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Amid the sea of red Make America Great Again hats, blue Socialism sucks T-shirts and the marathon series of speeches and panel discussions featuring top White House advisers and other recognizable faces at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, there was something in much shorter supply: Republican members of Congress.

Just one current U.S. senator spoke on Thursday at CPAC at theNational Harbor complex in Oxon Hill, Md., with no others scheduled for the rest of the four-day gathering. Nine U.S. House members are on the roster of speakers.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who took the stage to AC/DC in 2016, is not here. Nor is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who famously presented a colleague with a gun at CPAC in 2014. And Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who once sought to build buzz here for their budding presidential campaigns, are nowhere to be found.

During Barack Obamas presidency, CPAC served as a tryout of sorts for ambitious Republican lawmakers seeking to brand themselves as the future of the party, and for congressional leaders looking to articulate their vision for governance. Now, its the place where President Trump is expected to reaffirm the themes he rode to victory in a Friday speech a year after hecanceled on CPAC at the last minute.

Last year everybodys putting the wares on display it was kind of auditioning for the presidency, said former representative Tom Davis (R-Va.). This time, it is basically Trumptrying to co-opt these folks.

Davisadded: What a difference a year makes.

Last year, CPAC kicked off during a week when Congress was in session. Davis and several GOP congressional aides noted that Congress is out this week, and members are tending to business in their home states and districts and elsewhere.

Hes on political travel this week, said Ryan spokesman Doug Andres of his boss.

Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for McConnell, said, As you know, this week is a recess week, and Senator McConnell is home in Kentucky. McConnells 2014 appearance came as he was in the midst of a reelection campaign and eager to tout his gun rights record.

Ferrier directed questions about whether McConnell was invited to speak to CPAC organizers. Matt Schlapp, head of the American Conservative Union, which puts on the event, did not respond to a request for comment.

Rubio was invited to speak, his office said, but is not in Washington and had to decline. Aides did not respond with an explanation of why. Rubio has taken heat from demonstrators who have expressed concerns about his refusal to hold town hall meetings during the recess.

The only senator who spoke at CPAC is Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), the firebrand conservative who clashed with Trump during the campaign. Cruz is up for reelection in 2018 and is seen in the party as someone who might still harbor presidential ambitions.

Cruz predicted in his remarks that there will be another vacancy on the Supreme Court later this year but provided no explanation for why he believes that. He seemed to relish the notion of another confirmation fight with Democrats.

Paul, the libertarian-leaning Republican who won CPACs presidential straw poll in 2013 and 2014, has seen his stock in the GOP diminish after a disappointing presidential campaign. His office did not respond to a request for comment explaining why he was not speaking at CPAC.

During the campaign, Trump railed against the political establishment, including bashing GOP congressional leadership in blunt fashion at times. The relationship between Trump and congressional Republicans has been uneasy during the first few weeks of his presidency.

McConnell has said he likes what Trump is doing but not what he is saying and tweeting. Other Capitol Hill Republicans have been deeply unsettled by some of Trumps policies, most notably his entry ban, which was stopped by a federal court.

The House members speaking at CPAC include Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), who participated in a panel discussion titled FREE stuff vs FREE-dom: Millennials Love Affair with Bernie Sanders.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.), chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, is scheduled to sit for an interview with Alex Marlow of Breitbart News on Friday on the conundrum of tax reform.

Congressional leaders and Congress as a whole continues to be unpopular. A Gallup poll released this month showed that the approval rating of Congress stood at 28 percent up from 19 percent in January.

In his remarks, Cruz vouched for a proposal that some voters might like, given those dismal numbers: imposing term limits on members of Congress.

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In a shift, prominent congressional Republicans in short supply at CPAC - Washington Post

MILTON, Fla. -- At Grover Ts Barbecue in Milton, Florida, Congressman Matt Gaetz was grilled before he even got inside.

