Lee Fang — Eric Cantor’s Opponent Beat Him By Calling Out GOP Corruption

The national media is buzzing about Brat’s victory, but for all of the wrong reasons. 

Did the tea party swoop in and help Brat, as many in the Democratic Party are suggesting? Actually, the Wall Street Journal reports no major tea party or anti-establishment GOP group spent funds to defeat Cantor. Did Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, lose because of his religion, as some have suggested? There’s no evidence so far of anti-Semitism during the campaign. Was Cantor caught flatfooted? Nope; Cantor’s campaign spent close to $1 million on the race and several outside advocacy groups, including the National Rifle Association, the National Realtors Association and the American Chemistry Council (a chemical industry lobbying association) came in and poured money into the district to defeat Brat. The New York Times claims that Brat focused his campaign primarily on immigration reform. Brat certainly made immigration a visible topic in his race, but Republic Report listened to several hours of Brat stump speeches and radio appearances and that issue came up far less what Brat called the main problem in government: corruption and cronyism.

Brat told Internet radio host Flint Engelman that the “number one plank” in his campaign is “free markets.” Brat went on to explain, “Eric Cantor and the Republican leadership do not know what a free market is at all, and the clearest evidence of that is the financial crisis … When I say free markets, I mean no favoritism to K Street lobbyists.”

Moyers & Co.
Eric Cantor’s Opponent Beat Him By Calling Out GOP Corruption
Lee Fang, The Republic Report

See also Seven Key Takeaways From Eric Cantor’s Shocking Defeat by Joshua Holland

Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best analyses of Cantor’s unlikely loss. But an important caveat as you sort through the reporting: Be wary of sweeping conclusions based on a midterm primary. Only 65,000 people cast ballots last night — around 12 percent of registered voters in Virginia’s 7th District. So while the results may say a lot about the Republican Party’s activist base, Eric Cantor’s relationship with those voters and perhaps the mood among the most conservative constituents in Virginia’s 7th District, they probably offer little insight into nationwide trends heading into November’s midterms.

John B. Judis — Dave Brat and the Triumph of Rightwing Populism

Dave Brat’s victory over House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has been widely attributed to Brat’s opposition to immigration reform. But in his campaign, Brat and his Tea Party backers gave equal weight to denouncing Cantor as a tool of Wall Street, the big banks, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable. Brat’s campaign reflected an old strain of rightwing populism that continues to be an important part of our politics. 

American populism is rooted in middle class resentment of those who are seen as enjoying the benefits of the goods and services the middle class produces without having earned them through work. Its ideology is what historians call “producerism.” It first appears in the Jacksonian Workingmen’s Parties and then in the Populists of the late nineteenth century. But it takes a leftwing and a rightwing form.

Facing an ailing economy, leftwing populists from Huey Long to Paul Wellstone primarily blame Wall Street, big business and the politicians whom they fund. Rightwing populists from George Wallace to Pat Buchanan also blame Wall Street, but put equal if not greater blame on the poor, the unemployed, the immigrant, and the minorities, who, like the coupon-clipper on Wall Street, are seen as economic parasites.

The Tea Party is a heterogeneous movement, but many of its members, and many of the local candidates it champions, are rightwing populists. And that was certainly true of Brat....

New Republic
Dave Brat and the Triumph of Rightwing Populism
John B. Judis

Esther Yu-Hsi Lee — The Real Reason Eric Cantor Lost

Looks like this may have been more a vote against Cantor than a vote for Brat, at least among many conservative purists.

There hasn’t been much support that immigration reform determined the outcome of the primary race between Cantor and Brat. What’s more likely was party politics unseated Cantor. The Huffington Post noted that “Cantor was often the necessary link that bridged leadership and rank-and-file tea party members. ‘He’s the one guy everyone relies on to get things done for them,’ said one Cantor ally. Each time he twisted tea party arms, though, it cost him politically, raising suspicions among grassroots activists that Cantor was an impure conservative.” That sentiment was shared by the conservative-leaning Red State, which reported that Cantor “repeatedly antagonized conservatives.”

Think Progress
The Real Reason Eric Cantor Lost
Esther Yu-Hsi Lee

Tim Murphy — Eric Cantor Loses GOP Primary. Wait, What!?

[Eric] Cantor became the first majority leader to lose a primary in 115 years.

So who is [David] Brat?

Mother Jones 
Eric Cantor Loses GOP Primary. Wait, What!?
Tim Murphy

Sorry, but it's time to raise taxes on $250k and up. It shouldn't only be the middle class and poor who get tax increases!

Obama is calling for the extension of the Bush Tax Cut, but only for those with incomes below $250,000 and of course the Republicans are saying that the tax cuts should be extended for everyone--including millionaires and billionaires--or no one at all.

