HOW ERIC CANTOR LOST

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Editor-In-Chief 

Roger West

DAVID BRAT DOESN'T BELIEVE IN THE "COMMON GOOD"

TIN FOIL HAT SOCIETY MEMBER DAVID BRAT - LOONEY TUNES TIMES TWO

When tea party challenger David Brat sent Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House majority leader, to the ash heap on Tuesday night, vanquishing the incumbent by more than 10 points in the primary race, the politerati were stunned. Political journalists scrambled to answer a question: who is this guy? The political pros knew that Brat had mounted a campaign largely based on two issues: bashing Cantor on immigration (that is, excoriating the congressman, who was quite hesitant about immigration reform, for not killing the possibility of any immigration legislation) and denouncing Cantor for supporting a debt ceiling deal that averted possible financial crisis. But not much else was widely known about this local professor who dispatched a Washington power broker.

A quick review of his public statements reveals a fellow who is about as tea party as can be. He appears to endorse slashing Social Security payouts to seniors by two-thirds. He wants to dissolve the IRS. And he has called for drastic cuts to education funding, explaining, "My hero Socrates trained in Plato on a rock. How much did that cost? So the greatest minds in history became the greatest minds in history without spending a lot of money."

An economics professor at Randolph-Macon College in central Virginia, Brat frequently has repeated the conservative canard that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae brought down the housing market by handling the vast majority of subprime mortgages. That is, he absolves Big Finance and the banks of responsibility for the financial crisis that triggered the recession, which hammered middle-class and low-income families across the country. (In fact, as the housing bubble grew, Freddie and Fannie shed their subprime holdings, while banks grabbed more.)

In his campaign speeches, Brat has pointed out that he isn't worried about climate change because "rich countries solve their problems":

If you let Americans do their thing, there is no scarcity, right? They said we're going to run out of food 200 years ago, that we're goin' to have a ice age. Now we're heating up…Of course we care for the environment, but we're not mad people. Over time, rich countries solve their problems. We get it right. It's not all perfect, but we get it right.

Update: After Mother Jones published this piece, several videos referenced were set to private.

He did not say what might happen to not-so-rich countries due to climate change and the consequent rise in sea levels, droughts, and extreme weather.

Asked about cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance*, Brat replied that he supported drastic reductions in payouts from social programs for seniors:

I'll give you my general answer. And my general answer is you have to do what's fair. Right. So you put together a graph or a chart and you go out to the American people, you go to the podium, and you say, this is what you put in on average, this is what you get out on average. Currently, seniors are getting about three dollars out of all of the programs for every dollar they put in. So, in general, you've got to go to the American people and just be honest with them and say, "Here's what fairness would look like." Right. So, maybe the next ten years we have to grandfather some folks in, but basically we're going to move them in a direct line toward fairness and we have to live within our means.

He frets about the state of morality in schools and about Beyoncé:

For the first 13 years of your kid's life, we teach them no religion, no philosophy, and no ethics…Who is our great moral teachers these days? Every generation has always had great theologians or philosophers by the century that you can name. Who do we got right now? [Audience: Jay-Z] Right. Right. [Audience: Beyoncé] Right. Beyoncé. When you can't name a serious philosopher, a national name, or a serious theologian, or a serious religious leader, at the national level, your culture's got a major problem. We got a major problem.

Brat railed against Cantor for supporting a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. Brat called this a policy of "amnesty" and accused Cantor of "getting big paychecks" from groups like the Chamber of Commerce for his position:

If I misspoke and said "secretly," he's been pretty out in the open. He's been in favor of the KIDS Act, the DREAM Act, the ENLIST Act [which Cantor blocked in May]…On the amnesty card, it's a matter of motivation. I teach third-world economic development for the past 20 years, I love all people, I went to seminary before I did my economics, and so you look at the motivation. Why is Eric pushing amnesty? It's not a big issue in our district, everyone's opposed to it, and so why is he doing it? And the answer is, 'cause he's got his eye on the speakership. He wants to be speaker, and big business, right? The Business Roundtable and the US Chamber of Commerce wants cheap labor. So he actually is selling out the people in our district. He's not representing the district, the will of the people, and he's getting big paychecks by doing so. So he's very clear on amnesty.

Brat is, not surprisingly, no fan of the United Nations:

"Common-" anything I'm against. United Nations. Common everything. If you say common, by definition you're saying it's top-down. I'm going to force this on you. That's what dictators do.

