“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says Yahweh Sabaoth. (Zechariah 4: 6)
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Politico—Trump’s team eager to woo Democrats on tax reform:
When Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin launched his outreach earlier this month to lawmakers on an overhaul to the country’s tax system, one of his first meetings was with the newly created Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of 20 Democrats and 20 Republicans trying to vote together on issues such as taxes and infrastructure.
While the meeting did not produce any firm commitments, Mnuchin’s decision to prioritize the group in the early stages is just one sign that the White House, stung by its initial defeat on health care, is taking a starkly different legislative strategy for taxes.
Trump has tasked Mnuchin, one of the administration’s most liberal members, with making many of the pitches on the issue, and has told Mnuchin and others he wants moderate Republicans and Democrats on board, several people familiar with the conversations say. Administration officials say Trump — who is transactional and strongly wants to get to yes — didn’t appreciate the dynamics of the House Freedom Caucus on health care and is eager to build a bipartisan coalition for tax reform. And Marc Short, the president’s legislative affairs director, has begun inviting Democrats to the White House.
Several administration officials also explained in interviews that they were disappointed with the legislative efforts on health care — and want to change their tack from negotiating heavily with conservatives and leaving the bill-writing to Speaker Paul Ryan. “We learned a lot,” one senior administration official said, comparing it to Trump’s loss in the Iowa presidential primary.
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SnyderTalk Comment:
In a previous SnyderTalk editorial, I criticized the House Freedom Caucus for its intransigence during the attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare in the House of Representatives. I said,
On Saturday, [White House chief of staff Reince] Priebus “warned rebellious conservative lawmakers that they should get behind President Donald Trump’s agenda or he may bypass them on future legislative fights, including tax reform.” That’s what needed to be said. Priebus may be a player.
Conservatives in the House refused to budge thereby dooming healthcare reform. They wanted more than the majority of Republicans in the House were willing to give. They preferred Obamacare instead, and that’s what they stuck us with. If they don’t get in the game, they will become as useless as tits on a bull and will be ignored completely.
About 90% of House Republicans supported the legislation. In other words, the House Freedom Caucus is a very small minority in its own political party, but since House Democrats voted against the repeal and replace legislation as a block, the Freedom Caucus doomed the bill.
Using poker jargon, the House Freedom Caucus overplayed its hand.
This is Politics 101: when you are a fringe group, especially when you are a fringe group within your own party, you negotiate for changes at the margin. If you do that consistently over time, those changes at the margin add up to a lot of influence. If at the same time you grow the size of your group, you can ask for and receive changes to legislation that are even more to your liking.
The House Freedom Caucus ignored that rule, doomed repeal and replace, saved Obamacare for the time being, continued to pour federal tax dollars into Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading provider of abortions, and most important of all, forced President Trump to look to Democrats for support to advance his agenda.
All the high-minded talk about sticking to their principles and refusing to accept flawed legislation is baloney. By sticking to their principles, the House Freedom Caucus put at risk the lives of unborn children, saddled American consumers with healthcare insurance premiums that are too high, and gave a helping hand to House Democrats whose agenda is diametrically opposed to the House Freedom Caucus agenda.
Stated simply, the House Freedom Caucus did a lot of damage and hurt their own cause.
As for the argument that the repeal and replace legislation is not perfect, so what. No legislation is perfect, not even the bill that the Freedom Caucus prefers. That’s why all legislation changes over time.
Using a commonly accepted political term, I am a “conservative” on social issues and fiscal issues. I hate the word “conservative” because I don’t see views on social/moral issues as being “liberal” or “conservative”. They are either right or wrong/better or worse.
Although there is more room for debate where fiscal issues are concerned, I think there are right or wrong/better or worse answers to most questions about what is in the best interest of our country fiscally, too.
Take national debt, for instance. By spending foolishly and pretending that the national debt doesn’t matter, members of the House and Senate and the presidents who supported their extravagant spending behavior have put our nation’s security at risk and saddled taxpayers with interest payments that are mind-bogglingly high into the foreseeable future. Those facts will become obvious to everyone when interest rates return to normal.
As I used to tell my strategy students, you can’t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime, and you can’t stop a runaway train by standing in the middle of the tracks and yelling “halt”. It’s time for House and Senate Republicans to grow up. While I support their agenda, I don’t support the way they are attempting to bring it about.
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“If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7: 14)
Change that Yahweh calls “good” begins in the hearts of believers—people who are recognizable because they are different.
We are different because we belong to Him and are called by His Name. We are Yahweh’s people, His followers.
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His Name is Yahweh, the website, is a companion of the book His Name is Yahweh.
To download His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition for free in PDF format, click on the title below:
- His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition in PDF format
His Name is Yahweh has been downloaded and shared in congregations all over the world. Please take advantage of this opportunity to read and share essential information about Yahweh.
You have my permission to copy and print His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition as many times as you want. Please, don’t sell it. Give it away.
To purchase His Name is Yahweh: Revised Edition in paperback or in eBook, click here.
To see videos that explain the importance of Yahweh’s Name, click here.
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SnyderTalk Comment:
According to Jim Jordan, the most important lesson we should learn from the healthcare fiasco in the House is “don’t attempt to pass a bill that only 17% of the country approves of”.
Only a small fraction of 1% or the people in this country have a clue what is in that legislation. Since ordinary Americans don’t know what’s in the bill, their approval or disapproval is not the key issue. It’s the job of members of Congress and the president to explain what’s in the bill. Political support goes to the group that does the best job of explaining.
In the end, the House Freedom Caucus saved the Democrats’ bacon.
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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)
See “His Name is Yahweh”.
