Where’s Eric Cantor?

Okay, kiddos. Now that the 2007 elections are behind us and while the Democrats prepare to consummate their takeover of the Virginia senate, the ramp-up to 2008 begins. We’ve got a couple candidates lining up to take their shot at Eric Cantor, but before they announce and before the primary/caucus season begins, it’s time to try to find out where Eric really is.

And it’s entirely possible that right now Eric Cantor is hiring lawyers. Or more lawyers.

Remember a guy named Jack Abramoff? Sure you do, he was The Great Republican Corrupter, taking down several key members of Congress and doing his part in taking down the entire Republican majority. Culture of corruption, all that.

But remaining oddly unscathed in the Abramoff mess was Eric Cantor. I say “oddly” because he was a major player in the House that Jack built, receiving $9,000 in personal donations from Jack and his wife, receiving around $31,000 from Abramoff’s clients, and the real smoking gun, signing the infamous letter on behalf of the Coushatta Indian tribe’s casino interests (remember that the 7th district and Virginia entirely has NO Indian casinos) during the same period when he was bombarded with $4,500 in campaign contributions from Abramoff and his clients. Ouch.

But that all went away. There were new scandals to report on (”wide stance”), new congressional malfeasances (anyone in Alaska), and numerous Democratic cave-ins to cover.  Good times.

Today comes news that the Abramoff saga isn’t quite over yet.   Apparently Florida rep. Tom Feeney has dished out over $90,000 (partly from his campaign cash, natch) to FTI Consulting, in order to help him in his participation with the investigations into Abramoff’s influence.  Nice, hunh?

So will this get to Cantor?  He skirted the edges of the scandal before, and maybe the fact that he didn’t actually golf with Abramoff will help him out.  But hopefully the full scope of Cantor’s corruption at the hands of Abramoff will finally see the light of day.

Eric Cantor, never one known for actually doing much of anything on the floor of the House, stood up for President Bush today by adding a useless preemptive signing statement to the FISA bill and doing everything in his power to essentially clog up the process of passing the legislation.

His nonsensical and utterly meaningless amendment included the statement that nothing in the bill “shall be construed to prohibit the intelligence community from conducting surveillance needed to prevent Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, or any other foreign terrorist organization… from attacking the United States or any United States person.”

As Greg Sargent of TPM Election Central reports, the text of the amendment is utterly meaningless, as is much of the supposed “war on terror” rhetoric that Republicans like Cantor have used for years. That’s not the point. What is the point is delaying the legislation which many Republicans disagree with, thinking it does not cede enough unconstitutional powers to the president. You can read the actual bill here (beware: PDF), but the main thing to take away from it is that it essentially clarifies and modernizes the actual law of the land that Bush has been flagrantly breaking for years, after 9/11 and apparently before.

Some points to make here:

Cantor is literally playing politics with our supposed safety. The last time that FISA was renewed Bush claimed that delaying passage or weakening his unconstitutional powers would result in making us less safe. It was even floated that there was a legitimate threat they had information on and that if Democrats, like Jim Webb, did not give the president a blank check to spy it would make us less safe. So why would Cantor introduce an amendment in order to slow down the process? Does he want to make us less safe? As per Sargent, linked above, the text was inserted into a motion to recommit the legislation to committee and not allow an up or down vote. So why does Cantor want to delay the bill?

This is as clear a case as I’ve ever seen of playing politics with our safety. The Democrats want to hold the president accountable to what’s in the Bill of Rights which is the part of the constitution that Republicans seem to have a little troubling understanding. The FISA bill is merely a codification of the surveillance powers of the executive branch, which were instituted after the last time a Republican president spied on Americans illegally. And now these Rubber Stamp Republicans want to not only look the other way while the president spies on whomever he wants, but they want to legally grant those powers, which were once an impeachable offense, to the president. And THEN they want to use their own delaying tactic as an attack on Democrats: literally playing politics with our safety.

As House MAJORITY Leader Steny Hoyer put it:

Once again, they have offered an amendment that, if passed, would have substantially delayed this important legislation - which is designed to protect the American people - by proposing language already provided in the bill.

