Eric Cantor Leaves Deficit Talks

Today it was announced that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has pulled out of the bipartisan deficit panel being headed by Vice President Joe Biden.  The reason being an absolute lack of leadership and discussion with President Obama.

Cantor and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have called for President Obama to finally get fully involved in these discussions to help move the discussion about taxes in any deficit reduction plan.  Cantor is absolutely opposed to any new tax increases especially now in the current economic status of our country.  This is the kind of Republican leadership we have been waiting for.

By walking away from the deficit talks Cantor is forcing President Obama to come to the table to come and discuss the fundamental issue of his Presidency.  Obama has been able to skate on this issue by creating a panel and putting Joe Biden in charge.  The president has shown a lack of leadership by trying to push this onto the Vice President, speaking on the topic generically, and hiding behind his press secretary.

Republicans had been giving the president a free-pass on the debt until recently when Mitch McConnell took to the Senate floor and asked where was the president on the tax issue.  Eric Cantor is showing the signs of leadership and ability to confront the executive branch that was prominent during the 1990s under Newt Gingrich.  This is the leadership I had hoped for at the beginning of the new Congressional term under Speaker John Boehner.

This is a brilliant move on several levels.  First being the country stands to benefit in the short and long term by agreeing to a deficit and spending reduction plan.  The country has spent itself into a dangerous position and it is in need of some tough medicine.  The next level is the Republicans will look much more serious on the deficit issues than the Democrats and President Obama.  The debt and economy are two central issues to the upcoming 2012 election cycle.  The third level being it highlights President Obama's inefficiencies as a leader and it forces him into a position where he will have to continue to rattle cages.  The Republican Party has continuously hammered Obama for following the world in foreign affairs and now he appears to be following even in domestic policy.  The decision will also force him into a position where he will put forth his own agenda which will not go far enough for the liberal-progressive base or he will pander to the base too well and disenfranchise an American people who will not take kindly to tax increases.

This will turn into an ideological staring contest in which we will all have a side we will lean on because of our ideological differences.  We can only hope that someone's eyes dry out before the United States has successfully followed Greece into democracy and bankruptcy.

Edit: Representative Cantor has also announced today that the House will consider the Balanced Budget Amendment the week of the 25th.  Cantor and the Republican Party appear to be done playing games with deficit reduction.