GOP works on winning agenda for ’18
Economy, taxes to form core of party’s message
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.VA. — Congressional Republicans gathered at a West Virginia resort Thursday in search of a winning election-year agenda.
The legislators had forums on topics such as infrastructure, national security and the economy.
They got a pep talk from President Donald Trump reliving passage of the tax bill and highlighting other GOP victories from his first year in office.
As for an immigration strategy, Trump said: “We have to get help from the other side, or we have to elect many more Republicans.”
Republicans appear headed into the year with the idea that 2017 was when they got bigger items done and that 2018 will be a time to deal with necessary business, including spending and immigration. Infrastructure would likely require a sustained push from the president. The message for the midterms is expected to be the economy and tax cuts.
“Tax reform is working,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, citing investments by UPS and employee bonuses by Lowe’s as the latest evidence. Take-home pay is going up, while consumer confidence is at a 17-year high and unemployment at a 17-year low, Ryan said.
Rep. Bill Shuster, R-PA., chairman of the House Transportation Committee, told reporters that Trump’s history as a developer makes him the ideal person to push a major infrastructure plan.
“He understands how to bring projects in on time and under budget,” said Shuster, who added that he brought up the “elephant” in a room full of Republicans: raising the gas tax to pay for more highways.
Shuster acknowledged that a tax increase was a tough sell in an election year but said public-private partnerships such as those used by Connecticut at highway rest stops could be an alternative.
Trump mentioned a “right to try” bill to speed approval of life-saving drugs.
Besides tax cuts and the strong economy, Republicans said they have a not-so-secret weapon: House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, who said the GOP tax bill would provide mere “crumbs” for many taxpayers.
Trump compared the remark to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 description of his supporters as “deplorables,” and Rep. Steve Stivers, R-ohio, chairman of the House campaign arm, said Pelosi’s words will be repeated in TV ads around the country.
“Her ‘crumbs’ comment is something I think we can use pretty effectively,” Stivers said.
Amid the optimism were nagging questions about whether lawmakers will enact immigration changes or deadlock over Trump’s calls for a wall along the Mexican border and a path to citizenship for young immigrants here illegally. Meanwhile, Congress faces a Feb. 8 deadline to avert another government shutdown.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell promised that wouldn’t happen, saying, “There’s no education in the second kick of a mule.”