What did conservatives get for two years in control of the government? (Aside from a big tax cut)

Great Debates
1

I was thinking about the current government shutdown and it occurred to me, “Why now?” The republicans have been in complete control of the government for two years. If they wanted a wall then it was trivial for them to get a wall. Not a thing democrats could do to stop them. Even when they knew they’d lose the House…no wall. Instead they waited till the new congress was seated and then poof…a crisis and we need a wall NOW! Shut down the government till they get it!!

Which then lead me to wonder, what other things on a conservative’s short list did they get for two years in complete control of the government? Tax cuts leap to mind but they seemed really short on other policies they (supposedly) hold near and dear:

  • Abortion? Nothing.
  • Gun rights? Nothing.
  • Shrink the government? Nothing.
  • State rights? Nothing.
  • Kill the ACA? Mostly nothing (hobbled it). How many votes to repeal it were held before they had complete control? More than 50 I think.
  • Decrease regulations? Maybe something here but not from congress…instead left to cronies put in charge of various agencies

I’m probably missing others. Feel free to add. That is just a start.

So, have I missed it all or did republicans mostly ignore their supposed wish list of things they tell us they want done?

2

Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh

3

Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.

4

It wasn’t just the Supreme Court. The Republicans had been holding back a lot of judicial appointments, and they’ve taken avantage of Trump as a rubber stamp for the conservative judges they’ve wanted to stock the courts with.

There’s a LOT of them, and the full impact may not be evident for years:

5

And lots and lots of other lower level judges…

edit: ninja’d

6

That’s because these are all of the fake issues Republican politicians use to sell themselves to gullible voters. If they get around to it, they’ll do something toward these goals, but it’s by no means a priority.

When you look at what they’ve actually bothered to do, install conservatives on the Supreme Court and give massive tax breaks to all of their rich corporate banker buddies, you see what their real agenda is and always was.

7

From the second cite in my post:

So it’s a Republican accomplishment AND fulfills a campaign promise.

The Repubs only let Obama confirm 43 judges. Bush and Trump are in the 80s, and Trump’s only halfway through his term. “Stocking the courts” indeed.

8

You see, that was just a bunch of RINO swamp creatures. This next batch of Republicans they’re going to vote for will *totally *usher in a new era of greatness.

9

They haven’t been and it wasn’t trivial. Senate majority was not the same as Senate control. McConnell likely never had the votes to get rid of the legislative filibuster. He didn’t in December when enough Republicans explicitly came out against doing that as a means to resolve the budget disagreement.

While that’s been in place the majority was not enough to just legislate whatever the GOP wanted. Everything getting through the Senate had to either get bipartisan support or fit within the once per FY budget reconciliation process.

Now there are things that got bipartisan support and got enacted as law. Multiple reforms bills for VA passed. Budget Control Act caps on DOD’s budget were lifted for the F18-19 budgets. Several laws were implemented to try and combat human trafficing. Reforms that prevented pharmacists from being gagged by NDAs into not dislosing pricing information passed. Limited reforms to the criminal justice system passed. Hemp’s now a legal product that can be farmed; the sponsor, McConnell, is from a state that historically was a major hemp producer. The “right to try” experimental medical treatments passed; that one was more Republican with less broad bipartisan support. They renewed expiring portions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and made them permanent. (EITC is an anti-poverty program that gets significant GOP support.) They reformed some of the Dodd-Frank rules for financial companies that were implemented in the wake of the mortgage crisis. Multiple bills addressing the opioid crisis were passed.

Sure the GOP didn’t get things that were Republican only wishes through. That was largely impossible. The GOP didn’t and couldn’t exercise complete control of the Senate. They did get quite a bit done for what effectively was still a divided government for the whole session.

10

I’ll add shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. That was seen as something of a “state’s rights” issue here in Utah.

11

As others have said, what you are missing is the impact they are having on the courts. I think it’s a key thing too you are missing, as it might impact several of the things you listed there. Your error, perhaps, is that you are looking at right now, today…but manipulation of the courts is something that can have an impact years or even decades down the line. Certainly just what Trump did wrt supreme court appointments alone is going to have a potential impact on things for potentially decades.

It’s why elections matter. Hopefully, the Dems have gotten the message and will strive with everything they have to change at least the executive branch in the next election cycle.

12

There’s also deregulation and government contracts.

13

I agree. Conservatives make sure they fill the courts with conservative judges so they can continue to run the country via the court system even in the years when they lose control of the elected branches of the government. If the Democrats take over Congress and the Presidency, you still have Republican judges to overrule everything they do.

And the court system is increasingly involved in the election process and deciding who gets elected. So if you appoint enough judges on your side, you don’t have to worry about the outcome of elections anymore. And once you “win” the elections, you get to appoint more judges.

14

Why not get rid of the filibuster? It took McConnell a nanosecond before deciding to be rid of it for the Gorsuch nomination.

15
  1. The filibuster rule in the senate – which remains in place for legislation – has been an obstacle to radical measures that have to pass Congress. It’s not all on Trump. (I don’t have to spell out the reconciliation rules that allowed the tax cut to pass, do I?)
  2. n-thing the two Supreme Court seats – these are significant accomplishments. Those judges are money in the bank when things come up before the SC in the coming decades. And all the other judges, too.
  3. Don’t underestimate the things a president can do in the executive branch. Ditka brings up some public lands issues where there’s been action – and he, at least, cares about those issues. For every action Trump has taken in the executive branch, bet your ass there’s a well-heeled constituency.
  4. Hobbling the ACA is something, for sure. It’s unlikely to be effective, because repealing Obamacare is not a popular policy, but it does at least reinforce the party line that Obamacare sucks.
  5. Trump has also legitimized ignorance, deception, and – yes – racism as fair play in presidential politics. Some conservatives don’t like that; others do.

But I also think the OP has a point. Conservatives do have a right to feel disappointed. That’s because Trump is, well, feckless.

If you’re a leftish American, though, you have every right to be appalled at Trump’s record. He hasn’t been harmless, or even mostly harmless. He’s done plenty, and what he’s done overwhelmingly sucks.

16

Hairy Reed decided that filibustering confirmations, except for the Supremes, was getting in his way. The Republicans added the Supremes to Hairy’s list.

Plus, the elected Democrats couldn’t ban all firearms.

17

BTW, on this front, I’d certainly like to see more progress, but I wouldn’t characterize President Trump’s accomplishments as “nothing” either:

source

18

Same story here. Sure, there haven’t been blockbuster achievements, but some modest gains:

source

19

See here. Quoting it all out is getting tedious.

20

** What did conservatives get for two years in control of the government? (Aside from a big tax cut)**

In addition to a mess o’judges, there’s all the things liberals didn’t get to do, so the Apocalypse was warded off for at least two years.