White House photo
Among congressional Republicans, especially House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), a certain mythology has taken root on the fiscal negotiations from the summer of 2011. Unfortunately for the party, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has just helped debunk the GOP's story.
The Democratic version of events happens to be the accurate one: Republicans had threatened to crash the economy on purpose unless their debt-ceiling demands were met, and in the hopes of resolving the crisis, President Obama offered Republicans an overly-generous, $4 trillion "Grand Bargain," which included entitlement cuts and new revenue. Boehner was inclined to accept it, but his caucus balked, forcing the Speaker to walk away from the table.
Not so fast, the GOP says. In the Republican version of the story -- which happens to be factually wrong -- Boehner wanted to accept Obama's offer, until the president started making unreasonable, last-minute demands, which the Speaker couldn't accept. Boehner tells this story so often, it's no longer clear if he even realizes he's lying.
Either way, the New Yorker's Ryan Lizza has a fascinating new piece on Eric Cantor, which helps pull back the curtain on the talks from two years ago.
In June of 2011, the President and the Speaker began working toward a Grand Bargain of major tax increases and spending cuts to address the government's long-term budget deficits. Until late June, Boehner had managed to keep these talks secret from Cantor. On July 21st, Boehner paused in his discussions with Obama to talk to Cantor and outline the proposed deal. As Obama waited by the phone for a response from the Speaker, Cantor struck.
Cantor told me that it was a "fair assessment" that he talked Boehner out of accepting Obama's deal. He said he told Boehner that it would be better, instead, to take the issues of taxes and spending to the voters and "have it out" with the Democrats in the election. Why give Obama an enormous political victory, and potentially help him win re-election, when they might be able to negotiate a more favorable deal with a new Republican President? Boehner told Obama there was no deal. Instead of a Grand Bargain, Cantor and the House Republicans made a grand bet.
The bet failed spectacularly.
It did, indeed. The gamble was, Obama would lose. Instead, the president won re-election fairly easily, and the White House, freed from re-election concerns, will never, ever offer Boehner another deal as generous as that one again. Republicans took their fight to the electorate, and the public made their preference clear: the American mainstream sides with Obama's agenda, not the GOP's.
But Cantor's candor also tells us something important about the larger narrative.
For nearly two years, the Speaker of the House has said Obama walked away from the Grand Bargain, which helped created a toxic political environment that hasn't faded. Republicans were prepared to take the plunge, we've been told repeatedly, but it was that rascally president who was too afraid of the Democratic base to follow through. Plenty of pundits, some of whom really should know better, actually believe this version of events. They even use it as an example of failed presidential "leadership"
But now, it's the House Majority Leader who's willing to say it's a "fair assessment" that Boehner's tale is, and has always been, untrue. It wasn't the president who balked, it was Cantor who "talked Boehner out of accepting Obama's deal."
Cantor didn't want to solve the fiscal problem he and his party helped create during the Bush/Cheney era; Cantor wanted to leave the problem untouched so his party would have something to whine about during the 2012 election campaign.
It amazes me that the Majority Leader was willing to admit this -- it makes Cantor look amoral and it makes Boehner look remarkably dishonest -- but I'm glad he did it anyway.
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This just goes back to the point i made earlier about the media swallowing the GOP line and parsing the blame equally...
Why steal a wallet when you know you are only going to get 4 years for robbing a bank
Excellent point. I am regularly astounded at how the GOP line goes unchallenged when the facts give them the lie.
I just wrote this to the White House. It mentions author Naomi Klein, who should be on-air at MSNBC right now giving her observations.
The GOP today is proposing "disaster capitalism," as author Naomi Klein called it, in its refusal to deal honestly with the sequester issue.
President Obama correctly termed this matter a "manufactured crisis," which is what ultra-right-wing ideologues have forced on many countries besides the U.S. the messes now in Greece and Italy are an example (poor Greece, forced into dire straits by banking and currency speculators).
Uniformly, as author Klein details in great but readable length, the result has been disaster for the people of Russia, Poland, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and other states.
