Cantor Told Netanyahu That GOP 'Will Serve As A Check' On Obama

[Tx4obama]

Source: TPM

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA), likely the next House Majority Leader and the only Jewish Republican in the House, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Wednesday, the night before Netanyahu met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Politico reports.

The meeting, which Israeli sources considered "unusual, if not unheard of," according to Politico, took place at the Regency Hotel and lasted over an hour. No other U.S. lawmakers were present, while Netanyahu was joined by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, and National Security Advisor Uzi Arad.

In a statement about the meeting acquired by Politico and Ron Kampeas at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Cantor's office said that:

Eric stressed that the new Republican majority will serve as a check on the Administration and what has been, up until this point, one party rule in Washington. He made clear that the Republican majority understands the special relationship between Israel and the United States, and that the security of each nation is reliant upon the other.

Read more: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/cantor-told-netanyahu-that-gop-will-serve-as-a-check-on-obama.php?ref=fpb

---

Treason???
So Eric Cantor with be spying on The Obama Administration for Israel?
Will Eric Cantor be charged under The Logan Act?

Another article on the link below which includes an update:

Rep. Eric Cantor Tells Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu: New GOP Majority Will 'Serve As A Check On The Administration'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/12/eric-cantor-benjamin-netanyahu-israel_n_782738.html

And another with more details:
Before Clinton meeting, Cantor's one-on-one with Bibi
http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/1110/Before_Clinton_meeting_Cantors_oneonone_with_Bibi_.html

[saigon68]

1. Another whinny little Bush Bot

[dave29]

2. some would call it treason

.

[LiberalAndProud]

9. Never before heard of ... It seems like treason to me.

But I'm no lawyer.

[aquart]

10. And I would have no problem charging him with it.

Dim-brained twit.

[Poll_Blind]

20. Makes one wonder what deals he has with the Chinese government, for instance.

Disturbing thought.

PB

[DesertFlower]

3. that little twit. how dare he?

[azurnoir]

4. Cantor: Take Israel out of foreign aid

U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor, the Republican whip and the only Jewish Republican in the House of Representatives, told JTA that a GOP-led House would seek to defund nations that do not share U.S. interests, even if it meant rejecting the president’s foreign operations budget.

Cantor, of Virginia, said he wants to protect funding for Israel should that situation arise.

“Part of the dilemma is that Israel has been put in the overall foreign aid looping,” he said when asked about the increasing tendency of Republicans in recent years to vote against foreign operations appropriations. “I’m hoping we can see some kind of separation in terms of tax dollars going to Israel.”

Cantor’s statement was a sign that the Republican leadership was ready to defer to the party’s right wing on this matter. Some on the GOP right have suggested including Israel aid in the defense budget, and a number of Tea Party-backed candidates have said they would vote against what is known in Congress as “foreign ops.”

However, until now at least, the GOP leadership has backed deferring to the executive branch when it comes to foreign spending, albeit after it has completed budgetary negotiations with the Congress.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/politics/article/us_rep_eric_cantor_take_israel_out_of_foreign_aid_20101025/

But what was initially presented as an effort to secure aid to Israel from changing winds in Congress created a thunderstorm on all sides, leading Republicans to begin gently to backtrack.

Democratic lawmakers, mainly those who are involved in the foreign appropriations project, lashed out at Cantor’s proposal, while also seizing on the opportunity to make a last-minute election statement.

“This threatens foreign aid to Israel,” Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in an October 29 conference call organized by the National Jewish Democratic Council. She argued that separating aid to Israel from America’s entire foreign assistance package would be a “tremendous disservice” to Israel and could cause it to “dry on the vine.”

Her House colleague Steve Israel from New York added that he is concerned about how the new Tea Party Republicans will vote on foreign aid, since many of them share a belief that cutting government spending also requires making cuts in foreign aid, even though this aid comprises only a tiny fraction of the federal budget. “Cantor knows what the consequences of having these extremists join the Republican caucus will be, and that is why he is floating this trial balloon,” Israel said.

But while Democrats took direct aim at Cantor’s approach, presenting it as a sign of Republican insensitivity to Israel’s needs, players on the receiving end reacted cautiously. Jonathan Peled, spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said Israel is “examining” the proposal. “We are in listening mode,” Peled said, adding that Jerusalem has yet to hold discussions on this issue.


Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/132787/#ixzz159DvEjo6

[howaboutme]

30. What about Egypt and Jordan and Syria?

aren't we paying them billions too to play nice with Israel, while Americans go without? I'm in favor of stripping all of these countries including Israel of aid that we can't afford. Let them go without if Americans are going without. This needs to become a major political hot potato.

[Hissyspit]

5. Glenn Greenwald: "Imagine if a leading Dem Congressman told a leader of a foreign country

he'd side with them against the GOP US President."

[malaise]

13. Unfuggingbelievable

That used to be treason but men become brazen when their leaders are not punished for war crimes.

[Chulanowa]

14. Israel is only a foreign country when they want to protest the US asking them to do something

At all other times it's like the basement-dwelling adult child who refuses to get a job and move out.

US: Jeeze! Turn down that music, it's two in the morning!
Israel: Screw you dad, I'm an adult, and I can do what I want!
US: Fine! Pay some of the rent!
Israel: But I'm your kid! What the fuck!?

[pettypace]

26. Greenwald is tremendous

We need to spread his message across the DU landscape somehow.

[Bluesbreaker]

6. Is there anything on which Obama won't compromise?

The Republicans do not negotiate. They stick to their guns on taxes, climate change, energy, health care. No argument or reason will move them off their position.

