Archive for the ‘Republicans’ Category

Prominent Republicans distance themselves from Trump’s tepid response to Charlottesville violence – Los Angeles Times

Aug. 12, 2017, 7:11 p.m.

Republican elected officials, who increasingly have been putting distance between themselves and President Trump, jumped quickly away from him Saturday after his equivocating response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va.

Some, including Sen. Cory Gardner, who heads the Republican effort to elect senators in next year's midterm election, repudiated Trump directly, criticizing him for not condemning the white supremacist groups that marched in the Virginia college town Friday and Saturday.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida also critiqued Trump for not directly labeling as a terrorist attack Saturday's assault by a car, in which at least one person was killed and roughly 20 injured.

Others did not mention Trump directlybut did condemn the marchers, many of whom carried Nazi flags and similar regalia.

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the senior Republican in the Senate, remembered his brother, who died fighting in World War II.

Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada issued a statement in which "condemn[ed] the outrageous racism, hatred and violence. It's unacceptable & shameful. No room for it in this country."

Several Republican senators referred to the violence as a case of "domestic terrorism."

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has been a favorite of Republican conservatives, issued a statement in which he called on the Justice Department to "immediately investigate and prosecute today's grotesque act of domestic terrorism."

Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Rob Portman of Ohio made similar references.

"White supremacy is a scourge," wrote House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). "This hate and its terrorism must be confronted and defeated."

But the reaction was differentamong Republicans from the South, where a sizable percentage of GOP voters support keeping the sort of Confederate monuments that the white supremacist groups rallied in Charlottesville to protect.

For example, Sen. Luther Strange of Alabama, who faces a close primary election on Tuesday and has been fending off attacks from his right, stuck close to Trump.

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Prominent Republicans distance themselves from Trump's tepid response to Charlottesville violence - Los Angeles Times

Republican Senators Defend McConnell After Trump Attacks – NBCNews.com

WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's colleagues are largely rallying around the him amid the ongoing attacks from President Donald Trump.

The intra-party spat is forcing Republicans to take sides in a dispute that many members say is counter-productive and pointless. And it's further threatening an uneasy alliance between the White House and the Republican-led Congress that has frayed over a stalled agenda.

After Trump suggested that McConnell, R-Ky., should step down from his leadership role on Thursday, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, Orrin Hatch of Utah, tweeted his support for McConnell. Hatch is one of the presidents' biggest and most vocal supporters in the Senate but he is fiercely loyal to his party and Senate leader.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., one of the newer members, also pledged his support to the majority leader, as did Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who was elected in 2014.

Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Susan Collins, R-Me., also announced their support for McConnell.

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told NBC News at a town hall event in Kansas on Thursday that he has full confidence in McConnell.

"I think its so difficult for any majority leader to herd members of the United States Senate," Moran said. "The pressure has been on to do something. My goal has been to make certain that doing something is actually to do something good. And, I look forward to continue to work with my Republican colleagues, including Sen. McConnell, as well as my Democratic colleagues, trying to figure out how we do good."

And Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is also McConnell's deputy in the Senate, is standing by the leader.

The spat is tearing at GOP unity at the same time that election-year politics are heating up.

Both Flake and Heller are facing difficult re-elections in 2018 and both have primary challengers who are running in lockstep with Trump. Flake has been an outspoken critic of the president; in a new book he says Republicans should stand up to the president when necessary. Meanwhile, Trump's team has encouraged Flake's opponent, Kelli Ward, to run and top Trump donors are funding her campaign.

A pro-Trump super PAC had previously threatened to run ads against Heller in Nevada. Republican Senate leaders said they have expressed their displeasure with the White House for threatening the re-election chances of sitting senators.

McConnell has remained steadfast in his support of Flake and Heller in their re-election bids and a pro-McConnell super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, has pledged to financially support both candidates.

But not all members of the Senate GOP have come out to unequivocally back McConnell. Some members have been more muted in their support.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., stayed out of the fray, saying on CNN's "New Day" that he'll "let this president speak for himself and his tactics."

