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Title: Eric Cantor Has The 'Shiniest Balls' Of All! The 'Shiny Ball' Corporations That Pay For Cantor's Loyalties!
Source:
OpEdNews
URL Source: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Er ... illian-Barclay-110806-730.html
Published: Aug 6, 2011
Author: Jillian Barclay
Post Date: 2011-08-06 20:56:46 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 504
Eric Cantor, the GOP House Majority Leader, talks about shiny balls? Cantor has defended tax loopholes for bankers, hedge fund managers and corporate millionaires and billionaires. He complains that the Democrats' constant attacks on tax breaks for the wealthy is nothing but throwing "...the shiny ball out there..." In another conversation, Cantor spoke of "...the shiny balls of millionaires and billionaires..." The list of Cantor's contributors and supporters shows clearly, that Cantor himself, may have the shiniest balls of all in this battle! As part of the 'shiny ball' battle, Cantor has vociferously fought the closing of tax loopholes for financial institutions. Evidence of his allegiance to financiers is reflected in his list of donors. In the 2009-2010 election cycle, Cantor reportedly received over $3 MILLION dollars from the millionaire and billionaire shakers of the finance, insurance and real estate industry. While Cantor advocates for Wall Street, he has seemed to effectively juggle that with his Tea Party affiliation. Cantor is currently both a crayon-carrying member of the Tea Party and a Wall Street suit lover. Political expediency at its best! Another of Cantor's shiny balls in the battle appears to be ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. In 2009, Cantor received the much envied "Jefferson" Award from this far right-wing corporate group that promotes a dubious privatization and deregulation agenda throughout the country. High on ALEC's wish list is the destruction of the EPA, corporate-run schools and prisons and the repeal of all worker protections and OSHA. According to ALEC, this prestigious award is "given annually to an individual who has established an exemplary record of accomplishment in advancing the fundamental Jeffersonian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism and individual liberty." Past winners include Dick Cheney, Mark Foley, Newt Gingrich, part-time Texas prophet and Governor Rick Perry and George W. Bush. Even the much-revered Governor Scott Walker is a member of ALEC! Noted ALEC alumni include Tom Delay and Donald Rumsfeld. Among some of ALEC's most highly recognized corporate members are the Koch brothers, Exxon-Mobil, Pfizer, AT&T, State Farm Insurance, Coors, etc. Cantor, the GOP Congressional representative from Virginia's 7th district, is the man with the dark hair and glasses who is usually pictured standing behind GOP Speaker of the House John Boehner, often with a look of freshly-steeped Tea Party envy written all over his face! It is no secret that Cantor wants Boehner's job. Even Frank Luntz, the politcal word art guru for the Republican party has said, "If God really does exist, Eric Cantor will become Speaker of the House." Cantor won his 2010 election to Congress with 138,209 total votes, yet garnered over $10 MILLION dollars in campaign contributions, with the majority being from giant corporations that were not based in Cantor's district. That is alot of shiny balls in the "tax the wealthy" battle! Not to mention that Cantor, from a relatively small Congressional district, is one of the most powerful men in the entire U.S. Congress. Whose shiny, big balls have made him so powerful? According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the following names show up as contributors (notations in parentheses provided by this author) : Also according to the Center for Responive Politics, Cantor's top 20 Industry Contributors 2009-2010 election cycle were: The report continues to show Sector Totals: Cantor's personal wealth has been estimated at up to $7 Million dollars. An interesting investment in Cantor's financial disclosure is a small $15,000 investment in a fund that would skyrocket if the US defaulted on its debt. Jonathan Easley wrote at Salon, on June 27th, "When Eric Cantor shut down debt ceiling negotiations last week, it did more than just rekindle fears that the U.S. government might soon default on its debt obligations -- it also brought him closer to reaping a small financial windfall from his investment in a mutual fund whose performance is directly affected by debt ceiling brinkmanship. Last year the Wall Street Journal wrote that Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, had between $1,000 and $15,000 invested in ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury EFT. The fund aggressively "shorts" long-term U.S. Treasury bonds, meaning that it performs well when U.S. debt is undesirable. (A short is when the trader hopes to profit from the decline in the value of an asset.) According to his latest financial disclosure statement, which covers the year 2010 and has been publicly available since this spring, Cantor still has up to $15,000 in the same fund. Contacted by Salon this week, Cantor's office gave no indication that the Virginia Republican, who has played a leading role in the debt ceiling negotiations, has divested himself of these holdings since his last filing. Unless an agreement can be reached, the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debt payments on Aug. 2. If that happens and Cantor is still invested in the fund, the value of his holdings would skyrocket." So, Cantor in essence, bet against America! Political expediency...and conflict of interest while at the table of the debt ceiling negotiating sessions. Cantor has endorsed Grover Norquist's bathtub, as well, which presents another contradiction in Cantor's allegiances. Cantor is a serious pro-Israel advocate and Norquist advocates for Palestine and has even been accused of being aligned with Muslim extremists and supporting Hamas, who refuses to accept the legitimacy of Israel. Political expediency? By signing Norquist's pledge, Cantor has promised that he will never, ever, ever raise taxes. Period! Not even if America's very survival depends upon it...unless, of course, the President is a Republican... A former Congressional opponent of Cantor's has said of him, ""I call Eric an automatron. He's a tool of the Republican Party. " He has very little independent thought or independent action. He basically does what's politically expedient." 
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