(Rep Roy) Blunt Is Out (as House Minority Whip)

[sabra]

Source: Roll Call

House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) announced this morning that he will relinquish his No. 2 leadership job in the next Congress, clearing the way for his lieutenant, Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), to take his place.

The decision, which was expected, comes in the wake of Election Day losses that pushed the Republicans further into the House minority. Blunt and Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (Fla.) appear to be taking the fall for those defeats, while Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is expected to survive.

Read more: http://www.rollcall.com/news/29938-1.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. Whips? Is this about the republicon TORTURE abominations?

If so, then tell the Republicons that Jesus is totally against whips, chains, and other implements & practices of anti-Christian, anti-American republicon torture.

[Quantess]

12. Silly question:

is there a Democrat Whip?

[GOPNotForMe]

14. Yes, I believe it was Clyburn (not sure about spelling). nt

[speedoo]

2. Cantor is probably worse than Blunt.

Well, maybe not, considering that Cantor is almost certainly more stupid.

[Virginia Dare]

18. More proof that the repubs simply don't get it..

they still don't understand why they just got kicked in the nuts hard. They think it's all about the economy and nothing to do with them.

[Turbineguy]

3. They

whipped him out!

Blazing Saddles moment: (at 2:01) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upvZdVK913I

[bluesmail]

4. Well then good riddance.

:party: (I hope I won't be munching on my words)

[bdamomma]

5. oh boy, the repigs are in tatters.

[DogPoundPup]

6. Rep. Blunt resigns as Republican Whip

Source: Salt Lake Tribune

WASHINGTON—Rep. Roy Blunt announced Thursday that he would relinquish his post as Chief Republican Whip, the House GOP’s No. 2 leadership spot, in the wake of Tuesday’s stinging Republican losses.

Blunt’s decision to step aside avoids a bitter leadership showdown; Blunt’s move comes one day after his deputy, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., announced that he would run for the whip job.

The Missouri Republican is the second casualty in a leadership shake-up after the GOP’s Election Day losses, which saw Democrats gain at least 18 seats in the House. On Wednesday, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla., resigned his post as the House GOP’s No. 3 leader.

Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, appears poised to remain as the Republican minority leader, even as House Republicans engage in post-election soul-searching and finger-pointing.

Blunt’s self-imposed demotion is a sharp personal turn-about for a man once seen as a rising Republican star.

Blunt, R-Strafford, came to Congress in 1997 on the heels of the Republican revolution, and quickly became a protégé of Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas. DeLay, then the Republican whip, tapped Blunt as his deputy in 1999, a move that seemed to put Blunt on a path to the Speaker's chair.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/washington/story/F81F4AB5B5AB06AB862574F9005A0B37?OpenDocument

[glowing]

7. I guess he doesn't want anything to do with the fault of republican demise.

[DainBramaged]

9. They don't understand the words 'personal responsibility', never will

[mikelgb]

8. gawd they have got to get rid of boner

[Demeter]

10. Why?

He's doing good work for the Democratic cause.

[LonelyLRLiberal]

21. Now there's a character reference - "protégé of Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas."

BTW, I can't stomach seeing DeLay being invited on cable news shows. He's a damn criminal.

[yellowcanine]

11. If the Repubs have any sense they will lose Bonerman also. He is very divisive.

[sabra]

13. you mean the man that called the future president a "chicken s#@$"?

:sarcasm:

[yellowcanine]

15. Yes, "that one."

[Virginia Dare]

19. They absolutely have no sense what so ever..

especially if they're considering plugging Cantor into Blunts job.

[damntexdem]

16. But OH and FL went for Obama, though so did OH, ...

while MO may have gone for McCain.

;-)

Dems = plan, organize, do
GOP = fight, fight, fight

LOL!

[Kalifornia.Kid]

17. Blunt smoked - Blunt as in a "hollowed stogie"

[asksam]

20. Great news! When's the election for his seat?

It's a great chance for us to pick up another spot in the House!

[starroute]

22. Cantor has Abramoff connections

A lot of this stuff no longer seems to be online, but files I saved a few years back suggest Cantor was doing favors for Abramoff in 2003.

DeLay, Hastert, Blunt, and Cantor -- then the House GOP leadership -- all got contributions from Abramoff and held fundraisers or meetings at his restaurants around the time they signed a letter to the Secretary of the Interior on his behalf in June 2003.

Also, according to an article in the Forward that no longer seems to be available, at some point Cantor held a questionable fundraiser at Abramoff's deli:

"In what experts say may be a violation of campaign finance laws, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, one of the top-ranking Republicans in the House, has failed to report a debt to a kosher restaurant. . . .

"A number of contributions Cantor's campaign committee, Cantor for
Congress, deposited on January 28 appear to have come from the
fundraiser at Stacks Deli, which news accounts described as being packed
with members of Congress, their staffers and Republican activists."