So-called fiscal hawk Republican Jodey Arrington (TX-19) won't run in 2026, says Trump is committed to reversing the curse of public debt but doesn't know where the president is lol

 

Let me tell you where you are, Jodey. 

Four months after you passed the Big Ugly Bill under reconciliation rules, rules which Mike Crapo in the Senate turned on their head, you are a whisker away from another $2 trillion in debt added to the public debt since July 4th.

Jodey's just puttin' lipstick on the pig and saying, See ya! 

 

... Arrington said he had faith Republicans in Washington would pick up his mantle of fiscal hawkishness, or as he's often called it, "reversing the curse" of public debt.

"The president's committed to it, he talks about it all the time. He's actually doing something about it with very difficult decisions, not politically popular decisions. This is all about political will," Arrington said. "Trump's doing it. Mike Johnson is committed to it… And we have a growing number of fiscal hawks who are absolutely dogged on this issue."

But he said he would continue to push for further fiscal reforms for his remaining year on Capitol Hill, including another budget reconciliation bill to follow up on the big, beautiful bill.

"I don't know where the Senate Republicans are. I don't know where the president is and can't speak for the White House. But the House is at the ready," Arrington said. "It's been our most consequential tool to support the president and the strength of the country, and I don't see any reason we wouldn't utilize it to its fullest extent."

More. 

House Republican Chip Roy (TX-21) says the current policy baseline tax assumption of Republican Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho is a load of crap

Chip Roy is right.

The expiring temporary tax cuts of Donald Trump had a cost in 2017, and if renewed they'll still have a cost, which is obvious to everyone with a brain except Mike Crapo and his supporters.

All the focus for Chip Roy is on reducing the spending side, instead of on increasing the revenue side, as is usual with the GOP budget hawks. They never really reduce spending, however, and the deficits get bigger as a result.

Meanwhile it's amusing to watch how today's Republicans are turning themselves into pretzels just to keep the temporary Trump tax code from expiring and reverting back to the Bush tax cuts, most of which were made permanent by John Boehner and Barack Obama.

Reverting would actually be smarter than what we are going to get, which will be more unaffordable tax cuts and bigger deficits and $50 trillion in debt by 2034.

Even Trump knows this, coming out as he did just a few days ago for . . . the Bush tax cuts.

He specifically recommended adding the old 39.6% additional compromise bracket for the rich agreed to by Boehner and Obama on January 2, 2013.

Trump is a redistributionist, after all. He said so just recently.

He knows he has to pay for what he wants to give away to people. And his idea is to soak the rich to pay for it, just like any good Democrat would do.

I say go ahead. Make my day.

 

The 2014 tax brackets, showing the added 39.6% bracket on high incomes

Republican Senator Mike Crapo is full of Orwellian crap, says extending the Trump tax cuts which increased deficits by $1.7 trillion won't keep increasing deficits

 

 If you're not changing the tax code, you're simply extending current policy—you are not increasing the deficit. The bottom line here is that it's a $4.3 trillion tax increase, not a $4.3 trillion deficit increase. 

-- Mike Crapo 

Most of the tax cuts passed by Republicans during President Donald Trump’s first term, in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA), which raised deficits by $1.7tn, are set to expire at the end of 2025. ... Without new legislation, current law requires tax rates to return to their pre-TCJA levels. Maintaining the current policy would cost nearly $5tn in lost revenue over the next 10 years. 

-- Oren Cass

Passing economic legislation through the US Senate can by-pass the 60-vote rule if the legislation does not increase deficits beyond 10 years. 

The total public debt has ballooned by over $16 trillion under the Trump tax cuts.

If you thought the GOP pretending that Ukraine started the war with Russia was nuts, behold Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho who wants to pretend that Trump's 2017 tax law wasn't passed under reconciliation rules

 

 Honest to God, these people are clowns.

Republicans consider major budget change to obscure deficit impact of extending Trump’s tax cuts

... Extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Trump signed into law in 2017, would cost $4.6 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the official nonpartisan scorekeeper.

That’s under the “current law” metric that has traditionally been used, as the tax cuts are slated to expire at the end of this year. But Senate Republicans want to use a different scoring method called the “current policy” baseline, which would assume that extending tax cuts costs $0 because they’re already law.

