Congressional GOP pledges swift action on Trump's agenda

[webfact]

Congressional GOP pledges swift action on Trump's agenda

By ERICA WERNER

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elated congressional Republicans pledged swift action Wednesday on President-elect Donald Trump's agenda as they heralded an extraordinary new era of unified GOP control in Washington.

 

"He just earned a mandate," House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin declared of Trump. "We are going to hit the ground running."

 

Said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky: "We would like to see the country go in a different direction and intend to work with him to change the course for America."

 

Republicans saw their majorities in the House and Senate reduced, but not by much, as Democrats' hopes of retaking Senate control vanished. And though Ryan and McConnell both had well-publicized reservations about Trump, both were quick to declare that the newly elected president deserved the credit.

 

"Donald Trump pulled off an amazing political feat. He deserves tremendous credit for that," said Ryan, who initially refused to endorse Trump and only last month declared he'd no longer defend him. "It helped us keep our majorities, but it also showed the country that people don't like the direction we were going."

 

First up would be repealing President Barack Obama's health care law, something Republicans have already shown they can get through Congress with just a narrow Senate majority. What they haven't done is unite around a plan for ensuring that the 20 million who achieved health care coverage under the landmark law don't lose it.

 

Republicans also celebrated the opportunity to fill the existing Supreme Court vacancy, and potentially more to come, with "constitutional conservatives." McConnell was being widely praised for his strategy, once seen as risky, of refusing to act on Obama's nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last February.

 

And Republicans pledged to try to unwind any number of executive moves by Obama, including tougher clean air rules on power plants, looser restrictions on travel to Cuba, and tougher rules on sleep for long-haul truckers, among others — "Every single one that's sucking the very life out of our economy," GOP Sen. David Perdue of Georgia said in an interview.

 

That threatened to wipe away key areas of progress highlighted by Democrats under the Obama administration.

 

Some of Trump's goals could be harder to achieve. A wall on the southern border is estimated to cost $10 billion to $20 billion, money that Congress may be unlikely to provide given that cooperation from Democrats would be necessary.

 

Indeed the Senate Democratic minority stood as the only legislative barrier to Trump's goals, since 60 votes are required for most consequential moves in the Senate.

 

Republicans were poised to end up with 52 Senate seats after Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., conceded to Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan in their close race. That assumes the GOP wins a December runoff in Louisiana, as expected. Democrats managed to pick up only one other GOP-held Senate seat, in Illinois, a devastating outcome for a party that went into Election Day with high hopes of holding the White House and winning back Senate control.

 

In the House, Republicans were on track to lose a maximum of nine seats, an unexpectedly modest reduction to a wide GOP majority that now stands at 247-188, including three vacant seats.

 

"We kicked their tails last night," said GOP Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, head of the Republicans' House campaign committee.

Trump's extraordinary win appeared to be going far to heal divisions within the GOP, as even Republicans who'd long harbored doubts about him offered warm pledges of support.

 

Here and there, notes of caution were sounded, as a few Republicans made clear that Congress would be asserting its constitutional prerogatives as a check and balance on the executive, following what Republicans viewed as overly expansive use of executive power by Obama.

 

"It's just our constitutional duty to keep the executive branch in check," GOP Rep. Todd Young, the newly elected Republican senator in Indiana, told reporters in Indianapolis.

 

Yet McConnell appeared to invite executive action by Trump, suggesting he should be exploring what kinds of "unilateral action" he could take — to undo unilateral actions by Obama.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Slodysko in Indianapolis and Matthew Daly and Andrew Taylor in Washington contributed to this report.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-11-10

[Usernames]

Yes, Ryan and McConnell. You had better get with the program or you'll be the next to go.

[geriatrickid]

The GOP agenda will be to delay;

- Criminal prosecution against Trump for his  bogus university

- Release of his tax returns which will most likely show that he hasn't paid income tax for 10 years+ 

- State investigations of   charges arising from the allegations of fraud at the Trump Foundation

- Scrutiny of  conflict of interest related to Trump family exploiting presidency

 

I predict that Trump will be the first President impeached in his first term if he attempts to push his "agenda". Once the US population realizes what it has done, the GOP will be  destroyed in 2 years during Congressional elections.

