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In this Aug. 17, 2016, file photo, Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen takes part in a debate in Minnetonka, Minn.

By Maya Rao , Star Tribune July 30, 2017 - 9:25 PM

WASHINGTON Republican lawmakers are heading back to their home districts for the August break to promote plans to reshape the federal tax code, fresh off the collapse of their partys efforts to overhaul the health care system.

Legislators hope the GOP can rally and pull together better than it did on the push to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

I think its obvious that there were some lessons learned from health care, said U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, a Republican from Eden Prairie who voted for the health care bill in the House. Its not good to have competing versions. You dont need to have artificial deadlines to pass bills. Its better to get the policy right.

Both Paulsen and fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis of Woodbury sit on key House committees involved in two huge and connected Republican priorities: the tax code rewrite and a budget resolution that would enable a procedural tool permitting the tax plan to pass Congress without Democratic votes. But the budget resolution is still awaiting passage by the full House, where it faces resistance from the conservative Freedom Caucus.

Its time for the grown-ups in the room to stand up and get the job done, said Lewis.

The unpredictability and frequent chaos that have come to characterize the Trump administration have dogged Republicans as they try to enact a governing agenda after voters handed them the reins of Washington power in the last election. The pressure to act intensified Thursday, when the Big Six group of Republican leaders announced they were united in their drive to fix the tax code and charged the House and Senate tax-writing committees with passing the necessary legislation this fall.

Getting our work done

Minnesota has beautiful summers and really cold winters, but no matter the weather, we get up every day and head to our jobs with the expectation of getting our work done, said U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat from St. Paul, during the partys weekly address on Capitol Hill. Thats exactly the opposite of whats happening right now in Republican-controlled Washington.

She added that she agreed with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., when he told the upper chamber, We are getting nothing done.

One of the Big Six negotiators is Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who is pushing Republicans to tout tax reform in events with their constituents in coming weeks. Brady is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and lives with Paulsen, a member of the panel, in Washington. Hes talking up the number 31, in a reference to the number of days in August and the number of years since the last major overhaul of the tax code.

Every day were going to have a message about why its important to have tax reform, Paulsen said.

He plans to visit businesses and hold roundtable discussions on taxes, health care and trade during the recess. He wants lower tax rates for businesses of all sizes and to make it quicker and easier for people to file their taxes. He also wants to incentivize companies to keep their headquarters in the United States and to offer companies more long-term certainty about their tax liabilities.

Paulsen is even trying to persuade Brady to visit Minnesota at some point.

The statement by the Big Six last week confirmed that the border-adjustment tax proposal was dead, though it was otherwise short on specifics. Republicans want to grow the economy by 3 percent a year.

Brady has been adamant that legislators cant reshape taxes without the passage of the budget bill, which unlocks a legislative tool called reconciliation that would allow the tax bill to pass Congress with limited debate and a simple majority, rather than a 60 percent supermajority. Republicans only control the upper chamber by a 52-48 margin.

Our argument has been without budget reconciliation, you dont have tax reform. Its really important to keep engaging in bipartisan conversation and also recognize at the end of the day that we have to use every tool we can to get across the finish line, Paulsen said.

He added: We have some in our conference who are not used to governing or who have always been in the opposition only, so theres a little resistance.

This month, the House Budget Committee that Lewis sits on passed a budget resolution along party lines that calls for $621 billion in military spending and $511 billion in nondefense spending. The nonbinding measure calls for cutting tax rates and moving to a system in which only corporations domestic income is taxed. It reduces the deficit by $6.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

It also seeks $203 billion in reductions over the next decade for mandatory spending for programs such as Social Security and Medicaid. But some conservatives want even deeper cuts.

I think every single member on the House Budget Committee on the majority side were just pushing hard to get it passed, Lewis said.

He added: I just think were beyond the stage of Democrats going to Washington and cutting Republican programs and Republicans going to Washington and cutting Democratic programs. Weve got to have real, shared sacrifice.

A nod to progress

Both Paulsen and Lewis maintain that despite the broader perception of dysfunction in Washington, the House has productively moved through its agenda. But several key measures havent gained traction in the Senate, from health care to a rollback of banking regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act passed in 2010 in response to the financial crisis.

I dont think the Senate has moved fast enough on all this stuff. If the Senate doesnt do their job, then yeah, it doesnt look like were getting that much done, Lewis said.

On Friday, during an interview on Fox Business, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., described tax reform as having more consensus than health care.

It is more important for us than anything that we get tax reform done because we think it is absolutely critical for strong economic growth, he said.

