Eric Cantor

Tea Party And Right Wing Talk Radio Against Kevin McCarthy As House Majority Leader!

Ronald 3 Comments

Now that Eric Cantor is being forced out of Congress by his Virginia district, the battle is on over who should be House Majority Leader, and the Tea Party Movement and Right Wing Talk Radio has come out fighting against present House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of California.

Right wing radio critics, including Mark Levin and Laura Ingraham, who worked against Eric Cantor and for his opponent in the primary, David Brat, condemn McCarthy as part of the “Establishment”, as much as Cantor and Speaker of the House John Boehner, and the Tea Party is ready to fight anyone connected to any cooperation on any matter with Barack Obama. Despite strong opposition and criticism by Boehner, Cantor, and McCarthy toward Barack Obama, they can all be accused of making some agreements with him, including ending the government shutdown, and planning some kind of immigration reform, although far less than Obama has wanted.

The fact is that McCarthy, as conservative as he is, comes across as “moderate”, less combative in rhetoric, more congenial, a more pleasant persona than either Cantor or Boehner. The fact that he comes from California is seen, however, as a negative, since the Tea Party gets its strength from the “heartland” of the nation.

The fear is that if McCarthy becomes second ranking House Republican, one is looking at the potential future Speaker of the House, as Cantor was thought to be, until his defeat this week.

So the civil war in the GOP continues to fester and boil over!

Eric Cantor Defeat Most Stunning In Decades!

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An earthquake occurred yesterday in the rural Seventh Congressional District of Virginia, the home of Richmond Congressman Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader.

Every poll predicted an easy victory for Cantor against a more right wing opponent, Randolph Macon College Professor of Economics, David Brat, who was unknown, and only spent one dollar for every 25 spent by Cantor, and had a staff of two people,instead of the 23 that Cantor had in his Congressional offices in Washington, DC.

But Brat solidly defeated Cantor by 56-44 percent, by over 7,000 votes in the GOP primary, and it has totally shook up the Republican Party and the House of Representatives and its leadership.

It is not as if Eric Cantor was a “liberal”, but rather that he worked “tooth and nail” against Barack Obama for the last five and a half years, and helped to encourage the Tea Party Movement in the House of Representatives, often creating headaches for Speaker of the House John Boehner, comparatively more moderate in his conservatism than Eric Cantor.

But Cantor was not right wing enough, as he was moving toward support of some sort of immigration reform, and David Brat, a believer in Ayn Rand and her libertarianism, and with much of his graduate education being based on a divinity degree, decided to challenge Cantor, in an effort to make the Republicans more right wing than they have ever been as a party.

This man, David Brat, is far from a typical professor, and his candidacy makes him a star to the right wing talk show hosts on radio, and Tea Party groups, but he comes with an agenda that endangers the future of the GOP!

Cantor got what he deserved, as he was a mean spirited, narrow minded, bigoted leader of his party, unwilling to do any bargaining with Barack Obama, relishing in his plan to replace Boehner as Speaker.

Cantor repudiated the tradition of his Jewish faith, to do nothing to harm those less fortunate,and to be an advocate of social justice, and he is someone we can say with clarity–GOOD RIDDANCE! The problem is, however, that Brat represents a viewpoint even more objectionable than Cantor, and an extremist right wing Christian theology, that is very worrisome!

And Brat’s victory means the GOP is moving more than ever toward being more white, more male, more conservatives, more Southern, older, and more exclusively Christian, as Cantor was the only Republican of Jewish heritage on Capitol Hill!

The Republican Party, as stated many times before, is becoming more eccentric, more extremist, more radicalized, and more isolated from reality of what the future America is to be like–the growing role of African Americans, Latinos, women, gays and lesbians, the millennial generation, less religious, and desirous of government that promotes social justice, rather than ignorance, prejudice, racism, discrimination, misogyny, and narrow mindedness!

The Right Wing Talk Show Hosts Go Whacko Over Republican House Leadership Allowing Debt Limit Extension!

Ronald 3 Comments

For once, just once, the House Republican leadership, recognizing that the Tea Party whackos were out to cause a default and another economic crisis, did the right thing, in allowing a one year extension of the debt limit to March 15, 2015.

So Speaker John Boehner, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and 26 others, including Kevin McCarthy, but NOT Paul Ryan, did the responsible thing, joining with 193 Democrats, to take the debt limit off the table as an issue to prevent further disarray.

But that upset the conservative talk radio hosts and Fox News Channel and right wing foundations no end, and the fury is spreading!

So we have Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage, Mark Levin and other demagogues who are denouncing the Republican leadership, and calling for their heads to be guillotined!

If one listens to these characters, one wonders why any intelligent human being wastes his or her time listening to their poison!

