Trump's way forward for the Republican Party

You can't guide a flock if it won't follow. So maybe it's time to cull the flock, to wit:

1. Take names from the House medical care-overhaul fiasco.

2. Raise a financial war chest.

3. Fund candidates in primary contests who'll back your agenda. If that means fewer conservatives and more populists, then so be it.

That's how you build a party in your image.

Ahlevah said:

You can't guide a flock if it won't follow. So maybe it's time to cull the flock, to wit:

1. Take names from the House medical care-overhaul fiasco.

2. Raise a financial war chest.

3. Fund candidates in primary contests who'll back your agenda. If that means fewer conservatives and more populists, then so be it.

That's how you build a party in your image.

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You really think the GOP "warchest" will ever be bigger than the koch brothers? Also considering the bill was a bad deal to begin with and trump (you know the guy who endorsed the bill) and the GOP have NOTHING. Trump and Ryan had their balls handed to them over their egos.

Well, the nation still has Obamacare and that is a lot of what put a lot of republicans in congress to begin with.

So in 2018, we'll see how the voters feel after another round of increases.

chuckiechan said:

Well, the nation still has Obamacare and that is a lot of what put a lot of republicans in congress to begin with.

So in 2018, we'll see how the voters feel after another round of increases.

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When voters remember who was given the responsibility to fix it and failed?

Praxas said:

You really think the GOP "warchest" will ever be bigger than the koch brothers?

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Well, the Koch brothers supported Mitt Romney in 2012 and look where that got them. :shrug: They were licking their wounds through four years such that they sat out the 2016 presidential race. I have no doubt that Trump can shape Congress if he chooses to, because he has something the Koch brothers don't have: the populist appeal of Donald Trump. They can try selling their libertarian soda pop to the country if they want, but non-college-educated Americans saw that the prosperity train left them standing at the platform holding their baggage some time in 1982. Good luck telling them everything will be fine if we just end Social Security or that crumbling roads and bridges will disappear and the number of jobs will grow like Kudzu if we cut government regulations. Newsflash to the Koch brothers: Companies only build roads and bridges if governments spend the tamales. The Koch brothers seem to have a beef with governments spending tamales. So I can see Trump butting heads with them again on his plan to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure, but some timely Trump rallies in a few close Congressional districts would work wonders in the Fall of 2018.

And as far as money is concerned, Koch-connected PACs are expected to spend $300-400 million in the 2018 races. Once Trump got his Texas-based fundraising operation into high gear (when it actually looked like he could win the presidency), he raised $250 million in four months (Exclusive Interview: How Jared Kushner Won Trump The White House). Remember: He only needs a handful of Republicans to swing to his side to get his legislative agenda passed. He could do that for relative Trump, er, chump change.

Praxas said:

Also considering the bill was a bad deal to begin with and trump (you know the guy who endorsed the bill) and the GOP have NOTHING. Trump and Ryan had their balls handed to them over their egos.

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Trump and Ryan made a gambit they could have legislation passed under Senate budget reconciliation rules and they lost. They didn't do the legwork and spend political capital the way Obama did. Obama had been in office for more than a year when the ACA was passed. He also banked his presidency on it, and it turned out to be the first and only piece of signature legislation passed during his two terms in office (since Democrats lost control of Congress in 2010 and never regained it).

The GOP just received a standing 8 count and the democrats know it.

They went about repeal and replace in the form of political haggling instead of getting down on the deck plates with the nuts & bolts & wrenches. I would be willing to bet that very few people in Washington know how hospitals and doctors operate to begin with, and the Veterans Administration Hospitals are my proof.

Looks like Trump read my post and is taking my advice :

President Trump effectively declared war Thursday on the House Freedom Caucus, the powerful group of hard-line conservative Republicans who blocked the health-care bill, vowing to “fight them” in the 2018 midterm elections.

In a morning tweet, Trump warned that the Freedom Caucus would “hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast.” He grouped its members, all of them Republican, with Democrats in calling for their political defeat — an extraordinary incitement of intraparty combat from a sitting president.

Trump: ‘We must fight’ hard-line conservative Freedom Caucus in 2018 midterm elections

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So trump is going to actively try and primary members of his own party.


Let the next round of infighting begin.

RetiredUSN said:

The GOP just received a standing 8 count and the democrats know it.

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Trump is down but by no means out.

Unitedwestand13 said:

So trump is going to actively try and primary members of his own party.


Let the next round of infighting begin.

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These guys are like the zealots who gunk up Israeli politics. They need to either get with the program or get the **** out of Congress. And it looks like their caucus is vulnerable:

If President Trump is going to put the blame for Republicans' inability to pass health-care legislation on the House Freedom Caucus, at least one member of the conservative coalition thinks it deserves it.

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tex.) resigned Sunday from the coalition of 35 to 40 conservative House lawmakers in protest over the group's opposition to the Republican health-care bill that tanked in Congress on Friday.

“I have resigned from the House Freedom Caucus,” Poe said in a statement. “In order to deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward. Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective Member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead.”

‘Saying no is easy, leading is hard’: GOP congressman resigns from Freedom Caucus after health-care drama

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Ahlevah said:

These guys are like the zealots who gunk up Israeli politics. They need to either get with the program or get kicked out of Congress. And it looks like their caucus is vulnerable:

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If the house freedom ca incumbents and the primary opposition trump supports divide the republican vote, we may have the chance at seeing Speaker pelosi again.

Unitedwestand13 said:

If the house freedom ca incumbents and the primary opposition trump supports divide the republican vote, we may have the chance at seeing Speaker pelosi again.

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These Congressmen aren't in California or New York, so don't hold your breath. More than likely, if they can be upended in a primary contest, their opponents will win in the general election. Trump will pick and back some good horses, come out publicly for them, and then campaign hard in those districts. You can count on it. Since they've already shown their disdain for Trump, he's got nothing to lose.

Report: Steve Bannon told conservatives they had ‘no choice’ during health care bill debate.