US Senate | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 38
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Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 16, 2017 64 Comments
Leeann Tweeden, now a local radio news anchor in Los Angeles, has authored an article accusing Senator Al Franken of non-consensual sexual contact in 2006, during a USO tour in the Middle East. This contrasts with the accusations against candidate Roy Moore, which involve alleged conduct several decades ago. Since there have been calls to "expel" Moore should he win, will there be calls to expel Franken for conduct which took place not long before his election to the Senate in 2008.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 14, 2017 22 Comments
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced that the Senate's tax bill will have language to repeal the individual mandate in Obamacare. From The Hill:
“We’re optimistic that inserting the individual mandate repeal would be helpful and that’s obviously the view of the Senate Finance Committee Republicans as well,” McConnell said.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 14, 2017 13 Comments
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) returned to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday after his neighbor allegedly attacked him and broke his ribs and punctured his lungs. He spoke with The Washington Examiner upon his return and opened up about the attack:
“From my perspective, I’m not really too concerned about what someone’s motive is. I’m just concerned that I was attacked from the back and somebody broke six of my ribs and gave me a damaged lung where at least for now I have trouble speaking and breathing and now I’ve hurt for 10 days,” the senator said after arriving back in Washington for a week of critical votes.

Posted by Mary Chastain on November 10, 2017 7 Comments
The House Ways and Means Committee passed its tax reform bill down party lines on Thursday after a week of markups. The House is the next step. The Senate has its own tax bill, which the two chambers will have to reconcile if each approves their own bill. From CNBC:
The House bill, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, cuts the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent, while moderately reducing household income tax rates. It changes some popular provisions such as the mortgage interest deduction, but leaves others, like the 401(k) tax benefit, unchanged.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 31, 2017 19 Comments
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.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 28, 2017 76 Comments
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.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 24, 2017 6 Comments
Musician Kid Rock confirmed on Howard Stern's show that he is not running for the senate. The whole idea was a publicity stunt for his new album, but doesn't really regret it. From Detroit Free Press:
"F--- no, I’m not running for Senate. Are you kidding me?" Rock said on Howard Stern's SiriusXM show. "Who couldn’t figure that out? I’m releasing a new album. I’m going on tour too. Are you f---ing sh--ing me?"

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 22, 2017 27 Comments
Last month, I blogged how Congress floated around making changes to 401(k) retirement plans in order to make up for lost "revenue" due to tax cuts. That change was taxing the earnings before a person places money into the fund. Another idea has come up and it's even worse. Now they are thinking about changing the pre-tax limit to $2,400 instead of $18,000. That's an 87% change and could force people to put even less into their retirement. It also adds fuel to Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) opposition to the Senate budget bill that passed, which allows a clearer path to tax reform, but didn't cut spending enough. Common sense tells us that he is correct.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 20, 2017 12 Comments
The Senate passed a 2018 budget on Thursday night, 51-49, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) being the only Republican who voted no. The biggest part of the budget, though, is that it provides a shortcut to tax reform using reconciliation instructions to protects a tax bill that adds up to $1.5 trillion to the deficit from a filibuster. The GOP Congress has failed to repeal Obamacare and they view tax reform as one way to save their butts. President Donald Trump has said he wants to sign something by the end of the year.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 18, 2017 29 Comments
The GOP only has a two seat majority in the Senate, which has shown to be as fragile as everyone thinks after a handful of senators voted no on Obamacare "repeal" bills. The same trouble seems to be brewing when it comes to tax reform. Now that majority may shrink even more since a Fox News poll, yes FOX NEWS, shows that GOP candidate Roy Moore is tied with Democrat candidate Doug Jones at 42% for the Alabama senate seat.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 03, 2017 11 Comments
The Washington Examiner has reported that Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has begun preparing to run for Sen. Bob Corker's (R-TN) seat next year. Corker announced he would not run for reelection in 2018, making Blackburn the most liekly successor with conservative groups rallying behind her.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 03, 2017 10 Comments
Last week, President Donald Trump's administration and the GOP in Congress released a framework for possible tax reform. The details are vague, noting that more will happen once tax reform switches to committees. However, two GOP senators have already voiced doubt over the framework: Kentucky Republican Rand Paul and Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, who recently announced he will not seek reelection next year.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 02, 2017 12 Comments
The Democrats have decided to use the GOP's attempts to repeal Obamacare to their advantage in 2018. From The Hill:
“I think the message is really simple here: As long as Republicans control Congress, your health care is on the chopping block,” said Tyler Law, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), House Democrats’ campaign arm.
One problem: The GOP has shown that despite having control of Congress, they have not been able to repeal Obamacare.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 30, 2017 5 Comments
Senate Republicans released its 2018 budget, which includes terms to allow the lawmakers to push through tax reform through budget reconciliation. This would protect them from a Democratic Filibuster. The plan gives tax writers until November 13 to submit tax reform plans.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 27, 2017 14 Comments
The GOP received two shocks on Tuesday when Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) decided not to run for re-election in 2018 and Judge Roy Moore defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in the Republican primary. But how YUGE is Corker's retirement? Probably not much in the long run. Plus, it looks like the GOP could actually pick up more seats in 2018 since 10 Democrats up for reelection come from states that President Donald Trump won in November.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 25, 2017 22 Comments
Welp, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tried to change their Obamacare "repeal and replace" bill to appease those senators that opposed it...but it did not work. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has come out and officially declared she would vote no on both versions of the bill.