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With members of both parties gathered at the White House for Monday's summit on fiscal responsibility, President Obama was asked whether he'll continue his outreach to Republicans. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Va. It is hoped that the Virginia Republican will bring unity to the party -- and hope to Obama for bipartisanship. He didn't have to scan the crowd to settle on a member of Congress he could single out to make his point. "I'm going to keep on talking to Eric Cantor," the president said. "Some day, sooner or later, he is going to say, 'Boy, Obama...

Representative Eric Cantor has a giant mounted photo propped like a canvas on a chair in the corner of his office in the Capitol. The image seems like an innocently iconic one — a shot of the National Mall from Congress — until a staffer explains that it's the view from the Virginia Republican's old office when the GOP controlled the House, and it's there to serve as a daily reminder of what he's working toward: regaining the majority. Related Stories Can Obama Actually Achieve Entitlement Reform? The President's Warrior, Robert Gibbs More Related The GOP Grapples with Obama’s Charm...

Please line up neatly to the left. We’re giving free money away here . . . Day Deux of David Shuster’s lefties-only blog segment featured a sidesplitter from Jane Hamsher. The Firedoglaker mocked Republican Eric Cantor for suggesting that taxpayers will foot the bill for the mortgage bailout the president is about to roll out. Silly Eric! Turns out, taxpayers won’t be on the hook at all. The money will come from . . . TARP II. Mortgage manna from heaven! Shuster set things up with this clip of Republican whip Cantor. View video.

As Republicans confronted President Obama in another budget battle last week, their leadership included another new face: Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, who as the party's chief vote wrangler is as responsible as anyone for the tough line the party has taken in this first legislative standoff with Mr. Obama. This battle has vaulted Mr. Cantor to the front lines of his party as it tries to recover from the losses of November. As Republican whip, Mr. Cantor succeeded again on Friday in denying the White House the support of a single House Republican on the stimulus bill. Mr. Cantor...

Politico was writing a story about a new TV ad that Dem-leaning groups -- including the union AFSCME -- had taken out attacking Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican. In response, Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring e-mailed the reporter an old, grainy video -- laden with Soprano-esque language and profanity -- about AFSCME. Here's the video (and we also warn that it contains very foul language).

The United States Senate yesterday afternoon passed the largest spending bill in history by a 61-37 straight Democrat party-line vote, assisted by only three so-called Republican senators: Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. 216 out of 219 Congressional Republicans opposed this immense spending bill that will cost the American taxpayers nearly $1.3 trillion dollars as passed by the Senate. The Congressional Budget Office estimates a price-tag of $838.2 billion, $18.7 billion more than the House-passed bill, and would cost an additional $368.9 billion to service the debt. The bill went back to the House...

I asked House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Tuesday if House Republicans would address in conference the revelation by Bloomberg News on Monday (Ruin Your Health With the Obama Stimulus Plan ) that the foundations and action items for the government takeover of healthcare were secreted deep in the rotting bowels of the 778-page Senate bill. Cantor told me, “The comparative effectiveness issue has been around for quite awhile and it makes the case again that its insertion in to this bill demonstrates that the focus has not been on job sustaining and creation. This is not a job...

Here is video of House Republican Whip Eric Cantor giving a brief report from Baghdad, Iraq where he is on a Congressional visit to see how things are going there. Cantor has now gone to Afghanistan for a look there. . . . . (Watch Video)

Republicans wrapped up their retreat Friday by signaling they are losing patience with President Obama and the Democratic leadership in Congress. Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) criticized the new administration on Friday, saying it had promised to reach out to Republicans on the Capitol Hill, but then offered an economic recovery package that included few, if any, proposals from the minority party. Romney, who helped write the House Republican substitute voted down Wednesday afternoon, said enough of the rhetoric, it's time for Obama to act. "Meeting with someone is not negotiating, meeting with someone to say 'here's my plan, take...

I'm not certain how I got an Cantor's mailing list, but I do get some good info from him. I wanted to share his reasons for voting against the bill. Yesterday, when the roll was called, I voted against the misnamed economic stimulus plan which ultimately passed the House. The American economy is hurting and that means Americans are hurting. Middle class families are being hit with continuing layoffs and our retirement and college savings are being ravaged by the markets. We should be acting boldly to preserve, protect and create jobs. We should cut taxes on small businesses and...

