House Majority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)
(CNSNews.com) - House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is among the "munchkin" Republicans who are afraid of alienating women by opposing reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, conservative talk-radio host Mark Levin said Wednesday night.
Levin blasted Cantor for "going to war" with conservatives by pressing them to support the Democrats' version of the bill.
""Mr.Cantor, I hate to tell you this: We're already in political war with you," Levin said.
"I mean Eric Cantor is the number-two Republican in the House," Levin said. "He's the majority leader because we, the conservatives, made him the majority leader. We gave them the House of Representatives. Now he's passing a piece of ultra left-wing trash, dressed up as a violence against women law, which is a disaster, and threatening conservatives who want to kill it."
"We are not fooled by the title on this law," Levin said. "We are not fooled that aspects of it are unconstitutional and were ruled unconstitutional in the year 2000. And we are not fooled by the breadth of this law, which includes people who are not women, which confers jurisdiction in some cases to Indian tribes, which expands immigration for more illegal immigrants; and which has such ambiguous and vague language as 'emotional distress' or 'using unpleasant speech.'
Levin noted that the Violence Against Women Act is also the violence against men act, because it extends protections to homosexuals.
"You better keep that in mind. Because Eric Cantor is going to war with us. Mr.Cantor, I hate to tell you this: We're already in political war with you."
The National Review Online reported that Cantor, in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, warned Republicans that blocking the Senate-passed Violence Against Women Act would cause "civil war" in the Republican ranks.
Conservatives object to provisions in the Senate-passed, Democrat-sponsored bill that would strip constitutional rights from Americans prosecuted by Indian tribes for alleged acts of domestic violence.
As CNSNews.com reported, the problematic language in the Senate bill grants Indian tribes "inherent power" in domestic violence cases "over all persons"--including Americans who are not members of the tribe.
Levin said the federal government has no business getting involved in matters that fall to the state.
On Thursday, the Republican-led House is expected to first reject its own version of VAWA, which weakens Senate provisions giving Indian courts jurisdiction to try non-Indians accused of domestic violence on tribal lands.
After rejecting the Republican bill, the House, at Cantor's urging, is then expected to vote on the bill that passed the Senate 78-22, with every Democrat, every female senator, and 23 out of 45 Republicans supporting it.
On Wednesday, despite Republican grumbling, the House voted 414-9 to take up the bill on Thursday. The nine Republicans voting against consideration were Reps. Steve King (Iowa), Paul Broun (Georgia), Scott Garrett (N.J.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), Tim Huelskamp (Kansas), Walter Jones (N.C.),. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), and Matt Salmon (Ariz.).