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Reeling Republicans regroup to focus on taxes - Minneapolis Star Tribune

After their health care bill collapsed in spectacular fashion last week, Republican congressional leaders insist they wont make the same mistakes with tax reform, the other big-ticket promise they made to voters, and to which they will turn next.

But there are enough similarities between the two issues that lawmakers are worried.

Republicans go into the debate with only vague principles, have struggled to pique Democrats interest and have received conflicting signals from the White House about priorities.

Still searching for their first major legislative win under President Trump, Republican leaders said they have to surmount those problems and deliver reform.

We looked at health care and said, Lets make sure we do tax reform better and differently, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican, said in an interview that aired Sunday on Fox News.

He joined other top Republicans on Capitol Hill, as well as the Treasury secretary and White House economic adviser, to release a broad set of goals and a vague timeline for tax reform and promised to put legislation through committees in the fall.

Mr. Ryan and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, Texas Republican, also abandoned their push for a $1 trillion tax on imports.

But some members of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee said dropping the border adjustment raises questions about how to make up an estimated $1 trillion in revenue that Republicans were going to use to pay for lowering other rates.

As Ive always said, without border adjustment youre going to have a lot higher rates, and I think it makes it complicated to solve the overseas issues, said Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican and a Ways and Means Committee member.

Republicans were also counting on repealing Obamacare first, including erasing $1 trillion in taxes on items such as investment income to pay for the law.

Axing those taxes, as part of a bill that lowered the overall deficit, would significantly lower the federal budget baseline and give leaders more wiggle room on the ultimate cost of their tax package.

That option is no longer viable because of the failure of the health care legislation last week.

If the representations we got earlier in the year are true that you cannot have tax reform without health care reform, then it gets harder, said Rep. Mo Brooks, Alabama Republican.

Mr. Brady said Congress could try to repeal Obamacare levies as part of the tax code overhaul, but that would disrupt what is already a tightrope walk.

I want those $1 trillion of taxes out of the economy thats what that repeal bill is designed to do, Mr. Brady said. We cant afford to import those into tax reform [because] the result would be higher tax rates for more families and local businesses.

Under fast-track budget rules, Republicans can pass a broad tax code overhaul with a simple majority in the House and Senate, bypassing a Democratic filibuster, as long as it doesnt add to the deficit in the long run.

But a revenue-neutral bill almost certainly means a much more limited set of reforms.

Rep. James B. Renacci, Ohio Republican and another Ways and Means Committee member, said he hasnt given up hope for a big deal, even without the extra room that could have been bought with the border adjustment tax or Obamacare repeal.

I think we need to come up with something where we [can] get enough votes to pass it and move it forward even if that means its not revenue-neutral in some cases, he said.

First up for Republicans, however, will be passing a budget so they have a framework for tax reform.

A plan passed the House Budget Committee this month but has stalled as committee Chairman Diane Black searches for support.

We look forward to having continued conversations with Chairman Black on the budget, but there are still not enough votes to pass it, Rep. Mark Meadows, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the influential House Freedom Caucus, said last week.

Lawmakers need a budget vehicle in order to unlock fast-track procedures known as reconciliation, which can avoid a potential Senate filibuster though it also places limits on what can be done legislatively.

Republicans found that out during the Obamacare debate, which was also conducted under reconciliation. Rank-and-file Republicans chafed at having to scratch some ideas because they didnt fit under the strict rules governing budget debates.

Republicans also have spent essentially half the year trying to pass health care reform, adding pressure to deliver a legislative win and have something they can take back to voters for the midterm elections next year.

Were just going straight ahead, Mr. Brady said. Despite the setback, the letdown on health care, I think people are awfully excited about being able to unify behind this in August and through the fall.

Democrats have been left out of tax negotiations. Republican leaders saying the two parties cant even agree on goals. Republicans say they want a more competitive code but that Democrats want to use a tax overhaul to soak the rich and increase government revenue.

Republicans are dripping tax ideas out like a leaky faucet with no specifics to back them up, said Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee. We need sustainable, comprehensive tax reform, not a massive tax cut for the wealthy.

Originally posted here:
Republicans move on to tax reform, but battle looks similar to failed Obamacare repeal - Washington Times

Sen. Jeff FlakeJeff FlakeFlake: Republicans who don't call out Trump are complicit Sunday Show Preview: Washington recovers from healthcare fallout in the Senate Senate GOP steps up defense of Sessions MORE (R-Ariz.) on Sunday said that Republican leaders who do not call President Trump out are complicit.

I do think so, Flake told CBSs Face the Nation when asked if GOP leaders are complicit if they fail to call out Trump.