We have every intention of completing consideration of this critical legislation and fulfilling our twin objectives - protecting the American people and protecting their civil liberties.

You gotta give it to Cantor; he’s a liar, but he’s got some balls.

Update:

Here’s a great post from DailyKos detailing the full scope detailing the method behind Cantor’s delaying tactics.

Today, the House of Representatives quickly sailed through passage of House Resolution 734 “expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the withholding of information relating to corruption in Iraq.” It was a non-binding resolution, essentially to put the administration, and especially the State Department, on notice that the House does not approve of the department’s withholding of key information related to the investigation of corrupt dealings in Iraq.

Essentially it breaks down like this. The al Maliki government in Iraq has proven largely incapable of dealing with corruption in its own ranks. So the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has started investigations into how well the Iraqi government is working to police itself. For some reason the State Department retroactively classified two reports on Iraqi corruption. The White House has claimed that the House should not investigate the matter so as not to put a strain on relations between the Iraqi and US governments.

As I said, the bill sailed through the House on a vote of 395 - 21. All 21 were Republicans, and one of them was Eric Cantor.

At least 395 members of the House of Representatives understand the point of having a republic. Each branch of government provides a check on all of the others, and this investigation is a case of simply that. The House has been doing its constitutionally-mandated duty of providing oversight of the president. 171 Republicans understand that this is their job. Eric Cantor does not.

Cantor has decided it would be politically more expedient to try to stand in the way of that and continue the long-held Republican tradition of simply being a rubber-stamp for the Bush administration. Corruption in the Iraqi government has been widespread, of course, but corruption is not exclusively an Iraqi phenomenon by any means. It’s imperative that the American people be given the information about what is being done by their own government, and it is the job of congress to get that information. To do any less is to render the legislative branch even more obsolete than the Republicans have already made it.

The other Republicans who frown on investigating corruption are Paul Broun (GA), Christopher Cannon (UT), John Carter (TX), K. Michael Conaway (TX), John Doolittle (CA), David Dreier (CA), John Gingrey (GA), Ralph Hall (TX), Duncan Hunter (CA), Jim Jordan (OH), Steve King (IA), Jerry Lewis (CA), John Linder (GA), Gary Miller (CA), Randy Neugebauer (TX), Mike Pence (IN), Michael Rogers (AL), other Michael Rogers (MI), Bill Sali (ID), and William Thornberry (TX). A veritable who’s-who of the Rubber Stamp Republicans.

Here’s some perspective. Ron Paul (TX), voted for it. And he votes against almost everything unless, and here’s the kicker, IT’S IN THE CONSTITUTION. Democrats, Republicans, and libertarians all agree. The Bush wing of the Republican Party does not.

Mr. Cantor, please, do your job. It’s bad enough you’ve carried water for the Bush administration ever since you first entered the House, but the least you can do is your constitutional duty. Or perhaps it’s time for you to find another job.

…or, The Sad State of the Virginia Republican Party

I managed to make my way into the annual 7th District Republican Round-Up (featuring special guest Eric Cantor!) today at the Innsbrook Pavilion in West End Henrico. It’s not like I snuck in or anything. I was invited. Three times, twice by mail, once by phone.

The event was completely free, with free barbecue, free beer, free wine, etc. Kinda fun, actually, a lot of families there with kids playing on a variety of large, inflated things. Even a local magician/juggler made his rounds table-to-table, doing various card tricks and generally over-staying his welcomes. There were even one or two black people! Fun!

Like any such political event there were numerous tables set up promoting all the candidates, including Mike Wade for Henrico Sheriff, Jimmie Massie of the 72nd District, Eric Cantor, and even tables for the presidential candidates Romney, Giuliani, and Thompson (whose literature I noticed is beautifully designed, by the way). Sadly there were no Ron Paul freaks. Apparently they’re just an internet phenomenon.

