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MSNBC Republican Claims 'Racist' GOP Policies, Racist Rally 'Is the Republican Party' NewsBusters (press release) (blog) On Saturday's AM Joy, recurring MSNBC guest Kurt Bardella hyperbolically claimed that the white racist rally taking place in Charlottesville, Virginia, "is the Republican party on display," and declared that "a lot of" Republican policies are "racist ...

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MSNBC Republican Claims 'Racist' GOP Policies, Racist Rally 'Is the Republican Party' - NewsBusters (press release) (blog)

Republicans tried, after the collapse of their long campaign to end Obamacare, to put a good face forward as they pressed on to tax reform and other issues on their ambitious legislative agenda. But they just couldnt help themselves.

The blame game launched quickly. Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) suggested that the House had done its job, but colleagues in the Senate had failed to deliver.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), unwilling to shoulder all the blame, passed some of it off to the White House, saying President Trump was so new to politics that he had excessive expectations about how Washington works.

And then Trump who had already been busy scolding Republicans in tweets unleashed a fresh round of attacks over the last several days, stopping just short of calling for McConnell to resign.

For a political party that has a once-in-a-generation opportunity, controlling both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government, this was not a good sign.

As the infighting spilled into the open in recent days, the messy airing of grievances threatened to jam the partys complicated legislative agenda this fall.

Diminishing McConnells standing predictably would erode the ability of Congress to advance legislation. When leaders are weak, fewer lawmakers will follow them. Its a problem that has repeatedly plagued the House since the Republicans took control in 2011 and could now affect the Senate as well.

Trumps criticisms could also heighten the fear Republican lawmakers already have that he will not back them up if they take unpopular votes. Those worries became more widespread earlier this summer after Trump urged House Republicans to approve the leaderships bill to repeal Obamacare and then openly criticized the measure as mean.

The sniping between Trump and congressional leaders also worsens the risk of Republican losses in next years midterm elections. Congress already suffers from dismal approval ratings, but convincing voters that lawmakers are ineffective could dampen Republican turnout and further harm the partys chances of retaining control of the House.

A Gallup poll released Wednesday showed that the number of Republicans who approve of Congress work has plunged. At the start of the year, half of Republicans said they approved of Congress; now only about 1 in 6 say the same.

As if all that were not enough, the infighting comes at a particularly inopportune time for congressional leaders. When lawmakers return to work in September, they will have just days to act to avert a potential financial crisis and federal shutdown, needing to pass legislation to raise the governments debt ceiling and fund federal agencies before they can begin to make progress on goals such as tax reform.

Jack Pitney, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, said that while the founding fathers anticipated friction between Congress and the executive branch and between the House and Senate with each part acting as a check on the others ambitions, Trump has taken that to a new level.

Trump neither knows nor cares about institutional roles or traditions, said Pitney, a former Republican official who left the party after Trumps election. He seems to think he can intrude on the internal politics of Congress, and so he risks generating a lot of resentment.

Republicans were bound to take shots at each other after the Senate last month lost, by one vote, the GOPs best chance to begin dismantling Obamacare, something they had long promised.

One lawmaker, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, went so far as to suggest that fellow Republican Sen. John McCains recent brain cancer diagnosis may have affected his thinking in casting the deciding vote that defeated the healthcare bill. Johnson later insisted he was only expressing sympathy for McCains condition.

Trump, as he often does, escalated the sniping to a new level. The president started with a series of tweets and quickly jumped to suggestions that without better legislative outcomes, it might be time for the Senate leader to step down.

Im very disappointed in Mitch, Trump told reporters Thursday at his Bedminster, N.J., resort. They lost by one vote. For a thing like that to happen is a disgrace.

Asked if McConnell should step aside, he said: I'll tell you what, if he doesn't get repeal and replace done and if he doesn't get taxes done, meaning cuts and reform, and if he doesn't get a very easy one to get done, infrastructure -- if he doesn't get them done, then you can ask me that question.

Trump appears to have accepted no blame for his inability to influence Republican lawmakers whose votes he needs, especially those in the Senate.

Instead, the president has chosen to rally his most dedicated supporters as his popularity among others drops, shifting blame to the Washington swamp, as embodied in Congress.

Trumps attacks on McConnell came after Sean Hannity, the Fox TV host, targeted the Senate leader. Hannitys show has often been a sounding board for the White House to try out messages designed to appeal to its core voters.

If all you're going to do is whine like a 10-year-old and complain and make excuses and blame the president for your failure after eight months of him now being in office, and you have in the House and Senate -- guess what? It really is time to drain the sewer and swamp, Hannity said.

