Stories by Rep. Eric Cantor
Posted at 9:07pm on Oct. 9, 2007 This is an outrage that cannot stand
By Rep. Eric Cantor
This is a news story that deserves more attention.
On September 11 2007, Andrew Larochelle requested a flag be flown over the United States Capitol – the flag was intended as a gift to his grandfather, to mark the occasion of Andrew's induction into the Eagle Scouts. They requested that the certificate read, "this flag flown in honor of Marcel Larochelle, my grandfather, for his dedication and love of God, country and family."
The bureaucrats at the Architect of the Capitol's office, which is controlled by Speaker Pelosi, removed the word God from the certificate. They have apparently, without the proper legislative authority, created new rules to prevent the word God from appearing on their certificates.
They are trying to establish a dangerous precedent that, if left unchallenged, could eventually lead to the removal of the word God from all government buildings, currency, and documents.
Let me be perfectly clear – they won't allow the word God to appear on their certificates, even when the family of the person being honored specifically requests it. In America, we are guaranteed the freedom of religion, not the freedom from religion; our nation's founding fathers and our nation today wants God in our everyday life.
Do not forget, that many of these flags are intended to honor our nation's veterans, including those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of freedom. Under the Architect of the Capitol's new rules, even their grieving families would not be permitted to have a flag certificate that mentions the word God.
This is an outrage and it will not stand.
Posted in Congress — Comments (14)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:23am on Oct. 3, 2007 The Mother of All Tax Fights
By Rep. Eric Cantor
I wanted to drop by today to let you know about a critical legislative debate that is brewing in the U.S. House, a debate that will have a dramatic effect on the nation and will directly impact you and your families.
We have long known that Chairman Charlie Rangel, the leading Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, would attempt to raise your taxes this fall. However, we did not know the tax hikes would be so sweeping and expansive.
Mr. Rangel has promised that this fall he will host "the mother of all tax bills." His objectives are clear – a sharp tax increase on American families, small businesses, and investors.
Brushing aside warnings from seasoned economists House Democrats, since taking the reigns of power, have done nothing but play petty politics with America's economy. Their reckless actions have already had a negative effect.
House Democrats have tried to hide their failures behind the tired liberal rhetoric of class warfare; yet, the simple reality is that just nine months into Democrat control, you are more likely to be unemployed in America, you are more likely to lose your home, and rising interest rates have made it harder for you to achieve the American Dream.
We may be in the minority, but conservative Republicans are not going to allow these taxes to go through without a fight. With your help, it is a fight I know we can win.
Rather than raising taxes on hardworking American families, why don't the Democrats cut wasteful spending from the massive federal bureaucracy?
The Department of Treasury internally had over $24.5 billion "unreconciled transactions" in one year alone – these are transactions for which auditors cannot account. The bureaucrats spent $25 billion somewhere on something; they don't know who spent it, where it was spent, or what it was spent on.
Bureaucrats at the Department of Agriculture wasted taxpayer dollars, by making personal purchases with federal credit cards. An internal review that sampled just 300 random employees established a 15% abuse rate among card holders; these are government workers spending your hard-earned money on Ozzy Osbourne tickets, tattoos, lingerie, bartender school tuition, car payments, cash advances, and more. This is just from 300 employees – over 55,000 bureaucrats have government credit cards, including 1,549 cards that are still held by people who no longer work there.
These are just two examples of unacceptable government waste by the federal bureaucracy. Yet, rather than cut this spending, the Democrats want to raise your taxes.
Charlie Rangel promised the "mother of all tax fights." Well, if he tries to raise your taxes, a fight is exactly what we conservatives will give him.
Posted in Congress — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:13pm on Sep. 5, 2007 We Must Stop the Levin-Rangel Bill
The Dems are One Trick Ponies. Their Only Trick is Raising Taxes.
By Rep. Eric Cantor
The Democrats came to Washington promising an innovation agenda; so far, however, the most innovative thing they have done is find new ways to tax the American People.
To Democrats, no tax increases are off limits, regardless of their detriment to the economy, the savings of ordinary Americans and job creation. That much is clear in the Democrats' unwavering support for the Levin-Rangel bill. Under the measure, business partnerships would face a whopping 133 percent tax increase on carried interest, or the profits that business partnerships earn for creating wealth.
It is in the spirit of combating counterproductive proposals like Levin-Rangel that I have launched the Coalition for the Freedom of American Investors and Retirees (CFAIR). The coalition, which a dozen of my fellow lawmakers have since joined, works to educate Members of Congress about the consequences of raising taxes on investors and retirees. Our participants are the front line of defense against the coming onslaught from tax-and-spend politicians.
Read on . . .
Posted in Congress — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:54pm on Aug. 1, 2007 Skip SCHIP
By Rep. Eric Cantor
The low-tax, limited regulation and small government Republican policies that have fueled unprecedented American prosperity and economic growth over the last several years are clearly under attack. Everywhere you look, it seems, another Democrat proposal pops up to raise taxes in the name of expanding entitlements.
House Democrats today pushed through an SCHIP reauthorization that amounts to a fiscally reckless $211 billion government handout. But it didn't have to be this bad. SCHIP began as a Republican program that offered federal dollars to help states insure indigent children who were not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. But the Democrats' new plan extends this entitlement to those with family incomes of $82,500 and higher. And how do they plan to pay for it? Two ways – by stripping $200 billion over the next 10 years from the more flexible privately administered Medicare Advantage, and, of course, by raising your taxes.
Beyond the SCHIP plan, the chorus of calls for tax increases by House Democrats include a $7.5 billion hit on U.S. farmers, which was enacted in the Farm bill to pay for food stamps; an $11.4 billion tax hike on domestic energy producers, which enables foreign oil cartels to capitalize on growing international energy demand and does nothing to lower the prices at the pump; and a 135 percent tax increase on the profits made by managers of investment partnerships, threatening the retirement security for millions of Americans invested in these funds.
These kinds of tax hikes magnify the differences in vision between our nation's two parties. They also set in sharp focus the obvious: that Republicans must unite now more than ever in defense of common-sense conservative solutions.
Read on . . .