His view of who deploys a top-down approach, naturally, includes President Barack Obama:

The left does not believe in diversity. They believe in top-down, I'm going to force my way onto you. Obama is forcing un-diversity onto everybody. It's not diversity. It's top down, central planning, on everything.

As Mother Jones's Timothy Murphy noted, Brat, a libertarian but not a full Randian, and he doesn't buy the idea that there's anything dangerous about playing chicken with the debt ceiling. Bring it on, he says.

In November, Brat will face Democrat Jack Trammell, a fellow Randolph-Macon professor, in the general election in this Republican district.


Cross Posted from Mother Jones

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STAFF WRITER

ERIC CANTOR, POMPOUS ASS, IS DONE AS A CONGRESSMAN

But is the alternative any better? Probably not. While I am ecstatic that this pompous ass has been kicked to the curb, is the tin foil hat society member who wants to replace at better path?

Since the news broke, conservatives have been frothing at the mouth, eating their own, infighting over the shocking news that Cantor is to be….no more.

This feat, of dethroning a Majority Whip, it hasn’t happened in over 115 years.

Eric Cantor did not fall asleep at the wheel. He spent around $5 million. He ran lots of TV ads. He knew this was going to be a close one. He campaigned, and yet he still got his ass handed to him.



And here’s the other thing: Cantor was not an enemy of the Tea Party. He was in fact the Tea Party’s guy golden boy in the leadership for much of the Barack Obama era. He carried this vile tea into the speaker’s office, and yet he still got his ass handed to him.

While many will say Cantor’s demise was immigration reform, and while the tin foil hat society member, David Brat ran solely on this platform, this was the tea bagger saying, we are still here and a force to be reckoned with. This was agenda twenty one, anti-science, anti-government statement.



This will be a huge disruption to the narrative of the Republican establishment, which thought it would take control this year. No so fast Mr. NECON.



This win for Mr. Brat has far more reaching effects, as no real conservative shall ever step over the line and compromise with POTUS. The House GOP wasn’t exactly ready to start cutting deals with Obama even with Cantor in the leadership. Now that he’s been beaten by a tin foil hat society member, a true right-winger…no one, not a single Republican in the House will take a chance on anything. The legislative process, already shut down, will only be more so.

For Virginia and the country, this situation is a lose-lose all the way around. Yes, Cantor is a condescending putz, but I fear that this Brat character, could be a continuum of things to come.

Democrats said it was clear Cantor's loss proved the Tea Party had won its battle with establishment Republicans.

"Tonight's result in Virginia settles the debate once and for all — the Tea Party has taken control of the Republican Party. Period," Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement.

"When Eric Cantor, who time and again has blocked common sense legislation to grow the middle class, can't earn the Republican nomination, its clear the GOP has redefined 'far right.' Democrats on the other hand have nominated a mainstream candidate who will proudly represent this district and I look forward to his victory in November."

While the mid-term elections are still a few months away, I am not sure that its time to push the panic button yet.

Only after Cantor conceded did the fun really begin:



So, another instance where we sit back, grab out favorite soda pop, pop some popcorn and watch the circus.

NFTOS

Editor-In-Chief

Roger West

ERIC CANTER HAS A POT AND KETTLE MOMENT

House Majority Leader and tea bagger extraordinaire - Eric Cantor has published a video featuring a 10-year-old child who last year passed away from brain cancer to attack Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and advance a pediatric research bill he’s co-sponsoring.

In the clip, Gabriella Miller quotes Reid’s objections from October to a Republican-backed measure, proposed during the 17-day government shutdown, that would have partially funded the National Institutes of Health but kept the rest of the government shutdown. Cantor posted the clip to promote The “Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act,” a measure that would eliminate $12.5 million in funding from party nominating conventions and authorize the money for pediatric research grants.





Democrats are whipping against the measure, arguing that it is a political ploy that would not appropriate any additional funds to the NIH. Matt Dennis, a spokesman for Appropriations Democrats, told Congressional Quarterly that the bill wouldn't increase funding “by one dime.” “Rather than increasing the amount that can be appropriated to NIH, it merely creates an unnecessary and unfunded authorization — a solution completely irrelevant to the problem,” Dennis said. “It is a cynical attempt by the majority to obscure their shameful record on medical research funding.”

Indeed, Republicans have voted for budgets that would undercut funding for health care re search and cheered the automatic budget reductions that cut 5 percent or $1.55 billion from the NIH’s fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget. Rep. Paul Ryan’s FY 2012 budget would have also reduced N.I.H. funding by 5 percent or “more than $1 billion” and their latest proposal would result in additional reductions.