You know, Mitch McConnell, have you ever had in all your years in politics an enthusiastic crowd like President Trump? I doubt it. The American people voted for this president's agenda, Hannity said. Senator, if you can't get it done, get out of the way! Retire. Leave Washington. Go play golf. Go fishing.

McConnells allies, who are many in the Senate, quickly rallied to his support, knowing that the majority leader perhaps even more than Ryan remains the most powerful leader in Congress.

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the longest-serving Senate Republican, said McConnell has been the best leader weve had in my time in the Senate, through very tough challenges. I fully support him."

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) tweeted that McConnell is the single biggest reason why Neil Gorsuch is now a SCOTUS, referring to the Senate leaders year-long strategy of blocking then-President Obamas nominee for the Supreme Court and then changing Senate rules to allow easier confirmation of Trumps pick.

The second-ranking Republican, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, tweeted: Passing POTUS's legislative agenda requires a team effort. No one is more qualified than Mitch McConnell to lead Senate in that effort.

As Benjamin Franklin said, Cornyn added, we can hang together or hang separately.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

@LisaMascaro

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Trump escalates the Republican blame game, but it doesn't help his agenda in Congress - Los Angeles Times

THE TAKE with ABC News' Rick Klein

It turns out you don't have to wait for 2020 to see the intraparty squabbles in action. A not-so-quiet summer is exposing old rivalries and sparking new ones inside the Republican Party, raising questions about the viability of the fall agenda. There's Sen. Ron Johnson venting about Sen. John McCain's health care vote. There's prominent Trump donor Robert Mercer putting his money up to take out Sen. Jeff Flake. And now there's President Trump joining powerful allies in questioning the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. We've seen Trump turn on some of his most loyal lieutenants in the past. But something different happens when he puts senators in that position: They lose maneuverability, and they may lose political incentive to stay on the Trump train. This is not about mere words: Actual governing has to happen, and fast, in the fall. Until then the drift of the agenda is being felt acutely in the GOP donor world. "It is hard to go and make the case, give us the majority again,' when we haven't accomplished the things that we ran on," RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told us on the "Powerhouse Politics" podcast.

DANGEROUS AT THE TOP

Two of the most powerful Republicans in the country are on shaky ground, but for very different reasons. House Speaker Paul Ryan has, by most accounts, stood by the president as of late and is even now championing one of the president's prized promises: building that wall. But, the coming months may reveal some of the speaker's vulnerabilities as the House tries to pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling. Ryan used to be the torchbearer for fiscal conservatives, unflinching and unwilling to take on more debt without corresponding spending cuts. But this go-around, Ryan says he is with the White House. The administration wants less drama -- a clean deal with no strings attached. Could Ryan see a mutiny? On the other hand, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is taking the heat from the outside. The president showed once again that no one is off limits for @realDonaldTrump, when he blasted the leader personally for not getting a health care repeal done. Obviously, he cannot remove McConnell from his post, but it would be awfully hard to stay if he said McConnell should go, ABC News' MaryAlice Parks writes.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"General Kelly and others on the [National Security Council] team were well aware of the tone of the statement of the president prior to delivery. The words were his own." --White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Trump's "fire and fury" comment.

WHAT TO WATCH

ABC News' Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos will sit down live with Anthony Scaramucci for his first interview since being fired from the White House, this Sunday on ABC News' "This Week."

NEED TO READ with ABC News' Daksha Sthipam

Trump could face GOP challengers in the 2020 election. As President Trump's approval among Republican voters drops, speculation looms about potential challengers from within the GOP ahead of the 2020 election. Some Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, are making moves -- such as meeting with donors -- that could be interpreted as signs of a 2020 run. http://abcn.ws/2vGbErS

RNC Chairwoman McDaniel: "We haven't accomplished the things that we ran on." Ronna Romney McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said Republicans need to rack up some accomplishments to keep control of Congress on ABC's "Powerhouse Politics." "It is hard to go and make the case, give us the majority again,' when we haven't accomplished the things that we ran on," McDaniel said. http://abcn.ws/2usldqq

Suggestion McCain's tumor may have influenced health care vote "bizarre," spokesman says. Sen. John McCain's spokesman shut down a fellow senator's suggestion that the Arizona Republican's brain tumor may have affected his "no" vote on health care Wednesday. "It is bizarre and deeply unfortunate that Sen. [Ron] Johnson would question the judgment of a colleague and friend," McCain's spokesman told ABC News. http://abcn.ws/2ur4nfJ

Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School announces fall 2017 fellows. Harvard IOP

Unarmed Russian Air Force jet overflies the Pentagon, Capitol, CIA. CNN

Top Trump donor ponies up to take out Flake. Politico

Ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio says he isn't seeking Trump's pardon. Associated Press

The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back tomorrow for the latest.

