Eric Cantor

Obama Adminstration Negotiates Nuclear Bailout Deal with Iran

by. Irving Peter Freely

WASHINGTON -- Declaring the World's Largest Sponsor of Terrorism "too big to fail," U.S. President Barack Obama today announced the Iranian Nuclear Reinvestment Act of 2009.  The controversal deal, opposed by Republicans, will commit the U.S. Government to funding the Iranian nuclear program through the end of 2010.  The Iranian Nuclear program had become a causalty of the global credit crisis and lower oil prices.

"In this time of global economic crisis," President Obama announced today, "when we stand on the edge of catastrophe, Vice President Biden, Secretary Geithner and Iranian president [Mahmoud] Ahmedinejad have negotiated a deal that should allow us to create or save over 400 jobs in the Iranian Nuclear Sector.  Given the unprecedented nature of the pressures Iran faces, not acting is simply not an option."

The deal is expected to meet resistance on Capitol Hill.

"Is the President serious?"  Asked Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), a member of House Republican Leadership.

"The American People do not want us to send billions of dollars to prop up the nuclear program of a country that regularly declares it's intention to destroy the United States of America," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN).

Not all members of Congress feel this way.

"I find it appaling that Herbert Hoover Repubilcans would follow Rush Limbaugh's marching orders to obstruct this crucial economic and national security measure in order to justify their own failed policies," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

"Who do these Republicans think they are?" asked Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), "When the administration negotiates a bailout deal in secret with our enemies, they expect a certain amount of support from the United States Congress.  These Herbert Hoover Republicans seem to think that the Iranian nuclear program will survive if we do nothing.  These Republicans don't understand that real people work in the Iranian nuclear program."

While Republicans are anticpated to largely oppose the deal, Democrats expect the measure to pass largely along party lines, although moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is expected to support the administration.

"I just think that, given the size of the current crisis, we have to do something even if this approach isn't my first choice", Specter said this week on the Sean Hannity Radio show.  "I gave my word to the Senate Leadership and I intend to keep it."

President-elect Barack Obama has talked the talk about government transparency. But will he walk the walk? House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) stole the spotlight on the issue yesterday when congressional leaders sat down with Obama to discuss his economic stimulus package.

According to the New York Times, Cantor secured one of Obama's first specific policy commitments when the president-elect agreed to put "the entire contents of the legislation online in a user-friendly way to see how the money is being spent."

This was a brilliant suggestion from Cantor and a savvy political move. Conservatives must hold Obama and his administration accountable for his transparency promises. While I'm skeptical of Obama's sincerity (judging from his health care forums), the only way to keep him honest is to play offense.

Details of how Cantor's idea is accomplished will need to be figured out, but it's based on the concept that a full online ledger of the stimulus spending should be publicly available in a user-friendly format. The information should be updated in real-time, meaning that as the stimulus spending changes, the information online should reflect it immediately. Taxpayers should be able to sort by congressional district to find out how the money is being spent.

My only gripe with the idea is that it assumes a spending-focused stimulus is inevitable. Regardless, the onus will be on Obama and congressional Democrats to live up to their promise for complete transparency.

Today's style section in the Washington Post features newly minted House Minority Whip, Congressman Eric Cantor. He seems to be decidedly undecided on what can move the GOP forward in upcoming election cycles:

On his nightstand, Cantor heaps prescriptions for his ailing party: "Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again," by David Frum, formerly a speechwriter for President Bush; "The Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream," by Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam. He pores over newspaper columns, he says, seeking wisdom "from the George Wills of the world, the Bill Kristols of the world, the Charles Krauthammers of the world."

"I'm very fixated on trying to determine what went wrong and how we can fix it," he says over toasted cheese sandwiches and tuna melts at a pharmacy diner here.

But the answers aren't east to find.

He keeps looking.

"Nobody," he says, "is right on the money yet."

(Is there a difference between "grilled cheese" and "toasted cheese" sandwiches?) Anyhow, let me humbly attempt to present a "prescription" that Cantor and others could consider.

There have been a lot of healthy debates on this site, most of which I've been proud to contribute to: how to view and use new media, fixing the movement vs. resetting the movement, top-down idea creation vs. grassroots idea growth. Michael Turk asked a few weeks ago: which comes first - ideas for message? The answer is clear: ideas. But it means that we have to increase our intellectual capacity and creativity with both the ideas and the messaging of those ideas. Example: McCain Health Tax Credit = Good Idea; McCain's Explanation of His Plan = Terrible.

