Democratic win would put Trump under ‘microscope’
Millions in ‘outsider’ cash
WASHINGTON, Oct 18, (RTRS): If Democrats win control of the US House of Representatives or Senate next month, nearly every aspect of Donald Trump’s presidency could face swift examination – from his long-elusive tax returns to possible business ties with Russia and conflicts of interest, congressional sources say.
While numerous probes have been expected if Democrats win a majority in the Nov 6 elections, the sequencing and scope of their inquiries has only begun to emerge in recent talks among party leaders and prospective committee chairs.
Leaders are clear about what’s not on the agenda: impeachment of Trump – at least until the outcome of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 US elections and possible Trump campaign collusion with Moscow.
But congressional aides say Democrats would move quickly to obtain Trump’s tax returns to look for business ties to Russia and possible conflicts with the Republican president, his family businesses and US government interests, along with a possible examination of his handling of security clearances.
Trump has refused to release his tax returns, unlike recent US presidents.
Polls show Republicans likely to lose control of the House while possibly expanding their majority in the Senate. Few congressional aides and leaders will speak openly about the Democrats’ investigative agenda.
Democratic majorities in the House or Senate would bring more money and staff for investigations that could derail or delay Trump’s agenda, but aides said Democrats will still aim for some bipartisan cooperation lest their push seem too overtly political ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in an interview with Reuters, said there is a risk the Democratic probes could be “reminiscent of the late 1990s when we thought it was a good idea politically to impeach Bill Clinton and the public got mad at us, and felt sorry for him.”
“It could end up not working well for them, at all,” McConnell added.
McConnell
Millions in ‘outsider’ cash:
It’s been eight years since the US Supreme Court declared that political spending is free speech. The decision eased the way for corporations, unions or nonprofits to spend massive amounts to support, or more often, denounce candidates in tight races.
Citizens United, as the ruling is commonly known, has transformed American political campaigns, most notably over the airways.
But the flood of cash also pays for an army of field offices, canvassers, data miners and even good-oldfashioned opposition researchers, in a system designed to influence voters around the country.
Today, a considerable portion of campaign activity voters see is paid for by donors who live elsewhere and, in many cases, contribute to some kind of political committee. Some of those committees must disclose where their money comes from; but others, the so-called dark money groups, don’t have to identify their sources of income.
Certainly candidates are raising plenty of money, but they are subject to comparatively low donor limits. A single donor can give a single federal candidate no more than $2,700 in each round of an election cycle (the primary, any primary runoff and the general election). Party committees have much higher limits.
Democrats’ enthusiasm this cycle has used that system to propel more than 100 House candidates to fundraising advantages over their rival GOP incumbents.
But Republicans are more than making up for any gap through super PACs. The Congressional Leadership Fund, or CLF, for example, has raised more than $126 million, including huge checks from GOP megadonors like casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam. They each gave the fund $12.5 million this spring. To be clear, there are liberal megadonors, as well. Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer is spending tens of millions of dollars through one PAC that’s pushing for Trump’s impeachment and another that’s trying to drive up millennial turnout.
GOP may visit Obamacare repeal:
Republicans could try again to repeal Obamacare if they win enough seats in US elections next month, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday, calling a failed 2017 push to repeal the healthcare law a “disappointment.”
In a forecast of 2019 policy goals tempered by uncertainty about who would win the congressional elections, McConnell blamed social programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, for the fast-rising national debt.
On Nov 6, Americans will vote for candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives.
McConnell’s Republicans now hold majority control of both chambers. Democrats will try to wrest control in races for all 435 House seats and one-third of the 100 Senate seats.
Despite their dominance of Congress and the White House, Republicans failed last year to overturn former President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare. McConnell called it “the one disappointment of this Congress from a Republican point of view.”
O’Rourke draws Texas cheers:
In a packed Texas convention center, Democrat Beto O’Rourke drew cheers last weekend with a blistering critique of Republican rival Ted Cruz’s support for deporting young undocumented immigrants, part of a stump speech aimed at inspiring Hispanic voters in the country’s most expensive and closely watched Senate race.
It was the kind of rousing rhetoric Democrats have hoped would rally the state’s surging Latino population around O’Rourke in his quest to become the first Democratic candidate to win a Texas statewide race since 1994 - a feat that would shake Texas’ political identity.
But that tide of support is not happening. And Democrats are worried.
Despite a record fundraising haul, a dizzying travel schedule to all 254 of the state’s counties and a Republican president who has disparaged Mexico and pursued a hard line against immigrants, O’Rourke is struggling to win over Hispanic voters on the scale needed to unseat Cruz in the Nov 6 election. The trend is playing out with Democrats across the country.