Happy New Year! Welcome to 2020 and welcome back to Friday Takeaways from the DSCC. First up: what you may have missed during the holiday season, from new reports about the tax scam every Republican senator voted for and GOP senators fighting against curbs on prescription drug prices, to increased scrutiny of Senator Susan Collins’ record on judges and impeachment while getting President Trump’s full-throated support.
NEW REPORTS EXPOSE HOW TAX SCAM “FAILED TO DELIVER ON GOP’S PROMISES.” More than two years after Senate Republicans passed their tax scam, the real consequences keep getting worse. NPR reports that GOP promises the tax law would pay for itself or focus on helping working people were broken and what “was supposed to be a gift-wrapped present to taxpayers and the economy…looks more like a costly lump of coal.” And a new report from The New York Times details how “not long after the bill became law in December 2017, the Trump administration began transforming the tax package into a greater windfall for the world’s largest corporations and their shareholders.” Read more:
“PHARMA DONATIONS FLOW TO GOP LAWMAKERS FIGHTING CURBS ON PRICES.” The Senate Republicans fighting efforts to bring down the cost of prescription drugs also “topped the list” of lawmakers in 2019 who received political donations from CEOs of the largest pharmaceutical companies. Those GOP senators include Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, and Thom Tillis, who raked in more than $155K in donations combined last year. Meanwhile, McConnell has been encouraging Senate Republicans not to support a bipartisan package to bring down drug prices.
🚨COOK POLITICAL REPORT: “DEMOCRATS IN A POSITION TO WIN THE MAJORITY.” The latest analysis from Cook Political Report confirms the Senate is officially “in play” in 2020 as Democrats “have expanded the playing field enough to put Republicans’ majority at risk.” The report follows Cook’s earlier reporting that moved races including Maine and North Carolina in Democrats’ direction.
COLLINS UNDER SCRUTINY ON IMPEACHMENT & JUDGES AS TRUMP BACKS HER “100%.” Senator Susan Collins spent the holiday season facing new questions over her refusal to commit to a fair impeachment process and her shifting voting patterns on President Trump’s judicial nominees, while Trump put his “100%” support behind her reelection.
GOP SENATORS ASK COURT TO “REVISIT” ROE V. WADE. 39 Republican senators — including Thom Tillis, Joni Ernst, and John Cornyn — asked the Supreme Court this week to revisit and *potentially overturn* Roe v. Wade. The effort is part of their larger push for uncompromising restrictions on women’s health care: these senators confirmed federal judges with anti-choice views and refused to speak out against GOP-led state laws that banned abortion even in cases of rape and incest.
IN THE STATES
AZ – Arizona Republic: EJ Montini: Is Sinema’s bill to ban uranium mining at the Grand Canyon radioactive for McSally?
“I’d guess that McSally fears the president more than she loves the canyon, or Arizona. This makes her like every other Republican in Congress, operating more out of fear than principle.”
CO – National Journal: Democrats Target Gardner’s History on Pharma
“Congress left town without passing sweeping reforms to bring down high drug costs, and Democrats are leveraging the lack of progress to attack one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection in 2020: Sen. Cory Gardner.”
IA – OpenSecrets: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst denounced ‘dark money’ as her campaign privately embraced it
“During her time in the Senate, Ernst has not endorsed any bills to require disclosure of dark money donors. The Iowa Republican’s comments emphasizing the independence of outside groups are at odds with the AP report.”
GA – Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Lobbying by incoming Georgia senator’s firm under scrutiny
“An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of financial disclosures showed that Intercontinental Exchange, the Atlanta-based financial platform, has spent more than $17 million lobbying Congress and federal agencies since 2002… [Loeffler] would not say whether she would recuse herself from certain votes that could influence the business.”
NC – Washington Post: 37 Quotes that defined American politics in 2019
“‘It’s never a tough vote for me when I’m standing on principle.’ – Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) to The Washington Post’s Seung Min Kim, explaining his opposition to Trump using a national emergency declaration to fund his border wall. Tillis, though, wound up voting to support the decision in the face of a conservative backlash back home.”
NC – Charlotte Observer: Our most-read editorials of 2019
“THOM TILLIS’ TERRIBLE, NO GOOD AND TOTALLY PREDICTABLE BAD DAY
Sept. 5 – The trouble began — as trouble often does — with a tweet. It ended with an $80 million punch to the gut and a lesson that Thom Tillis never seems to learn.”
NH – WMUR: Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says he won’t run for US Senate
New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesperson Josh Marcus-Blank: “While Messner, Bolduc, and O’Brien tear each other down in the contentious primary Lewandowski has left behind, Sen. Shaheen will continue working across the aisle for New Hampshire, leading efforts to lower prescription drug costs and making sure veterans and their families get the benefits they deserve.”
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Lauren Passalacqua
@laurenvpass
Stewart Boss
@stew_boss
Izzi Levy
@chevytothe_levy
Regina Anderson
@reginasopinion
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