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Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch.

A top Senate Republican threw his support behind a push to change congressional budget rules to relax time limits on tax cuts that increase the federal deficit.

It would be better if the existing 10-year budget window were extended, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, the chambers top tax-writer, said in an interview. The 10 years is problematic, he said. I would like to do that. A leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said hes open to the idea.

The change would make it easier for the GOP, which controls only 52 of the Senates 100 seats, to enact longer-lasting tax cuts without any support from Democrats. Under current Senate rules, any legislation that passes with fewer than 60 votes cant add to the deficit outside a 10-year budget window, otherwise the tax changes would have to expire.

Senator Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, is pushing to increase that time horizon to 20 or 30 years. And Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a hearing earlier this week that he was open to considering Toomeys proposal -- if theres no hope of winning Democrats support for a tax plan.

I am hopeful that we can still get some bipartisan support, Mnuchin said in response to a question from Toomey. But as you said, if we cant, reconciliation is an alternative and I look forward to working with you and the Senate on ideas such as a 20-year window as opposed to a 10-year window to explore that.

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The idea would mark a sea change for the budget rules and draw fierce objections from Democrats. It may gain additional support from other Republicans who have become frustrated by the overall budget process. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has said hes open to extending the 10-year window, but Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said hed be skeptical of any idea that makes it easier to raise the deficit.

The Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation typically provide estimates on the budgetary effects of proposed tax legislation.

Conservative groups such as the Club for Growth as well as anti-tax activist Grover Norquist have also suggested changing the budget rules as a way to get a tax overhaul done.

We say extend the budget window to 25 years. Why? Because the people creating jobs and investing in new products think long-term, Norquist and Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on June 13. They cited how budget rules say only that the window has to be at least five years.

Last month, Hatch didnt directly back the Toomey proposal, but said he was open to anything that made sense. The Utah Republican didnt specify how long the budget window should be during the interview Thursday, but signaled openness to the 25-year idea. Whatever, he said, adding he wants it to be more than the current 10 years.

It makes it more sensible, too, Hatch said. Its hard to get these budget things done.

Hatchs counterpart in the House, Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, told reporters on Thursday hell evaluate proposals to extend the budget window. But the Texas Republican said he remains committed to permanent tax reform that balances within the 10-year budget timeline.

The escalating push to change the rules comes amid signs that Republicans are deeply divided on how to raise revenue to pay for the steep individual and corporate tax-rate cuts they want.

Representative Mark Meadows, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said hes open to extending the 10-year window, arguing that doing so would make it easier to cut taxes.

I dont know that 25 years is the right time, but doing a 15- to 20-year budget window seems to make some sense, the North Carolina Republican said Thursday. We sometimes hamstring ourselves with a 10-year budget window.

But he cautioned that it should not become a license to increase the deficit.

The rest is here:
Republicans Warm to Tactic for Making Deep Tax Cuts Last Longer - Bloomberg

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE June 15, 2017 06/15/2017 3:58 pm By Eric Levitz Share Make America Underwhelmed Again. Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Donald Trumps election has been bad for a lot of people.

Undocumented immigrants have been subjected to a heightened risk of deportation; Medicaid recipients have seen their access to health care come under attack; feminists have had to stomach the sight of a self-avowed sex offender occupying our nations highest office; nonwhite children have been bullied more than they used to be; civilians have been slaughtered by American munitions in Iraq and Syria in much higher numbers; and humanity, as a whole, has seen its prospects for averting catastrophic climate change take a turn for the worse.

But, hey: Elections have winners and losers and at least the Fox News grandpas, Duck Dynasty DVD-box-set owners, social Darwinist socialites, and literal white supremacists who make up the Republican base are feeling less alienated by, and more satisfied with, the direction their country is moving in.

Or, at least, they were feeling that way, for a little while there. A new Gallup survey finds that GOP voters satisfaction with the direction America is moving in has fallen sharply over the last month. In early May, shortly after the House passed a bill to throw millions of poor people off their health insurance for the sake of increasing income inequality, 58 percent of Republicans told the pollster they felt good about the way things were going.

In early June, shortly after an extremely tall cop told the Senate that the president is a creepy liar who doesnt respect the independence of federal law enforcement, just 41 percent said the same.

Meanwhile, Democrats remain nearly universally dissatisfied. For Team Blue, that discontent appears to be translating into political mobilization, with Democrats outperforming expectations in a series of special elections.

But Republican dissatisfaction is likely to be rooted less in their partys lack of political power, than frustration with how the Trump presidency is unfolding. And thats the kind of discontent that makes GOP operatives sweat.

Now, the fact that Republican satisfaction reached a peak last month suggests the current dip is largely a product of the metastasizing Russia scandal (as opposed to disappointment with Trumps right-wing turn on economics or his increasingly undeniable incompetence). Which is to say: A healthy portion of these voters likely blame the deep state and fake news media for their dissatisfaction, not the commander-in-chief.

That said, a good number do seem to be souring on the president himself. As Nate Silver writes:

That last point could prove significant. Remember: Republicans satisfaction hit an all-time high right after the passage of that unpopular health-care bill in May. Liberals have hoped that fear of a big blue wave might prevent GOP lawmakers from repealing Obamacare. But in truth, the growing enthusiasm gap may actually make moderate Republicans feel even more pressure to bite the bullet, and vote for far-right legislation.

As the Washington Post reported in the wake of last months House vote:

The Republican Partys electoral prospects are collapsing and they may bring our health-care system down with them.

