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To the editor: Please add Rep. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale) to your list of GOP legislators who are ducking their constituents during the current home district work week. (Congress shouldn't duck the public, Feb. 22)

Staff in his Santa Clarita and Simi Valley offices have not picked up the phone when I have called, nor have they responded to messages. I have tried repeatedly for days to get through.

When I spoke to a staffer in his Washington office, she provided a town hall meeting date of March 4 not this week during the break and couldnt tell us if the meeting is in person or a phone-in session. If its the latter, we know from experience that he will screen callers and allow questions from supporters only.

This is not democracy. It is not representative government. It is cowardice.

Marcy Rothenberg, Porter Ranch

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Another L.A.-area Republican ducking his constituents - LA Times - Los Angeles Times

Jim Brulte hopesto keep a jobfew would envy: As chairman of the California Republican Party, hes tasked with trying to steer his party out of the wilderness in one of the bluest states in the nation.

As the party looks ahead to a high-stakes governors race and midterm elections in 2018, it faces a grim reality: A Republican hasnt been elected to statewide office here in more than a decade, and the Democrats hold a powerful supermajority in the state Legislature. The GOPsshare of registered voters in California is just 27.3%, its lowest since 1980, and it has yet to field a prominent candidate in the2018 governors race.

Brultevows that the partysfortunes will improve in the 2018 election, including one or two top-shelf candidates runningfor governor. Hell make hiscase in Sacramento this weekend atthe California Republican Partysthree-day convention,whereGOP delegatesbanking on Brulte to deliverare expected to vote Sundayin favor of extending hisreign as chairman fora third term.

Donald Trumps election providesanopening,Brulte said. Californias Democratic leadership is so focused on battling the new Trump administration that they are ignoring growing concerns at home, he said. The states roads, bridges and dams have fallen into disrepair, poverty is on the rise, middle-class families struggle to afford a decent home and massivepension liabilities still loomall problems that havefestered under the watch of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature, Brulte and other state Republican leaderssaid.

We are looking for opportunities where Democrats are out of step with the districts they represent because they are bowing down to a liberal Washington Democrat establishment that is fundamentally out of touch with where the country is, and where California is, Brulte said in a recent interview.

The difficulty will be convincing Californians that Republicans have the answers, especially asGOPleaders in Washington dismantle the Affordable Care Act, crack down on immigrants in the country illegally and strip away environmental protections moves that arepopular with aconservative base, but dont play well out west.

The first step is honestly acknowledging that the Republican brand is fractured, said Stanislaus County Supervisor Kristin Olsen, vicechairwoman of the state party. Then its taking clear steps to improve that brand, to tell people that we as California Republicans care about their daily struggles with healthcare, immigration policies, schools and economic opportunities.

GOP leaders have seenthe 2018 election as a potentialRepublican spring, a time when years of hard work helping Republicans win seats on city councils, county commissions and local school boards would begin to bear fruit in bigger races.

Despite their low numbers in Sacramento and Californias congressional delegation, Republicans have done well in local government races.As of earlier this year,Republicans accounted for 42% of elected city officeholders in California and Democrats accounted for 46%, according to data compiled by politicalconsulting firm GrassrootsLab. In the California Legislature, Republicans account for 32% of lawmakers and Democrats account for 68%.

Posts on city councils and county boards are nonpartisan. Candidates running for the Legislature, Congress and statewide office have their political party listed on the ballot, and that canbe a major obstacle in a deep-blue state.

Republican political consultant Matt Rexroad, who is a Yolo County supervisor and represents a Democratic-leaning district, said local governmentelections favor candidates with deep roots in their communities. Voters tend to back people they know.

Theyre largely student body president contests,Rexroad said of local elections. People are far more likely to trust the PTA president than somebody running on a pure policy agenda.

Former Rancho Cucamonga City Councilman Marc Steinorth parlayed his local political success into a seat in the California Assembly, an example of the bottom-up political strategy championedby Brulte.Steinorth, who owned an advertising firm and a string of pizza parlors in his community, campaigned door-to-door on issues such asjob creation, affordable housing and cutting through governmentbureaucracy.Hes won two straight Assembly elections in a district that includes San Bernardino and Redlands and where Democrats had a 7-percentage-pointedge in voter registration as of November.

I think that its easy for us to define everything based on party lines when were talking about the national level. But when were dealing with issues on a very local level, it really comes down to where are you on the policies, Steinorth said.Where are you on the issues, and are you caring about your community.

Despite Steinorths success, making the leap from city council to the Legislature or Congress hasproven to bedifficult for Republicansin all but the most deep-red parts of the state.