Yesterday, when the roll was called, I voted against the misnamed economic stimulus plan which ultimately passed the House. The American economy is hurting and that means Americans are hurting. Middle class families are being hit with continuing layoffs and our retirement and college savings are being ravaged by the markets. We should be acting boldly to preserve, protect and create jobs. We should cut taxes on small businesses and middle class families to help create jobs. Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi has crafted a "stimulus" bill which will do little if anything to stimulate the economy. The bill presented to the...

RUSH: We'd now like to provide a little safe haven for Eric Cantor, congressman from Virginia, who just finished 20 or so minutes with Andrea Mitchell at MSNBC. Congressman, it's great to have you here on the EIB Network for the first time. CANTOR: Rush, it is great to be on with you. RUSH: I was able to read some of the closed-captioning, Congressman, when you were on with Andrea Mitchell, and it's gotta be a little frustrating, but you know, you guys are doing great. You're hanging really, really tight and tough up there against this because it's a...

It’s not just the bipartisan mingling that makes Obama’s cocktail party at the White House tonight a departure from the Bush era. It’s the cocktails. After sunset. During the week. The event is another sign that the Obamas will have a more youthful, energetic approach to life in the White House than Washington has seen over the past eight years – one where the president hosts roughly two dozen Republicans and Democrats for drinks and economic stimulus chit-chat. Obama’s gathering at the Executive Mansion sounds like a throwback to the days of Lyndon Johnson or conjures up images of Ronald...

Far from rolling over, House Republican leaders are trying to win concessions from President Obama over the massive economic stimulus package and have proffered a bill of their own to put on the negotiating table. The counter-package would shift focus entirely from spending to tax relief. Though a full House vote on the Democratic package is expected in a matter of hours and President Obama said he's confident it will pass, GOP lawmakers are hoping their substitute proposal at least influences the final product.

“A national debt if it is not excessive,” Alexander Hamilton advised, “will be to us a national blessing.” Today, Hamilton must be turning over in his grave. Congress is moving forward with an economic stimulus plan that will swell this fiscal year’s deficit to roughly $2 trillion, or an astounding 13 percent of GDP. Adjust those dollars for inflation, and even our nation’s earliest and most iconic proponent of a national debt would cringe at the danger we are creating for our economy and for future generations. As it hammers out the final details of the stimulus bill, Congress should...

President Barack Obama is coming to the Capitol this afternoon to curry favor with congressional Republicans. But it appears GOP leaders have already made up their minds to oppose his $825 billion stimulus plan. House Republican Leader John A. Boehner and his No. 2, Whip Eric Cantor, told their rank-and-file members Tuesday morning during a closed-door meeting to oppose the bill when it comes to the floor Wednesday, according to an aide familiar with the discussion. Boehner told members that he's voting against the stimulus, and Cantor told the assembled Republicans that there wasn't any reason for them to support...

Obama is laying the groundwork now for upcoming war against conservative speech. He is also an arrogant quasi-fascist . . . and, apparently, something of a child in a man's body.NY Post: Obama: Quit Listening to Rush Limbaugh if You Want to Get Things Done WASHINGTON -- President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration. (Emphasis added).....While discussing the stimulus package with top lawmakers in the White House's Roosevelt Room, President Obama shot down a critic with...

WASHINGTON -- President Obama warned Republicans on Capitol Hill today that they need to quit listening to radio king Rush Limbaugh if they want to get along with Democrats and the new administration. "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," he told top GOP leaders, whom he had invited to the White House to discuss his nearly $1 trillion stimulus package. One White House official confirmed the comment but said he was simply trying to make a larger point about bipartisan efforts. "There are big things that unify Republicans and Democrats," the official said. "We shouldn't...

President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning - but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I won," Obama noted matter-of-factly, according to sources familiar with the conversation. The exchange arose as top House and Senate Republicans expressed concern to the president about the amount of spending in the package. They also raised red flags about a refundable tax credit that returns money to those who don’t pay income taxes, the sources said. The Republicans stressed that they want to include more middle class...

PRESIDENT OBAMA TAKES ON RUSH LIMBAUGH IN NEW MEDIA WAR Red Headline blazing on Drudge...