GOP wages war with 'imperial presidency'

House Republicans will push the Obama administration to roll back regulations over the next few weeks as they combat an "imperial presidency."

In an email to House Republicans, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) accused President Obama of "effectively rewriting the laws" and called on the GOP to fight to "restore the balance of power created by our Founders."

"President Obama has provided new clarity as to what constitutes an imperial presidency," Cantor wrote Friday in the email obtained by The Hill. "Declaring that he has a 'pen and a phone,' he has acted to effectively rewrite the laws of the United States."

Cantor said pushing back against the Obama administration's "excessive and burdensome" regulations is one of the top priorities on the Republican legislative agenda over the next three weeks.

He pointed to studies that show the cost of federal regulations amounts to $10,585 per employee for small businesses, and $7,755 per employee for large companies.

"The cost of excessive and burdensome Washington regulations means fewer jobs and reduced salaries for those with a job," Cantor wrote.

Cantor pointed to ongoing GOP efforts to roll back regulations, including a series of bills that will hit the House floor next week.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte's (R-Va.) Regulatory Accountability Act topped Cantor's list, because it would require federal agencies to write regulations that have the smallest economic impact on businesses.

Cantor also mentioned the ALERT Act, introduced by Rep. George Holding (R-N.C.), which he says would require federal agencies to provide timely information about the status and cost of new regulations it is considering. This would prevent "regulators from hiding the ball," he said.

Meanwhile, the Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act, introduced by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), fights what Cantor calls an "abusive" practice where federal agencies will settle lawsuits with liberal groups by agreeing to impose stricter regulations on businesses. 

Via: The Hill

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CANTOR: MANY SENATORS 'REGRET' VOTING FOR AMNESTY

In a House floor debate on Friday where he squared off against House Minority Whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that “many” U.S. Senators who voted for the Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration bill now “regret” having done so.

“Certainly there are differences on how to go about doing that, but we remain committed, as does the chairman, in trying to move in a step-by-step manner, to address the various issues involved with immigration reform, but not to do it the way the Senate did, because as we've seen, many of those who actually voted for the senate bill in the other body have now said they regret that vote or they perhaps would do something differently,” Cantor said on the House floor.

Cantor did not specify who specifically he meant. Fourteen Senate Republicans—including each of the four Republican members of the Gang of Eight—joined all Senate Democrats in supporting the over one thousand-page bill. 

That number of Republicans who Cantor is likely referring to at least includes Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the lead GOP sponsor of the Senate bill who effectively unendorsed it in an exclusive Breitbart News story by publicly opposing conference committee between the House and any Senate bills. All of House GOP leadership except for House Budget Committee Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) joined Rubio’s disavowing of the Senate bill and any efforts to save it in a conference this week. Ryan is on record as supportive of efforts to save the Senate bill via conference and has not walked them back.

None of the other 14 Republicans who voted for the amnesty bill—Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Dean Heller (R-NV), John Hoeven (R-ND), Bob Corker (R-TN), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), or Susan Collins (R-ME), or now former Sen. Jeff Chiesa (R-NJ), who since been replaced by now Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) after the state’s special election—have publicly expressed regret over voting for the bill.

Via: Breitbart

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EXCLUSIVE: THIRD HOUSE GOP LEADER CONFIRMS SENATE AMNESTY BILL DEAD

House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has joined with Majority Leader Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Speaker John Boehner in publicly opposing any conference committee negotiations with the Senate on immigration legislation.

“Whip McCarthy agrees with the Speaker,” McCarthy spokesman Mike Long told Breitbart News Wednesday afternoon. “The House will work its will and we will do so in a more thoughtful, deliberate, step-by-step approach to address our broken immigration system, focusing first on securing the border.”

On Wednesday morning, Boehner said at a press conference that there will never be any House negotiations with the Senate on the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill, effectively killing it after months of unease about its future from all sides. 

Shortly thereafter, Cantor joined Boehner. Now, with McCarthy in public opposition to any conference committee, it means all three members of House GOP leadership are united against any such conference committee efforts to save the Senate bill.

Via: Breitbart

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House this week will highlight Obamacare flaws while Senate clashes over the filibuster rule

NO AMOUNT OF TIME COULD IDENTIFY FLAWS IN OBAMACARE. TO MANY TO COUNT

While the House spotlights the flawed health care law rollout this week, Senate lawmakers are set to clash over confirming two new judges, with Democrats threatening Republicans with a major change that would weaken the filibuster if the GOP votes them down.

And while the Senate Democratic majority has refused to take up legislation altering the new health care law in the wake of a significantly flawed roll out, Republicans who run the House will pass their own bill to tweak the law, and likely with Democratic support.

"For the next several weeks we intend to focus our communications, legislative and oversight activities around Obamacare on the millions of Americans who are having their health insurance policies cancelled and the broken promise that 'if you like what you have, you can keep it,'" House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., outlined in a Nov. 7 memo to the House Republican conference.

The Senate fireworks could start as early as Tuesday, when the Congress returns from Veterans Day to vote on two nominees to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Nina Pillar, a lawyer, and U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins are likely to be filibustered, according Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Republicans don't want anymore of President Obama's picks seated on the powerful court and last week blocked Obama pick Patricia Millet to fill a third vacancy.

Republicans argue that the Obama administration is stacking the court in order to expand the president's ability to legislate through the executive branch. The court's caseload, Republicans argue, does not require more judges.

But Democrats argue that there are three vacancies to fill and say Republicans are playing partisan politics, backing down on a deal cut earlier this year in which they promised not to block judicial picks.

If they stand in the way this time, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said, there would be "almost an overwhelming effort to change the rules."

