Category Archives: U.S. Congress

On immigration, are we more mature than first-graders?

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan Bydlak, immigrationBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Let’s say your family and another are getting together for a Friday evening dinner. You both have first-graders.

The parents are preparing the meal when the children enter the kitchen. Your child wants to play with dolls. Their child wants to play a game. They both want their way.

The best response is for the adults to guide the children toward an agreement. Perhaps they could take turns with the dolls and game, or maybe find an acceptable third choice. If one child refused to compromise and demanded his or her own way, he or she would face a consequence.

We teach our children that life is about give and take, but then we approach national politics like it’s a zero sum game. If you can’t have all you want, then no one should get anything they want, including you. When your side is right and the other is evil, then gridlock is preferable to compromise.

No other issue illustrates this better than illegal immigration, which this week eclipsed all others because now we’re confronted with kids being warehoused temporarily in cages. Continue reading →

A pledge to reject debt and protect future taxpayers

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendment, Jonathan BydlakBy Steve Brawner, © 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Members of Congress shouldn’t be signing pledges. They take an Oath of Office to “well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office,” and that should be enough.

But if they’re going to sign a pledge not to raise taxes, they ought to sign another one promising to hold down spending. And if they’re going to abide by the first, they should abide by the second.

Forty-six senators and 208 House members have signed Americans for Tax Reform’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” promising not to raise taxes. According to the organization’s website, all six members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation have signed it. It’s been a powerful force in American politics. Signers have been reluctant to do anything that might be perceived as violating it, such as letting fuel taxes rise with inflation to pay for highways. In the meantime, Congress enthusiastically has cut taxes, as all six members of Arkansas’ delegation voted to do in December.

Continue reading →

Can the center make a comeback?

vote, Mark Moore, 16-year-olds, Clarke TuckerBy Steve Brawner

© 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Does “the middle” equal “mushy”?

The concept came up in an interview with Rep. Clarke Tucker, D-Little Rock, by the New York Times. The newspaper featured Tucker in a story about national Democrats favoring moderate candidates in Republican-leaning districts like central Arkansas’ 2nd.

It’s represented by Republican Rep. French Hill, himself not a fire-breather, but national and local Democrats think they have a shot at winning it. So they recruited Tucker and have backed him financially.  Continue reading →

Poll shows why GOP must ride the Trump train

Donald TrumpWe learned this week that it’s statistically possible that the only Republican voters in eastern Arkansas’ 1st District who don’t approve of President Trump are the half a dozen who said so in a poll.

The survey by Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College found that 96.6 percent of respondents in that district said they approve of Trump’s performance. It polled 676 likely Republican primary voters statewide, or about 169 per congressional district, though it wasn’t exactly that. If it were, that would mean somewhere around six voters in the 1st said they didn’t approve of Trump or didn’t know, while the rest approve.

But the survey had a margin of error of 3.8 percent both ways, and 96.6 plus 3.8 equals more than 100. So who knows – maybe those are the only six? Continue reading →

A sham vote, and why it happened

tax, taxes, debt, deficits, spending, trillion, State of the Union, deficit hawks, balanced budget amendmentBy Steve Brawner

© 2018 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

The U.S. House of Representatives last week played politics with a serious issue. You should not be disappointed if your congressman participated. You should only be disappointed if he brags about it.

And then more importantly, you should ask yourself why it happened.

Continue reading →