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The Note: Republican progress grinds to halt with infighting at fever pitch - ABC News

When President Donald Trump threatened North Korea this week with fire and fury, should the country continue to threaten military action against the United States, some reacted with alarm at his escalation of rhetoric.

One former Senate Republican from New Hampshire reacted by questioning the president's mental well-being. Gordon Humphrey penned a letter to New Hampshire's current congressional delegation asking them to support a piece of legislation introduced this spring that would establish a commission to determine whether the president is mentally fit to serve.

Gordon Humphrey spoke with NHPRs Peter Biello about his letter.

NHPR's Peter Biello speaking with former Senate Republican Gordon Humphrey.

What was it about the President's warnings to North Korea that concerned you?

I think that making incendiary remarks such as raining down fire and fury on North Korea is akin to pouring gasoline on a fire. The president is engaging in a kind of nuclear game of chicken. I'm old enough and, having served for 12 years on the Senate Armed Services Committee, well enough acquainted with the horrible nature of nuclear warfare, and the devastation, and the planet wide suffering that would ensueand I care about my family obviously and my grandchild and American families as we all do. And you know playing nuclear chicken with an unstable crackpot like Kim Jong Un, it's playing with nuclear fire.

And so how do you make the distinction between this as a bad policy idea and this as a symptom of some kind of deeper mental issue?

For the moment, the emergency is cooling things down between Trump and Kim. But in the longer term, the real problem is the mental instability of our president. I believe that he is burdened by a sick psyche that he is in fact exhibiting signs of mental illness.

He is delusional. He believes his own lies, such as his most recent, uttered the other day, in which he said he's modernized the nation's nuclear force. That simply isn't so. No president can do that in six months because it takes action on the part of Congress to appropriate the funds and that hasn't taken place.

So there's another lie but you can't talk him out of his lies because he's delusional. That's just one symptomI can tick off others. There's a huge mountain of empirical evidence now that this president is not well and mentally ill.

Let's talk a little bit about the nature of looking at that evidence. The American Psychiatric Association abides by the Goldwater rule. Psychiatrists say they don't want to weigh in on public officials that they have not spoken to in person. Do you think it's fair to evaluate the president from a distance?

That's a very good question to raise and I'm glad for the opportunity to address it. While I understand the rule of the American Psychiatric Association, as citizens we are obliged to come to conclusions about a president's policies and about his fitness.

The Constitution provides a means for the Congress to remove a president who is unfit for dutyeither physically or mentally unfit. And the Constitution doesn't speak to psychiatrists or to the American Psychiatric Association. It just provides a means. In other words, members of Congress, most of whom aren't MDs or psychiatrists, are empowered to remove a president they deem unfit.

So yes, I think it is more than fair and I think it's incumbent upon each of us as stewards of our children's future to come to some conclusions, after two years, about this bizarre conduct of our president.

One could argue that over the very long primary season this kind of behavior on the part of Donald Trump was not unusual and it wasn't a mystery to anybody. So one could argue that voters consciously went into that election in 2016 knowing that the president behaves this way.

Well you certainly wouldn't describe his conduct and his statements in the campaign as normal or healthy. They were abnormal and unhealthy. And because there is such a flood of this every week, that abnormal bizarre conduct has been to an extent normalized. People are beginning to get used to it. And that's worrisome.

President Richard Nixon's foreign policy became infamous for something called the Madman Theory, the idea that an unhinged leader is just too unstable to work with and therefore that in itself was a deterrent. Is that what you think is happening here or is this something else?

I wouldn't go too far in drawing parallels between the Nixon history and that of Donald Trump.

I think Donald Trump is the case before us about which we have to reach some conclusions. I think he's mentally unwell, imbalanced. He's delusional. He's paranoid. Everyone is an enemy who is not his sycophantic friend and supporter. He attacks his friends. Hes sociopathic in his conduct. He has no conscience, no sense of shame or guilt or remorse or regret.

Have you ever heard him apologize to anyone? He's sick. He really is. And that's dangerous.

While there are checks and balances which Congress is beginning to bring to bear, those checks and balances don't apply to the Commander in Chief, and especially not at 2:00 a.m. when he's up in the middle of the night and there's a crisis brewing, and he's hurling incendiary grenades across the world by means of tweets and his principal advisersthe more sober of themare sound asleep.

There is no check and balance and that's why this situation is so very dangerous. The president alone has authority to launch nuclear weapons.

What are you hearing from other Republicans about this?

