Unfortunately, President Trump is taking the defeat of Speaker Paul Ryan’s healthcare bill personally, lashing out, not only at the House Freedom Caucus, but at the Club For Growth and the Heritage Foundation (WP). I can’t imagine that this sits well with thousands of Heritage Action Sentinels who represent a powerful grassroots lobbying force. Attacking the Heritage Foundation is like putting up a giant neon sign over the White House declaring “Conservatives, Away With You!”
Trump’s tweets bashing conservatives for supporting Planned Parenthood wasn’t off the cuff, as his surrogates have been flocking to national cable media to drive that ridiculous narrative home. So, it is clear that conservatives won’t have a place in legislation under Ryan, McConnell, and Trump – which is what all the libertarians, constitutionalists, and conservatives were saying would happen if we nominated Donald Trump in the first place. Don’t expect things to improve.
However, this is far worse for Speaker Ryan than it is for Donald Trump. Every week we get more great news out of the White House as President Trump continues to wash away the stain of eight years of President Obama’s executive orders. He doesn’t need conservatives for that. However, Speaker Ryan (and President Trump to some extent) are going to want to get tax and regulatory reform through and that will require working with fiscal conservatives in the House and Senate.
McConnell and Ryan are going to have to work with the likes of Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Ben Sasse, Mark Meadows, Dave Brat, and Tom Garrett if they want to get any legislation the conservative base supports to the President’s desk. These conservative, freedom-loving representatives aren’t just going to sign onto legislation that sounds conservative. They want to vote for legislation that actually is conservative. Congressman Brat has been sounding the alarm on our fiscal solvency for years now. Congress would be wise to listen to its only economist.
Yet, President Trump has complicated the issue by bullying the very people who supported much of what Trump ran on in the general election. Not smart, Donald. Not smart.
The only danger for conservatives is that getting completely shut out of the legislative process forces Speaker Ryan to look to the Democrat Party for help and the Democrats absolutely will not help unless they get more than they give. Trump could end up signing legislation that the Republican Base will hate him for in four years. Not good, Donald. Not good.
Where’s that wall? But I digress.
The truth is, President Trump isn’t going to be friendly to the conservatives or constitutionalists on the right, but if the Republican Leadership in Congress is able to put bills on the floor that the entire Republican Caucus can vote for, Trump will sign them – a Democrat President wouldn’t. So, we’ve still got far more opportunities than we’ve had in a long time. That’s a good thing.
The next four years might be rough for conservative Republicans, but it’ll be far better than it was the last eight years. We might only get 5% of what we hoped for with a Republican President, but that’s 5% more than we would have had otherwise. It’ll be easy to get angry with our President; holding politicians to their campaign rhetoric is always apt to cause red cheeks and clenched fists. However, we must simply accept this reality and soldier on, just as we did during the last eight years. Maybe there just aren’t enough conservatives in the House or Senate to govern conservatively. We’ll have to try and change that in the years to come.
34 comments
I wish Trump wouldn’t attack those who should be his allies, but, really, who cares? We’re just going to have to get used to that. I think the keys to prospering under Trump are to focus on the good he does (and there is some of that), ignore the childish tweets (which aren’t going to change), and get the job done. Put together a good healthcare bill, put it on Trump’s desk, and clap when he signs it. Don’t wait for his leadership. Don’t even bother negotiating with him. He doesn’t have a vote in Congress. He’ll sign what you pass. Get it done.
The Leftist items that Trump can eliminate with the stroke of the pen have been cut down. That’s good. But legislation is much more difficult and the President is now finding this out (its harder to build than destroy). He needs to get hundreds of people on board that report to nobody other than their own districts. He has no authority over them.
Trump will continue to be two steps forward and one step back. But, as this post alludes to, that is good enough. It is better than standing there for 8 years with Republican majorities and accomplishing nothing.
If Trump pulls in Democrats to get some items accomplished and the GOPe sides with him, then we will see exactly what we’ve been discussing here at TBE for the better part of a year: the fusion of GOPe and Democrats.
Not being an ideologue, Trump won’t really care who he sides with as long as this deal gets done this time. If he sides with Democrats, so be it. If he sides with conservatives, so be it. I find it ironic that, in this sense, Trump is more political than any other modern politician. He’s sees politics as the art of the possible and doesn’t loyally side with anyone.
That fourth paragraph really hits the nail on the head. He is looking only to drive the result, Too many party politicians today look to the packaging first and the outcome second. They look at Trump’s working SOP and can’t grasp how a state Stalinist could work with a capitalist free trader because to far to many of today’s representatives of the people the vehicle they claim to represent is far and away more important then any result delivered.
Trump is a denizen of the corporate world where delivering results (in the corporate case profits) is the sole focus. Ideology, orthodoxy, are a distant secondary consideration and count for absolutely nothing if you continually fail to deliver. Not only does the beltway not understand this approach those that have a faint glimmer of it’s degree of actual accountability are scare to death of the consequences of it. Being held accountable is nothing you ever heard expressed in any political slogan..
“scared to death of the consequences of it”
Yep. That is one reason they loath Trump. NOBODY in DC wants to be accountable for anything.
Toldy’all.
Yup
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What political capital? What allies?
He trusted Team GOP led by Ryan and they couldn’t legislate their way out of a paper bag.
President Trump accurately points out — if you don’t fix it, you’re going to get Obamacare and all its warts until you do fix/repeal/replace/nuke from orbit.