Johnson has been critical of McConnell after the Senate Republican campaign arm stopped helping Johnson's re-election campaign in 2016 because the group thought he wouldn't be able to win.

And Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has not been shy about criticizing the president, did say some of the blame for the GOP's legislative failures is on McConnell.

I like Mitch, but for eight years weve been saying were going to repeal and replace ObamaCare; its not like we made this up over night," Graham said on Fox News Radio's "The Brian Kilmeade Show" on Wednesday.

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Republican Senators Defend McConnell After Trump Attacks - NBCNews.com

Republicans have ‘tough hill to climb’ on tax reform, GOP strategist says – CNBC

There's only about a 50-50 shot of getting tax reform done this year, Republican strategist Ron Christie predicted to CNBC on Friday.

"It's a very, very tough hill for Republicans to climb right now. We've seen the inability of House Republicans and their colleagues in the Senate to find consensus, to find a package to move forward to get to the president's desk," the former special assistant to President George W. Bush said in an interview with "Power Lunch."

"If you thought health care was complicated, I think tax reform is going to be an even more difficult burden for these guys to get over the finish line."

And the political infighting between President Donald Trump and Republicans certainly isn't helping matters, Republican Tony Fratto added.

Trump slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell multiple times this week for what Trump calls his failure to follow through on the GOP agenda.

"Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal & Replace, Tax Reform & Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing," Trump wrote Thursday on Twitter.

The taunts led Republican senators to rally around McConnell on Friday.

Fratto, who was White House deputy press secretary under President George W. Bush, told "Power Lunch" he believes the only way to get tax reform done is to have the party unified.

"I have yet to meet a Republican in Washington who does not want to have significant tax reform done," he said. "They are unified on this. So trying to divide them is really, really destructive."

Jared Bernstein, former economic policy advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, thinks Trump's goal is to elevate Trump, not unify Republicans.

"He's far more interested in casting blame them in passing tax reform," Bernstein said.

Christie thinks Trump needs to work with McConnell on tax reform, not insult him over social media

"If we can't get anything done in the Congress, and we have the largest governing majority since 1929, it tells you perhaps that Republicans don't deserve the trust to govern."

CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.

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Republicans have 'tough hill to climb' on tax reform, GOP strategist says - CNBC

The Bernie Bros and sisters are coming to Republicans’ rescue – Washington Post

Things could go well for the Democrats in next years midterm elections if they dont Bern out.

President Trump is woefully unpopular, feuding with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other Republicans. The GOP cant manage to repeal Obamacare or do much of anything. Voters say theyd like Democrats to run Congress.

But here come the Bernie Bros and sisters to the Republicans rescue: Theyre sowing division in the Democratic Party and attempting to enact a purge of the ideologically impure just the sort of thing that made the Republican Party the ungovernable mess it is today.

Bernie Sanderss advisers are promoting a litmus test under which Democrats who dont swear to implement single-payer health care would be booted from the party in primaries. Sanders pollster Ben Tulchin penned an op-ed with a colleague under the headline Universal health care is the new litmus test for Democrats. Nina Turner, head of the Sanders group Our Revolution, told Politico this week that theres something wrong with Democrats who wont unequivocally embrace Medicare-for-all.

That notion not just taking a stand but excommunicating all who disagree is what Republicans have done to themselves with guns and taxes, and it would seriously diminish Democrats hopes of retaking the House next year.

At the same time, Our Revolution has stepped up its attack on the Democratic Party. Turner this week sent an email to supporters complaining that she and others attempted to deliver a petition to Democratic National Committee headquarters but were shut out. In a follow-up interview with BuzzFeed, Turner expressed particular outrage that the DNC offered her ... donuts. They tried to seduce us with donuts, she said, calling the gesture pompous and arrogant and insulting.

Its not just about breakfast confections. The Bernie crowd has begun accusing freshman Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), a rising Democratic star, of being beholden to corporate money. Also in California, Kimberly Ellis, who ran for state Democratic chairman with the support of Sanders and lost in a close race to a former Hillary Clinton delegate, is refusing to concede and threatening to sue. Ellis told Adam Nagourney of the New York Times that the Democratic Party is in many ways right now where the Republican Party was when the tea party took over.