But the mood of the whole thing was really depressing. I went there to scope out the scene, maybe get some video of Cantor doing something embarrassing, generally just to stir the shit a little bit. But there was nothing to stir. It was 2,000 or so people (based on Cantor’s stated head-count, so take that for what it’s worth), practically all either old couples or families, politely eating barbecue and wearing stickers for candidates. Some of the luminaries got up on stage to give a little pep talk, and it mostly amounted to a plea to vote Republican and, as Cantor himself said, to let Tim Kaine know that we don’t want taxes. The Jimmie Massie literature spoke nothing real about what he intends to do for Virginia, simply fighting crime and eliminating taxes. There was even one lonely volunteer milling about (whom I unfortunately did not get a chance to talk to) giving away literature about the so-called “Fair Tax,” a far-right plan to make the tax system even more regressive.

After the pep rally some of the “luminaries” hung out around the tables, speaking to constituents. A man who on stage I had briefly thought was George Allen was hanging out by the presidential table, and when I finally got within ten yards, I realized it was him. And he looks bad, tanned but older than his years. A group of six or so old codgers hung around him and his wife, seemingly offering condolences. Not far from him was Jimmie Massie, speaking with one supporter. And across the way from the tables was the face-painting booth. And the thirty or so people in line. (Cantor didn’t hang out long; apparently he had some children’s health to vote against or a Beverly Hills fund-raiser or something.)

I went there hoping for just a little bit of action, to get under the skin of a Republican or two, or even maybe let some of my feelings be known to Cantor or tell Allen how glad I am that he is no longer my senator. But being there and seeing what this party, in arguably the most Republican area in the state, has become was just a little bit sad. It’s a party with no energy, with the wind taken out of its sails after losing so many consecutive state-wide elections and with many signs pointing to disaster this November. The Democratic events I’ve been to of late have been smaller, of course, but energized, with thoughts on the future and plans concocted for how we can make even the most seemingly out-of-reach elections competitive. The Republicans drew 2,000 people to a massively-funded event which they advertised ad nauseam, held on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, with free food, drinks, and local celebrities, and they drew less than the Gin Blossoms at the same venue.

I saw a party on the ropes today, and I have to tell you, it was absolutely beautiful.

Low-income families, that is. (If you’re rich, he loves ya’. Expect fund-raiser mailings soon.)

Today Eric Cantor voted against HR 2895, also called the “National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007″ which is to establish a trust fund under the direction of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (currently Alphonso Roy Jackson, a Bush appointee who, while not technically a crony, did steer a no-bid contract to his buddy to help rebuild in New Orleans and canceled a contract for someone who bad-mouthed Bush. Yeesh).

Anyway, the trust fund is to be set up “to provide assistance to states, Indian tribes, insular areas, and participating local jurisdictions to increase the supply of decent quality affordable housing, especially [and here's the important part] for low-income, extremely low-income, and very poor families.” (Find all the details here.)

The bill passed in the House with decent bipartisan support 264-148, with 41 Republicans crossing the aisle to vote to help low-income families. For all of his talk about helping Virginia’s families, Eric simply has not delivered. Sure, he’ll help any rich family he can find and work his hardest to funnel tax breaks and subsidies their way and funnel benefit after benefit their way, but when it comes to those who actually need similar benefits, he leaves them out in the cold. Bad for families, bad for Virginia, bad for America.

And as always, he’s on exactly the same page as George W. Bush who threatened to veto the legislation. Bush apparently likes the idea of helping low-income families, but refuses to do anything about it. Sounds about right.

Based on recent experience, expect Cantor to defend his decision by 1. whining about “socialism” and 2. presenting lies as evidence.

So if you’re keeping score of how Eric Cantor’s world works, that’s…

Poor kids = bad, Rush Limbaugh = good

Poor families = bad, Super-rich real estate investors = good and deserving of as many tax breaks as they can handle.

In the GOP’s mad scramble to find a candidate to run against lose to Mark Warner in next year’s open seat Virginia Senate battle, several names keep popping up. The key names thus far are former governor Jim Gilmore, whose run for the presidency was a non-starter and didn’t garner much respect from the right or left based on his handling of Virginia, and Tom Davis, a supposedly centrist Republican whose 11th District has shifted to the left since he was swept into office on a conservative wave in 1994. Other names floated by the chattering class include such shocking racists as George Allen and Pat Buchanan.