The American Taliban has also repeatedly criticized Obama for using children to advance a policy agenda. Rep. John Carter said it was offensive for Obama to invite “so many people whose families had been touched by gun violence” to his 2013 State of the Union address, noting “It’s unfortunate that people feel like they have to throw dead children out in peoples’ faces, as if disagreeing on an issue of guns makes you in favor of killing dead children.” In April, Sen. Rand Paul accused President Obama of exploiting Newtown survivors to advance gun safety and in February, House Speaker John Boehner lashed out at Obama, accusing him of using “our military men and women as a prop in yet another campaign rally to support his tax hikes.”

I guess we can assume that Eric Cantor cared so much for this 10-year old girl that he fought the government shutdown with every fiber of his being - and we can also be assured that Cantor fought against the sequestration - understanding that both of these diabolical events certainly hampered any health research severely. But we know better don't we Eric?

I am ashamed to say that this condescending smirking putz is from my state. He's both reprehensible and a self-aggrandizing buffoon.

Congratulations Eric, you Sir are today's worst person in the world!

NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief

Roger West

GOP's Plan Of Attack Against Obamacare

A memo circulated among House Republicans this week details the GOP's plan to relentlessly attack the Affordable Care Act over the course of the next several months, the New York Times reported.

The memo contains a number of talking points that echo some of the GOP's most dire warnings about the health care law.

"Because of Obamacare, I Lost My Insurance.” reads one.

“The Exchanges May Not Be Secure, Putting Personal Information at Risk,” reads another.

According to the Times, GOP strategists intend to use the next several months to "gather stories of people affected by the health care law — through social media, letters from constituents, or meetings during visits back home — and use them to open a line of attack, keep it going until it enters the public discourse and forces a response, then quickly pivot to the next topic."

Read the memo here.

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STAFF WRITER

WHY ERIC CANTOR WON'T PASS IMMIGRATION REFORM

ERIC CANTOR CIRCUS CLOWN

During an exchange on the House floor on Friday afternoon, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said that the House could not vote on the approved bipartisan Senate immigration reform bill that was passed in June because he didn't want to “repeat the mistakes” of the Affordable Care Act website launch.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) pressed Cantor to bring a vote to pass for the Senate immigration reform bill, arguing that a vote on immigration reform should occur by the end of the year because it can attract at least 218 votes. Cantor responded that Senate Democrats and White House officials have been unwilling to talk and instead insist on a “my way or the highway kind of mode of operation”:

HOYER: Bring it to the floor and see if the House thinks it’s a bad bill. See if the House believes that it’s a bill that is not worthy to be considered and passed as a fixing of a broken immigration system … He has the power to bring that bill to the floor. 

CANTOR: We don’t want a repeat of what’s going on now with Obamacare. That bill, constructed as it is by the Senate, last-minute-ditch effort to get it across the finish line … let’s be mindful, Madam Speaker, of what happens when you put together a bill like Obamacare and the real consequences to millions of Americans right now, scared that they’re not going to even have health care insurance that they have today come January 1. [...] 

[...] I’d say to the gentleman again. The track record of this administration and the majority in the Senate has indicated an unwillingness to sit down and talk. They've not done so, certainly the White House has not done so on the immigration issue, did not do so on the health care issue, and again it doesn't help the American people for their insistence on a “my way or the highway” kind of mode of operation.

Watch it.

Cantor’s excuse is just the latest iteration of House Republicans refusing to bring immigration reform to a vote. In August, Rep. Steve King called reform “a waste of time,” and said that the House should focus its attention on Benghazi. In October, Rep. Tom Cole said that the government shutdown made it unrealistic to pass immigration reform.

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STAFF WRITER

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, SCREWING THE USA SINCE 1980

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, SCREWING THE USA SINCE 1980

CAUTION ADULT LANGUAGE


Video Courtesy of Veracity Stew:





If you are offended by this video, yet not offended by what the American Taliban is doing to this country, you  need to open your eyes and look beyond Fox News.

NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief

Roger West

RE-BRANDING THE AMERICAN TALIBAN

CONTENTS OF THE AMERICAN TALIBAN

The re-birth of the GOP - attempted 4 times prior by Eric Cantor - with no takers for righting the mother ship. Yesterday, Cantor attempted a fifth time to shake the fecal matter from his parties core. Under-construction signs were posted everywhere, -re-engineering strategies where conducted behind closed doors to re-brand, manufacture a more appealing women hating, racist, pasty old white man regime. The infrastructure of the GOP is laden with Paul Broun type tea baggers, so how to rid thyself of the Paul Brouns?