How much of the GOP was/is loyal to him, what do you freaking expect?
So far he hasn’t done anything to try and “fix” Obamacare.
All he’s done is support a replacement that was 98% as bad.
The President is not Congress, Congress is not the President. When there has to be a caucus for ‘freedom,’ that kind of tells you what you’re working with.
I still prefer a Republic to Executive Orders and Continuing Resolutions.
If Congress can’t come up with something to fix what they wrought, how do you expect the President to do so?
Come on how you remember all those dyed in the wool “allies” that were there helping Trump (and his acknowledge supporters) along in the avalanche of hate spitting and name calling pre and post nomination up to and including of course their failure to jimmy the Republican nomination convention to remove his massive primary win out from underneath him because it was the right thing to do morally e.g. cheat the voters out of their votes- lol). Go back and read those old “Brodies” although it’s a little unfair to pick him out alone because he has plenty of so called Republican company. I only point him out because of his recent “Jesus told me so article” and how he has really changed and found the light. Frankly it looks like the same old crap to me but now blessed by a higher authority or so he claims.
Keep this up and you’ll take away my TBE most-blocked commenter award.
Pfft, like any of this matters. Per Rocinante, he beat Hillary that’s conservative enough…..
The job that no Republican could do.
Which would at least imply that while the Republicans may be “winners” (yippee), they are in fact not, nor interested, in being a bastion of conservatism. Say it with me, the Republican Party cares more about winning than doing what’s best for the Country. Kind of like, that other party……
Yes, if you want the parties focused on losing, that would be Libertarian, Constiturion, and Tea.
Is it too much to ask for a party to win AND be able govern?
What’s gained by winning for the sake of winning if the end result is no different?
Yippe, Republicans won….
Apparently so.
If you don’t win, that means you have not made the case to the people that you and your ways are superior.
The losing parties have discovered that they can get 80% of the spoils simply by faux opposition.
This practice is only possible with a politically neutered party base.
Hence the eternal struggle between establishment and challengers.
Trump flipping the table gives us a chance to replace the rats with less malleable appointeds & electeds.
Trump is about one wrong bill away from One And Done.
If you believe that then your pulling for either Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, a yet again recycled Hillary Clinton on 7×24 medical alert or Paul Ryan. Or you are still holding out for the Cruz fanasity if he survives reelection top the Senate. I have three words to all of that “NO THANK YOU”.
Then Trump had better start standing with the people who elected him, instead of the fake friends on Capitol Hill.
Trump is wrong on this and it is a stupid narrative anyway. He needs to be working with the conservatives and the Freedom Caucus because he is far more likely to get their support for most of his policy initiatives (like regulatory reform) than he would Ryan and company’s.
Mo Brooks just last night introduced a real, full repeal bill that is two sentences long and Rand Paul has some great ideas for free market replacement. That is what he needs to get behind.
Rand Paul’s bill would have been a huge improvement over Obamacare/Obamacare Lite.
But it would increase competition and lower premiums, the insurance companies don’t want to do either of those things.
Mo Brooks bill followed by Rand Paul’s is my preferred method. Mo Brooks offers a clean and complete repeal and then we can come in with market based reforms.
Please explain for us how MO’s bill would get through the Senate in reconciliation? They do not have 60 votes. Reconciliation can be stretched, but, not that much. MO’s bill would just end up in court.
It doesn’t need to get through reconciliation. The Republicans have the power to change the rules any time they want so that only a majority is required to pass any legislation and, even if they choose not to, just making the Democrats actually filibuster (instead of just voting as if they would) will accomplish the same thing over a longer period of time. The filibuster as it is written cannot actually stop legislation… it can only delay it. So make them actually talk non-stop until they drop and then hold the vote after they have used up all of their debate opportunities.
This isn’t President Trump’s call these bill’s will or will not see the light of day based on House Speaker Ryan and his leadership team moving them through committee or not. They hande the what, when and how bills get put on the docket for floor debate and vote. The president (any president) doesn’t drive that process. and NEVER has at any point in our constitutional history. This is in the hands of the Republican majority that we sent to Congress both conservative and non conservative to enact or neglect. Frankly, based on past history, neglect is their preference of choice too often.
How that comes to lay at President Trump’s feet is more then a little disingenuous. OK, he should cease blaming everyone in sight, but as regards fault, I don’t see how you constitutionally lay this one at his feet unless you don’t understand how the Republic legislatively works or you are working a personal political agenda.
Trump has been a huge disappointment so far.
He’s basically a more sardonic, a-hole version of John McCain.
Yeah, but the EOs are awesome. Credit where it’s due.
Also, Tillerson is kicking anti-Israel butt in the UN.
Equally impressed with that non-nbC Nikki Haley.
It’s only a matter of time before the court will step in on this EO BS of both party’s. You cannot run a country anywhere but in the ground with this back and forth BS.
Today the Senate pulled back the wrapper on internet privacy. I do not want those Wall St. bastards worrying me all time trying to peddle some of their Chinese made junk on me. Trump is expected to sign the bill. Since Trump got in, the scam artists have thrown the do not call list in the trash can. The phone rings all the time.
True
I’m sure the alternative would have been worse.
I’d feel more simpatico if you and the others were with him in the first place.
None of the Trumpites in the trenches are anything but not tired of winning.
Politics always disappoints. Lower your expectations and VA Republicans will seem like the Founders.