Given the title of my blog and this post, I assume you know where I’m going with this. The far-right Virginia bloggers, and even some in the slightly more respectable traditional media, have put forth the idea of Cantor running to replace the retiring John Warner. It’s not entirely without merit, of course. The Senate would hold much greater opportunity for a larger platform for Cantor, and despite the lack of recent success would seem as a more likely jump-off point if Cantor were to try a run for the highest office.

I’ve given this a great deal of thought since Warner announced his retirement, and I believe this will not happen. Here’s why:

1. Even without picking up Virginia, the chances of Democrats expanding their lead in the Senate is very, very good. The chances of Republicans making the House closer or even retaking it look as good. For Cantor it’s better to lead in hell than to serve in heaven.
2. He lucked into a very high leadership position in the House very quickly. After only one term he became the Chief Deputy Majority Whip. He was even considered to replace DeLay as Majority Leader. Many say that if the Republicans retake the House, he stands a strong chance of becoming either Speaker or Majority Leader. That sort of meteoric rise is rare, and he would be trying to enter a body where tenure is much more highly prized and leadership positions much harder to come by.
3. He almost certainly can’t win, and he probably knows this. The state politics of Virginia have changed, plain and simple. It’s by no means a pure blue state (even though it would appear that way if you look at the state-wide results since 2001), but it’s certainly not red. And only a moderate Republican would stand a chance of gaining traction in the north, which is now the key to winning Virginia. Tom Davis would have a much better chance as he’s actually known in the north, and he’s still a long-shot.
4. He’s unknown to both the state and his district, and this serves him well. Like most of the Republicans in central Virginia (and everywhere?), the less voters know about them the better. He rode into a blood-red district on the bootheels of his former boss, Tom Bliley, and has never had to sell himself to any voter. Having his far-right record exposed in a major contested election will likely ruin him politically.
5. The House controls the purse, and for Cantor, who serves on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, that’s what it’s all about. He gets enormous contributions from the industries that benefit most from his ultra-conservatism, and therein lies his importance. They scratch his back, he scratches theirs with arguably the most pro-corporate voting record in congress. Plus, in a district that has never been competitive since its creation, he can funnel much of the PAC donations to at-risk Republicans. Win-win. And tied to this, Cantor can use his fiscal muscle to make damn sure that the rich pay as little in taxes as possible. (Check out this sort of pro-corporate mindset at work in these talking points against the carried interest tax by the Realtor Action Center.)
6. He’d actually have to campaign. Debate. Talk to people in Virginia. The kind of thing he’s not particularly good at. (Or maybe he is. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen him spend any time in the district.)

If you can think of any reasons why he’d even stand a chance or other reasons why he won’t run, I’d love to hear it.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the little flap that occurred last week. Rush Limbaugh on his radio show was talking with a caller about how much they both could not stand returning soldiers who spoke out against the occupation. From the transcript, Rush and his caller refer to soldiers who want to “keep the troops safe” as “phony soldiers.” Rush later attempted to explain himself by stating that he was referring to A. a soldier who was not mentioned in the entire show in question and B. decorated Marine John Murtha. Seriously.

And of course, like the conservative liar he is, he blames liberals for attacking him for words he actually said.

Enter another conservative liar: Eric Cantor.

Cantor released an e-mail today to his (paid) supporters with the subject “Rush Needs Your Support.” (You can read the whole e-mail here.) Apparently to people like Cantor (liars) any attempt to hold a conservative accountable for their baseless attacks is some sort of witch-hunt, a conspiracy, and they must lie to protect their own.

So Cantor is willing to stand with Limbaugh, no matter what he says, even after attacking troops, something that Cantor has often falsely condemned Democrats of doing. Not only is he a liar; he’s also a partisan hypocrite liar.

But everyone paying attention knew that already.

And speaking of actual phony soldiers, neither Cantor, Limbaugh, or Bush served in the military, yet they are all perfectly willing to send real troops off to die for absolutely nothing.

Eric had quite a day yesterday on the House floor.

