Eric Cantor
Eric Cantor
Eric Ivan Cantoris an American politician, lawyer, and businessman, who served as the United States representative for Virginia's 7th congressional district from 2001 until 2014. A member of the Republican Party, he became House Majority Leader when the 112th Congress convened on January 3, 2011. He previously served as House Minority Whip from 2009 until 2011...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth6 June 1963
CityRichmond, VA
CountryUnited States of America
I just am a believer...that there are some things that happen for a reason...We may not be able to really discern it now...[but] given the perspective of time, I think we're going to be able to look back at this, and what seemed really bad at the time may turn out to be really good.
Now the proposal is yet again another $150 billion before we start to think about a freeze. But $150 billion spent on more government programs; monies being created to direct and what kind of jobs that Washington thinks ought to be created. Come on. I mean there is a government that can help, and the government can also hurt.
We as Republicans understand that we have got to protect these... entitlement programs - these entitlement programs for our seniors today. And we have to sit down and have a discussion. We need more ideas on the table.
The bill then says if the Senate does not act, then H.R. 1 (the House-passed bill that cuts $61 billion) will be the law of the land. In addition to that, it says that if all else fails, and the Senate brings about a shutdown, then members should not get their pay.
And basically, the sense of the 'Pledge to America' is this: Republicans understand when we were in charge, we got fired in '06. We spent too much money. We defied the trust that the people had put in us. And we know that there is a better way.
We have a plan that creates universal access programs at the state level which allows folks to access insurance if they're denied by their insurer.
What this bill says is it reiterates again the deadline, and that the Senate should act before the deadline, and that's what the American people are expecting.
It is time for us to insist that we are accountable for the money that we are spending.
If the President says, oh, Washington's got to change, and people are doubting whether my change can really happen, I think instead what the public's begun to see is the change they're seeing is not the change they voted for.
As far as further steps toward solvency, the question is, how much further action are we going to see in the Senate?
If you couple that with the fact that we are seeing record profits by the oil companies, ... there are questions being raised by our constituents across America wondering how such a situation could exist.
I do not suspect that Jefferson or Madison ever envisioned Congress honoring the 2,560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius or supporting the designation of National Pi Day.
I mean, look, Nancy Pelosi said in the very beginning this is going to be the most open, honest and ethical Congress in history. And what we're seeing is she's breaking that promise every day.
I am hopeful for the American people that we can actually improve the outlook for bringing down costs in health care.