Brulte admits it could take time for the partyslocal strategy to pay off.

The Republican Party in California did not get in trouble in one election, Brulte said. It has been a multi-decade decline, and its going to take more than one or two elections for us to climb back.

It will be a steep climb if they do.For the first time in 2014, more voters in California were registered as nonpartisans or with third parties than as Republicans.

Republican political consultant Steve Schmidt said the GOPs declining voter registration numbers in California spell doom for the partys future prospects in the state.

Institutionally, its a third-party entity, said Schmidt, who worked for President George W. Bushs 2004 reelection campaign and helped run the 2008 presidential campaign of Republican Sen. John McCain. Youll see an independent candidate elected [governor] before you see a Republican elected again.

If that happens, it wont be for Republicans lack of trying, Brulte said.The partys No. 1 priority in 2018 is to elect a Republican governor, he said.

We believe there will be one or two very strong candidates on our side, Brulte added, but he declined to say whom they might be. Weve spent a significant amount of money seeing if there is a path for a Republican to win statewide, and we believe there is.

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The path to victory could depend on finding aRepublican candidate who cancoalesce GOP supportand appeal to independents and moderates. That person must also survivea primary election battle againstthe Democratic heavyweights already in the race, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and state Treasurer John Chiang.

So far no well-knownRepublicans havestepped forward to run for Californias top post. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, thought by many to be the GOPs best shot at the office, has said repeatedly that he wont run. Ashley Swearengin, the former Fresno mayor who lost her bid for state controller in 2014, has also said shes not interested.

If you dont field credible and competitive statewide candidates, for some of the offices at least, I think the voters start to take that as a concession. And thats a dangerous place to be in the minds of the electorate, said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist and former spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Theres also aseries of potential obstacles for Republicans that hassprung out of Trumps victory. Experts say the Trump White Housecould distract California Democrats from pressing battles back home, but it could alsoenergize the progressive resistance enough to deterRepublican candidates and donors.

And with Trump now the leader of the national party, it could be more difficult for GOP members of Congress to distance themselves from the president, as many California Republicansdid in the November election.

Progressive activists haveshowed up at thedistrict offices of Republican members of Congressto protest votes on Trumps cabinet appointments and plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If the liberal uprising lasts,it could knock Republicans off kilter.

Whatever Trumps impact on California Republicans, its unlikely to be direct, saidTammy Frisby, a research fellow at Stanford UniversitysHoover Institution. Republicans running for statewide and legislative offices should have no problem distancing themselves from the president, Frisby adds, but having Trump in the White House could be dangerous for them if either side feels that the presidents policies could leave California Republicans vulnerable in 2018.

Whether a Trump problem for California Republicans is real or not, it could be a self-fulfilling prophecy if good candidates dont run and big donors dont give, she said.

Mike Osborn, chairman of the Ventura County Republican Party, believes that Trumps election may actually work to the advantage of California Republicans. With the Democratic Party so focused on the Trump administration, and the need to protect Democratic U.S. senators up for reelection in 2018,the GOP could land some significant victories, he said.

I think its going to be pulling a lot of big [Democratic] money out of California, Osborn said.

In the early days of Trumps presidency, as Democratic leaders across the statefocused on the White House, top Republicans have done anything but. Last week, it appeared, the Democrats began to take notice.

Im tired of talking about Donald Trump, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon(D-Paramount) told a gathering of California newspaper publishers. If Hillary Clinton had gotten elected president of the United States, we would have started the year with 2.5 million children in California living in poverty. If Hillary Clinton had been elected president of the United States, we would have started the year with crumbling roads.

Mike Madrid, a Sacramento Republican consultant, quickly seized on Rendons comments, congratulating Assembly GOP Leader Chad Mayes for forcing Democrats to finally address poverty in California.

Mayes response was onethat state Republicans are likely to keep in their back pocket as they attempt to win back their stature in the Golden State:Im thankful were going to focus on the problems right here in [California].

phil.willon@latimes.com

christine.maiduc@latimes.com

For more on California politics, follow @philwillon and@cmaiduc.

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Excerpt from:
Can the California Republican Party bounce back in 2018? Here's the chairman's game plan - Los Angeles Times

The passion and breadth of the anger has had many comparing this to the tea party uprising of eight years ago, a momentous shift in politics that ushered Republican control of the House.

After having watched these meetings across the country, a few trends have popped up: the election never ended, President Donald Trump is a lightning rod for Republicans and more.

The town hall battles began with the fight over Obamacare and some of the most deeply personal exchanges have come from people who are worried changes to the Affordable Care Act will cut their health care coverage.

