1.9 Million American Transportation Workers Are Being Held Hostage By Republicans

At the end of this month – critical funding that keeps Americans on the job rebuilding our highways and infrastructure runs out – threatening to put two million Americans out of work. In a 74-22 vote, the Senate, with support on both sides of the aisle, already passed legislation to keep the funding in place and thus keep those people employed. But House Republicans, reportedly led by Eric Cantor, are refusing to vote on the Senate bill, unless it also includes immediate approval of the Keystone XL pipeline. This is not the first time Republicans have held American workers hostage on behalf of their oil baron campaign contributors – they did the same thing back in March. And this latest hostage scenario plays into the Republicans' larger strategy of sabotaging the economy to hurt President Obama in November. The thought of 1.9 million Americans put out of work may be tragic to most of us – but for the Republicans, it's an opportunity to worsen the economy and blame Obama for it.