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On Monday, the 85th Texas Legislative session came to a dramatic close: Protests erupted at the Capitol, a Republican lawmaker called Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the floor to deport a group of alleged undocumented immigrants, and House representatives exchanged alleged threats of violence.

The states Legislature meets for only one 140-day session every two years, so its final days are often fast-paced and tense. But the antics this week shouldnt overshadow the fact that the Texas Legislature churns out bills with reliable efficiency. As stagnation and White House scandals continue to hamper policy efforts in Washington, Texas example shows how conservative lawmakers can get a lot of their agenda done, at least at the state level.

Texas is one of 25 states where Republicans have a so-called trifecta of control over the House, the Senate, and the governors mansion. By the end of the whirlwind session, Gov. Greg Abbott had more than 1,200 bills sitting on his desk, awaiting his signature, many advancing conservative causes that can set the tone for other states.

I think we saw the center of gravity moving to the right, James Henson, director of The Texas Politics Project, explained. I think from a national perspective theres no way to look at what happens in the Texas Legislature and not see it as kind of an avatar of conservatism in the country.

So lets take a look at what they did.

The 85th was a session primarily driven by the social agendas of conservative lawmakers, like border security and documentation, abortion, gun licenses, and whether transgender Texans should be able to use the restroom associated with their gender identity.

Senate Bill 4 is probably the most infamous bill signed by Gov. Abbott, and its now one of the harshest immigration laws in the country. Starting in September, the law will allow police to inquire about the immigration status of people they lawfully detain, as well as ban immigrant sanctuary jurisdictions statewide, and levy fines and jail time on local officials who fail to comply with federal authorities and immigration agents.

Texas also pushed through new restrictions on abortion. Senate Bill 8 requires every health care facility or clinic to bury or cremate fetal remains from abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth. Providers are also now banned from a common form of second-term abortion termed dilation and evacuation but provocatively called dismemberment by supporters of the bill.

The Supreme Court struck down Texas last attempt at a sweeping abortion law. In 2013, House Bill 2 required abortion clinics to meet costly, hospital-level standards and caused half the abortion clinics in the state to close down. This years abortion bill concentrates on the fetus, not the clinic, but it is likely to face legal challenges too.

Conservatives successfully got a religious freedom bill through to Abbotts desk, which would allow publicly funded adoption agencies to reject would-be parents whose lifestyles they dont like. Christian groups will now be able to legally keep Muslim, Jewish, unmarried, and LGBT couples from adopting.

At a time when the Trump administration and Republicans in D.C. are struggling despite their majority to execute on much of anything, Texas Republicans are a model of legislative efficiency, passing some of the most conservative bills in the country. Thats thanks in part to a culture of caving to the will of the core electorate they need for re-election.

The conservative wing that is again oriented toward a relatively small Republican primary electorate put the elected officials, particularly less ideologically driven legislators, on the spot and forced votes on issues that a lot of people had hoped to avoid, and that includes some of these issues like the more controversial abortion measures, Henson said.

The result? Moderate Texas Republicans think twice about going against party leadership, and legislation that might seem unimaginable at the national level lands on the Governors desk.

Politicians on the Democratic side of the aisle have little to do but protest. Democratic Sen. Jose Rodriguez of El Paso described the 85th session as one of the toughest in recent memory, as rhetoric and policies filtered down from the Trump administration, which rolled into Washington just as the session began. That said, Rodriguez contends D.C. lawmakers have been less effective than Texas Republicans because of Trumps style of leadership.

I think its no secret that Trumps administration has been disorganized from Day One, he said. I mean, the fact that he hasnt even filled a lot of the positions in the State Department and the other major federal agencies tells you that the government is not able to function at the normal level that it does. Whereas in Texas, remember, the Republican Party has been in control now for over 20 years, and its pretty much the same people of the same stripe that continue governing the state.

Conservatives in Texas didnt get everything they hoped for, including a voucher program in a school finance bill, property tax relief, and Texas very own contentious version of a bathroom bill that would require transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex, not their gender identity.

But they still have a chance. Not every bill that misses the end of the regular session remains dead. Gov. Abbott can call lawmakers back to Austin for as many special legislative sessions as he pleases, and there has been speculation that the bathroom bill could catch a second wind soon. On that final, theatrical day in session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told senators as they adjourned, Normally, I would say Ill see you in 18 months, God willing! But well see you a little sooner than that.

