Friday, January 4, 2013

Rep. Cantor votes against bipartisan bill to avert fiscal crisis; bill still passes the House


As the U.S. Senate left the Capitol and awaited the decision of the House of Representatives to pass the “fiscal crisis” averting bill, Rep. Eric Cantor from our very own state of Virginia “told members in a closed-door meeting in the basement of the Capitol that he could not support the legislation in its current form.”[1] 

In essence, Eric Cantor and the rest of his Republican Party colleagues who voted “no” on the Senate bill were willing to throw the U.S. economy, and by extension the world economy, into a panic because it did not pass the litmus test of their narrow ideological beliefs.

Notwithstanding the fact that the Republicans in the Congress received a much better deal than their political might should have enabled them to, Cantor and company in the House were not satisfied.

Luckily, the bill was passed in the House of Representatives by a 257-167 vote[2] (85 Republicans and 172 Democrats voted in favor), averting for the time being another self-inflicted economic downturn.

While the mainstream media wants nothing more than to spread the blame for political gridlock evenly across both parties, it is unequivocal that the Republicans have been the most unreasonably obstructionist since the last U.S. House began.

Somehow the idea has become gospel among many Republicans that in order to fix the deficit problem, America should unravel its own economy, driving the deficit up, and then somehow restore cherished Republican ideas that will magically lift the U.S. economy out of $16 trillion worth of debt. This logic is quite insane, to say the least.

And somehow, many of these same Republicans keep getting elected into office, Republicans like Eric Cantor. With so much at stake economically, Cantor once again proved that he is simply a reactionary politician with political ambition but few political ideas worth discussing.

If it’s true that you reap what you sow, then Cantor’s willingness to let the country fall into a self-inflicted economic debacle will come back to boot him out of office. At least, one can hope!


[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/us/politics/house-takes-on-fiscal-cliff.html?hp&_r=0
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/us/politics/house-takes-on-fiscal-cliff.html?hp&_r=0

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