Free Republic

Helping small businesses.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that Republicans would work with President Obama on a second stimulus bill, as long as it's like the tax cut-heavy package the GOP proposed earlier. Cantor told reporters Monday that Obama made a mistake by pushing through a $787 billion stimulus bill in February that had too much government spending. With the economy still scuffling and unemployment approaching 10 percent, Cantor said that Republicans could back new stimulus legislation that focuses on help for small businesses. "We stand ready and willing to work with the president to produce a bill that will actually...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The No. 2 Republican in the House is comparing some of President Barack Obama's economic policies to those of Russia's prime minister and former president, Vladimir Putin. The House Republican whip, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, tells The Associated Press that Obama is micromanaging the auto industry to win points with Democratic allies and labor unions. Cantor said Thursday that Obama's plans for the auto industry are, in his words, "almost like looking at Putin's Russia." Cantor says the normal rights of secured creditors have been taken away and given to political cronies and the auto workers...

WASHINGTON (AP) — House members and their families suffered through investment losses like millions of Americans last year, a sampling of financial disclosure statements showed Wednesday. The economic downturn also sparked some cautionary moves. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, reported capital losses between $100,001 and $1 million when he sold stock in American International Group, the insurance giant given a hefty federal bailout. ~snip~ Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., known for dispensing pet projects to his western Pennsylvania district, lists his largest asset as $50,001 to $100,000 in Wesbanco, a bank holding company.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) says he has requested to meet privately with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) this year, but has been repeatedly rebuffed. In an interview with The Hill, the minority whip said, “I have been told that Speaker Pelosi doesn’t like to meet with Republicans … I would say that is the case in my instance. I have put in requests to meet with her and have yet to be responded to.” Hours later, Cantor would be on the House floor, questioning whether the Speaker should continue to receive intelligence briefings. In his floor comments, Cantor grilled Majority Leader...

(snip) "John McCain is an American hero," Zak said of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee. "We're honored and humbled to have his endorsement. We're looking forward to working with him to improve California." (snip) Whitman served as national co-chair of McCain's presidential campaign. She received another endorsement Thursday when House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, announced that he was backing her. "The state needs a leader with a creative vision, with a formula for success that can address the fiscal challenges that you face and there is no one better than Meg Whitman," Cantor said in a statement posted on...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has signed on to the latest high-profile effort to re-brand the Republican Party — but don't expect to see him take a major leadership role for the National Council for a New America, or make a starring appearance at any of the events on the group's national tour. Organizers of the effort, spearheaded by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, originally told reporters that Gingrich had not been included in the newly-launched group because his 527, American Solutions, was a partisan entity. (The organization describes itself as a "tri-partisan" network.) Gingrich supporters dismissed...

Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, has come under fire from a watchdog group and Democrats for using taxpayer-funded staff to work on a new policy organization he has set up. A spokesman for Cantor said the House minority whip has done nothing wrong and that policy organizations are common in Congress. The complaints center around the National Council for a New America, which Cantor helped establish recently. It is designed to develop policy through a series of town-hall meetings. When it was announced, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said it would be bipartisan, but the initial...

Former – and perhaps future – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to make one thing clear, he’s not sniping at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, another likely presidential candidate. Earlier this month when Romney and Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., were interviewed on CNN, they were asked about radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh and Palin’s inclusion in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people. Romney quipped, “Was that the issue on the most beautiful people or the most influential people? I'm not sure. If it's the most beautiful, I understand. We're not real cute.” Some pundits took that...

The Republican Party is not an endangered species but can do a better job of outreach, recruiting candidates and getting the message out, Sen. John McCain said Sunday. In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” McCain responded to a question referring to a story in Time magazine, describing the party as “in distress.” “I probably would not go that length,” McCain said. “We all work in cycles for many years. We have seen parties down and parties up. That’s a great thing about American politics. “But having said that, do we have to do a better job of getting our...