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Texas Republicans pass 1200 bills, show DC how one-party rule works - VICE News

By Martin Wattenberg By Martin Wattenberg May 31 at 5:00 AM

On a recent episode of Saturday Night Live, Colin Jost opened the news segment by saying, Obviously, Trumps not done yet, but lets just say that Mike Pence is definitely warming up in the bullpen. The (presumably liberal) studio audience in New York applauded probably because they believe that any normal Republican would be better than Trump. Indeed, polls show that Democrats prefer Pence over Trump.

The prospect of a vice president preparing to take over the presidency would usually alarm members of the presidents own party. After all, the president won after many primary victories, and should be very popular with the partys voters. By contrast, the vice president is chosen by the presidential candidate with little or no public input, and is less likely to be known to and popular with the rank-and-file.

[Trump threatened Germany over trade. Heres what you need to know.]

But heres whats really surprising: Pence may be in the unusual position of being more popular than Trump not just among Democrats but also among Republicans. In survey data from the fall of 2016, Pence was the first vice presidential nominee in nearly five decades of data collection to be more popular among his own partys voters than the presidential nominee himself.

Vice-President elect Mike Pence said on Tuesday during remarks to the Heritage Foundation that President-elect Donald Trump's administration will "rebuild" the military and vowed to hunt down members of the Islamic State. (The Washington Post)

The chart below shows the average rating on a feeling thermometer a scale from 0 to 100 that rates how cool or warm respondents feel toward a political figure for the victorious presidential and vice presidential candidate among their own partys supporters. These data come from the American National Election Studies surveys conducted in the fall of every presidential election year.

In every year until 2016, the winning presidential candidate was more popular among his fellow partisans than the vice presidential running mate. Only in 1992, when Bill Clinton held just a two-point advantage over Al Gore among Democrats, was the rating even close.

[Thanks to Trump, Germany says it cant rely on the U.S. What does that mean?]

Until last year, when Republicans rated Pence on average six points higher than they rated Trump.

Why? Did ideologically dedicated conservatives prefer Pences consistently conservative track record to Trumps more variable positions? Or did the party faithful prefer the candidate more strongly identified as a Republican?

[How would removing Trump from office affect U.S. democracy?]

No. Neither of those were related to the preference for Pence. So what was? Views of Trumps character.

One question, for example, asked respondents how well the phrase honest described Trump. Respondents could say anything ranging from extremely well to not well at all. Republicans who thought that Trump was extremely or very honest rated him three points higher than Pence. But a quarter of GOP identifiers thought that Trump was only slightly honest or not at all honest; they rated Pence a striking 15 points higher than the president. And I found the same pattern for questions about how even-tempered and knowledgeable Trump is.

Lets note that these data were collected before Trump was elected. After Trump won and took office, many Republicans have rallied around him. GOP leaders like Paul D. Ryan and Mitch McConnell who maintained a cordial distance from Trump during the campaign warmly embraced him. Republicans in the electorate followed suit, with 84 percent approving of the presidents handling of his job in a recent Gallup poll.

But should the presidents character again be seriously questioned, the Republican preference for Pence could easily reappear with a vengeance. The scandals bubbling around the White House could endanger Trumps presidency. Day after day, news stories have been breaking that give voters reason to question the presidents personal character.

[So what exactly counts as an impeachable offense?]

If more Republicans come to think that the president is not honest, knowledgeable or even-tempered, then more will warm to the notion of President Pence.

One of the turning points in President Richard Nixons downfall was when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in a scandal of his own, and congressional leaders insisted on appointing Gerald Ford to replace him. Nixon had joked that no one would try to get rid of him as long as Agnew was next in line. Once the alternative was the trustworthy Ford, the choice between Nixon and his vice president looked quite different.

[Once again, its time to ask: How low can Donald Trumps approval rating go?]

Another major turning point came when seven of the 17 Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee voted to approve an article of impeachment against Nixon. As Republican Lawrence Hogan, father of Marylands current governor, said, The evidence convinces me that my president has lied repeatedly, deceiving public officials and the American people.

If current scandals lead Republicans to reach a similar conclusion about President Trump, many will be quite glad to see Vice President Pence warming up in the bullpen.

Martin Wattenberg is professor of political science at the University of California at Irvine and author of Is Voting for Young People? (Longman, 2007).