This is the typical Republican position and it should be noted that they care little about people earning the threshold $250k; their real interest is in protecting the super wealthy. They made this clear a million times and I don't think anyone but the timid Democrats in the Senate really believe them when they try to pull this bullshit "all-inclusive" stance. It's all about protecting the rich and that's it.

As an MMT adherent I am fully aware that taxes don't fund spending and that they only serve to regulate demand yada, yada, yada, and I am also aware that with a large output gap, raising taxes on anyone just works to sustain that output gap so long as that "revenue" is not recycled back as government spending in some form.

However, as a matter of equality and PRINCIPAL I think it's about time somebody other than the poor and middle class see their taxes go up. That's right, I said the poor and middle class have had their taxes increased--BIG TIME!

It's time we all begin to learn a fundamental lesson, that spending cuts are the fiscal equivalent of tax increases and the bulk of the spending cuts (tax increases) over the past several years have been targeted at the middle class and poor.

Whether you are talking about cuts in education, Medicare and Medicaid, food and nutrition, Veterans benefits, social programs, public safety (fire, police), you name it...there has been an unrelenting and rising stream of tax increases aimed at middle and lower income people. All the while, the rich have been getting tax break after tax break along with a larger share of national income and wealth. Like Warren Buffet said, it's outright class warfare and it's HIS class that is winning.

Nor should you buy the bogus argument that the rich are the "job creators" or "wealth creators." That's just a completely hollow and ridiculous claim and one that we've debunked here numerous times (here, here, here). The fact is, a vast portion of the income of the wealthy comes from extracting wealth from assets...assets that they did not create. Gordon Gekko said it right, when he said "I create nothing. I own." And he said that 25 years ago!

The rich don't educate our kids, keep our streets safe, protect property from fire and damage, fix roads and bridges, heal or care for the sick and infirm, stock store shelves or perform any of the other myriad types of work that essential in a modern, smooth-functioning society.

And while $250k may not be a lot to some people, those who do earn at that level or above are also not performing the tasks I mentioned above. Moreover, many of them are politically favorable to the "pro-spending-cut" menatality, which as I said is the same thing as calling for a tax, except it's not a tax on them, but on poor people.

Well, it's time for these folks to get fiscally "educated" or feel some pain, too! Obama should stick to his guns this time. He should stand fast on the call for higher taxes on $250k or more. People need to learn a lesson. The stakes are too high. We cannot have a greater and greater percentage of national wealth stripped away from the very people who built it, maintain it, and paid for it. It's outright theft. So be it if the economy crashes (and it won't, expect maybe for high end real estate brokers). Maybe out of the ashes we have a chance to build something better.

Steve Benen — Eric Cantor on tax hikes on those who don't make enough to pay federal income tax

Remember, millions of Americans may be exempt from income taxes, but they still pay sales taxes, state taxes, local taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare/Medicaid taxes, and in many instances, property taxes. It's not as if these folks are getting away with something -- the existing tax structure leaves them out of the income tax system because they don't make enough money to qualify. Indeed, many are retirees who can't earn an income because they're no longer in the workforce 

But for Cantor, this isn't "fair" -- if wealthier people are paying federal income taxes, then everyone should pay federal income taxes.

Read it at MaddowBlog (with video)
Cantor considers tax hikes on the poor
by Steve Benen

I thought that all these guys had signed a "no new taxes" pledge to Grover Norquist. Silly me, I didn't realize that there were exceptions made for the poor.

The silver lining in the dark cloud: Cantor is talking here about "fairness." Progressives are more that willing to have a discussion on that basis.

Twisted minds.

Eric Cantor announces he is introducing a balanced budget amendment

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) today issued the following statement regarding House consideration of a balanced budget amendment, H.J. Res. 1, sponsored by Congressman Bob Goodlatte:

“We are being asked by the Obama Administration to approve a debt limit increase. While President Obama inherited a bad economy, his overspending and failure to enact pro-growth policies have made it worse and now our national debt is currently more than $14 trillion. House Republicans have made clear that we will not agree to raise the debt limit without real spending cuts and binding budget process reforms to ensure that we don’t continue to max out the credit card. One option to ensure that we begin to get our fiscal house in order is a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, and I expect to schedule such a measure for the House to consider during the week of July 25th. I have no doubt that my Republican colleagues will overwhelmingly support this common sense measure and I urge Democrats to as well in order to get our fiscal house in order."

(h/t Zero Hedge)

UPDATE: Oh, wait! It gets even crazier. Again, from ZH:

Ron Paul Is Currently Holding A Hearing On Legislation For A Full Audit Of US Gold Reserves