[AlexanderPalamayr]

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...0.story?page=2


A long-simmering rivalry between the top two Republicans in the House has tumbled into the open, with far-reaching implications for deficit-reduction negotiations with the White House.

Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are at odds over President Obama's call for a massive deficit-reduction package to address fiscal problems and provide for an increase in the country's $14.3-trillion borrowing limit before an Aug. 2 deadline.

In private talks with the White House, Boehner favored a large package as part of pragmatic political deal-making. But Cantor, speaking for staunch conservatives in Congress, is opposed.

In a briefing Monday, Cantor downplayed the divisions, insisting repeatedly that he and the speaker were "on the same page." But friction between the two has grown obvious, reinforcing months-old questions over who controls House Republicans.

...

On Sunday night, as top congressional leaders met with the White House, Cantor did most of the talking for the GOP, according to aides familiar with the meeting.

"I can tell you that so far, Congressman Cantor has been running the show on the Republican side — almost exclusively — and he has about played out his hand," said a Democrat who was in the White House meeting Monday and who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the closed meeting.