It is unthinkable that the Congressional Tea Party, a small sliver of the electorate, should be holding the country hostage to their uninformed, extremist views.
PLEASE, SEND THE PRESIDENT OUT TOMORROW TO MAKE A POWERFUL CONDEMNATION OF THE GOP'S PRACTICE OF DISASTER CAPITALISM.
It is not Cantor who pulled the plug on the Boehner-Obama deficit deal, it was the powers for whom Cantor is the reliable mouthpiece -- the Kochs. The Kochs love the power they gained in the House in 2010. Cantor is not an "independent" thinker, he is just a "Koch" front man.
This also goes to a point that I've been making since I joined this blog: The GOTP follows Joseph Goebbels' propaganda playbook as faithfully as they claim to follow Christianity. They tell the Big Lie often enough, and over a long enough period of time, until people believe it. Eventually their sympathizers and supporters become so emotionally dependent on the Big Lie that, when someone factually debunks it, they attack the debunker, the bringer of truth, and circle around the Big Lie as a demonstration of their faith.
Rachel compiled what could have been another book, MITT'S MENDACITY, much of which didn't involve digging into facts, but merely compared what Mitt said on the record art different times! So what happened, even after Mitt's post primary etch-a-sketch rebranding? 47% of the electorate voted for him! Anyone who voted for him knew he was a liar. THEY KNEW IT, but they held their noses and told themselves that he was lying to others, not to them.
Cantor & Boehner still follow Goebbels because it works for them. Pointing it out again and again and again won't hurt them all that much. Their constituents have a Scopes Monkey Trial reaction to facts and evidence that undermines their fanaticism: Kill The Messenger.
Why steal a wallet when you know you are only going to get 4 years for robbing a bank
That may be four years for robbing a bank if you use the front door; but apparently there are no penalties if you rob a bank using the back door and the board room.
Just one thing Sofferclese, It's Steve Benen, not Rachel who Chronicled Mitt's Mendacity in 41 parts. Some have suggested a book, but even if a publisher wouldn't bite, there's the e-book route.
I always knew Cantor had something going on the side! House Majority Leader and Loyal Second-in-Command to the Speaker - my left hind foot! He's been angling for Speakership since 2011 - and nearly staged a palace coup then. Little weasel.
John A #1.1
I am a big fan of Naomi Klein and own her book, The Shock Doctrine. Where is she now on MSNBC? I absolutely believe everything she said in that book on disaster capitalism.
I have recommended it to everyone.
May be fooling ourselves here. Reading the posts and can't help but wonder. If one side wants cuts and the other wants taxes doesn't it make sense that both sides just got what they wanted. They (both parties) planned this from the start for political ease. Where is all the other money going? They are fooling us with a plan concieved by both sides to distract us all from where our money is really going. Think about it.
Steve Benen needs to get Naomi Klein on his show to discuss the GOP's use of disaster capitalism. This goes back a few years. They even used it after Katrina to institute their right-wing agenda. It's an egregious policy and needs to be made known.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA736oK9FPg&feature=related
Obviously, I mean Rachel's show. Sorry! I can't type and cook at the same time.
Thanks for mentioning Steve's blog on Mitt's Mendacity. I am waiting faithfully for it to be published. It would make a great coffee table book, if I had a coffee table. But I will buy it anyway and great gift for friends I worked with too. A historical joke book. Don't forget the 47% deal breaker. (ha ha). Ive been waiting a long time to say that. (hahahahahaha).
Part of the issue today is our willingness to think people like Klein actually know what economics are. Economic fabrications to scare the public into thinking they actually know what we the people do daily. Or a new way of stating what wealready know. Economist are our issue along with Politicians and Laywers. Never trust anyone who invents thier own language. They make thier money by making the language coded and complex so they seem ahead of you and me. Think about it. Did the book actually say anything that you didn't already agree with?
Klien is just another Carnaval Barker spouting fear and amazement to get your money just like all of these Washington hacks and political pundents. I thought we were moving towards "Progressive" and "Leaning Forward" so why keep "Leaning" on everyone elses opinion and form our own. Instead of wat Klien thinks, what do you think, really I am interested to hear yur point of view and willing to bet you have more solutions than any hack writing any book.