Silence. Well, you speak of other Republicans. You're assuming that I am one. I'm not any longerI resigned from the Republican Party the day after the general election and reregistered as an independent. I want no part of Donald Trump or his enablers. And I hope someday I can return to the party, but not until Trumpism is gone.

How would you assess the state of the Republican Party after nearly seven months of a Trump presidency?

Utterly lost. The silence and the excuse making of the Cabinet and the principal Republican leaders in Congress constitutes enablement.

See the article here:
Former Senate Republican Calls Trump "Mentally Unwell" - New Hampshire Public Radio

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Republicans planned for two big successes in the 115th session of Congress: ObamaCare repeal and comprehensive tax reform. The GOP would stuff both down the throats of Democrats and hand easy victories to President Trump in the first year of Republican single-party control of Washington, and set the tone for governance in the new administration.

Things didn't exactly pan out that way. Instead, the tone Republicans set with ObamaCare turned out to be disunity and failure. Seven years of promises evaporated when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell couldn't get 50 Republicans to agree on a repeal-and-replace bill, or even a shell bill to keep the issue alive. Now, the same problems that killed the ObamaCare repeal may also put an end to dreams of broad reform of the corporate and individual tax codes.

The first hurdle Republicans would have to clear is passing a budget resolution, a task usually completed by early spring. Instead, the House Budget Committee finally got around to passing one in mid-July. Rather than take it up immediately to prepare the way for budget negotiations after the August recess, it stalled while lawmakers headed home to their districts. That presents a big problem for tax reform under reconciliation, which requires an approved budget resolution to enable the path to a simple majority vote in the Senate.

What gives? Are Republicans stymied on the budget resolution because of their narrow Senate majority? Not quite. Budget resolutions are not subject to filibusters in the Senate, which means that Republican leadership just need simple majorities to pass identical measures in each chamber. In fact, budget resolutions don't even require a presidential signature. So why has it taken this long to produce one? Maybe because Republican lawmakers would rather do almost anything but pass this bill, which just a few short years ago they demanded as a key to responsible governance.

As with the ObamaCare repeal, it now appears it's easier to pass resolutions and bills when there is little chance that it will make any difference. Now that Republicans control all of the levers of power, House Speaker Paul Ryan's team seems unable to agree on a budget plan, or even whether it needs to come ahead of the tax-reform plan it will enable. In fact, it looks like the budget resolution will face the exact same divisions that plagued the ObamaCare repeal effort.

The Atlantic's Russell Berman writes that fiscal conservatives in the House, still smarting from having to vote for an ObamaCare repeal-and-replace bill they disliked, do not trust Ryan on tax reform enough to sign off on the budget. At the same time, the so-called Tuesday Group of House Republican moderates oppose the cuts to entitlement spending that will allow for the tax-reform package to pass under reconciliation, which requires a significant reduction in deficit spending in order to qualify for simple-majority passage.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), a Trump ally, tells Berman he's willing to sign off on the budget. But he's not optimistic that it will matter. "We have an eternal conflict within ourselves," Reed explains. "I think that's going to be very difficult to get done."

The budget resolution isn't the only obstacle to tax reform. Congress has to pass 12 appropriations bills by the end of next month to avoid a government shutdown, plus pass a debt limit hike to cover the borrowing necessary in the current budget as well as the next one. Those will all require 60 votes in the Senate, which means that Ryan and McConnell will have to cut deals with Democrats to get those passed. That will limit the amount of money Republicans can cut from spending, which will also make tax reform under reconciliation even more difficult, even if Republicans found a package that would unite them in support. Thanks to the August recess, Congress will have less than a month to accomplish all these tasks.

In short, the window may have already closed on the GOP's other major agenda item this year, thanks to the long delay in passing a budget resolution. Steve Forbes told CNBC on Monday that Republicans have "botched" tax reform, which is a fair interpretation. The best Republicans can do now, Forbes argues, is to cut tax rates, make them retroactive to the beginning of the year, and push off any ideas of comprehensive reform until the next session of Congress.

"The prospect of a political disaster next year is going to get these guys to do what they should have done months ago," Forbes predicted. "They will make change on the corporate side, get it down to 20 percent or so. On the individual side, I think you'll see 10 percent to 15 percent across the board rates, tax rates like we did in the early '80s and save the heavy lifting on cleaning up the code after next year's election."

It sounds like a pretty good plan, with one key flaw: It assumes Republicans remain in control of both chambers of Congress after the midterm elections in 2018. After the sorry and chaotic start to the 115th session, voters might look for a change in the 116th.

See the rest here:
Republicans may have already bungled tax reform - The Week Magazine