The GOP is seen as outside the mainstream, for the wealthy, out-of-touch with reality, uncompromising, uncaring, and unfazed by facts.

Rachel Maddow points out that eradicating the filth that is the tea bagger - not so easy. The conservative is so far right - carpet bombing radicals - that the point of no return is upon them.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

No matter many layers of the onion you peel away, GOP crap is still GOP crap. It's more than a facelift that this group needs, its more like a Frankenstein-esk brain transplant.

Cantor's 2013 version of the GOP, is the same ingredients as before, just labeled differently to befuddle the buyer. So, buyer beware.

In breaking news, Daily kos is reporting that Cantor's plan has been crushed before it could take flight, just 24 hours into the makeover.....it is no more.





NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

WORK TO BE DONE IN WASHINGTON DC - HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOWERE TO BE FOUND

NO WORKING ZONE

House Republican Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) announced Friday that after next week, the House will stand in recess until November 13. His plan for a nearly two month vacation will undoubtedly allow more time for campaigning, but will leave several vital bills awaiting action.

Among the important legislation the House will likely not address before the November elections:

1. Violence Against Women Act re-authorization. Though a bipartisan Senate majority passed the a strong re-authorization bill in April, the Republican House leadership refused to allow a vote on the Senate version of the bill. The House passed a watered down version on a mostly-party lines vote, leaving victims to wait for House action.

2. The American Jobs Act. Republicans have been blocking President Obama’sjobs legislation for more than a year. Though House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) promised in 2010 that a GOP Congress would focus on job creation, he has blocked this bill’s immediate infrastructure investments, tax credits for working Americans and employers, and aid to state and local governments to prevent further layoffs of teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials.

3. Tax cuts for working families. In July, the Senate passed a bill extending tax-cuts for the first $250,000 in annual income. The Republican House leadership has refused to consider the bill, holding it hostage to their demands for a full extension of Bush-era tax cuts for millionaires.

4. Veterans Job Corps Act. The Senate is currently considering bipartisan legislation to help America’s veterans find jobs. The Air Force Times reports that the Republican House has “shown no interest” in the legislation to support those who served the country.

5. Sequestration. A spokesman for Boehner said earlier this week that stopping budget cuts he voted for last August “topped our July agenda and remains atop our agenda for September.” While House Republicans have complained about the imminent spending reductions and passed a bill that would require President Obama to find offsets for spending cuts they don’t like, Republican Leader Canter could not name a single compromise he was willing to make to get a deal.

6. Farm Bill. Despite strong support for a 5-year farm bill from even conservative groups like the Farm Bureau Association — the House leadership has not scheduled a vote on the bill. The current law expires September 30. Without passage, 90 percent of the work of the Department of Agriculture could be defunded.

7. Wind tax credit. The Senate may act next week to renew an expiring wind energy tax credit. Despite bipartisan support — including from original author Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the Examiner notes that the House is unlikely to pass the renewal. Despite GOP calls for energy independence, the expiration has threatened the wind energy industry and already led to job cuts.

These, in addition to drought assistance, postal service reform, addressing the Estate Tax, cyber-security legislation, fixes for Medicare reimbursement rates and the Alternative Minimum Tax, and all 12 of the FY 2013 Appropriations Bills remain unaddressed.

Four years ago, Republicans objected when then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) adjourned Congress for a five-week August recess without bringing up their energy legislation. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) shouted “Madame Speaker, where art thou? Where oh where has Congress gone?” Now, they plan a two month vacation, even if it means allowing vital programs to expire and working families to suffer.


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Virginia's Eric Cantor Shows Who's Hands Are In His Pockets

Cantor rakes in Wall Street donations while calling occupy protesters A ‘Mob’.

The Condesending Eric Cantor

When the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations first gained some national prominence, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) derided the protesters as a “mob,” saying, “Believe it or not, some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans.”

Cantor eventually softened his rhetoric, and even scheduled a talk about income inequality (that he proceeded to cancel when he realized that the public would be allowed to attend). But Cantor has plenty of reasons to bash the protests because, as Roll Call noted today, Cantor’s top contributor this year is Wall Street:

Cantor’s personal political action committee has collected close to $2 million so far this year, placing it well ahead of any other leadership PAC in the House or Senate. In all of his fundraising efforts, top executives at banks, hedge funds and securities and investment firms play a starring role. Securities and investment industry donors have given close to $350,000 to both Cantor’s campaign and his leadership PAC this year, making them his top source of donations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

But Cantor has raised millions more than that for a lucrative operation known as the Cantor Victory Fund 2012…Ten major donors, many of them top executives with finance industry firms, have given $50,000 or more this year to the Cantor Victory Fund, which has collected $2.4 million, according to the most recent public disclosures.

