Free Republic

To the dismay of Washington's Republican Senate leadership, Judge Roy Moore crushed Luther Strange in the runoff for the Republican nomination for the open Senate seat in Alabama, outpolling Strange by nine percentage points. Senate Republican leadership and President Trump stood behind Strange. The Republican establishment doesn't want their party branded with Moore's hardcore, outspoken Christian fundamentalism. They don't buy it, and they're afraid that it will spill over to challenges in upcoming Senate races and hurt their party. But the same flawed political conventional wisdom that led Republican leadership to back the wrong candidate in this race is operating...

Donald Trump's latest tax-cut plan would be a steroid injection for the U.S. economy. Bravo to the White House and congressional leaders for packaging the biggest pro-growth tax cut since Ronald Reagan. My only quibble is that I wish the "Gang of Six" negotiators had stuck with President Trump's call for a 15 percent business tax rate -- which was in the campaign plan that Larry Kudlow and I helped draft. Instead, this plan would set the rate at 20 percent for corporations (down from 35 percent) and 25 percent for small businesses (down from 40 percent for many...

Republicans in Washington released the framework for their new tax reform plan Wednesday, providing a few specifics on proposals to cut the corporate tax rate, change individual tax brackets, and increase the standard income tax deduction. To be clear, what was made public is still far from a detailed or complete plan. The nine-page framework is intentionally vague, offering up feel-good statements such as "the committees will work on additional measures to meaningfully reduce the tax burden on the middle class."And some aspects of the plan as outlined would apparently offer tax breaks to some middle-class families, such as an...

A pair of Republican senators are marketing their bill to legalize the beneficiaries of an executive amnesty program as a tougher alternative to a competing Democratic proposal, but immigration skeptics say the bills are hardly different in substance. Known as the “Succeed Act,” the GOP bill would give legal status to younger illegal immigrants covered under the now-cancelled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. It requires applicants to meet strict education or work requirements to be eligible for a green card and lays out a 15-year path to citizenship — 10 years in a conditional status period and then...

Bold tax reform got a big boost on Wednesday. Leaders in the House, the Senate, and the White House have all agreed on a tax outline, meaning a true update to our broken tax system could be imminent. First, the GOP tax plan framework would lower taxes for individual Americans. It would double the standard deduction for individuals and thereby expand the zero-percent bracket, and it would create three income tax brackets (down from seven): 12, 25, and 35 percent, respectively. Most simply, this will allow all Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets. Importantly, the...

Some might argue this fact, but Republicans have one chance to salvage the loss of one of the greatest opportunities the Republican Party ever had. If they had decided to rally around President Donald Trump’s pro-job, pro-growth, America-first agenda of prosperity in the first 30 to 60 days of his presidency, things would be so much different for the American people. If repealing and replacing Obamacare, working toward tax reform, crafting an infrastructure bill and passing a budget were priorities, Republicans would have gained and taken control of Washington, D.C., for a generation. So the question remains—is that opportunity...

When elected chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2000, Judge Roy Moore installed in his courthouse a monument with the Ten Commandments that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai carved into it. Told by a federal court his monument violated the separation of church and state, Moore refused to remove it and was suspended -- to become famous as "The Ten Commandments Judge." Roy Moore is now the Republican candidate for the Senate from Alabama, having routed Sen. Luther Strange, whom President Trump endorsed and campaigned for. Moore's primary win is a fire bell in the night for...

The conservative House Freedom Caucus endorsed the Republican Party’s framework for tax reform on Wednesday. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., released a statement from the group announcing their support for the plan. Meadows told reporters on Tuesday that he’d draw a “red line” at a 20 percent corporate rate, and would oppose any bill that went higher. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to offer “historic tax relief to the American people,” President Donald Trump said during a speech in Indianapolis on Wednesday. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” “My plan is for the working people and my plan...

A Republican-sponsored tax reform plan (PDF) unveiled Wednesday could reduce federal income taxes for many Americans, though the details are sketchy on who would benefit most and who would pay more. The "Unified Framework for Fixing Our Broken Tax Code," released by the Senate Finance Committee, reduces the number of tax rates to three, nearly doubles the standard deduction, and makes more people eligible for child- and adult-care tax credits.It also eliminates most other deductions, including those for state and local income taxes, but keeps deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions. The plan also eliminates the alternative minimum tax, or...