Like Newt Gingrich's Contract with America in 1994, Republicans need to coalese our principles and our ideas into a unifying theme: An Agenda of Equal Opportunity. With a specific set of economic issues, Congressmen Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor have made good attempts with the Roadmap for America's Future and the Middle Class Bill of Rights, respectively. But, of course, there are more than economic issues, more than fiscal conservatives in the movement, and many principles tied to those issues. Having our unifying theme being an Agenda of Equal Opportunity can battle the New "New Deal" that the Obama administration is and will be presenting. Let's take a look at the principles, the issues, the infrastructure and the reasons why this theme might work.

You might think the Republicans in the House of Representatives would be itching to appoint a Whip successor who warned the party that it was losing its way, who challenged the party when it made error after discrediting error, someone who wasn’t helping to steer the GOP into the crushing defeats of 2006 and 2008.

But while Mike Pence is a fresh and positive face for the House Republican Conference, the Minority Leader and Whip positions are remaining status quo.  Republicans are right back where they were in 2006, when a Hill headline read, "GOP Keeps Team, Promises Changes".

While many people are questioning the wisdom of Boehner remaining in the Minority leadership, though, there's been less attention given to Eric Cantor's basically unopposed elevation to the Minority Whip position.  But why?

• Cantor has been Chief Deputy Whip since he was re-elected to his second term in 2002, one of the longest serving people in the disastrous House Republican leadership. 
• He initially opposed the pork-laden Highway Bill, but came around to support it, Bridge to Nowhere and all. 
• He boosted for the massive Medicare prescription drug expansion, against the protests of Jeff Flake, Mike Pence and other solid conservatives.  
• Cantor ridiculously blamed the failure of the first compromise bailout bill on Nancy Pelos giving a partisan speech, and voted for the nationalization of the American financial sector.
• Eric Cantor had numerous connections to Abramoff; Abramoff's Signatures restaurant even named a sandwich after Eric Cantor.

There are a few possibilities.

• Cantor was ineffective at stopping the damage that the House GOP was doing to itself.
• Cantor enabled the less savory elements of the House to continue dragging down the party brand.
• Cantor actively leading the House Republicans into their current state.

Many Republicans hold Eric Cantor in high esteem, and he does have some positive qualities.   But in what sense does Cantor represent "change"?

Rep. Cantor may have many fine qualities and he may be good on many (clearly not all) issues important to the Right—at least he opposed the Farm Bill. But despite all of that, he still managed to become a striking symbol of the status quo at a time when the GOP needs serious, thorough reform.

The deck chairs are being shuffled.  At least the Titanic went down after hitting only one iceberg.  Republicans seem determined to hit as many icebergs as possible on the way down.

While I'm still skeptical of any large strategic effect the #dontGo movement had, the energy issue overall, as well as McCain's selection of Gov. Sarah Palin, has spurred new policy messages on a wide range of economic, middle class issues. Two days ago, Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA 7th District) spoke to the Conservative Bloggers' Briefing at the Heritage Foundation, introducing a "Middle Class Bill of Rights." The components are:

• Energy: As everybody knows by now, the rational approach is to have an "all of the above" strategy which includes production of non-renewable and renewable resources (including nuclear), as well as initiatives that increase conservation and efficiency. Cantor mentioned that the selection of Palin gives the GOP in the expertise edge of energy solutions.
• Health Care: Cantor explained that individuals worry more today than a generation ago about losing their jobs because of the subsequent loss in health care coverage. Consumer-based health care programs and the expansion of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are the way to proceed.
• Making Paychecks Go Further: Another way of saying "tax cuts." But Cantor also mentioned that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is proposing making overtime wages tax-exempt to fuel more productivity at the micro-level.
• Job Creation: Cantor correctly points out that the best stimulus for any economy is job creation. This means Congress has to start being concerned about competitiveness and corporate taxes. Back in January, Cantor introduced the "Middle Class Job Protection Act," which would, among other things, cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%. While it is speculative to link corporate taxes to job loss/creation, the ultimate burden of corporate taxes does fall on individuals through lower wages, higher costs at goods and services, etc. (The Tax Foundation has started a campaign called CompeteUSA, showing that corporate taxes in America are increasingly out-of-line with the rest of the world.)