Cantor's substantive forethought is quite superficial! He's seen one redwood tree, and he thinks he's seen a forest!
Craven Cantor - I like it! Mr. Eric is a boy in pajamas in the adult world of politics, and his inability to offer Americans, and even his specific district constituents, any positive legislative outcomes is a testament to his political failings!
Yes, Eric Cantor, you screwed up royally! And, now, you may be too daft to even see the errors of your ways! Yes, "Craven Cantor" needs to be on a multitude of bumper-stickers mounted to bumpers all over America! -Kevo
Yes, it's being reported here, but will it make the last page on any newspaper in the country?
I wonder if it truly was that Cantor talked Boehner out of the deal, or if Cantor said that Cantor had the votes to keep anything from happening.
If I was Boehner, I wouldn't trust Cantor one bit.
There's no cure for stupid. No wonder republicans hate education spending.
Some people have a trusting demeanor, and some people are obviously wearing a mask... the more they smile, the more they're trying to pull one over on you.
Guess which type Eric Cantor is?
Cantor not only looks craven; he is craven. He is a cold-blooded, power hungry psychopath who'd stab anyone in the back to get what he wants.
He wants Boehner's job. That would be a tragedy for this country.
Contestant:
"I'll take Craven and remarkably dishonest for 1,000 please."
Alex Trebek:
"These guys should be hanged.. I'm so tired of Republican horse@!$%#."
I will eagerly await Bob Woodward's apology, retraction, and correction!
...as only a credible, responsible journalist would do
I think it's all pretty pathetic. They live in that D.C. bubble, and make decisions based on the clique they are in. The most popular leads the clique, and the rest follow. This happens in the Democratic side as well. It just seems to be more childish and irresponsible on the Republican side. Classic case of never leaving High School. The problem is these decisions aren't as simple as cheaper lunches, and pop machines in the hallways. This is the entire country, and it's people who they are supposed to be representing. Not the most popular at school.
I think I can speak for many Americans that we are all just really sick of your B/S games. We have all been through enough thanks to ALL of you. Terrorist attacks, wars, lies, death, destroyed economy, job loss, holding unemployment checks hostage, sickness, lack of insurance, foreclosures, credit down grades personal/Country, hunger, fear, insecurity, desperation, called losers, lazy, and worthless animals. How much more does OUR Government want to do to it's people?
President Obama you won stop campaigning you got the job. Republicans he won DEAL with IT!
Now either do your jobs or let someone else have them that still cares about the Country as a whole, and it's citizens.
Because frankly we are all just tired.
Mellowohio: If you blame ALL of them nearly equally rather than recognizing that one side is deliberately causing the problems and the other is just not able to solve them to your satisfaction, you're part of the problem. That list you have after "ALL of you" -- tell me one thing on there that isn't about Republicans.
And nice job swallowing the GOP line about the president "campaigning." The president is appealing to the people to put pressure on Republicans because they're refusing to negotiate and literally demanding that they get everything they want. He is doing his job because he does care about the country as a whole.
Being a citizen isn't something you are, it's something you do. And it's not something you do every few years. Voting is the bare minimum of citizenship; if you want the country to be governed properly, you don't get to just vote and then sit back and bitch about the people in power, you have to keep up the pressure.
Well Redshift thanks for schooling me "NOT"..I voted Obama thanks. See everyone on here just jumped on your boat because you were portraying me as a Republican or a non voter NOT TRUE.... Kind of felt like I was on Fox news blog. Obama in my opinion does not need to be out telling his story to all of us who just voted for him to run the Country again. He is wasting tax payer money and resources in doing so. Why he doesn't walk over to the Congress in the middle of a session, and call them out is beyond me. I would have already done it. I would say that would get some attention.
Yes, the Republicans are constantly putting up barricades, and trying to stop whatever he does or the Dems want to do. It has become ridiculous. Why isn't anyone from Congress in the Democratic party trying to change that? Instead they all just go home for a week or so. Out of sight out of mind doesn't work with running a Country. Just because Boner tells them to go home doesn't mean they have too.