Social conservatives are blasting the National Council for a New America, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) nascent effort to rebrand the Republican Party, as a misguided and weak-kneed initiative that is out of touch with the GOP rank and file. The council, unveiled last week by Cantor and Sen. John McCain, is designed to be a “forward-looking, grass-roots caucus” that formulates policy prescriptions and communicates with voters in a way that could expand the Republican ranks. In announcing the formation of the group, McCain said he hoped the group would attract moderates and “like-minded Democrats” to a series of...

"Cantor angered conservatives recently by voting "present" on legislation related to limiting executive bonuses. He claimed that he did so not because he didn't want to vote against the bill, but because his wife is an executive of a bank that received TARP bailout money."

Though it was reported three days ago that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would officially join the national Republican re-branding effort, the National Council for a New America, House GOP Whip Rep. Eric Cantor wanted to make it really official today. "I am pleased to announce that Governor Palin has joined the panel of experts," Cantor said. "When NCNA was announced last week, we spoke about a dynamic organization that worked to constantly bring in new people and innovative ideas. The launch of the National Council was just the first step in a growing effort to engage the American people in...

The Republican Party is in big trouble and needs to find a way to move back to the middle of the country, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday. Powell said the GOP is "getting smaller and smaller" and "that's not good for the nation." He also said he hopes that emerging GOP leaders, such as House Minority Whip Cantor, will not keep repeating mantras of the far right. "The Republican Party is in deep trouble," Powell told corporate security executives at a conference in Washington sponsored by Fortify Software Inc. The party must realize that the country has...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be part of the National Council for a New America, an attempt by leaders in Congress and potential 2012 presidential candidates to rebrand the struggling party. "I am pleased to announce that Governor Palin has joined the National Council for a New America's panel of experts," said House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) today. "When NCNA was announced last week, we spoke about a dynamic organization that worked to constantly bring in new people and innovative ideas." . . . . . Palin's involvement in the group will help rebut the idea that the National...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), the 2008 vice presidential nominee, will join a new Republican policy group aimed at reshaping and promoting the party brand. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.)announced Palin’s decision to join the National Council for a New America on Monday night. The group launched late last week and held its first town hall-style forum on Saturday in Virginia. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the 2008 presidential nominee, indicated during a conference call last week that his former running mate had been invited to join the policy panel. The group, which is made up of prominent Republican leaders,...

Yeah. I'm as mad at the GOP as you are -- then again I have been for a long time, not just lately. So, in the hope that something good could come of our losses, I listened in on Eric Cantor's conference call launching the National Council for a New America (NCNA) project and you all saw my immediate report. I patiently listened to Representative Eric Cantor and Senator John McCain and heard the vague overview, I took note of the names that were attached to the project, and I realized the import of the five basic issues that they...

KING: Since the last election, a number of states have moved ahead with same-sex marriage proposals. Some have done it legislatively. Some have done it in other ways. Some has happened through the courts, which I know both of you think is the wrong way to do anything, whether it's same-sex marriage or anything else. But, if, at the end of this conversation, you come to the conclusion that the consensus of the people you're talking to is to agree what Steve Schmidt, John McCain's campaign manager, said, you know, the Republicans are viewed as intolerant because we want constitutional...

It’s supposed to be a listening tour to accompany their launch of the National Council for a New America. So, where do they launch it? With the party at its lowest standing in several decades, Republicans on Saturday launched a listening tour in the heart of the Democratic suburbs, where several of the party’s leading voices steered clear of hot-button issues and instead emphasized the need to advance new policy ideas to revive the party’s prospects. There’s a great idea. Let’s listen to Democrats. That should get the Conservative base involved! House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and former Republican governors...

In the latest instance of a high-profile GOP member taking a passing swipe at the party's 2008 vice-presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Governor and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney jokingly dismissed Sarah Palin’s inclusion on TIME’s list of influential people in an interview broadcast Sunday. He asked, was “the issue on the most beautiful people or the most influential people?” . . . . . Romney, who was appearing with House Minority Whip Eric Cantor as part of a party re-launch the two are organizing with other prominent Republicans under the banner of the National Council for a New America, was...