-

[bassman]

2 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

The GOP agenda will be to delay;

- Criminal prosecution against Trump for his  bogus university

- Release of his tax returns which will most likely show that he hasn't paid income tax for 10 years+ 

- State investigations of   charges arising from the allegations of fraud at the Trump Foundation

- Scrutiny of  conflict of interest related to Trump family exploiting presidency

 

I predict that Trump will be the first President impeached in his first term if he attempts to push his "agenda". Once the US population realizes what it has done, the GOP will be  destroyed in 2 years during Congressional elections.

-

 

You need to catch up, there is no criminal investigation of Trump, university or otherwise.  That is "civil" litigation.

 

According to US law tax returns are not public records and Trump has been relentlessly audited and no wrong doing has been found.  More importantly who unlawfully gave his tax returns to the Clinton campaign?

 

If any foundation needs investigation it is the Clinton Foundation, that used a charitable organization "front" to enrich the Clinton's lifestyle and fund a political machine.  Along with yuuge amounts of foreign "donations" in exchange for access and  US government influence.

 

What do you reckon a Bill or Hillary speech is worth today?  $20, $30 - definitely not the millions while she was Sec of State?

[hawker9000]

5 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

The GOP agenda will be to delay;

- Criminal prosecution against Trump for his  bogus university

- Release of his tax returns which will most likely show that he hasn't paid income tax for 10 years+ 

- State investigations of   charges arising from the allegations of fraud at the Trump Foundation

- Scrutiny of  conflict of interest related to Trump family exploiting presidency

 

I predict that Trump will be the first President impeached in his first term if he attempts to push his "agenda". Once the US population realizes what it has done, the GOP will be  destroyed in 2 years during Congressional elections.

-

"I predict..."

 

Gee, here we go again with the predictions, which, for the last 8 years have been all about the total demise of the Republican Party.  And 2016 was going to be the big general election turnout that was going to do just that.   Well, guess what.  RECORD turnout, and dems lost across the board, including states that were considered solid blue states.   And now like a broken record, we hear it yet again.  "The knives are out."  "Trump is doomed."  "The GOP will be destroyed in 2 years."   Blah blah blah

 

And to make it worse, we're hearing the whole electoral college whine again.  Yeah, out of nearly 120M votes between them, Hillary won the popular vote by what, two hundred thousand?  Well, the Libertarians, who had a ticket consisting of two former Republican governors, grabbed 4 million votes. (The popular vote whiners never seem to mention any of that...)  So want to do a runoff or what?   The popular vote winner has lost the election six times, dating back to 1824.  It wasn't the first time, and won't be the last.  It's a knife that cuts both ways, but if you want to change the rules, change the Constitution ('certainly won't be the first time for that either!).  Otherwise, quit whining.

 

Well here's what I predict.  Some years the Democrats will win.   Some years the Republicans will win.

 

 

[CharlieK]

Ryans hypocrisy from "I won't defend him" to jumping on the bandwagon! business as usual then.

[elgordo38]

8 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

The GOP agenda will be to delay;

- Criminal prosecution against Trump for his  bogus university

- Release of his tax returns which will most likely show that he hasn't paid income tax for 10 years+ 

- State investigations of   charges arising from the allegations of fraud at the Trump Foundation

- Scrutiny of  conflict of interest related to Trump family exploiting presidency

 

I predict that Trump will be the first President impeached in his first term if he attempts to push his "agenda". Once the US population realizes what it has done, the GOP will be  destroyed in 2 years during Congressional elections.

-

Kind of says it all. First they must appoint a Republican friendly Supreme Court judge and then axe Roe vs Wade and then the empowered women of America will flock to the streets much like the suffragete movement. One thing I have learned in life is "never piss women off" Good-bye Planned Parenthood. 

