Where’s Eric Cantor?

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.