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Wednesday, December 20, 2017

What Happens Next?

The Republicans could be in danger of losing their majority.
The House will pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act again before it heads to the White House for Donald J. Trump's signature.

The Congress passed the deeply unpopular tax reform bill on partisan votes.

The bill was 1,000 pages and it wasn't properly vetted nor read by the Republicans. The same old song back in 2010, when the Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act.

Republicans at the time harked on how Obamacare will kill Americans and lead to socialized medicine. They said that people will speak at the polls.

The Republicans derailed Barack Obama's supermajority in Congress. When Ted Kennedy passed away, the Republicans lined up Scott Brown.

Brown ended up winning the seat.

When the Senate passed their bill through reconciliation, it became law.

Republicans wrangled candidates to run and they used the drumbeat of a slow economy and the healthcare law to win control of Congress.

During Obama's eight years, Republicans tried to repeal ACA. They took to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled in favor of the ACA.

They denied him a Supreme Court nominee. They shouted at him at a Joint Session of Congress. They dog whistled coded rhetoric to win back the White House and Congress.

Now as a majority, they're having problems. They struggled throughout the year until the mustered up enough votes to pass tax reform.

They managed to get the Supreme Court nominee rammed through under a partisan vote. And they managed to strip net neutrality through the FCC.

All of these actions were unpopular. They failed at repealing and replacing Obamacare. That is until now.

Now as the ACA is still active the Republicans dealt it a serious blow. They decided to remove the individual mandate which could force Americans to go uninsured.

The seat that was held by Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III went to the Democrats. Doug Jones will finish the term and he signals reelection.

Jones' win shows a potential backlash that could sent Republicans back to the minority. The Republicans in swing states Trump and Hillary Clinton carried are up for grabs.

Democrats have to defend states that Trump carried. It's a hard challenge but it seems like it can be done. Trump is deeply unpopular globally.

Most Americans believe the law could damage the middle class. Most Americans believe this law is going to benefit the rich. The rich will get a tax cut and corporate tax rates will go from 35% to 21%. Many Americans fear the law will strip the safety net of its resources.



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