It is clear that all of these crooks, and that is what they are, are only interested in their own wealth and in selling books and giving speeches at high rates of pay before gullible audiences. They could not care less about the future of the American nation, as they are only interested in their own aggrandizement, and their pursuit to be part of the top one percent, if they are not already there!

Speaker John Boehner Finally Shows “Cojones” Against Tea Party!

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Speaker of the House John Boehner FINALLY has shown “cojones” against the extremist Tea Party movement and other right wing whackos in his caucus, who are anarchistic and reckless.

He overcame the “Hastert Rule”, started by previous GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert, that no bill would come up for a vote unless there was a majority of Republicans behind it.

Having already abandoned this rule a few times, Boehner took a major step yesterday when he allowed a “clean” vote on the debt limit being taken off the table as a decisive issue until March 15, 2015, insuring economic stability and growth over the next year by that action!

By a vote of 221-201, with 193 Democrats and 28 Republicans, the debt limit increase passed, but many committee chairs and Paul Ryan, Budget Committee Chair, voted NO, and it made it on the record that 199 Republicans were willing to have the government go into default, something that should harm them in the midterm elections coming up in November. Interestingly, other members of the House leadership, including Eric Cantor, the heir apparent, and Kevin McCarthy, and Darrell Issa, voted with Boehner and the 28 Republicans who voted for the debt limit extension.

Boehner may end up leaving Congress, or at least, losing the Speakership if he stays and his party keeps control, but yesterday was a profile in courage FINALLY!

And if, by some chance, Texas Senator Ted Cruz tries to block the debt limit extension by calling for a 60 vote majority to consider it, and if five Republicans cannot be found, then Harry Reid, the Majority Leader, has threatened to use the “nuclear option”, allowing for all votes in the Senate to be based on a 51 vote majority, destroying the filibuster, and then a flow of legislation has a chance to get through the Senate!

The time of the Tea Party Movement dominance over Congress MAY have come to an end, and not too soon!

Eric Cantor Declares War On The Unemployed And Poor: Bad Omen For 2014!

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Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who salivates to become Speaker of the House when John Boehner finally leaves, which may be this year, continues to prove how disgusting and disgraceful he is!

The only Jewish Republican in Congress, Cantor has become an embarrassment to open minded, compassionate Jews, who are shocked at his callousness and lack of concern for the unemployed and the poor.

Being a leading supporter of cutting food stamps, and against ever raising the minimum wage, he now has made clear that any extension of unemployment benefits, after the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, is off the table, and that means, unless it is somehow overcome by Boehner calling a vote and willing to let the Democrats gain the majority of the total vote for extension, that millions of unfortunate Americans, who have worked hard all their lives, but have suffered from the Great Recession and its aftermath, shall be left in a situation with lack of food, inability to pay rent, unable to get medical aid when sick or injured, and with their children and senior citizen parents being truly deprived of basic needs! And yet, all workers have contributed to their unemployment compensation, and there is as much right to that as to Social Security and Medicare!

How can anyone with a conscience do this to fellow Americans? How can such people sleep at night? All this will do is increase the number of deaths of people unable to meet basic needs, and it also is an obvious threat that some desperate people will turn to violence to get basic needs met. There is no justification for violence, but it does not mean that it will not happen.

What makes Eric Cantor tick? He needs, desperately, a mental examination, as he is a man of mean spirit and lack of compassion, not native to the Jewish or any other religious spirit!

John Boehner And Paul Ryan Vs. The Tea Party Radicals!

Ronald 14 Comments

The Speaker of the House and the Budget Committee Chairman have thrown down the gauntlet to the right wing Tea Party Movement members of its Republican caucus, and to the pressure groups and talk radio and Fox News Channel critics.

And the good news that 169 members of the GOP caucus backed John Boehner and Paul Ryan, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a bit of a surprise since Cantor tends to hobnob with the radicals a good deal of the time, is welcome!

While this means the budget bill will stabilize the economy, and allow some progress next year on some items on the agenda, it is almost certain that IF the Tea Party challenge succeeds in 2014 House and Senate races, challenging incumbents, then Boehner will no longer be Speaker of the House, and Ryan may be ousted as Budget Committee chairman.

One would think that Boehner and Ryan are moderates. which is extremely far from the truth, but they are at least responsible legislators, who realize that with divided government, some negotiation and compromise is essential, in order to get anything done.

The hope is that the tumult in the GOP will enhance chances of the Democrats winning back control of the House, and with a Senate where the filibuster is rarely used due to the new 51 vote majority requirement, hopefully the next Congress in 2015 will make us forget what a disaster the 113th Congress has been, the worst in modern American history!

The Reign Of Terror Of Ted Cruz And Tea Party House Republicans: Time For Adults To Take Over From Children!