And thats a good thing? Republican fratricide, instigated by tea- party purity police, made Trump possible and left the GOP unable to govern. This is what Sanderss people would emulate.

Fortunately, Sanders seems to have lost clout. Candidates backed by Our Revolution have lost 31 races in 2017 and won 16 and the victories include Portland Community College Director, Zone 5 and South Fulton (Ga.) City Council 6.

Candidates endorsed by Sanders have struggled in high-profile races. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) lost the DNC chairman race (he was appointed deputy chairman). Sanders-backed Tom Perriello lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Virginia, and a Sanders campaign official was blown out in a California congressional primary . Neither did the Sanders magic get the job done for Democrats in special congressional elections in Kansas, Georgia or Montana, and his candidate lost the Omaha mayoral race.

Yet the attempt by the Sanders movement to impose a health-care litmus test on Democratic candidates shows its destructive potential within the party. Support for single-payer health coverage has been growing, and it would become a real possibility if Republicans sabotage Obamacare but dont help the tens of millions who would lose insurance.

But to force Democrats to take some kind of single-payer purity oath would set back the cause. Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to take control of the House, yet there are only 23 Republicans in districts won by Clinton and only eight of those were won by President Barack Obama in 2012. There are a dozen Democrats in districts Trump won. In such swing districts, it would be suicidal to pledge support for something Republicans will brand as socialism.

A Pew Research Center poll in June found that while a majority of Democrats (52 percent) favor single-payer health care, only 33 percent of the public does overall. A Kaiser Health Tracking poll in June had better results: 53 percent of the public favored single-payer coverage. But Kaiser found that opinions were malleable, and that if, for example, respondents heard single-payer coverage would increase taxes, a majority opposed it. Also, midterm voters are older, and that group is hostile to Medicare for All.

If recent trends continue, and particularly if Republicans undermine Obamacare without an adequate replacement, the time for single-payer will come, and soon. But the litmus test distracts Democrats from protecting Obamacare, diminishes their chances of retaking the House and chops up the party over something that has zero chance of becoming law under Trump.

That Berns.

Twitter: @Milbank

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The Bernie Bros and sisters are coming to Republicans' rescue - Washington Post

At raucous town halls, Republicans have faced another round of … – Washington Post

(Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

BRUNSWICK, Ga. The long August congressional recess, which Republicans had hoped would begin a conversation about tax reform and must-pass budget measures, has so far seen another round of angry town halls focused on President Trump and the stalled effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Over just one day, in three small towns along Georgias Atlantic coastline, Rep. Earl L. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) spent more than four hours answering 74 questions, many of them heated. Just three focused on tax reform; nearly half were about health care.

We did our job in the House, Carter said at the top of a town hall at the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick. It got over to the Senate, and it hit a stumbling block there. Now its in their court, and they need to get something done. Folks, were not giving up.

Carters town halls he is hosting nine, more than any other House Republican mirror what is happening in swing and safe Republican districts across the country. The failure of the health-care repeal bill kick-started a tax reform campaign backed by GOP leaders and pro-business groups, who have booked millions of dollars in TV ads to promote whatever might lead to an uncomplicated tax code.

In the first spots, paid for by the American Action Network, a laid-off steelworker worries that without lower taxes for working families, more jobs will be lost to China. At rallies and forums in several states, Americans for Prosperity has pitched tax reform as a way to unrig the economy. And in a polling memo made public this week, the AAN found that 65 to 73 percent of voters responded favorably to reform if it was pitched as a way to restore the earning power of the middle class and save billions of dollars each year on tax preparation services.

But at town hall meetings since the start of the recess, tax reform has hardly come up; health care has dominated. At a Monday event in Flat Rock, N.C., Rep. Mark Meadows (R) pitched a plan to devolve ACA programs to the states, then found himself fending off constituents who backed universal Medicare.

[Bipartisan health policy coalition urges Congress to strengthen the ACA]

You can take the top 1 percent and tax them fully, and it still wont pay for Medicare, Meadows said.

