...Republican House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor
The House Majority leader Cantor tried, but failed to change how he is viewed by the voting public.
This last week, the House Majority Leader, Eric Cantor (R-VA) had asked for and was granted to be on the 60 Minutes TV news show. Apparently, Mr. Cantor has been trying to counter the current rumor that he is drooling to take over John Boehner’s Speaker position, or that he is ready to stab Speaker Boehner in the back in order to get that leadership role in the House.
His request to be on 60 Minutes was obviously an attempt for changing that perception and he also wanted to show off his family values, his kids and his wife of 21 years.
During the interview, held in his home, 60 Minutes Lesley Stahl asked him why he was so against everything that President Obama was trying to do for all Americans. But all Mr. Cantor would say is that, “Nobody gets everything they want”.
When Ms. Stahl asked if that meant that he was ready to compromise with the Democrats, the oft-confused Majority Leader replied that he was “ready to cooperate.” Stahl, of course, noticing the word choice, pressed Cantor on the difference between his word, “cooperation” and Obama’s word, “compromise”.
This discussion led to the following verbal exchange:
Stahl: “But you know, your idol, as I’ve read anyway, was Ronald Reagan. And he compromised.”
Cantor: “He never compromised his principles.”
Stahl: “Well, he raised taxes and it was one of his principles not to raise taxes.”
Cantor: “Well, he — he also cut taxes.”
Stahl: ”But he did compromise“
Cantor: “Well I.....” (then it was just total silence)
At that point, something happened that has never happened in the 44 year old history of 60 Minutes.
Eric Cantor’s press secretary, while off camera, interrupted the interview by yelling from the hallway that Stahl was lying when she said Reagan raised taxes.
Stahl initially looked shocked. She then said to the 60 Minutes viewers, “There seemed to be some difficulty accepting the fact that even though Ronald Reagan cut taxes, he also pushed through several tax increases, including one in 1982 during a recession.”
Later, during the actual 60 Minutes programming, for showing that what Ms. Stahl had said was correct, they showed a 1980’s video clip of President Ronald Reagan giving a TV presentation to all Americans saying that he was raising taxes. (It eventually became the largest tax increase in US history) And in the TV video, President Reagan admitted that the decision was a “political compromise with the Democrats”.
Unfortunately for Mr. Cantor and his press secretary, their reality is more than just being stubborn.
The facts are indisputable: in Ronald Reagan’s first term, he signed off on a series of tax increases, even when the unemployment rate was nearing 11%.
Reagan eventually proceeded to raise taxes seven out of the eight years he was in office.
The reality is, “no peacetime president has raised taxes so much on so many people as Ronald Reagan”.
Of particular interest is the “Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982”. This was the largest of Reagan’s tax increases, and it is generally accepted as the largest tax increase, as a percentage of the economy, in modern American history.
In fact, between 1982 and 1984, Reagan raised taxes four times. And as Bruce Bartlett, Reagan’s domestic policy advisor has explained more than once, “Reagan raised taxes 12 times during his eight years in office.”
So why do Eric Cantor, and his press secretary, and all Republicans everywhere seem to deny what is plainly true?
The reality is that it is terribly inconvenient for them to accept that the GOP “demi-god” rejected the right-wing line on always opposing tax increases. Reagan willingly compromised with Democrats on many revenue issues. And the economy soared after Reagan raised taxes, thus disproving the Republican assumption that tax increases always push the nation towards recessions.
In other words, Reagan’s legacy makes the contemporary Republican Party look ridiculous.
No wonder Cantor’s press secretary started yelling. “Stahl was bringing up facts that are never supposed to be repeated out loud.” Especially in the company of devout Reagan worshippers and most conservative Republican Party members.
But the real reality is, Republicans cannot deal with the truth because they have totally failed every time they have tried to govern Americans. In addition, as they have only failures and no accomplishments to sell to the American voting public, all they can do is keep telling their untruths. This must be done, over and over again, until they (and the FOX network) finally convince some unsuspecting American voters to follow their lead.
It’s all that simple. And Eric Cantor and his press secretary were perfect examples to a vast American “60 Minutes” audience.
Copyright G.Ater 2012
Follow me on Twitter: gater01
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