 
Cantor has pushed several policies near and dear to Wall Street’s heart, including protecting tax loopholes for hedge fund managers, while managing to come up with no ideas for addressing income inequality. In fact, he believes we should just depend on the wealthy to bring down inequality through the goodness of their hearts. And so far, Wall Street has certainly shown its appreciation for Cantor’s positions.



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Eric Cantor Just Doesn’t Get It!

On the eve of 9/11 anniversary, cantor insists on massive cuts to first responders in exchange for emergency disaster aid.

This past weekend, President Obama requested $5.1 billion to provide disaster relief to communities struggling to recover from recent hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and wildfires. The request includes $500 million in emergency funds FEMA needs to continue to operate effectively through the end of September.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, whose home state of Virginia was hit by an earthquake and Hurricane Irene, is demanding more partisan spending cuts in exchange for approving the request. From Politico:

But a spokesperson for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) signaled late Friday that the GOP is likely to insist on offsets for the $500 million in emergency funds Obama requested for 2011…

“The House has passed $1 billion in disaster relief funds that is fully offset, which we will look to move as quickly as possible.”

The funds referenced by Cantor’s spokesperson are contained in the House Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill, which is adamantly opposed by Senate Democrats. Why? The “offsets” contained in the bill are actually massive cuts to first responders. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) explains:
In December, Cantor opposed a bipartisan bill “to improve health services and provide financial compensation for 9/11 first responders who were exposed to dangerous toxins and are now sick as a result.” Now, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Cantor is pushing for further cuts to first responders in exchange for disaster relief.

The House bill slashes funding for grants to equip and train first responders by 40 percent. This is on top of the 19 percent cut in FY 2011. The House defense appropriations bill provides $12.8 billion to train and equip troops and police in Afghanistan — yet the House provides only $2 billion for first responders here at home.

Their proposal also slashes the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s operations by 6 percent at a time when the agency has never been busier. Does it really make sense to pay for response and reconstruction costs from past disasters by reducing our capacity to prepare for future disasters?

Cantor and his staff continue to insist “There will be no delay in meeting the president’s request and providing people the aid they need.” But they have yet to support any such request absent more partisan spending cuts.



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“No, But I Did Stay At A Holiday Inn Last Night”

Holiday Inn Shows Where It’s Political Alliance Is.

Progressive groups organizing a rally at the same Richmond-area hotel where House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was holding an event Wednesday were abruptly kicked out of the hotel and told by hotel management to remain off of its property during Cantor’s event.

Cantor held an Advisory Council gathering, closed to the media but open to constituents who registered ahead of time, at the Holiday Inn Koger Center in Richmond. A coalition of progressive Virginia organizing groups — Progress Virginia, OurDC, and Virginia Organizing — had booked rooms and a separate ballroom in the hotel to hold a “jobs rally” countering Cantor’s event. According to organizers, the groups planned to invite Cantor to attend their rally after his own event, in the hope that he would listen to their concerns regarding job creation and unemployment.

But just hours before the events were set to begin; the Holiday Inn canceled the groups’ ballroom and room reservations and ordered the groups to remain off of hotel property during Cantor’s meeting. According to organizers, hotel management falsely accused them of smoking in their rooms and used that as justification to cancel their reservations. A representative of Holiday Inn who only agreed speak on the condition of anonymity, however, said the hotel was seeking to avoid confrontation between the progressive groups and those attending the Cantor event. He would not comment on whether the hotel had any communications with Cantor or his staff regarding the progressive groups.

Attempts to reach both Cantor’s office and Holiday Inn’s corporate offices for comment prior to publication were unsuccessful. In an interview with a local news station, Cantor acknowledged that he saw the protesters but said, “I don’t see how that’s productive. … (It was) a very productive event. I’m not quite so sure how that was productive outside.”

After their reservations were canceled, the progressive groups assembled across the street and began marching to the hotel, where they were met by Virginia state police officers and hotel management demanding that they remain off Holiday Inn property. The protesters remained assembled between the Holiday Inn and the street, where they held signs protesting Cantor’s record on job creation and his legislative priorities and chanted that they wanted Cantor to focus on jobs. Multiple protesters told stories of their unemployment over a megaphone as police and hotel management looked on.

