Cantor fundraises for Bridenstine; DC GOP gives up search for opponent?

Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Tulsa)

1st District Congressman Jim Bridenstine has been at it from the very beginning. One of the most conservative members of the U.S. House, Bridenstine has been somewhat of a thorn in the side of the less conservative House GOP leadership ever since he refused to vote for John Boehner as Speaker. Bridenstine has formed close ties with other "renegade conservatives", like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and fought against Congressional GOP leadership on issues like the debt ceiling, government shutdown, and continuing resolutions. He's even one of the few House Republicans to not donate to the NRCC from his campaign.

Because of all of the above, Republican establishment-types (both in Oklahoma and in DC) have barely disguised their disdain for Bridenstine, to the point that ever since he defeated John Sullivan, they have sought to find a candidate they could run against him in 2014. However, it appears that they might have thrown in the towel.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is coming to town on the 26th to participate in a fundraising luncheon for Rep. Bridenstine, hosted by Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett. Also listed as co-hosts are some individuals who did not support Bridenstine in the last primary, who have helped to bankroll races for more establishment-type candidates.

Does this all point to the DC GOP grudgingly coming to terms with being "stuck" with Bridenstine? Perhaps so. Also of interest is the fact that when Bridenstine did not vote for Speaker Boehner, he cast his vote for Eric Cantor. Could there be another reason behind this embrace of Bridenstine?

GOP Pledge: Cut $100B? More like $35B

During the 2010 congressional campaign, Republican House leaders issued a Pledge to America, wherein the GOP leadership made pledges to make spending cuts, repeal ObamaCare, and make congressional reforms, among other things.

One of the most prominent pledges was "we will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels, saving us at least $100 billion in the first year alone [emphasis mine]".

A lot was made about the House Republican's intent to cut at least $100B from the budget in their first year of control. However, it seems that this particular pledge won't actually come to fruition.

It seems that the House GOP leadership is planning on cutting $74 billion from the budget. That is, $74 billion from President Obama's 2011 budget proposal. As Erick Erickson said today on RedState.com, "There’s just one problem — the Democrats left power without ever passing Barack Obama’s budget. In other words, the GOP is cutting $74 billion from a budget that does not even exist." In actuality, the GOP leadership-proposed cuts amount to about $35 billion less than the 2010 budget.

"We're going to cut at least $100 billion. No, make that $74 billion. Actually.... $35 billion. What? Is something wrong? Pledge? What 'pledge'? Oh, 'at least $100 billion in the first year alone'? Well..... yeah, about that..."

Our fiscal situation is in a mess. Everyone agrees on that. It's a total and bipartisan wreck. We have to do something about it, something major. Halfhearted, hesitant nibbles won't cut it. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has found $350B in waste, fraud and duplication that could be eliminated. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has proposed $500B in cuts.

That's more like it. As Sen. Coburn has said, we have an apocalyptic fiscal crisis on our hands. Our national debt now stands at over $14,000,000,000,000.00 (14 trillion dollars). We stand on the brink. Now is not the time for hesitant indecision. Either we take the plunge into national fiscal ruin -- or we take the plunge and make the deep cuts necessary to balance our budget and pay down our debt as speedily as possible. There is no other option.

My hope is that the Congressional Republicans will finally get the message, and do the right thing for our nation, even though it is hard. It remains to see whether or not they will summon the courage to do so.