Kati McFarland, a 25-year-old University of Arkansas student, pressed Sen. Tom Cotton continuously about what he was going to do about her rare degenerative disease.

"Will you commit today to replacements in the same way that you committed to the repeal?" McFarland asked the Arkansas Republican. But as Cotton attempted to say it was time for another question, the crowd shouted over him, pushing him back to her question with a simple chant: "Yes or no!"

After peppering Cotton with more tough questions, she ended with: "Before they ask their (questions), I would like an answer to mine."

At other times, when it has appeared the lawmakers are ducking the question -- protesters have turned the Affordable Care Act into a chant, screaming "ACA! ACA!"

Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and medical doctor, was shouted down repeatedly when he attempted to explain his position.

"Would you rather hear this man yell, or me answer a question?" asked Cassidy, who has co-authored a proposal that would allow states to keep Obamacare. A woman in the crowd fired back "Hear him yell!"

Trump is the President but the issues raised during the campaign are far from over.

Toby Smith, 7, pressed Cotton on Trump's words on immigrants as well as his proposal to make certain budget cuts.

"Donald Trump makes Mexicans not important to people who are in Arkansas who like Mexicans, like me, my grandma," Smith said.

"And he is deleting all the parks and PBS Kids just to make a wall ... and he shouldn't do that," said Toby, voicing fears of some that the Trump administration will cut financial support to the National Park Service and public television.

The continuing investigation of Russian interference in the US elections -- and their talks with Trump campaign officials -- are constantly brought up as well.

"Will you hold Russia accountable for hacking, and how?" yelled one person at Rep. Leonard Lance's town hall Wednesday night in New Jersey. This spurred Lance to say he would consider supporting stronger sanctions on Russia.

Rep. Tom Reed, who along with all other Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee last week turned away a Democratic effort to get the committee chairman to use his legal authority to obtain the returns, explained his position to voters.

"The reason why we voted against that is because if the government goes on an attack on one individual, that is a very dangerous level of power," Reed said. "We make sure the government is held in check."

Reed's answers were met with loud boos, and chants of "Do your job!" "What are you covering up?" and "Russia! Russia! Russia!"

It's hard to see any of these town hall protests happening if any other Republican other than Trump was in the White House.

Merlee Harison said she simply would not have been out if Trump was not in office, as she stood in line with close to 2,000 others waiting to get into Cotton's town hall.

But Harison also said her anger extended past Trump to include Cotton, because she views Trump as a "fog screen" for Republicans trying to push their priorities.

"I think most people understand Trump -- know what he is, know what he isn't. I'm here because I'm concerned about the Republicans who now think they have a mandate to do whatever they pleased," said Harison, 80, of Fayetteville, Arkansas. "You don't see this kind of thing when everybody is happy."

Cotton did not directly say Wednesday evening whether he blamed Trump for the surprising turnout, but he laughed when asked if the town would be as crowded if Marco Rubio had won the White House.

"That's fine, they can be angry with me, happy with me, I still serve them no matter what they feel about what I'm doing. I'm here to try to answer the questions as best I can and also to hear from them, so I'm looking forward to this evening and hope they are, as well," Cotton told CNN.

For now, Trump is to the left what Obama was to the right eight years ago. It's even led some liberals to say they now empathize with tea partiers.

Sanjay Rajput, a Democrat who attended Virginia Rep. Dave Brat's town hall Tuesday, agreed with the notion that the highly charged environment at many town halls now resembles the tea party influence over town halls six years ago, saying, "if it worked for them, it should work for us."

"If I could, I'd go up to a tea party person right now and apologize for accusing them of being paid because that's what I did," he added. "Nobody's paying me. I'm standing up for what I believe."

Some Republicans -- including Trump -- have reacted to the sometimes-rowdy town hall crowds by suggesting they are paid protesters.

The protesters are returning fire, by introducing themselves to members as local residents or bringing signs with their zip codes.

The Republicans who seem to perform the best are those who host in-person town halls and face questions, even if from an angry crowd, rather than ducking constituents while home during the congressional recess. Rep. Mark Sanford, a conservative from South Carolina, even coordinated his recent town hall with protesters there.

Lance, the moderate New Jersey Republican, said on CNN's "New Day" he was happy 1,300 people showed up and that he was holding another town hall Saturday.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, a veteran Iowa lawmaker and Republican stalwart, said: "I learned that we've got issues that people feel very strongly about and we have to try to deal with them."

Contrast that against the Republicans who refused to have town halls.