The protesters then marched back across the street, out of sight from the hotel, and held a rally similar to the one they had planned inside the hotel, with more stories of unemployment and hardship brought on by the economic recession.

I can assure you that Holiday Inn will never get my service again!


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Eric Cantor Walking A Fine Line Within His Own Party

Republican Revolt: Virginia’s GOP Governor splits with Cantor, rejects conditioning disaster aid on budget cuts.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), along with some of his House GOP colleagues, have been saying that disaster aid for the areas affected by Hurricane Irene must be offset by, in Cantor’s words, “savings elsewhere.” Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) said yesterday on Bloomberg News that budget cuts must be a prerequisite for disaster aid in order to reassure “the business markets.” Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) added that the days when disaster relief could be funded without offsetting budget cuts “are gone.”

However, not everyone in the GOP agrees that disaster funding should play second fiddle to the GOP’s budget-slashing agenda. Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) yesterday broke with Cantor, saying that “I don’t think it’s the time to get into that (deficit) debate“:

Virginia GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell, breaking with Cantor, on Tuesday suggested that deficit-spending concerns should not be a factor as Congress and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) respond to the hurricane.

“My concern is that we help people in need,” McDonnell said during his monthly radio show. “For the FEMA money that’s going to flow, it’s up to them on how they get it. I don’t think it’s the time to get into that [deficit] debate.”

The Hill noted that “before Irene hit, McDonnell had requested emergency help from FEMA in 10 districts, including Cantor’s. All the requests were granted.”  
The offsets that Cantor has said would be acceptable to him include cuts to first responders, which prompted Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) to ask, “Does it really make sense to pay for response and reconstruction costs from past disasters by reducing our capacity to prepare for future disasters?” But Cantor hasn’t always believed that disaster aid should be contingent on budget cuts. In fact, in 2004, he requested federal aid following Tropical Storm Gaston, saying that “the magnitude of the damage suffered by the Richmond area is beyond what the Commonwealth can handle,” without a word about offsetting cuts being necessary.

Eric Cantor certainly takes stupid to another level, and if Virginian’s vote him in when his term is up, may they get everything this tool dishes out.



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Eric Cantor Raises Bar With Republican Choke And Puke Politics

Cantor: "No Disaster Relief Funding For Hurricane Irene Without Budget Cuts"!

Despite the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene this weekend, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) today stood by his call that no more money be allocated for disaster relief unless it is offset by spending cuts elsewhere. The Washington Post reported this morning that FEMA will need more money than it currently has to deal with the storm’s aftermath and is already diverting funds from other recent disasters to deal with the hurricane, but Cantor’s comments suggest Republicans won’t authorize more funds without a fight.

Cantor took the position following the tornadoes that devastated Joplin, Missouri and elsewhere in the spring and summer, and after last week’s earthquake, the epicenter for which was in his district, but the hurricane’s level of destruction is far beyond that of those disasters. Still, Cantor told Fox News that while “we’re going to find the money,” “we’re just going to need to make sure that there are savings elsewhere to do so.”



Cantor referred a bill the Republican-controlled House passed that approves $1 billion in disaster relief, which was financed by a $1.5 billion cut from loan program to encourage the production of fuel-efficient vehicles. But the need in the wake of the hurricane will likely greatly surpass $1 billion, and that spending package was supposed to be used for tornado recovery efforts, for which several hundred million dollars has already been outlayed.



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Why Am I Not Surprised?

Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the United States’ credit rating Friday night came with clear shots at congressional Republicans who had refused to consider tax increases in the deal to raise the debt ceiling. S&P criticized Congress for allowing new revenues to drop from the “menu of policy options,” criticizing “the majority of Republicans in Congress [who] continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues.” The National Journal proclaimed it “hard to read the S&P analysis as anything other than a blast at Republicans.”

Unlike his party’s presidential candidates and several of his congressional colleagues, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) seems to have heard that blast, as he sent a memo to congressional Republicans today acknowledging S&P’s calls for tax increases. Despite hearing those calls, however, Cantor is urging his colleagues to ignore them:

Not only has Cantor chosen to ignore S&P, he has his facts wrong about the American people. Polling conducted by the New York Times and CBS News found last week that half of Americans did, in fact, support the inclusion of new revenues in the debt deal, and numerous polls have shown wide support for ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, a proposal that would reduce the federal deficit by $830 billion over the next decade. S&P today called the full expiration of the Bush tax cuts, which would save $4 trillion in the next decade, one of the major steps in restoring the nation’s AAA credit rating.

