Tag: Republican Party

But the McLaughlin & Associates poll released this week reinforces the wisdom of that adage for any Republican who wants to avoid defeat in the 2018 primary season and in the general election that follows. The message of that McLaughlin poll could not be clearer or simpler for Republicans as they choose in the coming weeks between the agenda of President Trump and the agenda of the Beltway insiders: The base that brought you to the dance supports the Trump agenda.Dance with your base and win.Dance with the Beltway and lose. To be fair, elected Republicans face many practical pressures inside the Washington Beltway. And there are the Alinskyite Democrats and their leftist media threatening personal attacks, smears, and ruin for anyone who crosses their socialist agenda. Here are just a few highlights: Voting to increase the debt ceiling without new constraints on spending will make 62% of voters less likely to vote to re-elect a Member of Congress. Conservatives (70%) and Trump voters (67%) are less likely to support a Member of Congress who has failed to support President Trump’s efforts to vet immigrants more carefully, especially those from countries with a strong terrorist presence. Refusing to repeal the burdensome Obamacare mandates and taxes leaves 75% of conservatives, 68% of Trump voters, and 66% of Republicans overall less likely to vote to re-elect a Member of Congress. Trump’s agenda is their agenda. Elected officials who have not helped to carry out the Trump agenda will not only be going against President Trump; they will also be pitting themselves against the movement that elected him. But mainstream America is beginning to wonder why the results they are seeing do not match the rhetoric they heard during the campaign.Why is it that the Democrats can enact the socialist agenda but the Republicans cannot carry out the agenda of mainstream America?

Republicans Boo White House Officials Over Trump's Debt Deal With Democrats. (WASHINGTON) — House Republicans hissed and booed senior Trump administration officials Friday as they pitched President Donald Trump's deal with Democrats to increase the nation's borrowing authority. "Vote for the debt ceiling for me," Treasury chief Steven Mnuchin pleaded with Republicans on Friday at a closed-door meeting at the Capitol, according to several lawmakers. Mnuchin is a banker and former hedge fund manager. "Ha. He was booed when he stepped up to speak, though at least one lawmaker said the booing was largely good-natured. Republicans were dumbfounded earlier this week when Trump agreed with Democratic leaders on a short-term deal to increase the debt ceiling as part of a larger package to provide emergency aid for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma and fund the government through Dec. 8. Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., said Mnuchin's presentation in particular was not well-received by GOP lawmakers. Mulvaney defended the deal and Trump. All 90 votes in opposition came from Republicans.

Republicans are making a choice. Rewriting our political and racial history using identity politics isn’t just immoral and dangerous, it’s a desperate choice. Identity politics are destroying our ability to govern. Identity politics are a tool for distracting away from actual policy debates. If Republicans have the better argument, if Republicans have the better policies and if Republicans have the better ideas, shouldn’t they be able to rise above the identity politics that they purport to hate and argue facts? A single-payer system doesn’t mean the private market disappears, it just means that you don’t die if you can’t afford health insurance. As the most powerful nation in the history of the world, we can afford to improve the lives of all Americans. We are the greatest country in the world, but with greatness comes an obligation. When that day comes, Republicans will have to answer for the decades of distractions, divisiveness and identity politics that have hurt countless Americans. When that day comes, it will be a truly great day.

(CNN)President Donald Trump bucked his own party Wednesday and sided with Democrats to support a deal that would ensure passage of disaster relief funding as well as raising the debt ceiling and continuing to fund the government into December. In a rebuke to Republican leaders, Trump backed Democrats' plan to support a deal that would fund Hurricane Harvey aid but only raise the debt ceiling for three months. Ignoring the advice of Republican congressional leadership and that of his own treasury secretary, Trump said he wanted a solution and supported the Democratic plan, according to a source briefed on a meeting that Trump held with congressional leaders Wednesday. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Wednesday that he'd reached an agreement with congressional leaders to raise the debt ceiling, provide disaster relief funding and pass a short-term spending bill. "We had a very good meeting," Trump said of his conversation earlier in the day with top Democratic and Republican leaders at the White House. "We essentially came to a deal and I think the deal will be very good." Republican leaders, according to the source, pushed for an 18-month debt limit hike, then floated six months. Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, entered the Oval Office toward the end of the meeting to say hello, the source added. House Speaker Paul Ryan earlier called the Democratic leaders' push for a short, three-month increase in the debt limit "a ridiculous idea." Democratic leaders made their announcement Wednesday morning, saying in a statement they would support a debt ceiling bill being tied to Harvey aid, but only if the measure to avoid default lasted for three months.

