disaster. To take care of the medical expenses for these heroes a bill was introduced in the House that would re-open the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund through the year 2031. It was a good bill and a compassionate one, and it should have been passed.

But the House Republicans made it clear to everyone that the words "compassionate" and "conservative" really don't go together. They showed absolutely no compassion toward these brave 9/11 victims. First they tried to attach some "poison pill" amendments to the bill. Then when Democrats stopped this by requesting a vote on the bill without amendments (which would require a two-thirds majority), the Republicans voted in a bloc to make sure the bill was not approved.

I am shocked by this action by Republicans on a bill that should have had bi-partisan support. They called this a "massive job-killing new entitlement program", even though the program costs would be a drop in the bucket to the huge give-aways they approved for Wall Street and the enormous tax cuts for the rich they want to renew.

Sadly, 20 of those Republican House members voting against this bill were from Texas (including the representative from District 13 here in the Panhandle). These mean-spirited Texas Republicans are:

TX-1 Gohmert, Louis [R]
TX-2 Poe, Ted [R]
TX-3 Johnson, Samuel [R]
TX-4 Hall, Ralph [R]
TX-5 Hensarling, Jeb [R]
TX-6 Barton, Joe [R]
TX-7 Culberson, John [R]
TX-8 Brady, Kevin [R]
TX-10 McCaul, Michael [R]
TX-11 Conaway, K. [R]
TX-12 Granger, Kay [R]
TX-13 Thornberry, William [R]
TX-14 Paul, Ronald [R]
TX-19 Neugebauer, Randy [R]
TX-21 Smith, Lamar [R]
TX-22 Olson, Pete [R]
TX-24 Marchant, Kenny [R]
TX-26 Burgess, Michael [R]
TX-31 Carter, John [R]
TX-32 Sessions, Peter [R]

To see the complete list of the House members who voted against the bill, you can go to Crooks and Liars (and there are even a couple of Democrats on the list). They should all be ashamed of themselves. Let them all know what you think of their actions in November.