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'I don't think Virginia has moved from center right'
The first thing that strikes you about Eric Cantor, Rappahannock's congressman, is that he is not without a certain amount of earnestness and boyish charm.Maybe this really is the new face of the Republican Party. If Cantor wins re-election Nov. 4 in Virginia's 7th District, he will be one of a handful in a shrinking cadre of GOP leadership in Washington.
Cantor, 45, is Chief Deputy Whip, number three in the House minority leadership behind Rep. John Boehner of Ohio (minority leader) and Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri (minority whip), and reshaping the GOP message will be a top priority.
In fact, much of what Cantor spoke about in an interview Monday with the Rappahannock News in his Culpeper office represents a fundamental shift in conservative ideology. Gone are the days of lax regulatory oversight. However, Cantor still expresses an optimism and faith that the free market – including the financial markets – and economic stimulation are the best ways to help Virginia families.
Despite the recent victories by Democrats in Virginia – and the polls suggesting Obama and Warner victories on Nov. 4 – Cantor still calls Virginia, "a conservative, right of center state." The main problem, he said, is that "the GOP has been unable to get its message across."
Congressman Cantor's Culpeper office is spartan and neat. On the wall, there is a picture of the U.S. Capitol with the words "Battleground 2006" underneath. For most of 45 minutes, Cantor spoke little about his opponent in this election – Democrat Anita Hartke of Amissville – but a great deal about the financial crisis – and the mortgage failures that precipitated it – and why it was so necessary to act quickly, even despite having serious ideological reservations. Cantor also spoke about health care and the Dominion power line.
But first Rappahannock.
Asked if Cantor were familiar with Rappnet – the county community email list-serve and public discussion forum on which political "debate" has reached a blazing intensity in the election run up – and if he read it, Cantor said, "Yes, we actually do."
He also said that Rappahannock “is one beautiful place,” and that, “there are so many fans of Rappahannock County in Washington."
Cantor said he proudly tells them “that it's actually part of the 7th district.”
Power Line
On a more serious note, Cantor was asked why he had not come out against the Dominion Virginia power line which will run through parts of Rappahannock and Culpeper counties.
It was pointed out to him that Dominion was a significant contributor – either in "soft" money from corporate political action committees (PACs), or contributions from individuals at these companies to his political action committee (ERIC or Every Republican Is Crucial), and that fellow Republican Congressman Frank Wolf (from the 10th district) has been adamantly opposed to the power line – as are both Culpeper and Rappahannock boards of supervisors.
Cantor's response what that the issue was primarily a state one being decided by the State Corporation Commission of Virgina and that he didn't see the value of intervention from a federal level when, "Dominion has said it will stick with the state process."
But he also said there's "no question we'd rather not have the power line." His position has been that we "want to do all we can to try and minimize the aesthetic impact of the power line," but that Virginia needs the power to sustain its economy.
Banking crisis
The banking crisis was much more severe than people realized, said the congressman. "As we distance ourselves from all this," he said, "we will look back and see that we were near collapse."
Cantor was criticized by conservatives for so quickly voting for the original bailout package but, as Cantor explained: "Banks operate on liquidity and if all this liquidity is sitting on the sidelines and no one is willing to lend, then our economy would come to a screeching halt."
The four-term congressman who sits on the powerful Ways and Means Committee was clearly in his element when discussing the finance and banking industry. But he did a lot more explaining than taking credit and that is no surprise given the dismal record of the Bush administration with which Cantor has voted in support of consistently.
Both Anita Hartke – and some more conservative voters in his own party – have raised questions about why Cantor was so quick to act, especially in light of the fact that some large financial institutions are significant contributors including JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Wachovia according to OpenSecrets.org.
In explaining why he did act, Congressman Cantor said, "this is so against my philosophy of what I think the federal government should be doing," referring to the bank bailout and government purchase of "preferred equity status" with the infusion of $250 billion into the nine largest banking institutions in the U.S.
"I do think the situation is that bad," he continued and that letting the market just take care of itself was not an option in this case. Asked if this was a step toward nationalizing banking in the U.S. or a temporary solution, Cantor said that the equity option was a compromise and is temporary. However, he said, there needs to be far more regulatory oversight.
"We cannot allow that to happen again," he said referring to the collapse. "We need to modernize the financial system including these shadow banks and the way these banks were allowed to operate," referring to the investment arms of companies like Lehman Brothers.
"Their broker/dealer arms were regulated, but their investment arms were not," he explained, and this environment exposed regulated banks to a lot of risk without the ability to do anything about it.
Both Cantor and Hartke talk a lot about the need for more transparency, although the specifics of more rigorous regulation are often vague and undefined. Certainly, the Republican position has been hands off or "laissez faire" when it comes to market regulation. But whereas Hartke wants to give struggling mortgage holders a break – she proposes a six-month moratorium on payments while the government and mortgage banks restructure the loans – Cantor insists that tampering with the details of contracts already made is not a good idea. He suggests instead that the government guarantee mortgage pools and not dictate the terms of individual contracts by fiat.
"Most families played by the rules," he said and strengthening financial institutions and the economy is still the best way to help Virginia families. However, Cantor also stated that although the U.S. has a vibrant economy, we are still a "debtor nation" and much of our economic success has been leveraged by borrowing.
Health care
When asked about H.R. 676 – the House Resolution that Hartke supports – Cantor called it the "Obama health care plan" and said it would be "government proscribed" health care, "designed, dictated, and price set by the federal government."
That isn't the solution, according to Cantor.
"Right here, right now, people are afraid of losing their jobs," he said, and the health care coverage and benefits that often go with it. Congress needs to focus on bringing the cost of health insurance down and that the cost is primarily related to medical malpractice insurance costs, he said.
He doesn't deny the need for a "safety net" for people who can't afford health insurance coverage but, like information in the financial markets, he points to the need for greater informed choice in health insurance coverage. Cantor said he "is a big proponent of health savings" accounts and for specific coverages that can be researched and selected in much the same way consumers can now get other insurance coverage.
Debate
Hartke has said that she has asked Cantor to debate her, and will continue to seek a public forum to debate these issues with the congressman. Ray Allen, a spokesman for Cantor's campaign, called these "political stunts" and said the congressman doesn't intend to participate in what he said were essentially political rallies for Hartke.
However Hartke feels she has no other way of engaging Cantor or getting her message across to voters. Hartke entered the race late, and has not been able to raise money effectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, Cantor was asked why he needed to raise so much money – Cantor has raised over $3.5 million this year (2007-08) compared to Hartke's less than $50,000. His response was that it takes a lot of money to get a message out to voters.
As to the lack of GOP success in Virginia lately, Cantor said, "I don't think Virginia has moved from center right" and reiterated the lack of effective communication on the part of the GOP. "Most people are working to make it all happen," he said of families trying to get by in this economy. "Most people don't have time to get involved in partisan rancor."
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