Continued here:
Republicans like Pence better than Trump. That's unprecedented. - Washington Post

Ad will collapse in seconds CLOSE May 31, 2017 05/31/2017 8:51 am By Jonathan Chait Share Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Senate Republicans have a huge problem with an extremely simple solution. The problem is that the American Health Care Act increases the number of uninsured by 23 million, mainly because it cuts a trillion dollars out of financing for Medicaid and tax credits for individual insurance in order to finance a big tax cut. They have a very simple solution: Dont use the health-care bill to finance a huge tax cut. Oddly enough, this solution does not seem to have occurred to any of the Republicans working on their partys plan.

A somewhat surreal Politico story from last week reports that Senate Republicans feel intense gloom over their inability to produce a bill that substantially improves upon the negative-23 million insured in the House version. Senate Republicans also arent sure how much they can improve on a score that, in their view, fell far short of an acceptable outcome, the story reports. A very easy step would be to eliminate the tax cuts, thus eliminating the need to reduce spending for insurance for people who cant afford it on their own.

The report also suggests that Senate Republicans are hampered by special rules that force them to match or exceed the deficit reduction in the House bill:

You know what would be an easy way for the Senate bill to find a lot of budget savings? Take out the huge tax cut!

The 24th paragraph of the 26-paragraph-long story floats the possibility of delaying the tax cut. (One option under consideration: Delaying repeal of Obamacares taxes to produce more money to shore up Medicaid coffers and reduce premiums in the short term.) But of course a delay merely puts the problem off rather than resolving it.

The irony here is that Republicans appear to be hampered by a legislative strategy that no longer applies. The original Republican plan called for repealing Obamacare, including the taxes that pay for it, early in 2017. Then Republicans would pass a revenue-neutral tax cut, which offset tax cuts for high-income earners by imposing a border-adjustment tax.

Why didnt Republicans want to just combine both tax cuts into one extremely large tax cut for the rich? Because their plan required that the cost of the tax cuts be offset. The first tax cut for the rich would be offset with cuts to insurance subsidies, and the second offset with tax increases on the middle class. Doing all the tax cuts in one tax bill would require finding even more painful tax increases to offset their cost.

But now, Republicans are starting to realize tax reform that is, tax cuts that are offset by revenue increases elsewhere is a pipe dream. The border-adjustment tax has implacable enemies within the GOP. Theyre not going to find enough new revenue to cover the costs of the taxes they want to cut. Their plausible Plan B is just to pass a big tax cut without paying for its cost. That means they can just repeal the Obamacare taxes in the tax cut bill. They dont need to do it in a separate health-care bill.

Given the parameters Senate Republicans are working within, it is literally impossible for them to write a non-horrific health-care law. Their commitment to eliminating Obamacares taxes in the health-care bill deprives them of the funding they need to provide even bare-bones minimal coverage. And their longstanding party-wide opposition to any new taxes means they cant replace the lost revenue with something else. If they realize they can leave the Obamacare taxes in place, and repeal them in a separate tax-cut bill, they can get a health-care law that isnt a humanitarian disaster and a tax-cut bill that gives rich people some really big tax cuts. They have to realize this eventually, dont they?

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She denies her paid speeches for Wall Street audiences represented special treatment. Its probably true, but hard to prove.

Were increasingly divided between people who think Trumps doing a fine job, and people who think Congress should take steps to impeach him.

Sergeant Hugh Barry was indicted nearly six months after fatally shooting 66-year-old Deborah Danner.

U.S. officials released a video that shows the simulated ICBM being shot down.

The committee issued seven subpoenas Wednesday: four related to the Russia investigation, and three concerning the unmasking controversy.

The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has joined scores of other businesspeople speaking out in favor of the agreement.

She also slagged the DNC and addressed the possibility of running for office again.

Al Franken continues to trash talk his Senate colleague.

The firms knowingly misled doctors and patients about the risks inherent to opioid painkillers, the lawsuit alleges.

As the First Daughter keeps her head down, her dads decisions call into question how much pull she really has.

The president enlists his 11-year-old son Barron to express his outrage in the aftermath of the controversial Kathy Griffin photo shoot.

The right plans to seed damaging narratives about Warren early just as it did with Clinton. But that task will be much harder this time around.

Theresa May figured a snap election would strengthen her hand in Brexit talks. But the Tory lead is shrinking and Jeremy Corbyns doing well.

