On Thursday afternoon, Ryan finally allowed Congress to vote on an amendment by Rodney Frelinghuysen to concur with the Senate on funding aid to hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico, something Trump, a lifelong anti-Puerto Rican racist, has been very sketchy on. The amendment passed by an overwhelming 353-69, all 189 Democrats voting YES, joined by 164 Republicans. The only NO votes were from 69 GOP crackpots-- lunatics and anarchists like Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows (R-NC), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Dave Brat (R-VA), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rod Blum (R-IA), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Sean Duffy (R-WI), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Jody Hice (R-GA), Mark Walker (R-NC) and Virginia Foxx (R-NC).Virtually none these purveyors of anomie have serious reelection challenges. The DCCC isn't taking any of them on. But in North Carolina, a school teacher and progressive Berniecrat, Jenny Marshall is running to represent the northern North Carolina district where hate-monger Virginia Foxx has her base. This isn't an easy district. Obama lost it both times with just over 40% of the vote. And last year, Trump crushed Hillary there, 57.4% to 39.8%. Still, a slightly redrawn district that added over 30,000 Democratic voters has made it slightly less unfriendly to Democrats-- or at least to Democrats running on populist ideas geared towards working families-- the perfect description of Jenny Marshall.Earlier this week, Frank Schaeffer visited Winston-Salem in Fosythe County, North Carolina to get the lay of the land in the 5th district and interview Jenny. He came away with glowing reviews of the district and the candidate. Take a look at the short film he posted Thursday:We reached out to Jenny this morning to ask her what she thought about Foxx breaking ranks with the House Republicans vote against aid to the victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. She told us that "Foxx stands on the idea of fiscal responsibility, but how responsible is it to let our citizens languish or die when help is just a breath away? We have the resources to help, but some in Congress, like Foxx, turned a blind eye to the dire needs of our people. It is simply unconscionable and we deserve better from those who seek to represent us." And she concluded by talking about the hurricane victims specifically"
It honestly doesn't surprise me to find Rep. Foxx voted no to hurricane disaster relief for Puerto Rico. She has repeatedly voted to deny relief to the hardest hit areas after disasters such as Katrina, Harvey, and now the combined tragedy of Maria and Irma. With lives at risk, all of our members of Congress should act to protect and provide assistance to our fellow Americans. Sadly, Rep. Foxx chooses to hold the purse strings tight and ignore the cries of her fellow citizens. She must be voted out in November and I am working hard everyday to make that a reality.
Please consider giving Jenny's campaign a hand here on our Blue America ActBlue page. She's a regular middle class working woman and self-funding a campaign isn't in the cards. And she's in one of those districts where there aren't many rich campaign donors and the donors who are rich, tend to be Republicans.