I want to know if the president is bought and paid for by the Russian oligarchy! one woman said to him.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, right, meets constituents

CBS News

We should know that about everyone not just the president, Gaetz replied.

President Trump was also a prime topic in New Jersey, home to Republican Congressman Leonard Lance.

I would like to know what you plan to do when he makes delusional statements one attendee asked at a town hall event.

When I believe the president hasnt spoken the truth, I will give my point of view, Lance responded.

The challenge for Republicans: how strongly to defend the president when theyre already dealing with Democratic anger over plans to repeal Obamacare.

Protesters gathered outside Congressman Dave Reicherts Washington State office on Thursday, and laid into Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton Wednesday night.

My husband with dementia, Alzheimers, multiple other things, and you want to stand there with him at home and expect us to be calm, cool and collected? Well, what kind of insurance do you have? one woman asked Cotton.

A woman grills Sen. Tom Cotton about health care at a Wednesday town hall

But the uprisings from coast to coast have not swayed Republicans like Cotton or Gaetz when it comes to a top GOP priority.

I will fight with every fiber of my being to repeal Obamacare in 2017, Gaetz said.

Former House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, was skeptical about that on Thursday. At a speech in Florida he said Republicans have never been able to agree on how to replace the Affordable Care Act and at the end of the day are more likely to tweak it than repeal it.

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Republicans wrestle with how much to defend Trump when facing protests at home - CBS News

President Donald Trump, in fulfilling what was one of his most consequential campaign promises, said earlier this month that his administration is preparing to repeal and replace Obamacare by the end of March.

Obamacare is a disaster folks, its a disaster. Were doing Obamacare. Were in the final stages.So we will be submitting sometime in early March, mid-March, Trump told reporters Feb. 16 during his first solo White House news conference.

But the task ahead is a daunting challenge, as Republicans on Capitol Hill are reportedly grappling with what a new plan might entail.

Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, D.C., told TheBlaze during an exclusive interview Thursday that Republicans are not only grappling with the issue, but that they are also confused about what Senate rules will allow them to repeal, having just a simple majority.

Theres a lot of confusion about Senate rules regarding what they have the votes to do about whether the plan theyre talking about right now would actually repeal Obamacare or just sort of rename it, Cannon said.I believe the House is operating under this presumption the Senate requires 60 votes to repeal the ACAs regulations so the House is proceeding under the assumption they wont be able to repeal those regulations.

Cannon cited House Speaker Paul Ryans plan, which he called Obamacare lite. But, as Cannon noted, he isnt the only one calling it that.

I would say that the Republican establishment position is that theyre going to keep parts of Obamacare. I dont think Obamacare lite is what we should do, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said during a Feb. 15 interview with Fox News host Neil Cavuto.

Idaho Republican Rep. Raul Labrador used the same phrase while referring to top Republicans reported plan to replace the health care overhaul.

Im hearing a lot of members say that they want Obamacare lite, Labrador said Jan. 31 during a Bloomberg interview.

Thats not what we promised the American people. Im very concerned about the things Im hearing in the conference because theyre different than the things Ive heard over the last six years, Labrador added.

Cannon said that Republican leadership is discussing keeping in place core provisions of Obamacare, such as requiring everyone in a particular insurance pool to pay the same premium regardless of the individual risk they pose, taxpayer subsidies for health care insurers and perhaps even the individual mandate that requires all Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

Cannon said that Republicans wouldnt impose a penalty on uninsured Americans exactly how Obamacare does but that, instead, tax credits would be offered to the millions of insured Americans while uninsured Americans would be ineligible for the same credits. That, according to Cannon, is the same sort of financial penalty as is imposed under the current law.

But what Republicans are planning, Cannon said, is to get rid of many of the Obamacare taxes, such as taxes on premiums, certain medical devices, health insurance companies and high earners who receive Medicare. Those sources of revenue could all be gone if top Republicans have their way.

But Cannon said that model likely wont work if Republicans end up keeping many of the subsidies and tax credits.