There is fresh evidence that African-American turnout sagged notably in 2016, and is not rebounding so far in 2017, either.

The former FBI director could appear before the Senate as soon as next week, CNN reports.

Liz Spayd, the papers sixth public editor, will also be its last.

The firm also attempted to hide its role in the film, which constituted the bulk of work it did on behalf of Turkeys government.

After months of deliberation, Trump has reportedly decided to undermine global cooperation on climate change and Americas diplomatic clout.

Who among us?

The student was supposed to be graduating from nursing school, but instead spent two hours stuck underground.

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Senate Republicans Could Save Trumpcare With This One Weird Trick - New York Magazine

GLENDALE, Ariz. Sen. Jeff Flake delivered a stark warning to business leaders eager to learn more about GOP plans to remake the health-care system: Its really hard, and Republicans might not succeed.

There are some still saying that well vote before the August break. I have a hard time believing that, he told about 150 members of the local Chamber of Commerce here this week.

Similarly, when a hospital employee asked about how to save the Medicaid program, Flake said, Were trying to find that balance, and we arent close yet, frankly.

Flake (R-Ariz.) isnt afraid to buck President Trump or to defy the Republican orthodoxy in Washington that the agenda is proceeding apace. He did it last year, refusing to support Trump for president, and hes doing it again now by publicly doubting that the GOP can revamp the nations health-care system.

Few congressional Republicans go as far as Flake, fearful that pro-Trump forces could derail their reelection campaigns next year. And Flake is already paying his own price, drawing a conservative primary opponent and probably earning him the distinction as the GOP incumbent most vulnerable to an intraparty challenge.

If I wanted an easier path through the primary, then I would line up more with where the president is, he said. But I think if youre an elected official, youve got to do what you know whats right. Itll be a tougher path than I could have had, would have had, but I think Ill get there.

Flakes independent streak mirrors that of his fellow Arizona Republican in the Senate John McCain. And its not necessarily out of step with his state: Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton 49 percent to 45 percent the narrowest win for a Republican since 1996, the last year a Democrat, Bill Clinton, won Arizona.

Yet Flake faces challenges that McCain does not notably name recognition. Polling is scant in Arizona, but a survey last fall gave Flake a 35 percent favorability rating, with roughly 30 percent of voters unwilling or unable to render an opinion of him.

In appearances across Phoenix this week, Flake focused on tempering expectations.

Like other Republicans, he wants to drive down health-care costs for consumers, many of whom in Arizona, he said, are spending more each month on health carethan their mortgages. Butmore than a quarter of Arizonans get health-care coverage from Medicaid, leaving many here vulnerable to Trumps proposed $1.4 trillion in cuts to future spending on the program cuts that many Republicans support.

Known as a fiscal conservative eager to slash Medicaid and other entitlements, Flake said he supports the cuts, but only if governors can take more control of the program and if the program remains sustainable so that beneficiariesdont have the rug pulled out from under them.

Thats a tricky balance to strike. Flake faces reelection next year in a state where Democrats are making gains, and Republicans may want him to take a harder line on repealing the Affordable Care Act. Defending just eight seats next year, the GOP isnt expected to lose control of the Senate, but Flake and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) are expected to earn outsize attention from Democrats, who know that these Western states are increasingly tilting purple or blue.

Meanwhile, Kelli Ward, Flakes conservative opponent, called his refusal to support Trump last year treacherous and criticized him for standing against the presidentbefore Donald Trump became the nominee, after he became the nominee and after he became the president.

She also warned that nothing short of a full repeal of Obamacare would be acceptable to many GOP voters.

I wish that over the last seven years that they had been planning for the full repeal that they campaigned on and fundraised upon, said Ward, who mounted an unsuccessful challenge against McCain last year.

Flake has mostly ignored Wards barbs. He plans to hold fundraisers with Mitt Romney on Friday and has already raised money with George W. Bush two GOP leaders who cast doubt on Trump.He touts his work with former president Barack Obama to open up diplomatic relations with Cuba. A co-sponsor of the 2013 bipartisan immigration bill, Flake tells audiences that he believes the issue might be debated again later this year. At odds with Trumps nationalist tendencies, he said Tuesday that were all better off because of globalization and that NAFTA should be renegotiated, not scrapped. And he insists that the only way to fix health care is withbipartisan consensus.