I think that you know, obviously the last thing you want to do is wake up every morning and see a tweet and think, I just--- you know, its tough not to just say, Im not going to respond. And we cant respond to everything. But there are times when you have to stand up and say, Im sorry. This is wrong.

There are truths that are self-evident. And youve got to stand up and call whether its the White House or other elected officials, to task, when theyre not doing what they should, he said.

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Flake: Republicans who don't call out Trump are complicit - The Hill

CBS News

Party in peril? Republicans reel after Obamacare failure The News Tribune Republicans have controlled this town for seven months. They have virtually nothing to show for it. Returning home this week to face voters for the first time since the party failed to get an Obamacare repeal through a Senate where it had a majority ... Republicans brace for political fallout after "epic fail" on health careCBS News Trump marks new Kelly era with sharp attack on RepublicansPolitico Republicans' failure to 'repeal and replace' Obamacare may cost them at the ballot boxWashington Post New York Times -Slate Magazine all 9,351 news articles »

The rest is here:
Party in peril? Republicans reel after Obamacare failure - The News Tribune

Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff

Cia Gillis cheered with the crowd during a health care rally at City Hall in Cambridge.

CAMBRIDGE Organizers of a rally for affordable health care Saturday urged a crowd of about 100 people to get on their cellphones and personally thank three Republicans credited with blocking the laws repeal.

On Friday, the Affordable Care Act survived a tight vote on its repeal Friday, thanks to three Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and John McCain of Arizona who joined with Democrats in opposing the move.

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Organizers of the rally passed out fliers with the phone numbers of Republican senators Murkowski, McCain, and Collins, along with Massachusetts senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.

I thanked them with all my heart, said Gail Shluman, 70, of Cambridge. Its really inspiring to have these Republicans stand up and defy their party.

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The Enough is Enough Healthcare Rally was organized by Cambridge Area Stronger Together, a group of local activists.

We believe that we need to fight for civil rights, social justice, and human rights, Victoria McGroary, an organizer with Cambridge Area Stronger Together, told the crowd. And we believe health care is a human right.

The Cambridge rally was part of a series of protests being coordinated across the country by Our Lives on the Line, which said on its website that rallies are being held Saturday in more than 40 states, including Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

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In Massachusetts, rallies were scheduled in Beverly, Northampton, Orleans, Plymouth, Sharon, Topsfield, Vineyard Haven, and Woburn.

The rallies come a day after a Senate vote rejected a bid by Republican leaders to strike down parts of the Affordable Care Act, which became law in 2010.

Among those at Cambridges rally who offered personal stories was Adam Smith, 35, of Sherborn, whose wife, Elisa Sutherland, is battling multiple sclerosis.

The couple, now both 35, began facing medical issues while living in Portland, Ore., in 2011, when Sutherland was misdiagnosed by a doctor after reporting numbness in her leg. Neither had insurance, and Sutherlands weeklong stay in the hospital cost about $40,000, said Smith. The financial hit was so severe that the couple later declared bankruptcy.

Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff

Kate Hermann-Wu and her spouse Ailsa held a sign while listening to a speaker during the rally.

In 2011, when they moved to the Boston area so Smith could attend a doctorate program at Brandeis University, Sutherlands condition was correctly identified. By then, both had insurance.

It was a huge emotional toll, said Smith, who recently completed a doctorate program in politics at Brandeis.

The Cambridge rally had the support of some local leaders, including Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons, who told the crowd that the rally was about the cause of equity and that services like health care and education should not be reserved for the wealthy.

We the people, not just a few, are going to have a country that takes care of all of its citizens, Simmons told the crowd.

Mickey Jay Thomas, a local disability activist, last month was part of a demonstration by disability advocates who traveled to Washington to speak out against a health care law repeal.

More than 40 protesters were arrested by police outside of the office of Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate majority leader, the Washington Post reported.

Disabled advocates have been one of the many reasons why this has been successful. They would rather go to jail than die without Medicaid, Thomas told the crowd.

Dr. Umbereen Nehal, the state director of Doctors for America, told the crowd she was motivated to join the health care fight because of to a 3-year-old she diagnosed with leukemia in the years before the Affordable Care Act. She thought the hardest part would be telling the childs father about the cancer.

It wasnt.

The first question that father asked me was, How will I afford this? said Nehal. And that absolutely broke my heart.

Nehal said the country should work to ensure every American has access to medical care.

We should have a sensible system that plans to prevent crisis and allows people to stay healthy. And thats what we have to fight for, she said.

Read more here:
Crowd at health care rally urged to thank Republicans who voted against repeal - The Boston Globe