I can't think of a single issue, from health care to DADT to financial reform on which Obama hasn't caved. For once, I'd like to hear him say, "This is what we should do. I'm going to fight for it. There is no room for compromise."

For once, please state a non-negotiable position and force the Republicans to go on the record and vote against it. Stand for something unequivocally. If you lose the vote, okay. At least you can blame the fuckers. As it is, we're getting shitty policy in the hopes that Obama will get credit for passing some half-baked legislation passed, so he can claim he did something.

[DesertFlower]

8. i agree. nt

[Tx4obama]

7. this isn’t the first time Cantor has undermined the Obama administration’s policy on Israel

From: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/329624/eric_cantor_assures_netanyahu_the_gop_majority_will_undermine_obama_on_israel/#paragraph2

Excerpt:

.... this isn’t the first time Cantor has undermined the Obama administration’s policy on Israel. On a congressional delegation visit to Israel last year, Cantor offered support for Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and countered Clinton’s criticism of Israel’s handling of the eviction of two Arab families from a house in East Jerusalem earlier that week. “I don’t think we, in America, would want another country telling us how to implement and execute our laws,” Cantor said.

[dmr]

11. I wonder if Hillary went into that meeting blind to what Cantor said, or

if Netanyahu told her.

United We Stand - so much for that!

Cantor should be stripped from any security clearances he may hold. They should also make an example of Cantor for anti-American activities.

[mfcorey1]

12. Out right treason!!!!!! nt

[SpiralHawk]

15. Why do Republicons HATE America?

Republicons are all about "me me me me me." They never think or say or do anything for the country.

Ptooooey on their lack of true patriotism.

[Scurrilous]

16. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Tatiana]

17. We should handle this in a bipartisan way and see if we can compromise with Cantor. n/t

[howaboutme]

32. Yes Israel needs their entitlements!

while Americans need to sacrifice more.

Have no fear Americans will be fvcked in a polite non-partisan, non controversial, non media coverage way on this issue. Everyone will be unanimous that Americans need screwed and Israel needs our borrowed billions. Both sides in Congress are jockeying for position....not to find jobs for Americans.... but to ensure that Israel as a secure entitlement.

[Poll_Blind]

18. I thought Cantor took an oath to represent the United States, not Israel.

:shrug:

This quote, from Ron Kampeas at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, frames it best:

"I can't remember an opposition leader telling a foreign leader, in a personal meeting, that he would side, as a policy, with that leader against the president. Certainly, in statements on one specific issue or another -- building in Jerusalem, or somesuch -- lawmakers have taken the sides of other nations. But to have-a-face to face and say, in general, we will take your side against the White House -- that sounds to me extraordinary."

Extraordinary is right! BTW, unless someone can prove quid pro quo I absolve Netanyahu of this- this is all on Eric Cantor's treasonous shoulders.

PB

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. Excellent Post

I'm not surprised by AIPACs power though
they have been a proven source of agents against the US through espionage

[indypaul]

21. Sounds like it is time for Hillary to call

Ambassador Oren in and hand him his ass,

[Poll_Blind]

22. Unless somene can prove there's quid pro quo, this is ALL on Eric Cantor.

This isn't a hell of a lot different than the nutcase who contacted the Israeli embassy and said he was super stoked to spy for Israel. Israel (it appears) passed that information over to the FBI (?) who pretended to be Mossad, contacted him, and busted him after he followed through. I think the guy worked at Akamai, FWIW.

While Israel certainly does more than it's share of (at best) questionable things, Cantor is coming across more like that Akamai nutjob than anything more sinister.

I guess one of the more disturbing secondary thoughts I've come across, reading about this, is what other countries might Cantor have made promises of fealty to?

PB

[howaboutme]

29. The obvious question here

is where do Cantor's loyalties lie? They certainly aren't with the people of the USA.

This little twerp needs to be visited by agents of the Justice Department and to be made into an example using the Logan Act.

[Poll_Blind]

31. Oh shit, I had totally forgotten about that. We'll see if anything happens but...

...I'm not holding my breath.

PB

[DearAbby]

23. Treason! n/t

[deminks]

24. First thing Rubio did after the election was go to Israel on a 'personal and private' trip.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iA-Up8U4_4dq7Tkw0EokCh3RN7Nw?docId=CNG.d80e85e984875ba009e2f0b04d8147b0.311

WASHINGTON — Republican US senator-elect Marco Rubio of Florida, a darling of the archconservative "Tea Party" movement, heads to Israel this weekend for a private visit, his spokesman said Friday.

"Senator-elect Rubio and his wife Jeanette will be making a private and personal visit to the Holy Land next week," Alex Burgos told AFP by email, stressing that details of the trip "will be kept private."

"Senator-elect Rubio is also working with pro-Israel supporters to make an official trip back to Israel early next year after he is sworn into office," said Burgos.

Rubio, 39, cruised to easy victory in Tuesday's elections over his Democratic and independent rivals and was immediately anointed one of the Republican party's rising stars and potential vice presidential hopeful.

"He's never been to Israel before, he's always told us he wants to go," Israel's deputy consul general in Miami, Paul Hirschson, told AFP by telephone.

[blondeatlast]

25. Treason indeed--but the GOP-enabling press will barely notice it. nt

[classysassy]

27. When it comes to Israel,America is like Fox news

fair and balanced,when are the American public wake up and realize we are fools when it come to foreign policy.

[classysassy]

28. When will the American public wake up?

The Israelis are playing us like a cheap guitar.