That list is about Congress as a whole. It takes two to tango. Yes Republicans were the obstructionist, but the Dems were ready to give in until the people freaked out. I happened to be one of them. Even though I am just a lonely citizen.
Since you are such an active citizen why aren't you and your friends standing on the steps of Congress fighting back instead of bitching on a blog to people with screen names. Do something go out and put the pressure on. You seem to know not only me, but how it all works. Good luck with that.
There is no surprise here, It was apparent to me and hopefully anyone who was paying attention at the time , that Eric Cantor was the one who queered the deal by telling Boehner that he couldn't bring the votes for the deal. If Boehner had been smart he would have taken the deal and passed it with the help of the Democrats, of course he would have lost the speaker-ship, but could have moved on with some credibility. Unfortunately the man has no vision, no spine, no credibility, and probably not much left of his liver either.
Unfortunately the man has no vision, no spine, no credibility, and probably not much left of his liver either.
Until you got to the liver part, I thought you were describing Harry 'spineless' Reid.
Ok SOV That's funny :)
I just can't help but wonder, how much dirt Eric Cantor has on John Boehner!
In Cantor es veritas. At last he's honest about something!
And NOW they are whining and sniveling about OBAMA 'taking it to the people'. Maybe because it is showing different results?
If a tree falls in an empty forest, does anyone hear it?
If a repuke 'leader' accidentally tells the truth in a corporately owned media forest where none retell the truth, does anyone hear it?
We know that this will never hear the light of day at Faux News. Any bets about NBC, CBS, ABC, and the rest of the corporately owned media?
Rachel nailed this last night when she noted that we never governed this way until the Republicans won in 2010. How can anyone blame Obama for one financial crisis after another when it never happened in the first 2 years of Obama's 1st term?
And the only way to break the cycle is to force the GOP to raise taxes on their masters every time they engineer a crisis.
Get ready for carried interest to go 'bye-bye'.
From your lips to god(esses)' ear! Carried interest is the one big perk for the 1% that really chaps my hide! If only the general public were widely informed, there would be huge protest crowds in front of the House of Representatives with pitchforks and firebrands!
So they create the problem, ignore it, blame the opposition for it and then make it worse. i shouldn't be suprised by it but i kinda am. also that he would admit it.
I'm not sure if I'm madder at Bonehead who is so afraid of losing his "Speakership" he won't make a move, Cantor who's so busy doing absolutely nothing, or the media who's lazy reporting makes this whole thing a false equivalence that "both sides do it"! Either way the GOTP bet wrong and now the temper tantrum throwing 3yr. olds in charge of the government haven't really a clue about what their jobs entail and are so busy doing absolutely nothing that I'd like to line them up and paddle them all!
A major problem seems to be that the Republicans seem to have glommed onto the idea of saving a crisis for a rainy First Tuesday in November as a permanent tactic.
Another way of reading the unstated is that the Republicans spent the entirety of the 112th Congress manufacturing crises as a reelection scheme for the 113th and seem right now to be on track to stretching that into the 114th. The refs (beltway/national press) had better wake up from their stupor.
Now let us please see how it is that the American public can so easily accept being toyed
Now let us please see how it is that the American public can so easily accept being toyed with.
After all it is at best a cat playing with its food, half dead and barely alive.
It is good thing that these playground antics do not affect how government is perceived by the public.
For if the public could see that these elected official were in true fact the 'government' they might conclude that they were elected to ruin us.
This pustulence discharge of an excuse for elected officials, have given the Nation gangrene and must be amputated.
There is no other alternative, and the patient public will not last so very much longer.
(What good did do, and how is that good to be delivered?)
As a Republican(at least for now) I wish Cantor would of just stayed out of it. But let us not forget that the President and the Speaker had a deal (Grand Bargin) in place until the the Gang of Six idiots opened up their collective yappers. The President saw it as an opportunity and he took it. He demanded $400 billion more and the Speaker couldn't do it. The whole thing got blown out of the water because Republicans can't get their sheet together and the President tried to take advantage of it. The whole Government is like the Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. The problem is NONE of them give a rats arse about you and me.
