Senate Conservatives Fund: Republicans Eye Year of Liberal Policies

Arthur, This is an important update. I hope you will read it and respond with any feedback or insights that you have. Republicans in Congress have foolishly decided to pursue a number of liberal policies this year. They want to bring back earmarks, pass some form of amnesty, raise (and possibly eliminate) the debt limit, bail out the health insurance companies, and spend billions on "stimulus" projects. Also, GOP leaders do not plan to pass a budget resolution this year, which means they can't use "reconciliation" to pass a conservative bill in the Senate with 51 Republican votes. There will be no Obamacare repeal and no entitlement reform. Everything Republicans do this year will be approved by the Democrats, which means more spending, bailouts, and debt. I'm not going to sugarcoat it – this is very bad news. The decision by GOP leaders to take a big left turn will likely cost Republicans the House and possibly the Senate. Democrats will be energized by their desire to impeach President Trump while Republican voters are depressed by a party that breaks its promises. I know this is discouraging, but we need to understand what is really happening so we can take the right actions. There are two things SCF will do to respond: Pressure Republicans to enact the right policies. If we don't make our voices heard and hold their feet to the fire, there's no telling how much damage the swamp will do.   Support conservative candidates. Republicans are going to suffer losses in November, but we can minimize those losses and protect the best conservative candidates. Conservatives must remain engaged and work strategically to minimize our losses this year both in terms of the policies that are enacted and the candidates that are elected. Please help us lead this effort by supporting SCF with either a one-time or a monthly contribution. The stakes are very high and conservatives must work together this year to be effective. Thank you for being part of our team. Sincerely, Ken Cuccinelli II President Senate Conservatives Fund @KenCuccinelli / @SCF Please share this on Facebook and Twitter.

SCF: Tax Reform Means No Tax Increases and No Bailouts

Arthur: Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) are demanding that the tax reform bill include a trigger that automatically raises taxes in the future if tax receipts fall below projections. This is a bad idea. Raising taxes is never a good policy, but this provision also adds complexity and uncertainty to the tax code that will limit its impact on economic growth. Bob Corker and Jeff Flake want people to believe they're concerned about the deficit, but if that were true they would not have supported so many bills to increase the debt limit and increase spending. If there is going to be a budget trigger, shouldn't it automatically cut spending which is the real problem in Washington? The tax trigger should be rejected and the tax rates in the bill for individuals should be lowered so no American, regardless of where they live, has to pay higher taxes. As we mentioned before, we also believe that any side deal to allow for the passage of health insurance company bailouts should be categorically rejected. This is something Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) promised the moderates in the Senate and it's a bad idea. The only way to make health coverage more affordable is to repeal Obamacare's benefit mandates, which have forced Americans to buy things they don't want. Please call the Republicans listed below and ask them to: Reject the tax hike trigger; Fight for lower tax rates so no American pays higher taxes; and Stop the Obamacare bailout deal These senators are sympathetic to our views so please encourage them to stand strong in the fight for sound policies. Tom Cotton (R-AR) – 202-224-2353 Ted Cruz (R-TX) – 202-224-5922 Joni Ernst (R-IA) – 202-224-3254 Ron Johnson (R-WI) – 202-224-5323 Mike Lee (R-UT) – 202-224-5444 Rand Paul (R-KY) – 202-224-4343 Marco Rubio (R-FL) – 202-224-3041 Ben Sasse (R-NE) – 202-224-4224 Thank you for doing so much to help us promote conservative policies in Washington. Your voice is needed now more than ever. Sincerely, Ken Cuccinelli II President Senate Conservatives Action

SCF: No Obamacare Bailouts! Beware!