At a town hall in Chico, Calif., in the most Democratic portion of a deep-red district, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R) faced furious complaints about the repeal vote, with constituents accusing him of acting to bring about their deaths.

I hope you suffer the same painful fate as those millions that you have voted to remove health care from, one constituent told LaMalfa. May you die in pain.

Carters town halls did not reach such a boiling point, but they showed what the tone of congressional listening sessions has become: angry, wistful and loaded with progressive activists.

Georgias 1st Congressional District, stretching from Savannah to the Florida border, has been held by the GOP since 1993. In 2016, the Trump-Pence ticket carried the district by 15.5 points, while Democrats could not find a candidate to run against Carter.

(Nolan Ford/North State Public Radio)

But this week, the constituents who signed up for the meetings on Eventbrite and walked past local police officers to take their seats seemed to skew left. Two groups founded after the 2016 election, Speak Up Now and Savannah Taking Action for Resistance, had members at town halls in Darien and Brunswick.

Carter, who peppered his answers with self-deprecating jokes, sometimes called on activists whod dogged him before. In Brunswick, he quickly pivoted from a question about Zionist influence in our foreign policy by promising to put America first. After three different constituents asked him whether he supported the presidents decision to ban transgender men and women from military service, he went from deferring to our commander in chief to saying what he believed.

I dont want em serving in the military, Carter said, as dozens of constituents booed and more than a dozen walked out. Im sorry.

At each town hall, Carter provided fact sheets to advance two messages: how much work Congress had done in 2017, and how his party would not give up on repealing the ACA. A one-pager titled Health Care Reform: Myth vs. Fact, with citations from the Department of Health and Human Services, revealed just how much the party had suffered from Democratic attacks. Instead of rebutting the line that the GOP plan would cut Medicaid, it framed the ACAs Medicaid expansion as a departure from the programs mission, and one that denied choice to the working poor.

Medicaid was designed to provide a vital health care safety net for elderly, children, pregnant women, and individuals with disabilities, it read. Low and middle-income adults capable of holding down a job should have health care choices.

Behind the microphone, Carter found himself making that point repeatedly, about a slew of ideas for expanded government programs, as Democrats cheered and Republicans simmered. In Brunswick, after Carter told a college student that free tuition was a pipe dream weve got a $20trillion debt an older man took the mic and advised the student to get a job.

It wasnt the only time Carter stood back and watched as his constituents argued among themselves. Mary Nelson, 73, used her question time at the Darien town hall to insist that Republicans were all wrong about single-payer health care. She talked about an experience that her Australian relatives had gone through and described a cheap system with no hoops to jump through that could be copied in America.

They are taxed out the wazoo in Australia, interjected Adrienne Stidhams, 48, a Trump supporter.

How much do we pay for premiums? Nelson asked rhetorically.

Like Meadows, Carter suggested that Democrats and Republicans could work together on health-care bills with the repeal effort stalled.

When multiple constituents asked Carter if he would let the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election play out, he defended the president and suggested that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a good man, would probably find out the facts before long.

Im worried about some of the people he has around him, Carter said, apparently referring to lawyers hired for the probe who have been attacked in conservative media for donating to Democrats.

There were no questions about the debt limit, which must be raised when Congress returns to avoid default. The three questions about tax reform focused on the possibility of a fair tax, a national sales tax to replace taxes on income; whether companies keeping profits overseas could be taxed; and tax fairness in general.

Carter jumped at the opportunity to talk about it. Whats being proposed right now is to bring our corporate tax down from 35percent one of the highest in the world down to 15 percent, he said, citing a tax reform blueprint released this spring and a positive analysis from the conservative Tax Foundation. That will create jobs.

No constituents followed up with questions. Instead, there was more skepticism about the president and his plans, countered by constituents who asked Carter to defend the president from media attacks.

I tell ya, I dont think Ive ever seen a president thats been disrespected by the media like this, Carter said. He had more to say, but drowned out by booing, he moved on.

Read more at PowerPost

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At raucous town halls, Republicans have faced another round of ... - Washington Post