So I dont think that approach really has legs. I think theyre going to try that until they realize that doesnt work, Cannon told TheBlaze.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) agreed. During an interview with The Hill back in December, he said,There needs to be some source of revenue.

Cannon pointed to a Congressional Budget Office analysis from last year, when Republicans were attempting to repeal Obamacare, which found that repealing the taxes in Obamacare without getting rid of or altering its tax credits and subsidies could have catastrophic effects.

It would essentially destroy the individual market, Cannon said.

On the other hand, if Republicans do decide to keep Obamacares taxes to pay for the credits and subsidies, it could very well be political suicide.

For six years, Republicans campaigned on repealing Obamacare. In 2014, after taking back control of both the House and Senate, Republicans made multiple attempts to repeal what many consider to be former President Barack Obamas signature domestic achievement. All of this,not to mention the numerous promises Trump made throughout the 2016 election cycle to repeal and replace Obamacare on day one.

And to add insult to injury for Republicans, at least one recent poll suggested that a growing number of Americans oppose repealing Obamacare.

A Politico/Morning Consult poll released before Trump took office in January found that just 41 percent of voters approved of Obamacare, while a majority 52 percent disapproved. Now, only one month into Trumps presidency, the same poll conducted a second time found that the country is evenly divided, with 45 percent saying they approve of Obamacare and 45 percent saying they disapprove.

The recent uptick in public support, however, hasnt stopped a number of other Republicans from continuing to advocate for the laws repeal.

Its going to happen, Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas told the Daily Signal Thursday. What [the 2015 bill] demonstrated to me was that if you got the right president in the White House, you could send that bill back down to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, and you could repeal large pieces of the Affordable Care Act.

Burgess was referring to a bill, passed by both the House and Senate last year, which Obama later vetoed. The legislation aimed to repeal parts of Obamacare, including Medicaid expansion, the medical device tax and the so-called Cadillac tax for expensive plans, according to Politico.

Tim Phillips, president of the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, also said Republicans would be mistaken to go back on their promise.

Obamacare repeal has been litigated in four consecutive national elections, and the result has been the most devastating losses for the Democratic Party since the 1920s. The greatest peril for Republicans in Congress will be if they break their word,Phillips said, according to Real Clear Politics.

FreedomWorks, another conservative grassroots organization, is slated to hold a rally March 15 in Washington, D.C. where they will urge lawmakers to keep their campaign promises. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz is scheduled to attend that event.

Will conservatives attempts to remind Republican lawmakers of their repeated promises to repeal and replace Obamacare actually work, though?

It might, Cannon told TheBlaze, but it looks like Republicans are determined to exhaust every alternative first.

Continued here:
Republicans 'grappling' with whether to keep Obamacare 'core provisions' - TheBlaze.com

It was only two months ago that Governor Sam Brownback was offering up the steep tax cuts he enacted in Kansas as a model for President Trump to follow. Yet by the time Republicans in Congress get around to tax reform, Brownbacks fiscal plan could be historyand itll be his own party that kills it.

The GOP-controlled legislature in Kansas nearly reversed the conservative governors tax cuts on Tuesday, as a coalition of Democrats and newly-elected centrist Republicans came within a few votes of overriding Brownbacks veto of legislation to raise income-tax rates and eliminate an exemption for small businesses that blew an enormous hole in the states budget. Brownbacks tax cuts survive for now, but lawmakers and political observers view the surprising votes in the state House and Senate as a strong sign that the five-year-old policy will be substantially erased in a final budget deal this spring. Kansas legislators must close a $346 million deficit by June, and years of borrowing and quick fixes have left them with few remaining options aside from tax hikes or deep spending cuts to education that could be challenged in court. The tax bill would have raised revenues by more than $1 billion over two years.

