Tag: GOP congress

In declaring a national emergency, Trump reminds Republicans: It’s all about him

Though he expects loyalty from Republicans, President Trump has never demonstrated much fidelity to the party that he leads, and on Friday he proved it again. In declaring a national emergency to fund his border wall, the president reminded Republican lawmakers that he feels free to trample on them whenever it suits him.

Trump was a solitary, and unscripted, figure when he spoke on Friday in the Rose Garden. His presentation was rambling and unfocused. He talked about trade with China and Great Britain, negotiations with North Korea, and the economy and the stock market before getting to the prime topic. Though he cast many of those things in upbeat terms, it was not a performance by a president who believes he is winning.

This was, however, a more authentic Trump than the politician the nation saw two weeks ago, when he gave his State of the Union address. In that setting, Trump’s speech was laced with appeals for bipartisanship, tributes to genuine American heroes and initiatives that seemed unusual to this president and designed to attract voters outside his core coalition who aren’t with him but might be needed for his reelection campaign.

View the complete February 16 article by Dan Balz on The Washington Post website here.

Congress Needs to Stop Trump’s Continued Infliction of Harm and Suffering on Puerto Ricans

Visible roof damage to a school in Puerto Rico, September 2018. Credit: Angel Valentin, Getty

Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico in September 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane, causing significant devastation across the island and the second-largest blackout in history. The Trump administration also contributed to an estimated 2,975 deaths because of its slow response, which failed to provide Puerto Rico with adequate resources or properly trained emergency personnel to match the severity of the situation on the ground.

As a result, American citizens are still reeling from the deadliest U.S.-based natural disaster in 100 years. Yet, President Donald Trump has signaled that his administration will honor only a small portion of funding originally promised, including suggesting disaster relief funds would be funneled toward building a border wall. In addition, Congress has repeatedly let opportunities to act lapse. Congress must take immediate action to help Puerto Rico and should consider the actions described below.

Congress must provide additional FY 2019 NAP funds

The Nutritional Assistance Program (NAP) is critical for Puerto Rican families—especially for children and the elderly, who are the largest groups of NAP recipients. In fact, an estimated 97 percent of NAP participants have a monthly income below half the poverty line. Others who live below the poverty line remain with limited or no access to these benefits due to the program’s limited funding.

View the complete February 15 article by Enrique Fernández-Toledo, Rafael Medina and Erin Cohan on the Center for American Progress website here.

Fox News tells Americans to stop complaining about their shrunken tax refunds

Fox & Friends defending the Trump tax cuts. Credit: Fox News screenshot

Many Americans are actually paying more in federal taxes thanks to the Trump tax “cuts.”

As Americans begin to prepare their 2018 federal tax returns, many are facing the unpleasant surprise that their tax refunds will be smaller this year or that they may even owe money to the government. This comes despite — or perhaps because of — the tax bill passed by the Republican Congress in late 2017 and signed by President Donald Trump, which Trump falsely promised would give everyone a tax cut, but actually raised taxes on many middle class Americans.

On Wednesday, Fox & Friends attempted to spin the situation, blaming taxpayers who should have somehow known to have adjust their withholding a year ago and should have saved more.

Noting that the average tax refund has dropped 8.4 percent since last year, guest and Fox Business Network host Charles Payne claimed Americans should have used their “fatter paychecks” more wisely.

No Republican Sponsors For New Gun Safety Bill

Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Credit: Xinhua/Liu Jie

Democrats are ready to use their new majority in the House of Representatives to take action on gun safety legislation in order to make schools, theaters, halls of worship, and everywhere else a little bit safer.

But not a single Republican is willing to support legislation banning high-capacity magazines like those used in the deadly 2017 Las Vegas massacre that killed 58 people and injured hundreds.

On Tuesday, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) reintroduced the Keep Americans Safe Act, which would ban any magazine with more than 10 bullets. Access to these magazines makes shooters “dramatically more dangerous,” Deutch told CNN in a recent interview, because they can fire more shots without pausing to reload.

View the complete February 12 article by Dan Desai Martin originally posted on the American Independent website on the National Memo website here.

No GOP appetite for a second shutdown

Senate Republicans are signaling they will do just about anything to prevent a second shutdown after the White House was widely seen as badly losing the political fight over the closure that ended with President Trump’s retreat on Friday.

