DCCC sets sights on Cantor for ‘hypocrisy’

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) fired away at House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Monday for what they said was hypocrisy in his vote against President Obama’s stimulus package.

Cantor’s support for stimulus funds for a high-speed rail in contradicts his orchestrating the House GOP’s unanimous opposition to the $787 billion bill, the DCCC said.

Earlier Monday, Cantor said he doesn’t see “any inconsistency” in that position on a conference call with reporters.

The DCCC’s “hypocrisy” charge has been one of its go-to tactics since the stimulus passed. Following the vote in February, the committee sent out numerous releases slamming House Republicans for touting funding from the bill that is going to their districts despite voting against it.

Republicans contend that there is nothing wrong with supporting individual projects in a spending bill but, ultimately, voting against it because it wastes too much money.

Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for Cantor, turned the fire back on the DCCC and whether the stimulus bill has been effective in light of unemployment continuing to rise.

“The DCCC is rightly embarrassed that not a single Democrat bothered to read the bill before casting their vote to spend $787 billion on ‘stimulus’ that has failed to create jobs and is even viewed by Majority Leader [Steny] Hoyer (D-Md.) as a disappointment,” Dayspring said.

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com