The chair of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, endorsed the “current policy” approach, telling reporters that it “recognizes that extending current law does not change the tax policy, does not reduce tax revenue.”

Congressional GOP aides say the idea could have a huge impact on what they’re able to pass in the budget bill. If they use the current accounting process, they have no chance of making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, because that would require paying for it. And this process would also be key to unlocking Trump’s other tax proposals, like slashing taxes on tips and overtime pay. ...

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., said it would set a “terrible” precedent if Republicans adopt that budgeting approach.

He said it would be a backdoor way to nuke the filibuster and take an anything-goes approach to the reconciliation process, which Congress can use once per fiscal year to evade the 60-vote rule in the Senate for changes to spending and taxes. The process imposes significant constraints, like needing to pay for long-term laws that add to the U.S. debt.

“My advice is: If they adopt that policy, we should advise the American people to forget about their credit card debt,” Neal said. “You wouldn’t have to analyze revenue and expenditure.” ...

The budget framework passed this week by the GOP House is guaranteed to raise the national debt by $19 trillion in 10 years, which means we'll be $60 trillion in the hole by 2035. 

All the shenanigans and pretending and make believe used over the years to get us to the current point of $36 trillion in debt, trotted out yet one more time aren't going to stop us from a date with $60 trillion in debt.

 

WE ARE NOT A SERIOUS COUNTRY.

The Republican Party is infested with 123 members of the House and Senate who want tens of thousands more foreign workers let in to take US jobs

Story.

• Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD)
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
• Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC)
• Sen. James Risch (R-ID)
• Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK)
• Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
• Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)
• Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
• Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)
• Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
• Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
• Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
• Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY)
• Sen. John Thune (R-SD)
• Sen. James Lankford (R-OK)
• Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
• Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)
• Sen. Todd Young (R-IN)
• Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
• Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
• Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
• Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)
• Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
• Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS)
• Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
• Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD)
• Rep. Jack Bergman (R-MI)
• Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH)
• Rep. John Curtis (R-UT)
• Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN)
• Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA)
• Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC)
• Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AZ)
• Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI)
• Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI)
• Rep. Van Taylor (R-TX)
• Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
• Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI)
• Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
• Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL)
• Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA)
• Rep. Darren Soto (R-FL)
• Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD)
• Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO)
• Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS)
• Rep. Peter King (R-NY)
• Rep. Roger Marshall (R-KS)
• Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN)
• Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL)
• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
• Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ)
• Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA)
• Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA)
• Rep. Ralph Abraham (R-LA)
• Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA)
• Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA)
• Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC)
• Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA)
• Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC)
• Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL)
• Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA)
• Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI)
• Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-ND)
• Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS)
• Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH)
• Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH)
• Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX)
• Rep. David Joyce (R-OH)
• Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH)
• Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS)
• Rep. French Hill (R-AR)
• Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV)
• Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH)
• Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO)
• Rep. Billy Long (R-MO)
• Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH)
• Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)
• Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
• Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY)
• Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY)
• Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)
• Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)
• Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR)
• Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)
• Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)
• Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA)
• Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO)
• Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA)
• Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO)
• Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS)
• Rep. Greg Murphy (R-NC)
• Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH)
• Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
• Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN)
• Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI)
• Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
• Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT)
• Rep. David McKinley (R-WV)
• Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)
• Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH)
• Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI)
• Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
• Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX)
• Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL)
• Rep. Susan Brooks (R-IN)
• Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)
• Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX)
• Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL)
• Rep. Fred Keller (R-PA)
• Rep. Rob Woodall (R-GA)
• Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL)
• Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL)
• Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX)
• Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)
• Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA)
• Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)
• Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL)
• Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX)
• Rep. John Carter (R-TX)
• Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID)
• Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH)
• Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA)

McConnell reportedly set to bring full repeal bill like HR 3762 to a vote in the Senate

Here and here for the story.

There were 52 "Yeas" for the HR 3762 Obamacare repeal bill in the Senate on December 3, 2015 out of 54 Republicans, which Obama subsequently vetoed. It was the only repeal bill ever to reach Obama's desk:

Alexander of Tennessee

Ayotte of New Hampshire (seat lost to Democrats in 2016)

Barrasso of Wyoming

Blunt of Missouri

Boozman of Arkansas

Burr of North Carolina

Capito of West Virginia

Cassidy of Louisiana

Coats of Indiana (Todd Young)