[elgordo38]

Here is the real scary part. The Return of the Dinosaurs/Has Beens  Part 1

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/elections2016whitehouse/preliminary-list-shows-potential-trump-cabinet-picks/ar-AAk76hx?li=AAggNb9

Edited November 10, 2016 by elgordo38

[Grubster]

I hope Trump is man enough to tell these dweebs to step aside and keep their mouths shut. Most all of these idiots on both sides of the isle voted against Trump in the primary and the general election. I hope trump goes after the whole lot of the crooked SOBs. Its a good time to expose them for what they are, He would and could do that on national TV next year if he has the guts. I know, I'm dreaming.

[geriatrickid]

16 hours ago, bassman said:

 

You need to catch up, there is no criminal investigation of Trump, university or otherwise.  That is "civil" litigation.

 

According to US law tax returns are not public records and Trump has been relentlessly audited and no wrong doing has been found.  More importantly who unlawfully gave his tax returns to the Clinton campaign?

 

If any foundation needs investigation it is the Clinton Foundation, that used a charitable organization "front" to enrich the Clinton's lifestyle and fund a political machine.  Along with yuuge amounts of foreign "donations" in exchange for access and  US government influence.

 

What do you reckon a Bill or Hillary speech is worth today?  $20, $30 - definitely not the millions while she was Sec of State?

 

Not me who needs to catch up

in a suit brought by the State of New York, a trial court found Trump was personally liable for running an unlicensed school and must pay restitution to approximately 800 consumers nationwide who took courses after May 31, 2010 from the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative (formerly known as Trump University). In addition, the court authorized Trump's attorneys to take the deposition of more than 5,000 consumers who took courses before that date and for whom New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is seeking restitution under claims of fraud.

The court determined that case argues  Trump and Michael Sexton, the former president of the program, engaged in fraudulent, illegal and deceptive conduct, and that although the program promised to offer courses taught by experts personally selected by Trump, the teachers were neither handpicked nor experts.

 

Trump refused to release his tax return as every other candidate has done because he did not wish to show that he neither paid taxes, nor  supported charitable groups as he had claimed.  No one "gave" his tax returns to Clinton.  Selected  portions of the state tax documents were provided to two journalists. This was not an illegal act as they were state documents, not federal tax documents. The journalists were able to  work with the information and using outside accountants  determine what was done. As well, Trump had to declare his financial assets when he applied for  his shuttered NJ casinos.

 

In respect to  speaking fees, there is nothing surprising in what has been paid. I am attending a conference  where a B rated  entertainer has been aid $50,000 for an hour. What do you think  Newt Gingrich gets for a speech? How about slimy Rudy Giuliani?

 

[geriatrickid]

13 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

"I predict..."

 

Gee, here we go again with the predictions, which, for the last 8 years have been all about the total demise of the Republican Party.  And 2016 was going to be the big general election turnout that was going to do just that.   Well, guess what.  RECORD turnout, and dems lost across the board, including states that were considered solid blue states.   And now like a broken record, we hear it yet again.  "The knives are out."  "Trump is doomed."  "The GOP will be destroyed in 2 years."   Blah blah blah

 

And to make it worse, we're hearing the whole electoral college whine again.  Yeah, out of nearly 120M votes between them, Hillary won the popular vote by what, two hundred thousand?  Well, the Libertarians, who had a ticket consisting of two former Republican governors, grabbed 4 million votes. (The popular vote whiners never seem to mention any of that...)  So want to do a runoff or what?   The popular vote winner has lost the election six times, dating back to 1824.  It wasn't the first time, and won't be the last.  It's a knife that cuts both ways, but if you want to change the rules, change the Constitution ('certainly won't be the first time for that either!).  Otherwise, quit whining.

 

Well here's what I predict.  Some years the Democrats will win.   Some years the Republicans will win.

 

 

 

WRONG. Trump received fewer votes than Romney in the last election. Romney  had 60,934,000 . Know what Trump  got? 59,705,000    Where do you get the idea that it was a record voter turnout when only  55.6% of the electorate voted? That's a lower turnout than in 2008 and 2004.  It was up a point from last election. So where is this record you speak of?

