Groups Call on Cantor to Support the American Jobs Act
WASHINGTON- This morning Rep. Eric Cantor criticized the Occupy Wall Street protesters by calling them “growing mobs,” and stated that he is “concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and other cities across our country.”
Now, several Virginia groups with members in Rep. Cantor’s district are calling on the House Majority Leader to leave the Occupy Wall Street protesters alone and work on addressing the serious job crisis facing the nation.
“Every now and then people have to take to the streets and remind our leaders that we have had enough. Occupy Wall Street is not a mob. It’s the American way to protest and we have a right to do so. The protesters are just doing the same thing black folks did in the 1960s. The Wall Street protests are just the tip of the iceberg,” said ReverendJ. Rayfield VinesJr., NAACP PresidentforVirginia'sStateConference. “America is going to explode if we don’t address the crisis. People are hurting everywhere and they’re tired of politicians like Rep. Cantor grandstanding and refusing solutions like the American Jobs Act. This is just another version of what happened in the 1960s. Occupy Wall Street is a proper and legitimate movement and Cantor needs to open his eyes and see what is going on in America.”
“Rep. Cantor’s disapproval of the Occupy Wall Street protests speaks volumes about exactly who he is representing in Washington. The protesters are asking that big banks and Wall Street be held accountable and that we get corporate money out of our elections. Even Ben Bernanke understands why people have risen up in anger about the mess created by greedy, unregulated financial institutions. Cantor’s comments belie that he is in Washington to serve the corporations and not the other 99 percent who’ve had enough,” said Janice "Jay" Johnson, board member of Virginia Organizing.
“Why is Rep. Cantor attacking the Wall Street protesters instead of working hard to address the jobs crisis? Rep. Cantor made it clear that there were ways he could work together with the President to pass the American Jobs Act—a bill that would create thousands of good jobs for Virginians. Now he’s flip-flopping. Instead of focusing on the Occupy Wall Street protesters, Rep. Cantor should focus on passing the Jobs Act and putting his constituents back to work,” said Doris Crouse-Mays, Virginia AFL-CIO President.
Virginia Organizing is a statewide grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
