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GOP Tag

The drama is almost over as the Republicans have unveiled their tax bill. They are also closer to victory since Sen. Bob Corker (TN) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) have decided to back the bill, leaving the Senate with only two undecided Republicans. From The New York Times:
On Friday, as Republicans released details about the final bill, it became clear that the agreement would provide deep and longstanding tax cuts for businesses, while providingslightly more generous tax breaks to low- and middle-income Americans byreducing some benefits for higher earners.

The GOP in Congress are no doubt desperate for a victory after the failed Obamacare repeal attempts, but that desperation could come back and bite them. They want to pass the tax bill before Christmas, but all the rushing and late nights have caused errors. From The Washington Post:
Questionable special-interest provisions have been stuffed in along the way, out of public view and in some cases literally in the dead of night. Drafting errors by exhausted staff are cropping up and need fixes, which must be tackled by congressional negotiators working to reconcile competing versions of the legislation passed separately by the House and the Senate.

In one short year, the Republican majority in the U. S. House of Representatives has shifted from seemingly safe to somewhat in jeopardy.  The Democrats have an uphill battle in the Senate, defending 25 seats to the GOP's nine, but a number of circumstances and Tuesday's election results have improved Democrats' chances of retaking the House in 2018. It doesn't appear that Democrats are gaining because of anything they've accomplished; instead, Republicans appear to be losing ground because they have failed to accomplish key goals on which they campaigned throughout the Obama presidency.  From repealing ObamaCare to building the wall to tax and legal immigration reform, Congressional Republicans are disappointing the base who elected them to office on the strength of their promises, promises it has become increasingly clear too many had no intention of fulfilling.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) has told The Dallas Morning News that he will retire at the end of his term:
"Today I am announcing that I will not seek reelection to the US Congress in 2018. Although service in Congress remains the greatest privilege of my life, I never intended to make it a lifetime commitment, and I have already stayed far longer than I had originally planned," Hensarling wrote to supporters today.

Eyes are on tax reform this week as the GOP controlled House plans to release its tax reform bill on November 1, which may include elimination of state and local tax (SALT) deductions along with changes to 401(k) retirement plans. Both have received proper outrage, especially from representatives in high-taxed states. But if the elimination of state and local taxes pass the House, the Senate GOP said they have a unified front on that issue.

Former Massachusetts governor and twice failed GOP candidate for president Mitt Romney is reportedly quite seriously contemplating a Senate run in Utah.  While the senior senator from Utah Orrin Hatch (R) has not announced any plans to retire, it appears that the Utah GOP is ready for Romney. Romney is no stranger to Senate campaigns; he ran against Ted Kennedy (D-MA) in 1994 and lost.  Utah, however, may be just the ticket for Romney who has high approval numbers there and is a favorite among the Utah GOP.

It would be difficult to imagine a more wretched hive of incompetence and boobery than the California Republican Party leadership. From the amazing implosion of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) as a politician and human being, the initial support of a tax-raising proposition that was only rescinded after the rise of the Tea Party, and the continued lack of effective push-back against progressive shenanigans, California has become a one-party state (where our choices range from Midnight Blue to YInMn Blue in key, state-wide elections).

As the GOP-led Congress fails to fulfill its seven-year, oft-repeated pledge to repeal ObamaCare and fails to support meaningful immigration reform that includes securing our border (building the wall), right-leaning voters who put them in power are becoming more and more restless, frustrated, and angry. Luther Strange's primary drubbing in Alabama suggests that the Trump phenomena is looking less and less like a cult of personality and more and more like a Tea Party-inspired insurrection. When then-presidential candidate Trump said that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters, many pundits and politicians marveled at his hubris while others rankled at the all-too-apparent truth of his statement. Trump supporters stuck with him through the Inside Edition tape release and the Trump University fiasco.  His opponents on both the left and the right were puzzled beyond measure, and for good reason.  These and any number of other problematic issues in Trump's background would have derailed any politician.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) shocked the country last year when he said he planned to step down from his seat. Now those in his GOP-dominated district will hit the polls on Tuesday to determine the GOP candidate for the special election, who will probably have no problem winning next November. Who will win tomorrow? The GOP establishment has backed a candidate "with a Democratic past" while two other candidates have received backing "from national GOP heavy-hitters." Massive money donations from outside super PACs have also helped narrow the lead from the establishment pick.