Republicans are in no mood to be dragged back into another partial closure in mid-February, the deadline to get a deal on spending for roughly a quarter of the government.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), modifying a well-known quote, told reporters Tuesday that “there certainly would be no education in the third kick of the mule.”

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

Republicans distance themselves from shutdown tactics

Senate Republicans on Sunday described the freshly ended 35-day partial government shutdown as an ineffective and harmful tactic deployed to secure funding for President Trump’s proposed wall along the southern border.

Fresh off a Friday vote to reopen the government for three weeks, lawmakers described the shutdown as an exercise in futility that harmed Americans, and expressed optimism lawmakers could hammer out a legislative compromise in the next three weeks.

“Shutdowns are never good policy, ever,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “They are never to be used as a means to achieve any kind of goal no matter how important that goal may seem to be.”

How the IRS Was Gutted

An eight-year campaign to slash the agency’s budget has left it understaffed, hamstrung and operating with archaic equipment. The result: billions less to fund the government. That’s good news for corporations and the wealthy.

In the summer of 2008, William Pfeil made a startling discovery: Hundreds of foreign companies that operated in the U.S. weren’t paying U.S. taxes, and his employer, the Internal Revenue Service, had no idea. Under U.S. law, companies that do business in the Gulf of Mexico owe the American government a piece of what they make drilling for oil there or helping those that do. But the vast majority of the foreign companies weren’t paying anything, and taxpaying American companies were upset, arguing that it unfairly allowed the foreign rivals to underbid for contracts.

Pfeil and the IRS started pursuing the non-U.S. entities. Ultimately, he figures he brought in more than $50 million in previously unpaid taxes over the course of about five years. It was an example of how the tax-collecting agency is supposed to work.

But then Congress began regularly reducing the IRS budget. After 43 years with the agency, Pfeil — who had hoped to reach his 50th anniversary — was angry about the “steady decrease in budget and resources” the agency had seen. He retired in 2013 at 68.

View the complete December 11 article by Paul Kiel and Jesse Eisinger on the ProPublica website here.

Violence Against Women Act Lapses Again

Anita Hill testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 14, 1991. The Violence Against Women Act came together in the aftermath of the hearings, in which Hill alleged she faced sexual harassment by then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Credit: Laura Patterson, CQ Roll Call file photo

Authorization expired with partial government shutdown

The Violence Against Women Act lapsed for the second time in 25 years. Authorization for the law’s programs expired when the partial government shutdown began just after midnight Friday.

The landmark domestic violence law was set to expire Sept. 30, but was extended through Dec. 7 under the first stopgap spending bill and extended again until Dec. 21 in a second short-term bill.

The law authorizes funding for social service agencies that aid victims affected by sexual violence, including rape crisis centers, shelters and legal-assistance programs. Reauthorizations over the years have included expanded provisions focused on reporting mechanisms for sexual violence on college campuses and extending protections for the LGBT community.

View the complete December 21 article by Katherine Tully-McManus on The Roll Call website here.

DNC on Trump Government Shutdown

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement after Donald Trump and congressional Republicans forced a government shutdown:

“The Trump Shutdown is here, and American workers will pay the price. The president should be ashamed that he is targeting American workers with his latest temper tantrum right before the holidays. Voters spoke out last month, and their message was clear: we do not support the Trump agenda, we are not paying for your wall, and Republicans do not stand for our values.

“Democrats offered multiple proposals to keep the government open, including a strong bipartisan solution passed by voice vote in the Senate. But Trump and congressional Republicans yet again demonstrated that they are unable to govern.

“President Trump campaigned on his so-called dealmaking skills. And yet, he’s proved incapable of making a deal that works for the American people. This is who the president is: a failed dealmaker with the temperament of a toddler. The American people have had enough. That’s why they elected Democrats last month up and down the ballot across the country. And that’s why they’re going to make Donald Trump a one-term president.”

Trump Said He Would Shut Down The Government. Now He Has.

Trump set up a government shutdown all along. He said he would do it, and now he is. Here’s how it happened:

Step 1: Trump took responsibility and said he would shut down the government.

Trump: “I will be the one to shut it down.”

Trump said he would be “proud to shut down the government.” Continue reading “Trump Said He Would Shut Down The Government. Now He Has.”