Eric Cantor – the “Weasel”

Apparently there are many Republican members of the House who do not understand the ramifications of not raising the debt limit.

“At a closed-door meeting Friday morning, GOP leaders turned to their most trusted budget expert, Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, to explain to rank-and-file members what many others have come to understand: A fiscal meltdown could occur if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling.”

At least someone seems to have learned something from Ryan. “He said if we pass Aug. 2, it would be like ‘Star Wars,'” said Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a freshman from Tennessee. “I don’t think the people who are railing against raising the debt ceiling fully understand that.”  L.A. Times

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor does not need these lessons. He knows full well the damage that failing to raise the debt ceiling could do to our economy. Yet he has chosen his own political future over our country’s future. Kudos to James Fallows of The Atlantic for shining a light on Cantor’s dangerous inflexibility on the debt ceiling debate. Fallows describes Cantor’s walking out of the debt ceiling talks: “…as clear an example of petty-ambition-over-national-interest as we’ve seen in public life in quite a while.”

More from Fallows:

“Cantor is putting personal power before country here, and in a very dangerous way. If Boehner actually does manage to cut a decent deal despite Cantor’s effort to throw him under the bus, he may not hold on as leader of his party, but unlike Cantor, he’ll deserve to.” ~~Ezra Klein

“The prospects for an agreement now are worse because of Rep. Cantor’s presence in them. That’s not because he’s a conservative — so, obviously, are Boehner and McConnell.” It’s because he’s acting like a weasel.”
CWM