Who ERIC CANTOR REALLY Represents!

Since this is an election year and a very large number of Americans are still unemployed or underemployed, I continue my periodic posts profiling those in public office who are working in the interest of big business or special interest groups rather than for the well-being of the great majority of citizens. These officials are out of touch with average working Americans and speak only for the wealthy and privileged. Today, my focus will be on Virginia's 7th District conservative Republican Representative Eric Cantor, who also serves as the Republican House Minority Whip. All data in this post comes from a combination of three fabulous source websites: www.opensecrets.org (an arm of the Center for Responsive Politics), www.ontheissues.org, (a nonpartisan site dedicated to listing all candidates' voting records on a host of major issues) and www.themiddleclass.org (the nonpartisan Drum Major Institute for Public Policy's analyzation on legislation affecting the country's current and aspiring middle class).


As the current Republican Minority Whip, Eric Cantor has had a pretty darn easy job. His party peers have not proposed legislation of any real substance or detail in the past 3 years or so, and his main tasks have centered around being a mindless parrot for Minority Leader John Boehner and making certain that his fellow elephants follow each other in a circle tied together at the tail as they oppose President Obama on virtually everything he comes out in favor of. Mr. Cantor's disdain for the President last year led him to attend a Britney Spears concert rather than a presidential press conference. Now THERE'S a man with priorities! Mistaken ones, but priorities nonetheless. Oh well, yuppie boys will be yuppie boys, won't they? But, of course, that is not the most disturbing thing about Mr. Cantor. Rather, it is his voting record, very, very little of which has been in the interest of the majority of our citizenry. Just look at this sloppy trail of anti-worker, anti--middle class, pro-big money/big business trash Mr. Cantor has dumped before us:


Voted NO on $192B additional anti-recession stimulus spending. (Jul 2009)
Voted NO on modifying bankruptcy rules to avoid mortgage foreclosures. (Mar 2009)
Voted NO on additional $825 billion for economic recovery package. (Jan 2009)- guess he liked the recession he helped put us in!
Voted NO on monitoring TARP funds to ensure more mortgage relief. (Jan 2009)
Voted NO on $15B bailout for GM and Chrysler. (Dec 2008)
Voted NO on $60B stimulus package for jobs, infrastructure, & energy. (Sep 2008)
Voted NO on defining "energy emergency" on federal gas prices. (Jun 2008)- guess he wanted to protect the oil industry's $ per gallon gasoline!
Voted NO on revitalizing severely distressed public housing. (Jan 2008)
Voted NO on regulating the subprime mortgage industry. (Nov 2007)
Voted YES on restricting bankruptcy rules. (Jan 2004)

And Mr. Cantor has been no friend of alternative energy development or the environment, either:

Voted NO on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution. (Jun 2009)
Voted NO on tax credits for renewable electricity, with PAYGO offsets. (Sep 2008)
Voted NO on tax incentives for energy production and conservation. (May 2008)
Voted NO on tax incentives for renewable energy. (Feb 2008)
Voted NO on investing in homegrown biofuel. (Aug 2007)
Voted NO on removing oil & gas exploration subsidies. (Jan 2007)
Voted NO on keeping moratorium on drilling for oil offshore. (Jun 2006)
Voted YES on passage of the Bush Administration national energy policy. (Jun 2004)
Voted YES on implementing Bush-Cheney national energy policy. (Nov 2003)
Voted NO on raising CAFE standards; incentives for alternative fuels. (Aug 2001)
Voted NO on prohibiting oil drilling & development in ANWR. (Aug 2001)
Rated 0% by the CAF, indicating opposition to energy independence. (Dec 2006)
Voted NO on $2 billion more for Cash for Clunkers program. (Jul 2009)
Voted NO on protecting free-roaming horses and burros. (Jul 2009)
Voted NO on increasing AMTRAK funding by adding $214M to $900M. (Jun 2006)
Voted YES on deauthorizing "critical habitat" for endangered species. (Sep 2005)
Voted YES on speeding up approval of forest thinning projects. (Nov 2003)
Rated 0% by the LCV, indicating anti-environment votes. (Dec 2003)


Voted NO on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Jan 2009)
Voted NO on overriding veto on expansion of Medicare. (Jul 2008)
Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)
Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)
Voted NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Jan 2007)
Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)
Voted YES on limiting medical malpractice lawsuits to $250,000 damages. (May 2004)
Voted NO on allowing reimportation of prescription drugs. (Jul 2003)
Voted YES on capping damages & setting time limits in medical lawsuits. (Mar 2003)
Rated 0% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record. (Dec 2003)

Mr. Cantor has dropped a few other doozies on us too:

Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Nov 2007)
Voted YES on making the PATRIOT Act permanent. (Dec 2005)
Rated 7% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
Rated 19% by the NAACP, indicating an anti-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)

Ever the friend of the wealthy and corporate America, Cantor did them a big favor when he:

Voted NO on letting shareholders vote on executive compensation. (Jul 2009)
Voted YES on replacing illegal export tax breaks with $140B in new breaks. (Jun 2004)

Rated 100% by the US COC, indicating a pro-business voting record. (Dec 2003)
There's even more:

Voted NO on $40B for green public schools. (May 2009)
Voted NO on additional $10.2B for federal education & HHS projects. (Nov 2007)
Rated 17% by the NEA, indicating anti-public education votes. (Dec 2003)

Voted NO on assisting workers who lose jobs due to globalization. (Oct 2007)
Voted YES on implementing CAFTA, Central America Free Trade. (Jul 2005)
Voted YES on implementing US-Australia Free Trade Agreement. (Jul 2004)
Voted YES on implementing US-Singapore free trade agreement. (Jul 2003)
Voted YES on implementing free trade agreement with Chile. (Jul 2003)
Voted NO on protecting whistleblowers from employer recrimination. (Mar 2007)

Voted NO on restricting employer interference in union organizing. (Mar 2007)
Voted NO on increasing minimum wage to $7.25. (Jan 2007)

Rated 0% by the ARA, indicating an anti-senior voting record. (Dec 2003)
Voted NO on extending AMT exemptions to avoid hitting middle-income. (Jun 2008)
Voted NO on paying for AMT relief by closing offshore business loopholes. (Dec 2007)
Voted YES on retaining reduced taxes on capital gains & dividends. (Dec 2005)
Voted YES on making the Bush tax cuts permanent. (Apr 2002)
Voted YES on eliminating the Estate Tax ("death tax"). (Apr 2001)

Voted NO on investigating Bush impeachment for lying about Iraq. (Jun 2008)
Voted YES on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date. (Jun 2006)
Voted NO on providing $70 million for Section 8 Housing vouchers. (Jun 2006)
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Now what in the world would cause a man like Mr. Cantor to cast such a gigantic number of bad votes, or to earn himself a solid "F" ranking and a dismal 13% approval rating over at www.themiddleclass.org? Why would a man of his credentials VOTE AGAINST POOR CHILDREN, THE UNEMPLOYED, AND JOB CREATION? Could it be that he is so busy serving the interests of big money and insurance companies that he has no time for everyday, average citizens whose taxes fund his paycheck? Let's see who could be distracting him with large campaign contributions, shall we?


Top 5 Contributors, 2009-2010, Campaign Committee

Contributor /Total /Individuals /PACs

Comcast Corp $33,950 /$23,950 /$10,000
McGuireWoods LLP $28,050 /$23,050 /$5,000
Dominion Resources $25,600 $15,600 $10,000
Goldman Sachs $21,600 /$11,600 /$10,000
KKR & Co $21,600 /$21,600 /$0

Just as we thought...Mr. Cantor has influential big money friends on Wall Street...

Top 5 Industries, 2009-2010, Campaign Committee

Industry /Total /Individuals /PACs

Securities & Investment $361,400 /$274,150 /$87,250
Real Estate $266,347 /$222,447 /$43,900
Retired $189,375 /$189,/375 $0
Insurance $169,950 /$69,500 /$100,450
Lawyers/Law Firms $164,500 $130,500 $34,000

Top 5 Contributors, 2009-2010, Leadership PAC

Contributor /Total /Individuals /PACs

Altria Group $42,250 /$32,250 /$10,000
SAC Capital Advisors $31,500 $31,500 $0
NorPAC $26,020 $26,020 $0
Paulson & Co $22,750 $22,750 $0
Blackstone Group $21,700 /$19,200 /$2,500

Top 5 Industries, 2009-2010, Leadership PAC

Industry /Total /Individuals /PACs

Securities & Investment $240,600 /$172,600 /$68,000
Insurance $181,250 /$16,250 /$165,000
Real Estate $113,500 /$69,500 /$44,000
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $105,500 /$8,250 /$97,250
Lobbyists $85,900 $80,900 $5,000


SUMMARY: The votes and the campaign contributions do not lie. Eric Cantor is sitting in Congress, collecting a nice public paycheck, doing the bidding of big private Wall Street banks who are NOT acting in the public's best interests! In June 2003, crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff persuaded then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay to organize a letter, co-signed by then-Speaker Hastert, then-Whip Roy Blunt, and then-Deputy Whip Eric Cantor, that endorsed a view of gambling law benefitting Mr. Abramoff's client, the Louisiana Coushatta, by blocking gambling competition by another tribe. Cantor is a purely partisan political hack. He is one of the Republican Party's top fundraisers, ruthlessly striving to return the GOP to congressional control so it can once again plague us with more deregulation and more tax cuts for the wealthy. Should the Republicans return to power this fall, Cantor is perfectly perched on the House Ways and Means Committee, and would play a heavy hand in giving us another round of Bush-style tax cuts. Like many in Congress today, Cantor belongs in a private boardroom drawing a fat private salary, not on the public payroll fleecing the taxpayers for the benefit of the rich.

WHO ERIC CANTOR REALLY REPRESENTS: NOT YOU, Virginia 7th District voter, unless you are all Wall Street bankers, insurance company or other big business CEOs! If you are an average middle or working class American (the overwhelming majority of the country), this guy is NOT looking out for YOU! His voting record, as well as the company he keeps, make him one of your worst enemies in Comgress.

REIC CANTOR SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE AND TAKEN OFF OF THE PUBLIC PAYROLL. PLEASE DO THAT FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY, VIRGINIA 7th DISTRICT VOTERS!