President Trump is preparing an executive order to allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines, a reform conservatives have long championed as a way to bring costs down and stir greater competition in the national marketplace. The executive action gives the White House a chance to follow through on at least one promise related to healthcare reform after Senate Republicans' second attempt to overhaul Obamacare failed this week. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul "I think there's going to be big news from the White House in the next week or two, something they can do on their own," Paul...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, once viewed as the wiliest politician in Washington, is on an epic losing streak: His candidate, incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, got crushed by 10 points in last night's Republican primary in Alabama. So McConnell's narrow majority will now include someone he doesn't respect, and who doesn't like him.

This afternoon, during a speech in Indianapolis, President Trump was expected to reveal, for the first time, the details of the long-anticipated Republican tax reform proposal that calls for substantial business and individual tax cuts. But in a political era where every little thing is leaked to the media, we no longer have to wait for presidential speeches to learn the details of key pieces of legislation.  As such, below is a 9-page summary of Trump's tax plan courtesy of the latest leaks.Here are the highlights: GOALSThe Trump Administration, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Committee...

The stunning defeat of President Trump’s chosen Senate candidate in Alabama on Tuesday amounted to a political lightning strike — setting the stage for a worsening Republican civil war that could have profound effects on next year’s midterm elections and undermine Trump’s clout with his core voters. It marked yet another humiliation for the Washington-based Republican establishment, particularly Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose allies pumped millions of dollars into the race to prop up Strange and reassure his colleagues that they could survive the Trump era. “If you’re an incumbent, you have to assume the wind is against...

Alabama voters today pick a Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, choosing between former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and Sen. Luther Strange. Today's winner advances to face Democratic nominee Doug Jones on Dec. 12 to fill the Senate seat Jeff Sessions left to become President Trump's attorney general. Strange has held the seat on an interim basis since accepting the appointment by former Gov. Robert Bentley in February.

Alabama votes on Tuesday in the Republican runoff to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general. Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern. The winner will face the Democratic nominee, Doug Jones, a former United States attorney, on Dec. 12.

BERN, Switzerland — North Korean government officials have been quietly trying to arrange talks with Republican-linked analysts in Washington, in an apparent attempt to make sense of President Donald Trump and his confusing messages to Kim Jong Un’s regime. The outreach began before the current eruption of threats between the two leaders, but will likely become only more urgent as Trump and Kim have descended into name-calling that, many analysts worry, sharply increases the chances of potentially catastrophic misunderstandings. “Their No. 1 concern is Trump. They can’t figure him out,” said one person with direct knowledge of North Korea’s approach...

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon reportedly said during a Monday night rally in Alabama that the Republican establishment faces a "day of reckoning." “For Mitch McConnell and Ward Baker and Karl Rove and Steven Law — all the instruments that tried to destroy Judge Moore and his family — your day of reckoning is coming,” Bannon told the crowd, according to Politico. Bannon made the remarks at a rally for former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who on Tuesday faces off against Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.) in the GOP Senate primary runoff. Bannon was referring to...

An NBC/WSJ poll released Thursday reveals that more Republican voters consider themselves a “supporter of Donald Trump” rather than a “supporter of the Republican Party.” A whopping 58 percent of respondents indicated they considered themselves Trump supporters, while only 38 percent indicated they considered themselves supporters of the Republican party. 2 percent see themselves as both, while 1 percent said they were neither. The poll further reveals a split within the Republican party, as Trump supporters hold a far less positive opinions of many GOP politicians. For example, only 13 percent of Trump supporters view Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell...

Freshly returned from August recess, legislators find themselves embattled in heated debates on immigration, tax reform, and health care.The democratic process passed down to us by the Founding Fathers has long ensured that American voters have their voices heard, via representatives in the House and Senate chambers. Now more than ever, these debates are happening outside the marble halls of the Capitol.Policy debates are now ubiquitous and constant. Anyone who wants to participate needs two things: an opinion and an internet connection. Welcome to the world of digital activism.Online activism, even online petitioning, is not a new concept. However, it...

Congress is finally tackling the tax code, which is good news because reform is badly needed. Our outdated code is complicated by thousands of credits, deductions, and exemptions to individual and corporate interests -- and it imposes high rates that inhibit economic growth. However, as we've seen with the failed efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, getting a consensus among Republican members is easier said than done. It should boil down to three priorities. First, though overhauling the whole tax code would be great, if the goal is economic growth, reforming the corporate side is the most pressing priority. Everyone...