Rep. Cantor, Where are the Jobs? Cantor Avoids Constituents

In an rare appearance in his district, Rep. Cantor was met with more than 200 of his constituents who are angry with their congressman about his inattention to the jobs crisis, his brinkmanship on the debt ceiling deal and his controversial stance on disaster funding.

With no end to the jobs crisis in sight and growing discontent after a debt deal that will lead to further job losses, unemployed workers and community members in Rep. Cantor’s district have grown tired of Rep. Cantor avoiding them by holding seldom public events or town halls.

His constituents took their concerns to him at his private quarterly Citizens Advisory Council meeting in Richmond on Wednesday. The campaign event, while described by Rep. Cantor as a “public event,” required constituents to jump through several hoops to attend. Candace Graham of Chesterfield was able to attend the event in spite of the hurdles.

“I only saw the event listed on the Tea Party website and that’s how I knew it was happening. After signing up for the Advisory Council, you had to know to call his staff so that they put you on the list since no event information was actually sent out,” said Graham. “Our leaders in Washington work for us and we should not have to go to such lengths to be able to ask them a question. I’m surprised there wasn’t someone asking for a secret password when I walked into the building!”

In anticipation of many constituents being turned away at the door, organizers rented a ballroom in the hotel to hold a separate jobs rally. An hour prior to the start of Rep. Cantor’s event, the hotel manager abruptly told the organizers they had two minutes to leave the ballroom. Undeterred, the constituents filled the median across the street from the hotel and chanted “Jobs Now!”

At the impromptu rally outside, unemployed Rep. Cantor constituents shared one story after the next of struggling to find work in the Richmond area.