Free Republic

There are Trillions At Stake.   There is no upper limit to what congress is willing to do to stop President Trump from turning off the lobbyist funding.  Without influence in DC there can be no affluence in DC.  That’s why McConnell cancelled the recess. If the president continues to remain focused exclusively on what is in the U.S. best interests, he must be stopped.  Politicians in DC cannot just sit-by and allow the U.S. economy to be based on the interests of Americans; it would mean the destruction of years of central planning by DC Lobbyists, multinational banks, Wall Street and...

Can Mitch FINALLY be getting serious about Trump’s nominees? Or, perhaps more likely, is he just setting up time to pass AMNESTY?

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that he will cancel the August recess, citing "historic obstruction" by Democrats. “Due to the historic obstruction by Senate Democrats of the president’s nominees, and the goal of passing appropriations bills prior to the end of the fiscal year, the August recess has been canceled," McConnell said in a statement. He added that senators would stay in session "to pass legislation, including appropriations bills, and to make additional progress on the president’s nominees.” The Senate had been expected to leave town on August 3 for a four-week break and not return...

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The long August congressional recess, which Republicans hoped would begin a conversation about tax reform and must-pass budget measures, has so far seen another round of angry town halls focused on President Trump and the stalled effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Over just one day, in three small towns along Georgia’s Atlantic coastline, Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) spent more than four hours answering 74 questions, many of them heated. Just three focused on tax reform; nearly half of all questions focused on health care. “We did our job in the House,” Carter said...

Donald Trump once questioned the wisdom of taking vacations. “What’s the point?” he asked. But now the president is getting ready to join the annual August exodus from this town he calls “the swamp.” Trump is due to set out Friday on his first extended vacation from Washington since the inauguration — a 17-day getaway to his private golf club in central New Jersey. The president’s vacation could be driven, in part, by necessity. Everyone who works in the White House West Wing, including the Oval Office occupant himself, will be forced to clear out by week’s end so that...

The Senate moved unanimously to block President Trump from making appointments during the August break this evening. Democrats had said they'd make such a move after reports emerged that Trump was considering replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the recess. The Senate agreed to hold pro forma sessions throughout the recess. This procedure was also used to block appointments during the Obama administration. Worth noting: the announcement was made by moderate Republican Lisa Murkowski, who split from Trump over health care. The Senate also made a slew of confirmations and passed several measures before shutting down for the summer. Another...

The Senate blocked President Trump from being able to make recess appointments on Thursday as lawmakers leave Washington for their summer break. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), doing wrap up for the entire Senate, locked in nine "pro-forma" sessions — brief meetings that normally last roughly a minute.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his troops to get back to business, rather than take their traditional August recess. Call it the President Donald Trump Effect. Call it the Voter Effect. Whatever it’s called, fact is: Outrage over failed Obamacare repeal has forced the Senate’s hands. Due to unyielding pressure from the president, combined with massive outrage from the conservatives of the nation — conservatives who elected Republicans to lead all the major power corridors on Capitol Hill — McConnell cut off the first two weeks of his Senate’s normal summer holiday. Sen. Lindsey Graham is supposed to be...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said he would delay the start of the Senate's typically monthlong August recess by two weeks to try to finish work on the GOP healthcare bill and other legislative items. McConnell pinned part of the blame on Democrats' obstruction, a talking point the White House and Republican lawmakers have amplified in recent weeks. "In order to provide more time to complete action on important legislative items and process nominees that have been stalled by a lack of cooperation from our friends across the aisle, the Senate will delay the start of the August...

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that he wants to see "very significant" tax reform passed before Congress' August recess, in what could prove a tough task as lawmakers work through a complex agenda. "We want to get this done by the August recess. We've been working closely with the leadership in the House and the Senate and we're looking at a combined plan," he told CNBC in his first television interview since assuming office. President Donald Trump has repeatedly made pledges for tax reform and regulatory cuts since he took office, creating optimism among business executives and investors. So...

With Congress on August recess after failing to agree on a plan to help fix the country’s pressing immigration problems, President Obama is poised to take matters in his own hands with executive actions. Whether the president will act without Congress on immigration and other pressing issues has as emerged as a thorny political question. Critics argue he is intent on violating the Constitution to achieve his political agenda, while supporters say he is being forced into action because of the Capitol Hill dysfunction. Speculation that Obama will act during August recess is not unfounded. He has issued at least...

And so we are down to the last few hours of August. Turns out August was one big, scary mother of a month after all, a month that may have Democrats waking up in a cold sweat for months to come.

White House Isn't Concerned by Health-Care Protests By HENRY J. PULIZZI WASHINGTON -- The White House isn't concerned that increasingly vocal protests around the country are frustrating its push for health-care legislation. Briefing reporters Tuesday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested that the opposition is being organized by a small group seeking to create "manufactured anger." "I hope people will take a jaundiced eye to what is clearly the AstroTurf nature of so-called grass-roots lobbying," Mr. Gibbs said. In recent days, administration officials and Democratic members of Congress have been shouted down by angry protesters at town halls in Pennsylvania...

If anyone questioned why Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi wanted to get a health-care reform bill passed before the August recess, the following videos will explain it clearly. In three town-hall meetings with Democratic denizens of Capitol Hill, crowds reacted angrily to a government takeover of health care. In the first, Rep. Keith Ellison moves through the crowd in his very liberal district taking comments — but not answering any of his constituents’ questions (via Janet at SCSU Scholars):

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democratic leaders are promising to push through a health care bill even if negotiations with Republicans fail.</p> <p>Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday there are contingency steps that will be considered as a last resort. Among the possible steps is invoking a legislative procedure known as reconciliation. Such as step is problematic because of its strict limits on what would be allowed in the bill and what wouldn't.</p>

Before rank-and-file House Democrats bolted for summer break last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave them each a three-by-eight-inch pocket card and told them never to leave home without it. For Pelosi and her top aides, the two-sided, blue-and-maroon glossy — a personalized cheat sheet to help Democratic members tell their constituents what they’ll gain from health care reform — is the key to winning the critical month of August. Republicans have their own summer strategy: With Americans growing wary of plans for health care reform, GOP leaders are telling their members to take the fight straight to the Democrats. “You...

House Minority Leader John Boehner has predicted a “very, very hot summer.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bracing for what she calls “the fight of our lives.” Sleepy, sweltering August, typically a month for congressional beach getaways and temperature-taking back in the district, is shaping up to be the critical month for health care reform, with major battles brewing in the Capitol and on the streets in front of members’ hometown offices. If ever there was a time for a curtain raiser on an intermission, this is it. So here are five things to watch over the most consequential August...

What will democrats hear from their constituents during the August recess? Here is an email report from a dear friend who just attended a town meeting in Medford, NJ, with Congressman John Adler. It gives reason for hope, make sure to repeat this throughout the land this Summer: "Today, we did a little something to deal with healthcare for us all. Jim and I went to the John Adler meeting in Medford, as Marilyn told us of it. We went and man, people were furious and unbelievably outraged,,,huge, I mean, HUGE pushback. Amen! I know he got it and said...

NCLR Action Kit: August In-District Visits These are trying times for our nation. As Congress goes into the August recess, we need to make sure that your senators and representatives do the right thing for our families, communities, values, economy, and country. Make sure your voice is heard! Use the guide below to schedule an in-district meeting with your elected officials during the August recess (August 3-September 4) and join hundreds of grassroots leaders throughout the country as part of both the Health Care for All campaign and the Campaign to Reform Immigration FOR America. Grassroots Action Kit In-District Visits...