Republicans Helped Make the Politics of DACA So Toxic. The problem is that the legislative branch, dominated by Republicans for quite a while, has refused to do much of anything regarding the millions of people who live and are building their lives in America without any legal right to be here. After venting publicly about Obama, and privately about Trump, Republican lawmakers should blame themselves for the toxic politics of ending DACA. If you’ve been in the country for a few months or years without legal status, that’s your problem. If you’ve been in the country for two or three decades without legal status, that’s the government’s problem. Decades of Republican lies about immigration reform and enforcement have led us to this point. The amnesty wasn’t as limited as promised, and the enforcement never came. Since that time, every few years, a new “comprehensive” approach to immigration tries to bring Republicans back to the 1980s. Part of his success in convincing restrictionists that he was serious was his willingness to say impolitic or even outright racist things when talking about the issue. Even so, they should still take up the opportunity to resolve the legal status of the “Dreamers” and everyone else living here without the full protection of the law too.

If, however, the caucus unifies around a deal trading the DREAM Act for center-right immigration reforms, it could advance conservative policy goals and strengthen its political hand. If the bill succeeds, it could cause a backlash from the Republican grassroots, who would perceive Republicans in Congress as putting a greater priority on amnestying illegal immigrants than on increasing enforcement or reforming legal immigration so that it is more sustainable. But trying to pass the DREAM Act and failing would invite its own political dangers. The fact that some in the federal judiciary have discovered a Trump exception to the Constitution (in which President Trump’s actions are subject to unique constitutional scrutiny) means that there is no guarantee that a funded portion of border fencing would actually be built. But many grassroots voters would accept a trade of the DREAM Act for an improved enforcement infrastructure and a more integration-oriented immigration system. Republicans have a better-than-decent chance of getting to 60 Senate votes to overcome a filibuster on an immigration package if they maintain a unified front and insist that the only way to get to the DREAM Act is through a deal that includes enforcement and legal-immigration reform. In many ways, the ball is in the court of the immigration maximalists in the GOP: those pro-business Republicans who prioritize increased immigration, whether legal or illegal, over other immigration-policy concerns. As long as Republican immigration maximalists express a willingness to pass a stand-alone DREAM Act, they give more policy leverage to the Democrats, who would very much love for Republicans to be consumed in a battle about the DREAM Act. Likewise, the more resistance maximalists offer to increased enforcement or legal-immigration reform, the harder they make it for Republicans to deliver for conservative priorities in a DREAM Act deal. If Republican immigration maximalists are willing to compromise and accept moderate reforms to the immigration system, they can strengthen the hand of their fellow Republicans and help grant citizenship to DREAMers.

Election 2018 Vermont Republicans Steer Clear of National Politics at Fundraiser. Phil Scott, former governor Jim Douglas and New Hampshire Gov. Jokes about New Hampshire vs. Vermont were big: Why is Vermont's maple syrup sweeter? You have more tree-huggers, Sununu quipped. And that came during a half-hearted attempt at a joke about the three governors meeting in the basement of Trump Tower. Otherwise, the three speakers emphasized the importance of supporting local Republican candidates. They talked up a new party-building campaign called Unity 76, through which the GOP aims to claim a majority in the 150-member Vermont House. Sununu was the one speaker to talk about out-of-state GOP politicians. Sununu said of Maine's Republican governor, who's known for outlandish comments. Other Democratic challengers are expected.