Over the next several months, there will be tremendous pressure on Congress to prove that S&P’s analysis of the inability of the political parties to bridge our differences is wrong. In short, there will be pressure to compromise on tax increases. We will be told that there is no other way forward. I respectfully disagree.

As we have said from the beginning of the year, the new Republican Majority was elected to change the way Washington does business. We were not elected to raise taxes or take more money out of the pockets of hard working families and business people. People understand Washington can’t keep spending money that it doesn’t have. They want to see less government – not more taxes.

Given that S&P downgraded the U.S. in part because of political instability brought on by the GOP taking the economy hostage, Cantor urging his colleagues to ignore the agency’s warning likely won’t help the government’s attempts to avoid yet another downgrade in the future.


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Spoken Directly From the Horses Posterior

Eric Cantor says: Entitlement Promises ‘Frankly, Are Not Going To Be Kept For Many’

During an interview with the Wall Street Journal, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said he is ready and willing to slash entitlements like Medicare, because, in his opinion, Americans have to “come to grips with the fact that promises have been made that frankly are not going to be kept for many“:

What we need to be able to do is to demonstrate that that is the better way for the people of this country. Get the fiscal house in order, come to grips with the fact that promises have been made that, frankly, are not going to be kept for many. The math doesn’t lie.

Republicans have been saying for months that they want to preserve programs like Medicare and Social Security for all people over the age of 55, but that those under 55 will have to shift into a different program. But Cantor’s pronouncement is maybe the most explicit explanation that, under the GOP’s vision, the government would be actively reneging on promises made to those who haven’t yet hit the arbitrary age of 55.

Of course, the math would look much better, particularly on Social Security, if the GOP were to back off its insistence that the government not collect a single dime in new revenue. Meanwhile, Jacob Hacker, political science professor at Yale University, has called the GOP’s scheme to raise the Medicare retirement age “the single worst idea for Medicare reform” since it “saves Medicare money only by shifting the cost burden onto older Americans caught between the old eligibility age and the new, as well as onto the employers and states that help fund their benefits.”


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Eric Cantor is Mr. Flip Flop

Cantor opposed short-term debt ceiling increase, now calls Obama’s opposition to short-term increase ‘Indefensible’

Last Friday, Speaker John Boehner told the House GOP caucus that he is preparing a short-term bill that would raise the debt ceiling for about six months, despite Obama’s pledge to veto such a measure. On the call, Majority Leader Eric Cantor blasted Obama for opposing it. The Wall Street Journal reports:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor indicated in his remarks during the conference call that Republicans don’t want to give President Barack Obama a debt-ceiling deal that lasts past the 2012 elections. Mr. Cantor called the president’s insistence on a deal that carries through the election purely political and indefensible.

But late last month, Cantor himself vehemently opposed a short term deal:

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor pushed back hard Tuesday against Senate Republican suggestions of a scaled-back, short-term debt deal, saying it’s “crunch time” in White House budget talks and “if we can’t make the tough decisions now, why … would [we] be making those tough decisions later.”

“I don’t see how multiple votes on a debt ceiling increase can help get us to where we want to go,” the Virginia Republican told reporters. “It is my preference that we do this thing one time. … Putting off tough decisions is not what people want in this town.”

Standard and Poors, a credit rating agency, agrees that a short term deal would be bad for the nation’s credit. In a July 14 release S&P wrote “We may also lower the long-term rating and affirm the short-term rating if we conclude that future adjustments to the debt ceiling are likely to be the subject of political maneuvering.”

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The Arrogance And Chutzpah Of Eric Cantor

It takes a special kind of arrogance to play chicken with our economy just to satisfy your personal quest for political power. Unfortunately, Virginians already know that if anyone is capable of doing just that, it’s Congressman Eric Cantor....

Cantor standing in background...where he belongs

For years now, Cantor has been an embarrassing fact of life for the people of this Commonwealth. From his patented sneer to his condescending tone and his record of putting right-wing special interests ahead of working Virginia families, he has made a career of climbing the political ladder by any means necessary without regard for what’s best for our state or our country.

While serious leaders in Washington are working to reach a deal to cut spending and raise the federal debt ceiling, Cantor is standing in the door, defying the President and even his own party in pursuit of his own personal agenda. If Cantor succeeds in sinking a deal, the United States could default on its debt and we could sink right back into another recession. We can’t allow that to happen.

Why is Mr. Cantor so pompous you ask?