Some are saying: Stand on principle, dont deal with the other side, just ram it through, they did it when they were in charge. But then you have others that say you need to work with the other side, thats the only way it can be done, Flake said. Theres push and pull everywhere. You just do the best you can.

Flake, 54, grew up in Snowflake, Ariz., a town named for his great-great-grandfather. Flake served as a Mormon missionary in South Africa in the 1980s before finding his way to Washington to work at a public relations firm. He moved back to Arizona as head of the Goldwater Institute and won a House seat in 2000.His perpetual tan and Jimmy Stewart demeanor earned him national attention when he escaped alone to a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean during a 2009 congressional recess.

[From 2013: 1 senator, 2 sons, 4 days, 1 deserted island. Jeff Flakes escapes again to the Pacific]

In 2012, Flake won his Senate seat and now serves in the long shadow of the states senior senator, McCain.During a stop Tuesday at the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Tonopah, Ariz., Flake told workers that on a recent flight home to Phoenix on a plane that was also carrying McCain, he sat next to a woman who had no idea he also serves in Congress.

The guy sitting in front of me finally leaned back and said, Hey lady, hes the OTHER senator from Arizona! Flake said.

Updating the workers on events in Washington, Flake lamented that after years of congressional gridlock, We havent regulated the regulators, allowing federal agencies to impose what he considers burdensome policies on the energy sector and other industries. Heexplained that the Senate is kind of in the personnel business, stuck confirming hundreds of Trump administration appointees. He said that Trump has assembled a pretty good Cabinet. Hes surrounded himself with a good group of people.

But he was more critical of Trump during a private tour of the plant. Riding in a van to inspect a nuclear waste site and reactor, Flake heard pleas to ensure thatKristine L. Svinicki, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, gets reappointed before her term expires at the end of June. If her term ends, the agency that regulates nuclear power would be paralyzed without a quorum.

Flake told Donald Brandt, the plants chief executive, and Robbie Aiken, its Washington-based government affairs vice president, that he believes that Democratic objections to Trump nominees will start to ease as the Senate moves to confirming deputy secretaries and less controversial appointees.But he said that Trump owes Congress hundreds of nominees for political jobs.

We cant hold oversight hearings because we cant call anybody up to testify, he said.

[Tracking how many key positions Trump has filled so far]

Read more at PowerPost

Here is the original post:
Do Republicans who criticize Trump face peril? Jeff Flake is about to find out. - Washington Post

WASHINGTON House Republicans who vowed months ago to combat climate change have found themselves at odds with the most prominent member of their party:President Donald Trump.

Trump is reportedly close to announcing that he will withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement, which is aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. If Trump does pull out of the pact, it would make the U.S. one of only three countries to not be included in the historic agreement.

Three months ago, 17 House Republicans introduced a resolution attempting to steer debate away from whether climate change is real, and promising to do something about greenhouse gas emissions. There is also a Climate Solutions Caucus with 34 members, including 17 Republicans but thats not enough to push through any kind of substantial climate change legislation in the House.

Four of the Congress members who signed the resolution spoke against Trumps reported decision on Wednesday. Others remained silent, and a few said they would not comment until the president had formally announced that the U.S. would withdraw.

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), who helped draft the resolution, said the Climate Solutions Caucus would need to amp up its efforts to get lawmakers behind policies to help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

Rep. Pat Meehan (R-Pa.) said the U.S. would fall behind on the world stage if Trump backed out of the pact, which nearly 190 nations signed.

If these reports are accurate, its disappointing, Meehan said in an emailed statement. The result will be diminished American leadership and influence as the world works together to combat climate change.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) also said the U.S. should work to fight climate change around the world.

Rep. David Reichert (R-Wash.) issued the most detailed statement in response to the reports.

The Paris Accord gives the United States a global platform to be a leading voice on international issues impacting our economy, security, and the environment, he said. Withdrawing from the agreement would cause us to lose this influence. I have always believed stewardship of our environment and sound economic policy are not mutually exclusive.

The caucus appeared to gain support from a few other Republicans in the House.

The White House wouldnt confirm or deny reports that Trump plans to back out of the climate deal. The president said Wednesday that people will find out very soon what hes decided.

Im hearing from a lot of people, both ways, Trump said, according to a White House pool report. Both ways.

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Republicans Who Support Combating Climate Change Urge Trump To Stay In Paris Deal - HuffPost