The Brownback blowback has been a long time coming. Though he won reelection in 2014, the governor has presided over one budget mess after another since then, and all but his staunchest conservative allies have blamed the crisis on reductions in personal tax rates and a provision that exempted 330,000 owners of small businesses from paying income taxes. Brownback has resisted efforts to undo the policies, preferring instead to raise taxes on tobacco, fuel, and other consumer goods. His relationship with Republicans in the legislature deteriorated, and in primary and general elections last year, a wave of Democrats and centrist Republicans defeated many of the conservatives who had stood by him.

The GOP may retain a majority in both chambers, but Brownback most definitely does not. What were having is a standoff with the governor holding on to the old days where he had all these people elected, said Senator Barbara Bollier, a moderate Republican who voters promoted from the state House last year. They arent there anymore, and he cant let go and follow the will of the people.

As for Brownbacks legacy, Bollier said: Its going down in flames.

The governor has fiercely defended the tax cuts, arguing that they stimulated job creation while it was the decline in oil and agriculture pricesthe rural recession, as he calls itthat caused the budget shortfall. They worked! Brownback told my colleague Emma Green at the D.C. March for Life last month when she asked if he regretted signing the tax policies in 2011 and 2012. The target of the tax cuts was job creation and new business formation. That was the target. And that it has done, the governor said. Weve had record new business filings in Kansas and we hit record employment last year in spite of a commodity crisis.

The left media lies about the tax cuts all the time, Brownback added. (His critics note that Kansas still lagged behind all but five other states in job growth last year.)

But its no longer merely journalists or even elected Democrats who criticize the governor in Kansas. Many Republicans have turned on him, too. When I spoke to Bollier and another GOP state lawmaker, Representative Stephanie Clayton, by phone on Thursday, both of them brought up the governors unpopularity without prompting. The people cant stand him here, Clayton told me.

The backlash against Brownback is extending far beyond tax policy. The Kansas House this week passed bills to restore teacher tenure and expand Medicaid, and it blocked an amendment to deprive state funds to Planned Parenthooda longtime target of the governor and other conservatives. The measures still face hurdles making it into law, but their approval by wide margins in a chamber controlled by Republicans illustrates just how much the political terrain has shifted away from the staunch conservatives who won decisive victories in 2010 and 2012. All of those had been way off the agenda for the last four years, said Burdett Loomis, a political scientist at the University of Kansas. Basically the far right had controlled the legislature for the last four years, and now its back to a moderate Republican-Democratic coalition, which is the way it operated in the 80s, the 90s and into the 2000s.

The stakes for Brownbacks fiscal policy were always high, because the governor himself had set them there. The original tax plan, he said, was a real live experiment in conservative fiscal policythe kind small-government Republicans in Washington had dreamed about but had never fully implemented. The goal in Kansas was to phase out the income tax entirely over time in favor of levies on consumption. As revenues shrunk, so, too, would the size of government.

But the revenues dropped immediately, and dramaticallymuch faster than legislators could, or would want to, cut spending. The income tax had accounted for 50 percent of the states revenue, said Haley Pollock of the group Kansas Action for Children, which is part of a coalition pushing to reverse Brownbacks tax cuts. When his tax plan went into effect, there was an immediate structural revenue imbalance, she said. What followed were nine rounds of budget cuts over four years, three credit downgrades, missed state payments, and an ongoing atmosphere of fiscal crisis. Its really hard to argue that the income tax cuts weren't the source of our problems when most of our problems started at the same time that they took effect, Pollock said.

Voters began to take notice, particularly when the budget ax fell on core state functions like education and the upkeep of roads and bridges. They reelected Brownback after a stiff challenge in 2014, but rank-and-file Republicans rebuked him by ousting his legislative allies two years later. All of a sudden they realize, Well you know what? We want government, Clayton told me. People in Kansas tend to want the trains to run on time, proverbially. And they're not, because we cut too much.