Perhaps it’s because he rose to the top so quickly. Eric Cantor was elected to the House of Representatives in 2000. After only one term, he was appointed Chief Deputy Republican Whip. This made him a major Washington insider while still in his thirties.

Or, it might be the fact that the Seventh District of Virginia was designed as a safe district for Republicans. Eric has been reelected four times, never getting less than 63% of the vote cast. The district has been represented in the Congress by Republicans since 1971. In the last three presidential elections, the district has voted Republican.

Or, maybe it’s because Representative Cantor has led a charmed life in Washington. Although he was closely connected with the corruption of Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay, Mr. Cantor came away unscathed.

I guess it’s not surprising that Eric Cantor radiates an aura of arrogance. He is the golden boy. He is destined to rise to higher positions of power in Washington. And Eric Cantor is not going to let a little thing like debt ceilings get in his way.

Does Eric Cantor like to talk to his constituents? Sure, he will gladly talk with any constituent so long as he or she is committed to his position. Those constituents are bound to further inflate his ego. But he doesn’t want to see or hear from those who oppose him. First of all because anything they might say is obviously wrong. Second because he doesn’t want any of the real voters in Washington to think that he is anything but the most beloved favorite son of the Seventh District.

One other thing—because he is a golden boy and his constituents are mere mortals, Eric Cantor doesn’t expect anyone will notice if he says a few things that are very radical. For example, Eric has the chutzpah to be the lone guy in this debt ceiling debate. Here’s a guy who has been a Washington insider for at least the last eight years and he thinks we won’t notice if he portrays himself as an outside reformer. Eric also portrays himself as a fiscal conservative. When exactly did this transformation take place? When he lusted for advancement in the party and therefore voted consistently with the Bush Administration, Eric Cantor voted to cut taxes and to significantly increase federal spending. During the years when George W. Bush was president, Eric Cantor voted to increase our federal debt by an outrageous four trillion dollars. Eric Canter a Fiscal Conservative?

Eric is like most radical teas, clueless of reality, and delusional on his visions of hardcore choke and puke republican politics.
 
 
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Eric Cantor Defends Cuts That Affect Your Safety

Japan has the best tsunami warning system in the world. Some of their buildings are literally built on massive springs so that they can sway instead of fall down. and experts say that the strict building codes and early warnings of the earthquake and tsunami saved countless lives. Well, you know what strict building codes and warning systems are in America?


To republicans this means "big government" - spending on infrastructure.

What if we where to experience a disaster like Japan? How prepared are we in our country? Yesterday house republican leader Eric Cantor defended republican proposals to cut spending for the United States Geological Survey, the National Weather Service, and NOAA.

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Government officials predict the closure of as many as 12 NOAA offices - which provide warning services for 30 million Americans. The national weather service budget would be cut by $126 million over the next six months with furloughs at 22 forecast offices. -and shorter work weeks for the storm prediction center and the national hurricane center shall be expected.

Where are we going as a country? Last week the president of the NWS union said "that if those cuts go through, there will be furloughs at both of the tsunami warning centers that protect the whole country. The president also said, "there is a very heightened risk of life if these cuts go through."

Any local LEPC or emergency coordinator will tell you that the inability for warnings to be disseminated to the public, whether due to staffing inadequacies, radar maintenance problems, or weather radio transmitter difficulties would be disastrous.

It's very tempting when doing these bizarre, every two week cuts, continuing resolutions to fund the government, to whack away at things you think people won't notice because, hey, what are the odds there is going to be some sort of weather event?

This is what I find bizarre about all this. If you peruse through the continuing resolution - first of all, there is a lot of gimmickry in this because a fair amount of the money being saved are called rescissions, which is money not spent - so the sense is we're returning money back to the treasury because it didn't spend all the money allotted. If you're going to make an argument from the most extreme libertarian perspective there are a few things you have to conceive of as basic public goods, and things like tsunami warning systems, early warning systems for seismic events are clearly public good.

Even in the most kind of stripped down conceptions these are things you want the government doing, and in the general context of the federal budget it really doesn't cost that much money. Keep in mind that the entire defense portion of the budget and the earmarks therein - there are more earmarks in the bill than any other bill - to which they are all protected by the house republicans.

It is basic safety for American citizens that is in jeopardy. We'd be less safe if these cuts go through -- talking aviation, utilities, agriculture. It is amazing how far these republicans will really go.

Reminder - when you hear radical republicans speaking "reform"....grab your wallet and hold on tight, for soon they shall ask for it next!.

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