First up, he joined the rest of his Republican caucus in a perfect party line vote to not require accountability for contractors hired by the government. The vote was on Resolution 702 to “provide for consideration” of bill HR 2740, also called the “MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007,” which stemmed from the spate of recent abuses by contractors in Iraq such as Blackwater.

If you haven’t seen Jeremy Scahill’s far-reaching reporting on contractor abuses both in The Nation and in his book, Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, you really need to give it a look. Bush and his rubber-stampers, like Cantor, are in the process of codifying a system whereby the government pays these mercenary groups to operate in secret, a sort of shadow army with none of the accountability that restricts the real soldiers and keeps them (relatively) honest. Unlike many other such events, the details have actually come out in the traditional media about Blackwater’s latest atrocity, where as many as 28 civilians, and possible more, including a woman and her child were killed in a massive fire-fight in Baghdad. According to reports it was indiscriminate killing at its worst. And they’ve been paid over $700 million for such “work” in Iraq.

And as I said it came down to a strict party vote. All Democrats for, all Republicans against. While they praise Rush Limbaugh on the floor of the House for attacking real soldiers, they do all that they can to vote in a monolithic mass to protect the real “phony soldiers,” our mercenaries.

Update 10/4/07, 6:30PM: Cantor today voted “Aye” to approve HR 2740. End Update
The next vote by Cantor is arguably more surreal. While the contractor vote was a matter of keeping their precious war below scrutiny (and protecting Republican donors), Cantor’s vote against HR 2828 was just cruel. HR 2828, “to provide compensation to relatives of United States citizens who were killed as a result of the bombings of United States Embassies in East Africa on August 7, 1998″ passed the House yesterday by a vote of 409-12. Twelve Republicans voted against it. If you don’t recall, al Qaeda-linked terrorists bombed US embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, killing several hundred workers, mostly Africans but some Americans. It authorizes $18 million (or 36 minutes of Iraq war spending) to be allocated to families of those killed in the attacks.

Joining Cantor in this atrocious vote were Broun (GA), Deal (GA), Flake (AZ), Goode (VA), LaTourette (OH), Ron Paul (TX), Shuster (PA), Simpson (ID), Tancredo (CO), Terry (NE), and Young (FL).

Beverly Hills is not in Virginia. Perhaps you know this already. It’s actually in a state called California, and it’s located just to the south of Hollywood.

Within the aforementioned Beverly Hills is what’s called “The Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalow,” a “luxury, five-star hotel, located on Sunset Boulevard… a place to see and be seen.” With rooms starting at $555 a night, needless to say it’s pretty spectacular.

And our boy, 7th District Rep. Eric Cantor had one hell of a month there almost exactly two years ago. Between September 7 and October 3, 2005, he spent $42,266 dollars there.

But before you think this may be a one-time deal, think again. The talk on the street is that this is an annual gig that he runs as a fund-raiser (and a get-away from the state he’s supposed to represent). It also gives him a good opportunity to sample Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Spago.

Why do he and other congressmen do this? Simple. They bring donors out to some of the most gorgeous places in the country (or out of it) to butter them up and persuade them to open their wallets just a little wider. This article from 2005 in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer gives a great overview of the racket congressmen like Oxley (OH), Boehner (OH), Blunt (MO), DeLay (TX), and Cantor (VA?) have been up to, using up to half of their PAC donations on operating expenses. It does cite the enormous percentage of donations on spent operating expenses by Democrats like Sens. Clinton and Kennedy, but the article makes clear what they use the money for: mailers, staff, and criss-crossing the country to other candidates’ fundraisers.

The new rules have forced Republicans to finagle a new way to keep their wining and dining above-board. Before the 110th Congress, lobbyists could fly congressmen around in their private jets, set them up with prime tee-times in Scotland, give them free tours of “burgeoning capitalism” in the North Marianas, etc. But those damn Democrats changed the rules to where they could no longer take bribes gifts anymore, and they had to pay for their own flights. That’s why the Republicans set up the new racket: lobbyists donate to PACs (like Cantor’s EricPAC), reps spend the donations on fundraising excursions, and those same lobbyists bundle together even more donations and get a nice, relaxing vacation in Beverly Hills out of it. (You didn’t think they were going to give up their posh vacations, did you?!) And all the while, democracy slips farther and farther out of our grasp.