Via: Washington Examiner

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[VIDEO] 2010 OBAMA ADMITS MILLIONS 'MIGHT HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR COVERAGE'

Last night on Fox News' "Special Report" and CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper

," video aired of President Obama admitting that due to ObamaCare, "eight to nine million people … might have to change their coverage." The key words there are "have to."

The setting is the February of 2010 health care summit with Republicans. Minority Whip Eric Cantor is addressing the president directly on the issue of people losing their insurance due to the Affordable Care Act:

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CANTOR: …Because I don't think you can answer the question in the positive to say that people will be able to maintain their coverage, people will be able to see the doctors they want, in the kind of bill that you are proposing:

OBAMA:  Since you asked me a question, let me respond. The 8 to 9 million people you refer to that might have to change their coverage -- keep in mind out of the 300 million Americans that we are talking about -- would be folks who the CBO, the Congressional Budget Office,  estimates would find the deal in the exchange better -- would be a better deal. So, yes, they would change coverage because they got more choice and competition.

So even though the president knew that eight to nine million people "might have to change their coverage" way back in February of 2010, afterwards, for three-plus years -- especially while running for reelection -- Obama continued to reassure the American people that if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. Period. End of story.

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The question of what the president knew and when he knew it is now answered.

Via: Breitbart

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Obama Deceived Eric Cantor 2010: Said New Benefit Regulations Wouldn’t Apply To People Who Had Plans

This is a fascinating exchange between Eric Cantor and Barack Obama at a Healthcare Summit at the White House in February 2010. All of it is worth listening to, although the most critical deception is at the very end of the video.

Cantor raised exactly the questions we have before us now.

Via: Weasel Zippers

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Senators return to work on fiscal crisis, but uncertain about how, when it will end

FILE: October 3, 2013: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor after a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.REUTERS

Two top senators gave bleak assessments Sunday of the likelihood of Congress swiftly reaching deals to end one fiscal crisis and avert another, with the Republican lawmaker saying Democrats are now overreaching in their demands.

“We will see our way through this, but the last 24 hours have not been good,” Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker told “Fox News Sunday.” “I agree that Republicans started with the overreach, but now Democrats are one tick too cute. They are now overreaching.”

Corker argues that Senate Democrats want Republicans, as part of the fiscal negotiations, to roll back the steep cuts to government spending, known as sequester and signed into law in the 2011 Budget Control Act.

He told Fox News the cuts are just as much the law of the land as ObamaCare, which Republicans tried to dismantle in the deals – one to end the partial shutdown of government services that started Oct. 1 and another to agree on the nation's borrowing limit before Thursday’s deadline.

Corker also said he thinks the White House told Senate Democrats earlier in the weekend to pull back.  

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is among 24 senators who have given bipartisan support to a proposal put forth by Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins that Majority Leader Harry Reid rejected Sunday.

Via: Fox News

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Boehner Announces Short-Term Debt Deal, Claims GOP Is Meeting Obama ‘Halfway’

In a short press conference Thursday morning, one week before the October 17th debt ceiling deadline, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced a possible short-term deal the raise the debt ceiling and avoid default. The deal, which the House could vote on today, would only raise the debt limit through November 22nd, at which point another deal would be needed to raise it again.

Boehner began by castigating President Obama and the Democrats for refusing to “talk” over the last 10 days since the government shutdown began. “We tried to offer bills that would reopen parts of the government,” he said, “only to have them rejected by our counterparts over in the United States Senate.”

“So what we want to do,” he continued, “is to offer the president today the ability to move, a temporary increase in the debt ceiling, an agreement to go to conference on the budget, for his willingness to set down and discuss with us a way forward to reopen the government and to start to deal with America’s pressing problems.”

“I would hope that the president will look at this as an opportunity and a good-faith effort on our part to move halfway,” Boehner concluded, “halfway to what he has demanded in order to have these conversations begin.” Notably, as in Rep. Paul Ryan’s recent op-ed, there was no mention of the Affordable Care Act, which set off the budget stalemate and eventual government shutdown.

Following comments by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, Boehner took a few questions from the press, maintaining that he doesn’t want to “put anything on the table” or “take anything off the table” before the next round of negotiations begins. But once reporters started asking about hypothetical scenarios, Boehner delivered his standard rebuttal: “If ands and buts were candy and nuts, every day would be Christmas.”

Watch video below, via Fox News:

Via Mediaite.com

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FEDS SET REPAIRS ON GLITCHY HEALTH CARE WEBSITE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bedeviled by technology glitches that frustrated millions of consumers, the Obama administration is taking down its health overhaul website for repairs this weekend.

Enrollment functions of the healthcare.gov site will be unavailable during off-peak hours this weekend, the Health and Human Services Department said Friday. The website will remain open for general information.

Technology problems overwhelmed the launch of new health insurance markets Tuesday, embarrassing the administration just when the health care law was supposed to be introduced to average consumers.

"Americans have seen once again that Obamacare is not ready for prime time," Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, said in a statement. "A dysfunctional website is the least of that law's problems."

The administration is putting the best face on the situation, noting the unexpectedly strong interest from millions of consumers. "Americans are excited to look at their options for health coverage, with record demand in the first days of the marketplaces," said the release announcing the planned fixes.

The statement was headlined: "Health Insurance Marketplace Open for Business - Week One Success."

The state-level markets were designed to be the gateway to health insurance for people who don't have access to coverage on the job. Middle-class consumers will be able to buy government-subsidized private plans, while the poor and near-poor will be steered to Medicaid in states agreeing to expand the program.

Via: AP

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