Protesters crashed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's fundraiser for a Kentucky business group Tuesday. A mock, empty seat town hall targeting House Speaker Paul Ryan was held in Wisconsin because he declined to hold any town halls this break. And protesters have been trying to crash other Republican fundraisers -- an Ohio group almost made it into one held by Sen. Rob Portman Wednesday night.

The Republicans who have gone halfway, attempting to control the fury, have met with similar backlash. Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst ducked out the back of her public meeting after attempting to keep questions limited to selected veterans in the crowd. Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, attempted to stick to his President's Day plans Monday, but a crowd of roughly 200 protesters showed up and forced him to take their questions for 45 minutes.

After only one month in to the new administration, it would be easy to dismiss the protests as leftover angst from the election -- and that anger clearly fuels much of it. But the protests have grown to look more like a Democratic tea party and less like the second version of Occupy Wall Street, which flared up but fizzled without any sustained fuel.

New actions from the White House, such as repealing Obama administration protections for transgender students, will only keep the left engaged.

While the people who attend town halls may be locals, there are still professional organizers and scores of out-of-work Democratic staffers looking to strike back at Trump and Republicans. Leaders from the Indivisible group are former congressional staffers who have been advising local Indivisible chapters on how to organize and then confront their lawmakers.

The founder of Ozark Indivisible, Caitlynn Moses, started with the group's guidebook a little over a month ago, and by Wednesday night she had led 2,000 people to confront Cotton. Cotton even arranged to meet in person with Moses before the event, then invited her on stage to ask the first question.

The big caveat is whether any of the energy will carry into the 2018 elections the same way it did for tea partiers and Republicans in 2010. This past week has been one recess, and then lawmakers head back to the Capitol, away from protesters. Tea party activists had the entire summer after House Democrats passed Obamacare to flood their town halls.

The first explosive town hall caught Rep. Jason Chaffetz offguard in deep-red Utah, two weeks ago, and put Republicans on guard heading into this week.

It's not clear how hot the fire will burn when the lawmakers are back in Washington.

CNN's Ashley Killough, Eric Bradner, Eli Watkins, Jeanne Sahadi and Jordan Malter contributed to this report.

The rest is here:
Five takeaways from the Republican town halls - CNN

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Thursday spoke positively about a border adjustment tax being pushed by Republicans in Congress as a way to boost exports, but he did not specifically endorse the proposal.

Trump, who has lashed out at U.S. companies for moving operations and jobs to countries such as Mexico, had previously sent mixed signals on the proposal at the heart of a sweeping Republican plan to overhaul the tax code.

"It could lead to a lot more jobs in the United States," Trump told Reuters in an interview, using his most approving language to date on the proposal.

Trump sent conflicting signals about his position on the border adjustment tax in separate media interviews in January, saying in one interview that it was "too complicated" and in another that it was still on the table.

The proposal has divided American businesses. Critics say the planned 20 percent tax on imports could be passed along in higher prices to consumers, including manufacturers that rely on imported goods to make their products.

Some critics have warned of a potential global trade war which would sharply curtail U.S. and world economic growth.

Advocates say U.S. exporters will gain as their revenues will be excluded from federal taxes. They say the tax on imports will encourage domestic production and cause the already strong dollar to rise, offsetting upward pressure on import prices.

COMPANIES 'TO COME BACK'

Trump has also called for a 35-percent border tax on U.S. companies that move jobs abroad and import products back into the U.S. market. It has been unclear in the past if those references referred to the border adjustment proposal.

"I certainly support a form of tax on the border," he told Reuters on Thursday. "What is going to happen is companies are going to come back here, they're going to build their factories and they're going to create a lot of jobs and there's no tax."

White House spokesman Sean Spicer also came to the defense of border adjustment on Thursday, disputing the claim that it could lead to higher consumer prices. "That benefits our economy, it helps American workers, it grows the manufacturing base," Spicer told reporters at a White House briefing.

The Mexican peso weakened slightly against the U.S. dollar immediately after Trump's comments and was last trading at 19.68 per dollar. Earlier on Thursday, the Mexican currency hit its strongest level since Trump's Nov. 8 election victory.

Stocks of retailers, which could be hurt by border adjustment, weakened on Wall Street after Trump's remarks. The S&P 500 retailing index ended down 1 percent. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores slipped and closed down 0.6 percent. Trump said his administration will tackle tax reform legislation after dealing with Obamacare, the health insurance system that his fellow Republicans have bashed since it was put in place in 2010 by his predecessor, President Barack Obama.

Earlier on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC the Trump administration aimed to formulate a tax plan with support from the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate and pass it before August.

