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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Brat, the Libertarian Who Beat Eric Cantor, Doesn't Believe in the "Common" Good
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/david-brat-eric-cantor-common-good-climate-changeWhen tea party challenger David Brat sent Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House majority leader, to the ash heap on Tuesday night, vanquishing the incumbent by more than 10 points in the primary race, the politerati were stunned. Political journalists scrambled to answer a question: who is this guy? The political pros knew that Brat had mounted a campaign largely based on two issues: bashing Cantor on immigration (that is, excoriating the congressman, who was quite hesitant about immigration reform, for not killing the possibility of any immigration legislation) and denouncing Cantor for supporting a debt ceiling deal that averted possible financial crisis. But not much else was widely known about this local professor who dispatched a Washington power broker.
A quick review of his public statements reveals a fellow who is about as tea party as can be. He appears to endorse slashing Medicare and Social Security payouts to seniors by two-thirds. He wants to dissolve the IRS. And he has called for drastic cuts to education funding, explaining, "My hero Socrates trained in Plato on a rock. How much did that cost? So the greatest minds in history became the greatest minds in history without spending a lot of money."
An economics professor at Randolph-Macon College in central Virginia, Brat frequently has repeated the conservative canard that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae brought down the housing market by handling the vast majority of subprime mortgages. That is, he absolves Big Finance and the banks of responsibility for the financial crisis that triggered the recession, which hammered middle-class and low-income families across the country. (In fact, as the housing bubble grew, Freddie and Fannie shed their subprime holdings, while banks grabbed more.)
In his campaign speeches, Brat has pointed out that he isn't worried about climate change because "rich countries solve their problems":
If you let Americans do their thing, there is no scarcity, right? They said we're going to run out of food 200 years ago, that we're goin' to have a ice age. Now we're heating up Of course we care for the environment, but we're not mad people. Over time, rich countries solve their problems. We get it right. It's not all perfect, but we get it right.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)infidel dog
(273 posts)Faryn Balyncd
(5,125 posts)deutsey
(20,166 posts)The 21st Century is shaping up to be the "Century of the Dangerous Idiot."
LordGlenconner
(1,348 posts)Under the scrutiny. And if he doesn't, somebody will dig up some nice dirt. He's a college professor with extremist views. His lectures have likely been recorded many times over the years. All the makings of a monkey fuck of the highest order.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,324 posts)The guy has fraud written all over him.
kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)doubt that he hasn't relied on the government for help to get where he is now like so many of the anti-government blowhards in Congress...especially among the Tea Party.
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)MisterP
(23,730 posts)they think "US Treasury" is some sorta lottery that rewards them for being white and/or middle-class
you never see Ayn Rand bumper stickers on limos--always beat-up taxis and junkers; no Randroid has ever owned a blimp, except Forbes Jr.
muntrv
(14,505 posts)sufrommich
(22,871 posts)about him. I also think he wouldn't answer Todd's question about minimum wage because he's a fan of Ayn Rand and doesn't believe there should be a minimum wage.