 

The only one who complained about electoral college was Trump; who  four years ago tweeted, "The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy," after Mitt Romney's loss in 2012.

 

The democrats can now do to Trump what McConnell and Cruz and Portman did to Obama and that is to filibuster and refuse to pass appointments. They can disrupt the supreme court and cabinet appointments. The fun is only beginning. 2 more years of   dysfunction until the public tires of Trump and cancels his family including the ties to the Russians. Trump is the Manchurian candidate.

 

 

[Prbkk]

11 hours ago, CharlieK said:

Ryans hypocrisy from "I won't defend him" to jumping on the bandwagon! business as usual then.

 

He's the weakest of pale pink weak sisters. The very thought that he would sit back and come to the party as the preferred candidate in 4 years time: delusional .

[Jingthing]

From the OP:
 

Quote

What they haven't done is unite around a plan for ensuring that the 20 million who achieved health care coverage under the landmark law don't lose it.

Haven't done and won't do. Elections have consequences. Big mistake.

[beechguy]

20 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

From the OP:
 

Haven't done and won't do. Elections have consequences. Big mistake.

What you are witnessing is the collapse of a piss poor plan. A clue was, "we'll have to pass it to know what's in it", Pelosi.

Also, too many people are ignoring the millions that had coverage, but are dropping it because they can no longer afford it.

Edited November 10, 2016 by beechguy

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, beechguy said:

What you are witnessing is the collapse of a piss poor plan. A clue was, "we'll have to pass it to know what's in it", Pelosi.

But the status quo before it was even worse.  The wise thing to do is to reform from the existing plan with a view towards a transition towards nationalized healthcare like almost all civilized nations. American exceptionalism in the case of health care means exceptionally BAD. 

[Prbkk]

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

But the status quo before it was even worse.  The wise thing to do is to reform from the existing plan with a view towards a transition towards nationalized healthcare like almost all civilized nations. American exceptionalism in the case of health care means exceptionally BAD. 

Correct: he can't refer to the forgotten men and women ( "forgotten no longer") without some form of universal healthcare system...it's shameful that the worlds richest country has such an appalling system: with comparatively low life expectancy ( and flattening, even declining) and access to quality care dependent on income rather than need. 

[beechguy]

26 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

But the status quo before it was even worse.  The wise thing to do is to reform from the existing plan with a view towards a transition towards nationalized healthcare like almost all civilized nations. American exceptionalism in the case of health care means exceptionally BAD. 

The wise thing to have done, was to develop a plan that would work, even a universal health care system. But as usual, they did things half assed, and that includes the Republicans. Right or wrong those types of things are the source of the discontent.

[Jingthing]

2 minutes ago, beechguy said:

The wise thing to have done, was to develop a plan that would work, even a universal health care system. But as usual, they did things half assed, and that includes the Republicans. Right or wrong those types of things are the source of the discontent.

But there was a system before and it was not working well either. I agree Obamacare wasn't the final answer but trump intends to trash with his "replace" plan which is 100 percent  WEAK TEA B.S. so in effect back to the pre-Obamacare STATUS QUO. That is NOT moving forward! That's just right wing politics. 

Edited November 10, 2016 by Jingthing

[ClutchClark]

40 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

But there was a system before and it was not working well either. I agree Obamacare wasn't the final answer but trump intends to trash with his "replace" plan which is 100 percent  WEAK TEA B.S. so in effect back to the pre-Obamacare STATUS QUO. That is NOT moving forward! That's just right wing politics. 

JT,

i have not seen specifics on how President-Elect Trump intends to dismantle the ACA but obviously it will not be removed in its entirety. 

 

I do hope some actual specifics will be released over the coming months by the victorious Trump camp.

 

You are correct there were serious problems with pre-ACA healthcare i surance; however, they paled in comparison to the debacle that was brought to us by solely the Democrats which was erroneously (ironically) called the "Affordable" Care Act.