BUSINESS DIVIDED

Lawmakers and corporate lobbyists say the border adjustment tax could die in Congress, potentially jeopardizing the prospects for tax reform, mainly because of opposition from a handful of Senate Republicans.

But experts say Trump's endorsement could change the political climate. "If Trump supports it, that makes it considerably more likely," Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai told Reuters.

Trump's comments were followed by dueling statements from lobbying groups.

A statement from the pro-border adjustment American Made Coalition said the White House was "sending its strongest signals yet that its leaning toward supporting the House blueprint with border adjustability."

The Americans for Affordable Products coalition that opposes the border adjustment tax issued a statement saying Trumps remarks were "consistent with what hes already said" and that it was "impossible" to know if they were specific to any individual legislative policy.

Trump spoke to Reuters after meeting with more than 20 chief executives of major U.S. companies to discuss ways to return manufacturing jobs to the United States, one of the linchpins of his 2016 presidential campaign.

Many CEOs of large multinationals back the border adjustment tax. The chiefs of 16 companies, including Boeing Co, Caterpillar Inc and General Electric Co, sent a letter to Congress on Tuesday urging support for it.

A border adjustment has emerged as the most controversial segment of the House Republican tax reform blueprint. Under the House plan, it would raise more than $1 trillion in revenues to help pay for a corporate tax cut.

Read the original here:
Trump says Republican border tax could boost US jobs - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Now they have a bunch of governors to deal with.

State executives are descending on Washington this weekend for the annual National Governors Association meeting and the Affordable Care Act is at the top of the discussion list. Governors will debate repealing and replacing the health reform law on Saturday, and then they will meet with President Trump and Congressional lawmakers to talk health care on Monday.

It's becoming ever clearer that what happens to Obamacare will not be decided solely in Washington D.C. Thousands of people are attending lawmakers' town halls around the country to defend the Affordable Care Act, while others are demanding their representatives give them a voice in the discussion.

Mayors are also jumping into the fray. A bipartisan group of more than 100 mayors sent a letter to Congress this week with their wish list, which includes continuing protection for those with pre-existing conditions and maintaining free preventative care. They also oppose turning Medicaid into a block grant program, a big part of the GOP's plan that would send a fixed amount of funding to the states to cover their low-income residents.

Related: Pew poll: Support for Obamacare at all-time high

Governors have a vested interest in Obamacare, particularly in Medicaid expansion, which has extended coverage to 11 million low-income adults in the 31 states that have accepted it. Some 16 of those states are headed by Republicans.

All told, states get hundreds of billions of federal dollars each year in Medicaid funding to cover a total of more than 70 million people, mainly low-income children, parents, senior citizens and those with disabilities.

Congressional Republicans are privately turning to four GOP governors -- two from states that expanded and two from states that didn't -- in the hope that they can hammer out a deal that can win approval from their peers and from lawmakers.

Related: Medicaid covers a lot more people than you might think

Getting there will be a two-part task. First, governors need to decide how to handle Medicaid expansion, which funneled an extra $99 billion to the states between January 2014 and September 2015, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Some governors have been very vocal about keeping Medicaid expansion. Ohio Governor John Kasich says he won't "sit silent" and watch the program get "ripped out."

"That is a very, very bad idea, because we cannot turn our back on the most vulnerable," said Kasich, noting the program's importance in treating those with drug addiction and mental health issues.

Related: Hill GOP asks governors to help save Obamacare repeal

And though he still supports repealing Obamacare, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told CNN's Jake Tapper that he doesn't want those who've gained coverage under Medicaid expansion to be left uninsured.

Second, state executives have to debate the larger question of what to do with the entire Medicaid program. Republican lawmakers are itching for the opportunity to completely overhaul it and shift more responsibility, control and risk to the states. While governors would like more power over the program, many aren't as keen to receive only a fixed amount of funding from Washington D.C.

Related: Why GOP governors like Medicaid under Obamacare. Hint: $

Some Republican governors agree with their Democratic peers that block grants could reduce the effectiveness and reach of the safety net. And leaders of non-expansion states are concerned that funding might be frozen at current levels, which would leave them at a disadvantage since they did not broaden their programs.

Still, a few governors were supportive of block grants, saying the flexibility that comes with this funding can make it easier to transition able-bodied recipients to more independent living. Many Republican governors would like to be able to charge premiums or institute work requirements for the low-income adults in the program.

--CNN's Manu Raju contributed to this story.

CNNMoney (New York) First published February 24, 2017: 6:08 AM ET

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Republican governors on Obamacare repeal: Not so fast - CNNMoney