Another day
Another Notch on the Liar In Chief
Todd, on the Monday, February 25 Daily Rundown on MSNBC:
On a regular basis, there's no shortage of criticism directed at Fox News for being consistently and unfairly biased. But Baltimore Sun media criticDavid Zurawik argues that MSNBC, having hired ex-Obama advisers David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs, is worse.
MSNBC's Axelrod And Gibbs Deny 'Pro-Obama' Allegations, Claim Mantle Of 'Independent' Analysis
The network is now "all but a bona fide organ of state propaganda," he writes, asserting that it is in step with the government's voice, aiding in masking its activities. In making his point, Zurawik looked to a segment on Andrea Mitchell's show in which Axelrod joined in to talk about the sequester.
"There is a belief among some Republicans in Congress that maybe this sequester's all right," Axelrod said on the show. "Maybe this is another way of shrinking government in a dramatic way. That's a dangerous idea, but it's not uncommon in some quarters on Capitol Hill."
Which begs the question: "What is this if not exactly the spin Team Obama seemed to be working on all week?" While the president doesn't seem to be willing to sit down for many substantial interviews, he notes, we're still getting his message loud and clear — through MSNBC, the "so-called news channel."
It's "same kind of oppositional attack-dog stuff" they did when they worked for Obama. Despite their own insistence that's not the case: As you might recall, Gibbs told Howard Kurtz, of his new role, "I don't see it either as being a cheerleader for the president or as a spokesman for the administration's point of view." Axelrod offered a similar view.
Zurawik readily dismisses this argument: They're both on network that "serves as TV mouthpiece for the White House."
Still having trouble with your eyesight, I see.
Please note Eric (pinch face) Cantor is making a great effort not to make that pinch face anymore. He was wearing the "pinch face" throughout the entire debt negotiations. Now looks like he is taking tranquilizers. No thanks for the double bump on your tirade nolaughing. I had to skip it two times.
"Excuse us? This just looks bad. It looks like the White House is selling access. The definition of how you define selling access. If you believe money has a stranglehold over the entire political system, this is ceding the moral high ground. And the President always has, from the moment he first announced his presidential bid in Springfield, six years ago, he stressed the need to curb the influence of special interests in Washington."
----
The Supreme Court says this is ok!!!! If foreign governments and casino zillionaires can get access,, why not the little man.. I am signed on!!!!
Black Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Harry C. Alford toldNational Press Club that he "ignored" President Obama's "spread the wealth" comment in 2008 and "had hopes" for him "because he was black."
"I don't really support him too well and he knows it and that's a badge of honor. He's bad. He's bad and I supported him. I voted for him the first time around. I had hopes because he was black. Shame on me," Alford told TheDC at the National Press Club after an anti-gun control news conference.
"Then when he started doing all these executive orders, banning right-to-work and other things, hurting my members, my constituents. I had to back off. I had to represent my people."
While running for president in 2008, Obama said, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
When reminded Obama's comment, Alford said, "I kind of ignored it. I said, 'well, maybe he's just talking.' He was serious. He was real serious and it is truly — if you read the Communist Manifesto — that's that philosophy. He is not Adam Smith. He does not believe in capitalism the way American, our Founding Fathers did. He is very social and it's getting borderline communist."
The National Black Chamber of Commerce is "dedicated to economically empowering and sustaining African American communities through entrepreneurship and capitalistic activity within the United States."
Those who clip and paste FOX articles deserve all those 'No Value' votes under the little ! to the lower right...
So Cantor came up with the Grand Blunder when conservatives could have had entitlement cuts with a Grand Bargain...thus walking in the footsteps of Bush/Cheney? The GOP just can't seem to avoid keeping the tradition alive. Vive 'a la Stupidity.
The Republican Young Gun shot himself in the crouch on purpose. Why will the Silent Majority not be surprised?