Cochran of Mississippi

Corker of Tennessee

Cornyn of Texas

Cotton of Arkansas

Crapo of Idaho

Cruz of Texas

Daines of Montana

Enzi of Wyoming

Ernst of Iowa

Fischer of Nebraska

Flake of Arizona

Gardner of Colorado

Graham of South Carolina

Grassley of Iowa

Hatch of Utah

Heller of Nevada

Hoeven of North Dakota

Inhofe of Oklahoma

Isakson of Georgia

Johnson of Wisconsin

Lankford of Oklahoma

Lee of Utah

McCain of Arizona

McConnell of Kentucky

Moran of Kansas

Murkowski of Alaska

Paul of Kentucky

Perdue of Georgia

Portman of Ohio

Risch of Idaho

Roberts of Kansas

Rounds of South Dakota

Rubio of Florida

Sasse of Nebraska

Scott of South Carolina

Sessions of Alabama (Luther Strange)

Shelby of Alabama

Sullivan of Alaska

Thune of South Dakota

Tillis of North Carolina

Toomey of Pennsylvania

Vitter of Louisiana (John Neely Kennedy)

Wicker of Mississippi.

There were two Republican "Nays":

Collins of Maine, who is still there

Kirk of Illinois, who lost his seat to the Democrats.

Now out of 52 Republicans in the Senate we have 48 votes this time for repeal that we had last time, plus 3 Republican freshman in the Senate to pressure to vote for repeal, which would bring the total to 51, assuming Collins of Maine again votes "Nay".

We'll see if they have the guts.

Ann Coulter: Trump's VP needs to give him impeachment insurance, that's all

Here:

Among the possibilities Trump ought to be considering are people like Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo (the latter two are up for re-election this year, but perhaps they can run for both offices simultaneously).

Yeah, I can't imagine a President Kobach, a President Brown, a President McCrory or a President Crapo, either.

Although the current president is pretty crappy.

Mm mm no good, Mm mm no good . . .

US Senate votes 56-40 last night just before 10PM to approve Cromnibus spending bill

The 40 votes against this p.o.s. illustrate the minority which represents what passes for the extreme wings of the two political gangs which tyrannize this country:

22 Democrats

Blumenthal (D-CT)
Booker (D-NJ)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hirono (D-HI)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Levin (D-MI)
Manchin (D-WV)
Markey (D-MA)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Reed (D-RI)
Sanders (I-VT)
Tester (D-MT)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

18 Republicans

Corker (R-TN)
Crapo (R-ID)
Cruz (R-TX)
Flake (R-AZ)
Grassley (R-IA)
Heller (R-NV)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lee (R-UT)
McCain (R-AZ)
Moran (R-KS)
Paul (R-KY)
Portman (R-OH)
Risch (R-ID)
Rubio (R-FL)
Scott (R-SC)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Vitter (R-LA)

Four senators decided showing up wasn't worth it:

Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Inhofe (R-OK)

These are the 24 Republican traitors to fiscal conservatism who voted for the bill:

Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Burr (R-NC)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Fischer (R-NE)
Graham (R-SC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kirk (R-IL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Wicker (R-MS)

And these the 32 Democrats:

Baldwin (D-WI)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Coons (D-DE)
Donnelly (D-IN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Hagan (D-NC)
Heinrich (D-NM)
Heitkamp (D-ND)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaine (D-VA)
King (I-ME)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murphy (D-CT)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Walsh (D-MT)
Warner (D-VA).

Screwing the American people is a bipartisan affair, but leans Democrat 1.3:1.

Spineless Republicans Cave On Cordray Nomination, CFPB Spying On Citizens

Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), John McCain (Ariz.), Rob Portman (Ohio), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted with Democrats to confirm Cordray. ... Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee ... pointed out that Republicans want to replace Cordray's director position with a bipartisan “board of directors with staggered terms.” He also expressed concern over recent reports that the bureau is conducting “unprecedented data collection.” “The CFPB [Consumer Protection Financial Bureau] is collecting credit card data, bank account data, mortgage data and student loan data,” Crapo said ahead of the vote. “This ultimately allows the CFPB to monitor a consumer’s monthly spending habits.”

More here, if you need to puke.

Sen. Harry Reid wins.

Mormons in Congress as of January 2011

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah

Sen. Tom Udall, D-New Mexico

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah

Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona

Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nevada

Rep. Wally Herger, R-California

Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah

Rep. Buck McKeon, R-California

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho