Hurricanes, flooding and the stingy GOP

To the editor:

Kudos to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on his "support" of hundreds of thousands of his fellow citizens, who suffered devastating losses from the recent hurricane and flooding in states ranging from the Carolinas to New England.

With FEMA running out of funds, Mr. Cantor's support for federal assistance is dependent on cutting budgets elsewhere -- i.e., the Environmental Protection Agency, National Labor Relations Board and, of course, Medicare and Social Security to name a few.

I wonder how many of Rep. Cantor's loyalist tea partiers and Republicans who may have lost their homes and possibly loved ones to this devastation share in his apparent willingness to withhold government funding. After all, they know the federal government is totally unnecessary when it comes to financial aid to the most vulnerable, or for repairing roadways, dams, electrical grids, airports, and the list goes on.

It seems all they are really interested in is seeing President Obama take the blame for the poor economy -- and now for natural disasters.

Because most budget cuts cost jobs, I feel Rep. Cantor's zeal is misplaced. Maybe he should offer to turn over all or part of his salary, benefits and campaign donations to reducing the budget and/or providing aid to the impoverished in this country. He might also like to show his patriotism by encouraging his colleagues to do the same.

That would be something he could truly be proud of.

DIANE KREMSER

LAS VEGAS

Obama advice

To the editor:

I strongly believe that President Obama, if he continues taking our great nation down the path to socialism, will not be re-elected to a second term as president. His obsession to be re-elected is very evident by the actions he has taken in his 33 months as president.

A couple of suggestions to Mr. Obama if he wants to be a shoe-in come the 2012 election:

1. Quickly repeal ObamaCare.

2. Tell the environmentalists to just go away and immediately authorize the exploration and drilling for oil and gas in those areas deemed critical by the environmentalists. Our economy, by taking this one step, would respond with such zeal it would make the liberals' heads spin.

3. Renounce those whose goal is to turn our nation into a socialistic state. Emphasize the need to retain the form of government our nation was founded on.

These are just a few steps Mr. Obama could take to win come November 2012.

Mr. President, what is your choice?

CLARENCE LANZRATH

LAS VEGAS