While I like the combination of issues and the focus on the middle class, I'm not so sure I like the branding. Middle Class Bill of Rights? I've never been a fan of economic "rights." But maybe it is this type of messaging that the Right needs for this and future elections cycles in order to successfully court the middle class. And now that McCain and Republicans are making headway on economic and energy issues, as Sean points out, Cantor is definitely headed in the right direction.

I just had the chance to catch up with GOP chief deputy whip and recent Veepstakes contender Eric Cantor here on the Press level of the Xcel Center. Win or lose, I get the sense that one trend that will continue is a younger, more reformist cohort of House Republicans. Cantor projected a large GOP freshman class in 2009 -- after what Kevin McCarthy reminded us yesterday was the smallest freshman class since 1914 to come in this Congress.

Our top opportunities to knock off Dem incumbents? TX-22 with Pete Olson, WI-8 with John Gard (Steve Kagen is certifiable), PA-10 with Chris Hackett (full disclosure: I consult for Hackett), and CA-11 with Dean Andal.

I asked him about blue state pickup opportunities. One of the big frustrations currently is that when a blue seat comes open, it's automatically assumed that it will stay blue, while a conservative district becomes a tossup and the Democrat is allowed to redefine themselves as in step with the district. This is a problem. Cantor is hopeful that Carol Shea-Porter can be knocked off in NH-1.

He's not willing to take Virginia out the swing state column, but thinks that John McCain wins a competitive race in a state with a large military presence.

For more: GOPYoungGuns.com.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was instrumental on Aug. 1 from the start of the #dontgo revolt on the House floor. But since then, he hasn't been back to Washington, opting instead to focus on work in his district. He's also doing two things that almost certainly enhance his profile as a potential VP for John McCain: raising money for Republicans and appearing on TV as a surrogate for the GOP nominee.

Nonetheless, Cantor's name has been left out of recent news stories or relegated to darkhorse status. Aside from an excellent Washington Times piece by Ben Domenech making the case for Cantor, it would appear his 15 minutes of fame have faded after a flurry of news stories several weeks ago.

That could change over the next week as he heads to Denver for the GOP's messaging operation to counter the Democratic National Convention. Just as they did four years ago in Boston, Republicans will bring some of the party's most recognizable faces and rising stars for news briefings each day.

Cantor's absence from Washington didn't strike me as unusual until today when I heard Minority Leader John Boehner was headed back to Capitol Hill for the Republican revolt, which enters its 14th day tomorrow. It'll mark the second time Boehner has come back. Other members of the Republican leadership team -- Whip Roy Blunt, Conference Chairman Adam Putnam, Policy Chairman Thaddeus McCotter and NRCC Chairman Tom Cole -- have also returned.

From what I was able to gather, it's not that Cantor doesn't want to come back. He simply doesn't have the time given his jam-packed schedule and stumping for McCain. "Eric's not the kind of guy who lets the grass grow under his feet," a source told me today.

There's no question about that. Cantor has collected more than 34,000 signatures on his Call Congress Back petition, which launched simultaneously with the #dontgo protest on the floor. He has consistently kept pressure on Speaker Nancy Pelosi in TV interviews. And he was the McCain campaign's official representative on Aug. 4 conference call about Barack Obama's energy plan.

Am I reading too much into this? Perhaps. But that's what makes VP speculation so fun.

[Promoted - Allen makes the case for McCain to pick Eric Cantor as VP.  I don't have a favorite yet, so it's interesting to see the case made for potential candidates. - Jon Henke]

Frankly, I've grown weary of the ad nauseam repetition of the fact that Obama and the Left are cleaning the clocks of McCain and the Right on the web. Having been reared as a conservative in New York  I am battle tested in fighting against long odds and making progress. Occasionally we actually score big victories by successfully taking on big challenges.

As I've watched McCain make successive wrong political decisions I have concluded that McCain needs help from outside his political brain trust. If McCain is to get traction on the web and on the ground his campaign needs to get the attention and win the support of grassroots Republicans and conservatives.

Probably his last big opportunity to this will be with his selection of  his running mate.