 

It has been a complete and utter failure and was imploding on itself. Trump's underdog victory will simply fast track its demise and allow hard-working Americans the chance to participate once again in a healthcare system they (and their families) had been priced out of. 

 

50% increases for 2017 in several States is thoroughly disgusting.

 

Insurance carriers completely withdrawing from the marketplace is ample evidence to the rational members of American society that the ACA was dead regardless the constant life support obama tried to provide to his flagship legislation.

 

Glad to see you are on here typing and not one of those crazy hillary fanatics attacking Trump supporters and rioting in the streets in what can only be described as a liberal temper tantrum. 

 

;-)

[ClutchClark]

1 hour ago, Prbkk said:

Correct: he can't refer to the forgotten men and women ( "forgotten no longer") without some form of universal healthcare system...it's shameful that the worlds richest country has such an appalling system: with comparatively low life expectancy ( and flattening, even declining) and access to quality care dependent on income rather than need. 

 

I agree it is shameful that a great country like the US does not offer its citizens ready access to healthcare.

 

Ironically, your last sentence on availability being dependent on income is no less true under the ACA than it was before except the ACA made healthcare available to the poor (through large subsidies) while systematically pricing the middle class working families right out of the equation.

 

All obama did was turn healthcare on its head by subsidizing the low income brackets of society while monthly premiums have doubled in 4 years and annual deductables have tripled and for 2017 even quadrupled. What good is an insurance plan with a $12,000 deductable? Pre-ACA we called such plans "catastrophic" coverage only and they cost $150-$200...not $1,000.

 

it was a complete failure from the start and it was ramrodded down American throats by Pelosi and her ilk who bragged there was no time to even read it first.

 

Sadly, we Americans have a long way to go before our children & grandchildren will have equal access to healthcare but the ACA certainly was not it. 

 

And to make criminals of Americans simply because they could not afford to participate was thoroughly UN-American.

 

Sorry this should have been a stand-alone post and is not intended as any sort of argument to you or your position which I largely agree with.

[ClutchClark]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

But there was a system before and it was not working well either. I agree Obamacare wasn't the final answer but trump intends to trash with his "replace" plan which is 100 percent  WEAK TEA B.S. so in effect back to the pre-Obamacare STATUS QUO. That is NOT moving forward! That's just right wing politics. 

 

JT,

 

as obama has so effectively proven by his 8 years in office...we are always better off with Status Quo than letting the Gov't get involved in anything.

 

Obama was the antithesis of the Midas touch to healthcare.

 

 

[NovaBlue05]

The ACA is basically expanded Medicaid at taxpayer expense. It benefits that demographic and the corporate healthcare cartel. Trump needs to have a committee of experts figure out the details of a new workable system or otherwise peel back the layers of the ACA and see what is worth keeping and take it from there

[Jingthing]

Some theories in what will happen with Obamacare. Interesting to those of us that care about this. Of course, speculation at this point. Repeal is easy now, post trump-zit. Replace is hard.

 

Quote

Now that Donald Trump has won the right to gold-plate his name on the White House, Republicans finally have their long-awaited chance to scrap Obamacare and pass their own version of health reform. How exactly they’ll approach that task is still unclear. But it seems safe to bet the process is going to be a struggle for Congress—and very, very ugly for consumers.

 

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/11/14/why_repealing_obamacare_is_going_to_be_a_long_chaotic_mess.html

 

Note -- I had really wanted there to be a dedicated HOME COUNTRY topic on this because it's so life and death for many Americans, but sadly, that didn't work out. Perhaps at a later time when actual laws are changed we can discuss the practical details for Americans dealing with the change on that forum.

 

 

[Jingthing]

More discussion on the future of Obamacare under the trump regime:

 

Quote

 

While it's pretty much a given that the Affordable Care Act won't survive a Trump presidency and Republican Congress in its current form, there are sweeping implications of reversing a law that has reached in so many ways into our health care system. The government has never undone a major benefits program after it has taken effect — and neither the incoming administration nor GOP lawmakers know exactly how they'll replace it.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/11/17/the-ultimate-qa-about-health-care-under-president-trump/#comments