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This was expected to be an easier year for Senate Republicans.

Democrats were supposed to be playing defense as Senate candidates ran in conservative states that President Trump handily won two years ago.

But for Republican leaders seeking to maintain control of the Senate, some races are becoming a little too close for comfort.

A prime example is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a former presidential candidate who is now fighting to hold on to his seat.

Weve got a fight on our hands, Cruz said. The extreme left, theyre angry, theyre energized and they are filled with hatred."

Money has poured in to Texas to benefit his challenger, U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke, D-El Paso, who is attracting large crowds at rallies.

"It's about the future of this country, the big things we want to do, going from the least insured state in the country to the one that leads on universal healthcare," ORourke told supporters at a recent campaign stop.

A national Republican source said while ORourke is getting attention, he likely wont win.

Betos fundraising is obviously nothing to downplay, but its still Texas, the source said. I think the more his record is litigated and folks learn more about his anti-gun, open borders record the gap grows.

In addition to Texas, Real Clear Politics lists eight other Senate races as tossupsArizona, Indiana, Montana, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee, Nevada and North Dakota.

FULL MIDTERM COVERAGE AND RACE RATINGS

Some involve red state incumbent Democrats such as Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Claire McCaskill in Missouri, and Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota.

But if Texas and Tennessee, traditional Republican strongholds, are in the mix then there is a possibility that Democrats could have a path to reclaim the Senate.

Part of Donnellys pitch is hes not entirely anti-President Trump.

GOP REP. RON DESANTIS RESIGNS FROM CONGRESS TO FOCUS ON BID FOR FLORIDA GOVERNOR

Hoosiers want a senator who works for them. Now, I'll work with any president, but I don't work for any president, Donnelly told Fox News. I work for the people of Indiana.

Democrats are expressing hope the Senate majority is in play energized by the numbers in Texas, Tennessee, and other places.

But they acknowledge their incumbent senators must perform in what are expected to be hard-fought races.

North Dakota, Missouri and Florida three very close, very tough fights in very tough states for three members of the Senate, two of whom at least won during Obama's last election, where they had the benefit of him being at the top of the ticket, Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh told Fox News.

Marsh said Democrats even have a chance in states that are Republican strongholds.

For the first time, not only do you have Democrats defending red states, there are some Dems who could win some red states like Tennessee, like Texas and don't forget Mississippi. [Former Rep.]Mike Espy has a really good chance of winning [in Mississippi], Marsh said.

Sources close to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledge a tough election environment. But they suggest a GOP win in North Dakota is quite possible, and they dont believe they will lose the majority in the Senate.

Mike Emanuel currently serves as chief congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined FNC in 1997 as a Los Angeles-based correspondent.

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Republicans' Senate majority in jeopardy? Tight races raise ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With congressional elections looming, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday proposed more deficit-expanding tax cuts, an effort seen by some tax experts as unlikely to become law and geared chiefly toward winning votes.

FILE PHOTO: People walk by the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2018. REUTERS/ Leah Millis

Even if the initiative fails to pass, it could put Democrats in the position of opposing the new tax-cut plan on the House floor, which Republicans could seek to use to their advantage in the Nov. 6 elections where control of Congress will be at stake.

Under the measure, federal individual income tax cuts approved on a temporary basis by the Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump in December would become permanent.

It would also eliminate the maximum age for some retirement account contributions and let new businesses write off more start-up costs.

House tax committee Chairman Kevin Brady, main author of the Tax Reform 2.0 package, plans to put it to a committee-level vote on Thursday, with a full House vote expected by Oct 1.

Trump and his Republicans are touting Decembers tax cuts as a boost to the economy, an important feature of their campaign push to defend their majorities in the House and U.S. Senate against a challenge from Democrats.

Democrats say those cuts mainly helped the wealthy and corporations.

In a statement on Monday, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said: With version 2.0 of the GOP tax scam for the rich, Republicans want to add even more to the deficit, and even more to the bank accounts of the wealthiest 1 percent.

The cuts passed in December are projected to add an estimated $1.5 trillion over a decade to the federal deficit, the difference between Washingtons spending and the taxes it collects.

The new round being proposed by Republicans would add a further $576 billion to the deficit, even taking possibly higher economic growth into account, said the Tax Foundation, a pro-business think tank in Washington.

Regardless of the merits of the House GOP plan, we view it as a political move ahead of the midterm elections that has no chance of passing Congress in the short term, the investment firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said in a Monday note to clients.

Adding another several hundred billion dollars to the deficit is something that I think some Republicans are going to really think hard about, said John Gimigliano, who heads federal tax legislative and regulatory services at the audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP.

Passage is not automatic, he added.

Even so, Republican lawmakers and strategists hope a new tax debate will amplify the partys upbeat economic message. They tout a report by the Tax Foundation that forecast the creation of 1.5 million jobs and wage increases if the temporary individual tax cuts are made permanent.

Anytime were talking about tax cuts and the growing economy, were winning, said Matt Gorman, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, the partys main campaign support for House Republican candidates.

Still, some Republicans from Democratic-leaning states worry that constituents already dislike Decembers cap on the federal deduction for state and local tax payments, known as SALT.

A dozen House Republicans opposed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act last December. All but one were from high-tax Democratic states such as New York, New Jersey and California. The new package would make the capped SALT deduction permanent.

Under Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress, the federal deficit has begun growing rapidly again and is expected to blow through $1 trillion in 2019.

If that happens, it would be the first time since 2012 the U.S. economy would have to support such a large deficit, highlighting a basic shift for the Republican Party, which once prided itself on fiscal conservatism.

Reporting by David Morgan and Amanda Becker; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Peter Cooney

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House Republicans target more tax cuts as elections near ...

I am a first generation American, and I lived in the US for 19 years as of the date of writing this article.