Arthur: As you know, the Senate has included the repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate penalty in its version of the tax reform bill. This is nowhere near the full "root and branch" repeal that voters were promised, but it will provide tax relief to millions of Americans who don't want to buy Obamacare insurance. This is very good. However, this provision was added to the tax reform bill as part of a deal struck by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) with moderate Republicans that also includes passing a separate bill giving bailout payments to health insurance companies. This must be stopped! Rather than lowering premiums by eliminating regulations, many Republicans would rather try to do it by subsidizing insurance companies. President Obama tried this and it failed miserably. Also, once Congress starts bailing out insurance companies, the bailouts will never end. Liberals in both parties will forever call for more money to "stabilize" the marketplace. Repealing the individual mandate tax is good, but trading that repeal for insurance bailouts is not. If Republicans want to lower premiums, they should repeal the benefit regulations. That is what they promised and that is what will solve the problem. Under no circumstance should Congress ever approve bailouts for insurance companies. This is socialism and it will only make it harder for Americans to get access to quality health care. The Senate is expected to begin debate on the tax reform bill next week and every conservative in the country must be ready to stop bailouts for Obamacare. We will continue to monitor the debate and let you know what you can do to make sure it moves in the right direction. Thank you for your support. Sincerely, Ken Cuccinelli II President Senate Conservatives Action

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Weekend at Bernie's Immoral Economy

As I was reading last Sunday's front page cover of the Torrance, CA The Daily Breeze, I found the same anti-capitalist canard which has propelled demagogues and statists from generation to generation.

"We need a moral economy!" blazed the headline, with Bernie Sanders standing in front of a podium, with "A Future to Believe In" posted across the front.

The crowds in front and back were waving the same sign.  "Hope and Change" did not turn out for these voters, and that's why they have surrounded

Bernie Sanders thinks that the current state of the economy is "immoral."

Why?

Individuals are working a forty-hour week, and they cannot live on that salary.

Why have so many people lost their jobs? Why is economic recovery so slight? Why have prices for basic goods risen so high?

People cannot afford quality health care. Fewer doctors and greater demand has pushed up the cost of health insurance, too.

Yes, so much costs so much more, and yet so few seem able to pay for it, whether with a lot of a little.

He's right. We do not have a moral economy right now, but not for the reasons he proffers.

The very remedy he proposes will exacerbate the problems. Bernie Sanders is pushing a double-down socialist agenda: not an economy of sharing and caring, but an economy of taking and redistributing.

More government creates more inequity. More intervention by the state creates more inequality.

Why is the economy struggling for many, then, and a boon for the few?

Because the few have taken over considerable leverage--the levers of power in state legislatures as well as the federal government. The lobbyists on K Street manipulate the rules they write to their advantage, and Main Street pays the price.

More people are the poorer, and Sanders wants to shower more government "benefits" on them. Bernie wants to bless the populace with the same had that slapped them then stole from them! How is it moral, that men and women who do nothing demand that those who work pay for their sloth?

This indictment just as eually applies to corporations, both their easy subsidies and welfare bailouts.

If men and women will not work, then they should not eat.

Problem solved.

What does Sanders propose?

Socialism, or legalized theft writ large.

Its consequences are destructive.

Yet today, we have a nation filled with spoiled miscreants who have been taught envy and grievance as a way of life.

San Pedro, California is a heavily-influenced union town.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union membership swarmed the Port of Los Angeles, and they wanted everyone to see how hard they would work to make Bernie Sanders the next President of the United States (if he lives long enough to make it)

Labor unions have crystallized unfairness into an awesome, awful whole.

Members are forced to join. This is collectivism.

Members are forced to pay due. This is theft.

Members are forced to subsidize the dissemination of opinions which they oppose, which they find repugnant, even contradictory to their best interests. This is tyranny.

One key player in the rigged economy? Labor unions.

Lo and Behold, Bernie Sanders playing to his base.

Now let's talk about all those big bad nasty millionaires and billionaires.

If wealthy people are buying up influence in the corridors of power to enrich themselves at the expense of the rest of us, then that is indeed immoral.

But the problem is not the wealth. The problem is the influence peddling.

There is nothing wrong with being rich. Widespread poverty is just as "equal".

Bernie Sanders wants to steal from the rich to give to the poor, or more importantly the politically connected. He is no Robin Hood, since the medieval legend actually stole from the politically connected to give back to individual peasants. Robin Hood was in the business or restoration.

Bernie Sanders is in the business of rapacity.

If people want a moral economy, then we need to seek a free one.

We need to see less of the state--with its insiders--picking winners and losers. No more taxpayer-funded bailouts for Wall Street, yes indeed.

But no bailouts for labor unions, either.

An economy based on trade and trust, not fear and force, will ensure the moral economy we wall want to see.

A moral economy is the free market, where supply and demand determine winners and losers, and where losers can learn, reinvest, and become winners.