CNN reported that GOP donors have started to withhold funds and donations after the GOP controlled Senate could not repeal and replace Obamacare. From CNN:
At least $2 million in contributions promised to the National Republican Senatorial Committee have failed to materialize because donors are expressing frustration with the Senate GOP's inability to fulfill their central campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare, according to two GOP sources familiar with the matter.

Businessman Danny Tarkanian, who has run for different political offices in Nevada,  announced on Fox this morning that will challenge Republican Nevada Senator Dean Heller next year in the primary. Tarkanian called Heller a "Never-Trumper" and promised to carry out President Donald Trump's policies. From NBC News:
Heller charted a meandering course through the Affordable Care Act repeal debate, leading Tarkanian to say the senator had “turned his back on us.” Heller stridently opposed an early version of the GOP health care plan before voting for the final bill in the Senate.

At a rally for President Donald Trump, West Virginia Governor Governor Jim Justice announced he will switch from the Democrat party to the Republican Party. From KGOU:
"Today I will tell you with lots of prayers and lots of thinking, I'll tell you West Virginians, I can't help you any more being a Democrat governor," Justice said. "The Democrats walked away from me," the governor argued, and reflected that his late mother, who was a big fan of former President Ronald Reagan, was looking down on him thinking, "Jimmy, it's about damn time you came to your senses."

One of the things I most enjoyed about watching the Occupy movement implode was their profound lack of understanding of average Americans.  They seemed to really believe that they could sway American opinion by screeching about the glories of communism, pooping on cop cars, setting up '60's-style communal "democracies," using their hand twinkles and "human microphones," and living in squalor in crime-riddled encampments. At times, I simply couldn't understand what in the world they—and their organizers—were thinking.  Was this depraved display supposed to appeal to the typical American with a mortgage, a job, a family, a life?  It was, of course, but it was so far off the mark that they ended up reviled and ridiculed.

The Republican National Committee has chosen Ronna Romney McDaniel as its new chairwoman since President-elect Donald Trump took previous RNC chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff. McDaniel served as "chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party," where she helped Trump win the typical blue state over Hillary Clinton. Both Trump and Priebus gave McDaniel their blessing:
Priebus gave McDaniel a strong endorsement in his final address to the committee, calling McDaniel “the right woman to lead the RNC" and pointed to her ability to turn Michigan red in the election.

The ObamaCare Medicaid expansion is a horrible deal for low income Americans; it's also where a large number of "newly covered" Americans get their new coverage. Not only does the expansion include "automatic" enrollment in Medicaid through ObamaCare even if it's not wanted, but expanding Medicaid to slightly higher income levels includes many who have managed to acquire a home or other assets.  Their home and assets, however, go to pay for their Medicaid bills after they die.  In essence, then, Medicaid functions as a loan from the federal government just as it always has, but because the income level has been raised, more Medicaid recipients than ever will have their assets seized to cover the cost of their Medicaid expenses. Despite this, some GOP governors are fighting their own party to keep the Medicaid expansion in their states.

A GOP office in North Carolina was firebombed. ABC News reports: A local Republican Party office in North Carolina was damaged by fire and someone spray-painted an anti-GOP slogan referring to "Nazi Republicans" on a nearby wall, authorities said Sunday. A news release from the town of Hillsborough said someone threw a bottle filled with flammable liquid through the window of the Orange County Republican Party headquarters overnight. The substance ignited and damaged furniture and the interior before burning out.