I didnt know much about the Democratic party and the Republican Party before I started living here, and the more I learned about them, the more I was shocked that there were so many supporters of the Republican party in this country. To me, it is a party of the extremists. The party of the racists, the religious fanatics, people who are against the gay rights, womens rights, immigrants, abortion, etc. Many of them are barely a supporter of the principle of separation of church and state. And I am sure pretty much all the creationists vote republican.

They hate jews and muslims on principle, and the atheists are probably no better in their view.

They hate big government and taxes, and they could even do with no goverment at all, if that was a choice.

They think they support economic principles that are good for the whole country, but in fact they are being manipulated by the corporations, and the rich into supporting policies that are only good for the top 1%.

They think when you make the rich richer, they will create more jobs, and it will be better for the middle class and the poor as well, when in fact the result is an increase in the income inequality, along with an increase in the national debt and the budget deficit.

I dont know the Reagan years. I wasnt here. But when I look at the graph that shows how the national debt changed over the years, I see that it peaked in 3 periods in particular. One of them was the World War II years and afterwards, which is understandable, the second one is the Reagan years, and the third one is G. W. Bush years.

The way I see it, whenever Democrats are in power, the economy gets better, and then the Republicans come back to ruin it again. Even though Democrats are the ones who are blamed for increasing debt due to their social projects. But what I see is the opposite.

This has been my observation in this country so far.

In spite of all this, Republicans still win approximately half the votes in this country, which puzzles me, and scares me.

Is half the country consist of extremists? This is a scary thought. But I am told that this is not the case. Republicans have a long history and many traditional republicans are moderates.

I want to believe that, but my experience in this country in the last two decades doesnt show me anything moderate about Republican views.

So, I am puzzled. How can half the people in a country that is the major power in the world are right wing extremists?

Am I missing something here?

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Republicans - thinkandsay.net

About Us

Republicans Fighting Tariffs exists to remind everyone why the Republican Party is the party of free trade. Free trade allows for strong businesses, good jobs, low prices, and a thriving economy. Tariffs, on the other hand, are an unwarranted tax on American businesses and families. We are urging Republicans everywhere to come together and tell Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on a bill that would end these tariffs and save jobs.

Republicans Fighting Tariffs is a project of Defending Democracy Together. For interview requests, contact us at [emailprotected].

Scott Lincicome is international trade attorney, with extensive experience in trade proceedings in the United States, Europe, China, India and elsewhere, and in litigation before US Courts and the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body. He specializes in advising multinational and sovereign clients on US trade policy and how to best conform their transactions and policies to global trade rules and related national regulations. Scott is also an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute in Washington, DC, where he writes and speaks on US trade policy and politics, and a Senior Visiting Lecturer at Duke University Law School, where he teaches international trade law. Before law school, Scott worked from 1998 2001 as a research assistant with Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies. Scott has published numerous academic papers and op-eds on US trade law, politics and policy issues; routinely appears in international media; and has advised dozens of political candidates and government officials on international trade issues. He has a BA in Political Science from the University of Virginia and a JD from the Universitys School of Law, and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife and daughter (and dog).

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Republicans Fighting Tariffs

The Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin in 1854.[12] It was created by the support of Francis Preston Blair. Its formation was based around opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which would allow each territory to allow slavery if they wanted to. It was founded by previous members of the Free Soil Party and the Whig Party. They wanted to stop the expansion of slavery because they believed that it was against the ideals of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Some founders wanted to abolish slavery everywhere in the United States. The first Republican candidate for president was John C. Frmont in 1856.

As the Whig Party collapsed, the Republicans became the second major party (the Democratic Party being the first). In 1860 Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, was elected. For the rest of the second half of the 19th century, the country had mostly Republican presidents. From 1860 until 1912 the Republicans lost the presidential election just twice (non-consecutively to Democrat Grover Cleveland in 1884 and 1892).

Republicans believed in protectionism (the belief that raising taxes on trades with foreign nations would protect the U.S. economy) during the second half of the 19th century and during the early half of the 20th century.

After World War I, the 1920s had three Republican presidents: Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. It was called the Republican Decade for that reason. Harding and Coolidge made a plan for the economy which lowered taxes, cut government spending, and regulated the economy less.

Near the end of the decade, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression was beginning. During the Great Depression, Republicans lost popularity and Democrats came into power and remained in power until 1953, when Dwight Eisenhower began his first of two consecutive terms as president. (He was re-elected in 1956.) Richard Nixon lost the election in 1960, but was elected president on the Republican ticket in 1968 and again in 1972.

Ronald Reagan, an actor and conservative political activist, was elected as president in 1980. He became the first Republican president who was a former member of the Democratic Party. This began a conservative era which would last until 1992. He served two terms and his successor George H.W. Bush served one term. Reagan renewed many ideas which had been left behind in the past, such as limited government in the economy and strengthening the military.

Bill Clinton (a Democrat) was elected president in 1992, and re-elected in 1996. However, a new Congress was elected in 1994, and Republicans gained control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. They voted against many of Clinton's ideas and proposed ideas of their own such as a line item veto and a balanced budget amendment.

The Republicans lost control of Congress during 2006. Democrat Barack Obama was elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. The Republican Party has also gone against candidates of other political parties, such as the Libertarian Party and Green Party. House Speaker and U.S. congressman John Boehner was elected in the new Congress in 2010 and re-elected in 2012. In 2014, Republicans gained control of the senate and the house. Boehner resigned in early October 2015 and was eventually succeeded by Paul Ryan of Wisconsin on October 29.

On November 9, 2016, Donald Trump was elected president, defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Electoral College. Trump was the first Republican to take office as president since January 20, 2001 when George W. Bush was inaugurated.

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Republican Party (United States) - Simple English ...