Cantor challenges president to support the GOP’s “bold” ideas

Congressman Eric Cantor isn’t expecting much from tonight’s State of the Union.  In an interview Tuesday prior to the speech, Cantor made it clear that the Obama agenda has been unsuccessful and it is time for him to change course.

“It’s the president and Harry Reid who don’t necessarily share our view that have to change things,” he said.  “They want to keep going like we’ve always done.”

Cantor employed the use of one word numerous times in our interview and in various other interviews prior to the speech: “bold”.  The Henrico Congressman believes that best describes the difference between the House Republican agenda and the White House.

“We believe that we have some bold ideas for growth and for removing the onerous sort of red tape that strangles small business people,” he said. “We believe we have bold ideas to get the fiscal situation straight here in Washington, so we can see economic growth.”

Cantor is open to compromise on things like the tax code and reducing regulatory burdens on small business owners. But he made it clear, its time for the president to come to them.

“We should try to and deliever on some results for the American people and not just be about the election.”

Here is an extended clip from our interview:

 

Speaking of the presidential election, despite some reports, Cantor told me that he has not considered endorsing yet in the republican primary. But he did outline some of the characteristics he is looking for in a candidate. 

“There are and there is a need for bold ideas right now,” he said. “People want to believe in America again.”

While Cantor did not even open the door to putting his support behind one specific candidate, he was not afraid to say (not surprisngly) that it is time for President Obama to go.

“It’s time I think, for America to try something new,” he said. “And that is what this election is about.”

An clip from his answer on the presidential election is below:

 

Warner continues to warn about debt crisis

Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) is in a unique position in Washington. He is among a small group of elected officials who does not need to campaign this fall. President Barack Obama, 1/3 of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives will face voters once again in November.

Perhaps that is one of the many reasons that Warner isn’t easily led into squabbles over campaigns and slogans. No matter what you ask him, he brings the conversation back to the one thing that concerns him the most, the debt crisis and country’s increasing deficit.

“Until, and unless we can make that grand bargain around the major issues (debt, deficit, entitlement reform)” said Warner. “I’m not sure that we are going to get to a lot of the other issues because until you get your balance sheet in order, how do you take on anything else?”

Warner who, normally speaks in reserved tones and is not prone to exaggeration, gets a bit of fire under him when talking about the debt crisis. The centrist democrat has said in the past that the problem forces him to lose sleep. On Tuesday he told me that if the Federal Government can’t fix the problem, every single elected leader should lose their jobs.

“If we don’t make progress, and I say this for me and everyone else up here, if we don’t make progress, on being able to get our deficit under control, to be able to take on the big issues surrounding entitlement reform and tax reform and get our nation’s balance sheet right, then we should all be fired,” he said.

The former Virginia governor who prided himself on finding areas of compromise between both parties said the fact that this in an election year is no excuse. He said a continued lack of progress will speak to a bigger problem.

“I unfortunately think this deficit issue ends up being almost a proxy to whether or not congress can operate in the 21st century.”

An extended clip from my conversation with Senator Warner can be found below.

Also tonight at the State of the Union, Senator Warner invited Reverend Curtis Harris, 87, a legendary civil rights figure in Virginia and the first African-American mayor of Hopewell, was Sen. Warner’s invited guest for President Obama’s State of the Union address to Congress.

Senator Warner visited with Reverend Harris prior to the president’s speech.

(Photo by Beth Adelson/Senator Warner’s Office)