This is where Eric Cantor is a large part of the time, places like the Beverly Hills Hotel and The Mondrian Hotel, Hollywood ($19,795), The Little Nell, Aspen, Colorado ($31,257), The Ritz Carlton Miami ($23,500), and Nobu Restaurant Miami ($18,057). And of course, the now-defunct deli Stacks, owned by one Mr. Jack Abramoff ($13,000).

So if you’re wondering where Eric Cantor is, you might want to try one of those places. He’ll likely be the one hanging out with all those Hollywood elites.

Eric Cantor speaks! In today’s Commentary section of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Cantor tries his best to explain his outrageous vote against reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and he goes on to urge Bush to veto the bill, which is wildly popular both in Congress and in “the real America” which Cantor constantly claims he wants to represent. He couldn’t be any more off on this issue.

Let’s start by taking a look at the actual bill. (Eric, you might want to pay attention to this part.) The reauthorization adds $35 billion spread over 5 years, bringing the total to $60 billion, or $12 billion a year (by the way we’ve spend $455 billion so far in Iraq with no end in sight). It raises the maximum for entry into the program to allow families to enroll in the program if they make 300% of the criminally low base “poverty level” which is set at around $20,000 a year FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR. 1.2 million children between 200 and 300% of the poverty level both currently don’t have insurance and will stand to benefit by an expansion.

So how is it funded? By a 61 cent per pack increase to the federal cigarette tax. The goal here is both to fund health insurance for more children who wouldn’t otherwise have it, and help increase public health by taxing a product that the vast majority of Americans want taxed more heavily (only 28% disapprove of a 75 cent tax increase). But this is a problem for Cantor, and for the tobacco companies, who fund Cantor to the tune of $44,000 a year, including $17,000 from Altria, nee Phillip Morris.

Republicans like Cantor and Bush want to add only $5 billion which will not serve to fix anything if the real goal of the Republicans is to cover more uninsured children. Almost half, 4 million out of 9 million, will remain uninsured if Cantor has his way.

And it gets worse. Remember Bush’s asinine assertion that the poor already have health care: the emergency room, where you ostensibly can’t be turned away? It’s common sense here, but researchers from Brigham Young and Arizona State Universities found that relying on emergency health care rather than the far cheaper routine and preventive care costs a lot more. A hell of a lot more, and it is a much bigger burden on our tax money.

Cantor goes on to discuss, in great detail and at great length, a complete myth: that families earning four times the federal poverty level for a family of four, approximately $80,000, would suddenly get free health care. States are allowed to set their own minimum and two states have set theirs at 400%. TWO states. But Cantor spends three full paragraphs harping on this issue, and harping completely dishonestly, even displaying a fundamental misunderstanding of that right-wing bugaboo, the alternative minimum tax, what he and no one else calls the “millionaire’s tax.”

Cantor cites “the efficiency gains and lower prices that competition among private insurers has provided” as some sort of positive for continuing the status quo, which, as has been pointed out so frequently and so pervasively, is simply not sustainable. We pay the most and get the least care for our spending than any other developed nation, and Republicans point to this as a good thing.

For them it surely is a good thing. With his fat checks from industries like health insurers and tobacco companies, any “socialization” of health care is certainly bad medicine for his bottom line and the bottom lines of his Republican colleagues. For the rest of America, it’s a different story. Polls consistently show the American people to be in favor of national health insurance programs at a rate of 65% and 73% for covering all children under 18. They understand how badly we’re being raked over the coals truly atrocious levels of “care,” despite the constant propagandizing by the Republicans and their noise machine about the dangers of “socialized” medicine.

Cantor, Bush, and the rest of the corporatist Republicans are willing to disregard the will of the people and let the children suffer to further their failed ideological cause and to help pad their already fat wallets. Nothing new there. So let’s get rid of the lot of ‘em, shall we?