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Excerpt from:
The Trump Era Is Starting to Depress Republicans, Too - New York Magazine

ATLANTA Of all of the numbers that should give Republican leaders heartburn in Georgias 6thCongressional District, where a special election runoff is scheduled for next Tuesday, the most worrisome number might be in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll from last week.

That survey of likely and early voters showed Democrat Jon Ossoff leading Republican Karen Handel by 7points. Thats not great news in the districtwhere itsformer congressman,HHS Secretary Tom Price, won 62 percent of the vote just six months ago. But special elections being what they are, no one can confidently predict the result of this contest until it happens next week.

The really bad news for Republicans, and the detail that could be foreshadowing a national slide for the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections, was buried deep inside the crosstabs of the AJC poll at Question #38: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the House GOP Obamacare replacement bill? The answer: Just 25 percent of voters in this (usually) Republican district had a favorable opinion of the House-passed health care bill, while 62 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of it. Among independent voters, the reaction was worse, with just 19 percent saying they favored the bill.

In the same AJC poll, 81percent called health care extremely important or very important to their vote next Tuesday. And 94 percent said they were very or somewhat concerned about health care costs, compared to 64percent who were very or someone concerned about Russian interference in U.S. affairs.

That tracks almost exactly with my own reporting. Of all of the issues that voters have raised to me in interviews about this race, Russia has almost never come up, but voters pointed to health care and the Republican health care bill again and again as dynamics they were watching closely.

Moms were worried about their children with pre-existing conditions and how they might fare under this legislation. Doctors were worried for their livelihoods. Some Republicans didnt think the bill went far enough to repeal Obamacare in the first place.

Its important to keep in mind that this isnt just any congressional district when it comes to health care reform and the House GOP bill known as the American Health Care Act. The suburban Atlanta voters here are better educated and wealthier than the rest of the state on average and many of them work in the health care industry and are highly informed on health care issues. The 6th District includes some of the Souths largest and most advanced hospitals. Overall, census figures show the health care industry is the second-largest employer in the district.

And ironically, the only reason the seat is vacant and being filled by a special election next Tuesday is that President Donald Trump plucked Priceout of Congress to help write and pass the health care bill that has become a lightning rod in the race to replace him.

The AHCA had not yet passed the House of Representatives when Jon Ossoff won 48 percent of the vote in the April primary. But once the runoff field narrowed to the top two candidates and the AHCA passed the House, the health care legislation has been at the center of the most contentious moments between Ossoff and Handel. In the pairs only televised debate last week, they faced off over the AHCA, which Ossoff called unacceptable. The Democrat said the bill, which Handel supports, guts essential protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.

For her part, Handel insisted that the bill would not treat people with pre-existing conditions differently, although the CBO refutes that, and she echoed the most conservative Republicans already in the House by dismissing the CBO report that predicts the AHCA will force 23 million Americans off of health insurance.

I reject the premise of the CBO, she said, adding later that Obamacare is collapsing on itself.

We have to repeal this bill and replace it with the new fix thats coming through, she said.

If Bernie Sanders supporters were hoping Ossoff would come out in favor of a single-payer system, they were probably disappointed when he suggested instead allowing patients to shop for insurance across state lines, an idea consistently floated by Republicans including President Trump.

If anyone says they know how the election next Tuesday will turn out, theyre lying to you. Nearly every poll, except the AJC poll, has been within the margin of error and the turnout models can only reflect anyones best guess about something that hasnt happened yet.

But one poll result is so far outside the margin of error you can take it to the bankvoters do not like the Republican health care bill in the Sixth District of Georgia.

That Handel supports the bill and is struggling to pull away from Ossoff in a district that until Election Day 2016 was as reliable a Republican stronghold as could be found should be deeply concerning to Speaker Paul Ryan and to any Republican who voted for the AHCA in the House or plans to vote for it in the Senate.

If the voters in Tom Prices district fully understand the bill that he helped write and they still dont like it, the AHCA could spell serious trouble for the GOP at large in 2018, regardless of whether Ossoff or Handel manages to win next Tuesday.

Roll Call columnist Patricia Murphy covers national politics for The Daily Beast. Previously, she was the Capitol Hill bureau chief for Politics Daily and founder and editor of Citizen Jane Politics. Follow her on Twitter @1PatriciaMurphy.

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Link:
Opinion: Republicans' Biggest Problem in Georgia Isn't the Special Election - Roll Call

Forbes

How About This Health Care Act That Both Democrats And Republicans Support Forbes Think Democrats and Republicans can't agree on anything healthcare related? Well, here's something that has a good amount of bipartisan support in Congress: the ''Personal Health Investment Today Act'', otherwise known as the ''PHIT Act.'' You know ...

Read more:
How About This Health Care Act That Both Democrats And Republicans Support - Forbes

New York Times

Trump, in Zigzag, Calls House Republicans' Health Bill 'Mean' New York Times WASHINGTON President Trump on Tuesday bluntly derided a House attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act as mean, and in doing so, injected himself in a brewing Senate battle that his fellow Republicans had prayed he would avoid. At a White ... Republicans Won't Utter the Vulgar Phrase Trump Used to Describe Their Health Care BillNewsweek The remarkable steps Republicans are taking to obscure what's in their health-care billWashington Post Of Course Republicans Are Passing Trumpcare in SecretRollingStone.com CNN -Bloomberg -Chicago Tribune -Axios all 670 news articles »

Excerpt from:
Trump, in Zigzag, Calls House Republicans' Health Bill 'Mean' - New York Times