With encouragement from Trump, Republicans in Congress are drafting the most far-reaching tax reform in 30 years, built around cutting rates for individuals and businesses. Party leaders insist, as Brownback did, that the tax cuts will pay for themselves through larger economic growth. But Democrats and many economists say the plan would explode a deficit thats already trending back up toward $1 trillion.

Theres a lesson in the Kansas experience, Clayton said, for Republicans in Washington, where the party has built a majority in the U.S. House that has, because of gerrymandering and poor Democratic turnout, seemed impenetrable. The real example here is that the voters will get angry with you, and it doesnt matter how solid-red your state is, Clayton said. If your voters get angry, then they will throw you out. And if you dont run government functionally, they will go to the polls and get rid of you.

Emma Green contributed reporting.

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Kansas Republicans Sour on Their Tax-Cut Experiment - The Atlantic

By Jamie Riley By Jamie Riley February 23 at 5:35 PM

Virginia Republicans arent big fans of drama.

At least not of the political sort. In a Republican Party of Virginia press releaseissued Thursday, the RPV said the antics on display at various congressional town hall meetings and the calls for even more such events are more about drama than electoral discontent.

This ignores just how much Republicans relied upon congressional town hall drama and voter discontent during the Obama presidency.

Lest we forget, consider the town halls then-Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) held during the height of the debate over the Affordable Care Act. According to the New York Times, they were marathon affairs, reportedly lasting an average of five hours, often ending well after midnight.

Perriello lost his reelection bid that year. Maybe it was the drama that wore him down. Or perhaps it was the discontent in his congressional district that pushed him out of office in 2010. He is trying to stage a statewide comeback this year.

Or consider another Democratic incumbent from 2010, congressman Glenn Nye (D-Va.).

Nye avoidedholding town halls in his Hampton Roads district in 2010. According to Politico, this was evidence of a clear enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats, with public polls and anecdotal evidence showing the GOP is fired up for the midterm election and Democratic voters are not.

Nye lost his reelection bid in 2010.

At one time, Virginia Republicans embraced drama with both arms and stoked discontent as furiously as possible because it suited their electoral goals.

And 2010 was a very good year for the GOP. Nationwide, Republicans retook control of the House, helped in part by victories over Perriello, Nye and long time 9th District Rep. Rick Boucher.

So its no mystery Democrats hope to use the very same tactics to push them to victory in 2018. It would be political malpractice or them not to do so.

It makes even more sense that Democrats would seek to push 10th district Rep. Barbara Comstock (R) to hold a town hall event. Putting Comstock on the defensive, even for a moment, with the cameras rolling, would make priceless 2018 campaign fodder.

The Democrats problem, though, isnt their energy they seem to have plenty of that. Its not even their anger or perceived bad manners. If politicians cant endure the wrath of their constituents (and others who happen to show up), they probably arent suited for the job.

Their problem is that unlike Republican activists seven years ago, they dont have a single issue they can point to as a focus for their discontent.

Yes, President Trump gets them agitated, and they are eager to resist him. But is that enough to sway anyone else to join them on the electoral barricades?

Christopher Newport Universitys Quentin Kidd told me that if the resistance theme is used simply to mobilize a group of voters who otherwise wouldnt engage, but the issues on which Democrats campaign are the standard fare of education, transportation, taxes and so on, then Republicans are going to be in an okay position.

But if the anger on display in town halls, street protests, social media and elsewhere is on a par with what Republicans mustered in the 2010 congressional elections with opposition to Obamacare leading the charge Kidd said then Republicans are going to be on the defensive across the board.

Democrats will choose just how much of a resistance candidate they want in their gubernatorial candidate in the June primary.The states Republican members of Congress should watch those results closely.

They will cast votes on the Trump agenda between now and 2018. If Democrats opt for full-bore resistance in 2017, and its successful in November, then enduring a little drama at town hall meetings will be the least of the GOPs worries.

Norman Leahy is a political reporter for the American Media Instituteand producer of the Score radio show.

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Virginia Republicans dislike the drama - Washington Post (blog)