Tag: GOP congress

GOP balks at White House push for standalone vote on debt ceiling

The Hill logoRepublican lawmakers are pushing back on a new White House plan that calls for a vote on raising the debt ceiling before August and then revisiting spending talks in the fall.

GOP senators say there’s little desire in their conference to vote on a standalone proposal to increase the nation’s debt limit, something that’s broadly unpopular with the base.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said Republican leaders would have a tough time passing such a measure if it’s not attached to a broader spending deal.

View the complete July 12 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Republicans Fear NRA Turmoil Will Hurt Trump’s Re-Election Chances

Republicans are concerned that the seemingly never-ending parade of scandals at the National Rifle Association could seriously hurt Trump’s reelection efforts.

This week Politico reported on GOP concerns about the NRA, which has been a pivotal part of the Republican right’s vote mobilization efforts in the past.

“The turmoil is fueling fears that the organization will be profoundly diminished heading into the election, leaving the Republican Party with a gaping hole in its political machinery,” Politico noted.

The outlet reported that Republicans are already raising alarms and asking the NRA to come clean with its plans for 2020 so they can address possible deficiencies before the race begins in earnest.

View the complete July 6 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

How To Fix A Big Problem With The Trump-Radical Republican Tax Law

The American people got a highly misleading June 24 report from Congressional staff about the effect of repealing Donald Trump’s $10,000 limit on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT.

Millionaires and billionaires get most of the benefits if the limitation is repealed, the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation reported.

Duh.

Our major news organizations promptly parroted the findings without digging deeper. And none thought to report on whether the tax committee staff had been asked the right or best question in preparing its analysis.

View the complete July 4 article by David Cay Johnston on the DC Report website here.

Internal cracks emerge in GOP strategy to avoid shutdown

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are struggling to unite behind a plan to fund the government after budget talks have ground to a halt.

Congress has until the end of September to prevent the second government closure of the year, but Republicans are struggling to overcome the first roadblock — agreeing to top-line defense and nondefense figures or deciding what comes next if they can’t.

The drama over how to fund the government and avoid deep budget cuts has played out in private, closed-door meetings and put a public spotlight on the high-profile split among Republicans as well as with the White House about the best path to avoid a shutdown.

View the complete June 30 article by Jordain Carney on The Hill website here.

Former RNC head drops the hammer on Republicans who claim the Bible says they don’t have to help the poor

AlterNet logoAppearing on MSNBC’s “AM Joy,” former National Republican Committee head Michael Steele slammed GOP lawmakers who have attempted to use the Bible as a defense for ignoring the needs of the poor and the helpless.

Speaking with host Joy Reid, Steele said that there will be reckoning one day for the Republican Party.

“Michael, this week Donald Trump lied to my colleague who asked him about this [immigration] policy and lied that he inherited the separation policy from President Obama and that he ended it, which is just a blatant flat out lie, right?” host Reid proposed. “You have members of Congress saying the Bible doesn’t say we’re supposed to care for the poor. I mean, you actually have a sense of moral disconnections in your party that I don’t understand, and I need your help.”

View the complete June 23 article by Tom Boggioni from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Worker Bonuses Fell Sharply As Corporations Reaped Tax-Cut Billions

After a flurry of press releases last year touting all the bonuses that would come when Republicans passed their tax scam, it turns out corporations scaled back on worker bonuses in 2019, and drastically. But they’re still reaping the benefits of the GOP tax scam, according to a Tuesday Wall Street Journal report.

Compared to this time last year, worker bonuses have dropped by a stunning 24 percent, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The drop is the largest decrease on record, dating back to 2005.

Since the tax scam was signed into law in December 2017, Trump and Republicans have highlighted anecdotal evidence from corporate press releases to promote its greatness. In January 2018, for example, the Trump administration praised Walmart for giving out bonuses, even as the company was closing more than 60 stores.

View the complete June 19 article by Dan Desai Martin on the National Memo website here.

Trump: ‘Foolish’ for GOP to try to stop tariffs on Mexico

President Trump on Tuesday insisted he will follow through with new tariffs on Mexico if it does not do more to curb illegal migration and said it would be “foolish” for congressional Republicans to try and stop him.

“We are going to see if we can do something, but I think it’s more likely that the tariffs go on,” Trump said during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Addressing deliberations by Republicans on a measure that could limit his tariff power, Trump said, “I don’t think they will do that. I think if they do, it’s foolish.”

View the complete June 4 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

GOP divided over how to stop Trump’s trade wars

Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill desperately want to convince President Trump to back off his plan to impose tariffs on Mexican imports but disagree over the best strategy moving forward.

Some, such as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), an adviser to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) leadership team, want to persuade the president to change course through private dialogue.

Others, including Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley(Iowa) and Sens. Pat Toomey (Pa.) and Rob Portman (Ohio), are talking about passing legislation to curtail Trump’s tariff authority.

View the complete June 3 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

GOP blew Obamacare repeal, not us, former CBO director says

Keith Hall said if anyone is to blame for Republicans’ failure to repeal the health care law, it’s Republicans themselves

Outgoing Congressional Budget Office Director Keith Hall held his fire when the agency was under attack in 2017 for estimating that a repeal of the 2010 health care law would throw millions of people off health insurance.

Now that he is leaving the agency, he can speak more freely. In an interview in his office last week, Hall said if anyone is to blame for Republicans’ failure to repeal the health care law, it’s Republicans themselves.

“I made a real decision not to, in real time, defend our work because I really do think of us as referees or umpires,” said Hall, a Republican. He said the agency’s job is to provide its best analysis and let it stand on its own.

View the complete June 3 article by Paul M. Krawzak on The Roll Call website here.

Senate GOP vows to quickly quash any impeachment charges

GOP senators say that if the House passes articles of impeachment against President Trump they will quickly quash them in the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has broad authority to set the parameters of a trial.

While McConnell is required to act on articles of impeachment, which require 67 votes — or a two-thirds majority — to convict the president, he and his Republican colleagues have the power to set the rules and ensure the briefest of trials.

“I think it would be disposed of very quickly,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

View the complete May 27 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.