Ronald 1 Comment

The nation has had enough of the Reign of Terror of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and 35-40 Tea Party House Republicans!

It is time for the adults to take over from the children!

It is time for the Republicans in the Senate, minus Cruz, Mike Lee, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, James Inhofe and a few others, to declare war on their reckless Senate colleagues and put them in their place once and for all!

It is time for John Boehner to show “cajones” and stop the destruction of American government for which he should be held accountable by the American people!

And it is time for Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, with greed and ambition waiting to replace Boehner, as the secret brains behind the House Tea Party Republicans, to be condemned by all sane Republicans, almost 200 of them, as having lost all credibility as a leader of their party in the lower chamber!

It is time for responsible moderate conservative Republicans to take hold of their party! When one loses one house of Congress, loses the White House, loses the majority of the Supreme Court, and the vast majority of their office holders, including Governors, accept that ObamaCare is here to stay, it is time to stop acting as hostage takers, and as anarchists!

More Republican Lies: They Claim They Were Not Invited To Speak At March On Washington Event!

Ronald 2 Comments

The Republican Party and the conservative movement did not want to be involved in the events commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington yesterday, and, they had the gall to lie and complain that they were not invited!

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor preferred to be in North Dakota, talking to oil lobbyists; and Speaker John Boehner had excuses that he was too busy! That is pure bull, as anyone can rearrange his schedule if one wishes to attend an event! George W. Bush could have shown up, even if not speaking since he had recent stent surgery on his heart. All he would have had to do is wave to the crowd and pose with Presidents Obama, Carter and Clinton. Republicans did not want to be associated with this event, clear and simple, and this includes Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell!

The only African American Senator, conservative Tim Scott of South Carolina, was also invited, but turned down the offer, and yet, conservative talk show hosts complained that he had not been invited!

Are the GOP leaders and conservatives ever capable of telling the truth—that they do not give a damn about minorities, African American, Latino, Asian American—and still, somehow, think the long term future of their party is to get an all white backing as the percentage of white population continues to decline?

That strategy is a failing one, and one wonders when the GOP will finally come to grips with reality!

50th Anniversary Of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech And The March On Washington!

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It is hard to believe that this weekend, and specifically next Wednesday, four days from now, marks the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington by a crowd estimated at a quarter of a million people, calling for racial equality and justice.

It was a peaceful march, with a crowd of people of all races, an historic moment on the way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

It was a time of the greatness of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, King Jr, and his brilliant “I Have A Dream” speech, one of the few greatest speeches ever given by any American in our entire history!

It was a time of hope and optimism, before the tragedy of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr himself, as well as the tragic war in Vietnam, which took 58,000 lives!

It was a time of optimism and a sense of progress, and now, sadly, the same battles fought over race and voting rights haunts us, as the Supreme Court majority, created by Republican Presidents who represent a desire to move backwards on the subject of race, seem to believe that denial of voting rights and the issue of race no longer is of importance in America, when it continues to be a divisive matter that prevents the full development of justice and equality in this nation!

This is a sad time when the Republican Party, which in large measure supported the civil rights legislation of the mid 1960s, now has adopted the old Southern Democratic racist policies that the national Democratic Party repudiated fifty years ago, and the GOP seems unembarrassed that they have become the “poster boy” for racial prejudice and nativism!

So while we celebrate the anniversary, we are still having to fight the battles won, and then lost, due to the party that once boasted of Lincoln, TR, and Ike, and now boasts of despicable leaders who have no shame, including Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, et al, and their ilk!

Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King Has Gone Too Far In His Depiction Of Hispanic-Latino Immigrants!

Ronald 24 Comments

Iowa Republican Congressman Steve King is well known as one of the wackiest, craziest, and most divisive members of the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives, sharing that distinction with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert, and in the recent past, former Florida Congressman Allen West and former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh!

King has depicted Hispanic and Latino immigrants as “dogs”, “livestock”, and as “drug dealers”, and he has also called for an electrified barbed wire fence between Mexico and the United States. He is against the DREAM Act, to allow the law abiding children of immigrants who came here illegally to be able to move toward eventual citizenship, including a requirement for military service or college education!

Speaker of the House John Boehner at least had the good sense to condemn King’s remarks as hateful, and Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, said it was inexcusable rhetoric.

But that is not enough, as to spew such hatred on the floor of Congress should lead to a censure of Steve King for incendiary behavior unbecoming a member of Congress. The Republican Party needs to repudiate such language in strong terms, and work to undermine any influence this nightmare member of their caucus has!

If not, the GOP is guaranteed to lose any opportunity to gain, even in the long run, the support of a substantial percentage of those of Hispanic or Latino origin!