As day one of the government shutdown continues, many people are left wondering what happened? If the leaders of both parties said they didn't want the government to shut down and President Barack Obama, along with congressional Democrats, were poised to negotiate in good faith and make reasonable compromises, how did we get where we are?

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) was in Philadelphia on Monday to promote the expansion of charter schools, vouchers and alternatives to public education. Touring select cities to spread the mantra of school "choice," Cantor made a couple of callous decisions when visiting the City of Brotherly Love. Rather than draw attention to the funding crisis facing Philadelphia’s public schools, he chose to ignore the plight of its 134,000 students. Cantor applauded the rise of charter schools, which have played a direct role in creating the school district’s current crisis.

House Republicans are set to take the food off the table for millions of low-income people, with huge cuts to the food stamp program, under a bill they are pushing toward a vote this week, likely Thursday or Friday. 

The $40 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are part of the farm bill reauthorization and would result, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in 1.7 million people forced off the rolls in the coming year and another 2.1 million dropped in 2014. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) puts the figure at 4 million to 6 million.  

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said on Sunday that Republicans would be open to restoring some of the funding lost in the job-killing sequester if new cuts to social safety net programs were put in place. In effect, Cantor is suggesting replacing one policy that hurts the economy and suppresses job growth with another policy that does the exact same thing.

In an extreme, out-of-touch vote, House Republicans voted on a Farm Bill Thursday that removed nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  Every Democrat and a dozen Republicans voted against the bill.  

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) seemingly have rallied enough of their House allies to push the battle over causing a U.S. government default down the road, with a temporary three-month extension of the government's borrowing authority (or "debt ceiling"). But House Republicans have not changed their ransom demands. They've simply chosen a different hostage. For now.

Those of us who spent Labor Day thanking people for their hard work and reflecting on the contributions of the labor movement got the point of the day all wrong.

Fortunately, Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was on Twitter to set us right.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) supposedly wants to talk about the nation’s inequality—but not to just anyone. Cantor, at the last minute, canceled an appearance this afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was slated to speak. Curiously enough, Occupy Philadelphia had organized a march from City Hall to the campus to protest Cantor’s speech. But Cantor’s not giving a reason for the cancellation.

Virginia Republican Rep. Eric Cantor’s depiction of Occupy Wall Street protests as “growing mobs” drew an appropriate response from White House spokesman Jay Carney today.

More than 800 Occupy Wall Street protests have sprung up across the nation, from Washington, D.C., to yes, Occupy Missoula (Mont.). While Republican Rep. Eric Cantor has called the protestors “mobs,” President Obama said yesterday the protests show a “broad-based frustration” among Americans about the U.S. financial system. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is in New York City today to meet with Occupy Wall Street protestors. He brought along bagels and water for the protestors, and since he’s a big reader, he first stopped by the ”library” at Occupy Wall Street (see video).