Republicans in Congress Continue to Attempt to Pass Tax Bill
SAVIDGE: A very crucial week lies ahead for the president. You'll remember the promise that he made.</s>DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to give the person people a huge tax cut for Christmas. Hopefully that will be a great big beautiful Christmas present.</s>SAVIDGE: And for the president, a major legislative win would be a big beautiful Christmas present, as well.</s>PAUL: The only days left to get some support here is this make-or- break vote in the Senate that could come as early as this week. So before that vote, the president is planning to meet with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. That's happening on Tuesday. He's going to speak at a lunch with Senate Republicans to talk about tax reform and the fall legislative agenda, and then he'll meet with a bipartisan group of congressional leaders at the White House.</s>SAVIDGE: All right, let's talk about this.</s>PAUL: Joining us now, Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst, Rebecca Berg, CNN political reporter. Both of you thank you so much for being with us. Ron, I want to start with you. What do you believe President Trump is going to say in these meetings on Tuesday to try to win some mileage here?</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, the argument has been political, that Republicans after failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act have to do this to convince their voters that they are delivering on what they ran on. The problem is that this bill is much more of a gamble than it might appear. You know, a Republican president in the first year, they cut taxes. Ronald Reagan did it, George W. Bush did it. The likelihood is some kind of tax cut in the end will pass and the president will sign it. The problem they've got is that this tax Bill faces two to one opposition in the polls, 60 percent in the Quinnipiac poll last week said it would benefit the rich at the expense of the middle class. And in fact all of the analysis, and particularly the Tax Policy Center analysis found it would raise taxes. The president talks about it as a Christmas gift as a tax cut, well, that's true for some, but it would raise taxes for half of all taxpayers, including 60 percent of those at the middle, and it would particularly go after Democratic leaning constituencies in blue states and in big metro areas. So for Republicans who are kind of hoping for this to reverse what has been a pretty difficult fall in public opinion, that is a -- that is not at all clear this will improve their position. In fact, it could compound their problems in white collar suburbs where we saw the biggest movement away from the GOP in Virginia.</s>SAVIDGE: Rebecca, let me expand that. Corey Lewandowski and others say the lack of legislative accomplishments this year on the part of the White House will not necessarily reflect badly on the president but actually folks are going to blame Congress. Do you believe that?</s>REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, much of the polling actually does reflect that, Martin. And so the president might be right, and certainly his tweeting, his public comments calling out members of Congress, including Republicans, helps his case in that regard. But ultimately the president is going to want Republicans in Congress and in the Senate to do well in these 2018 midterm elections, and if you have a situation where Republican voters and Democratic voters are blaming the Republicans in control of Congress for a lack of progress, that isn't necessarily going to bode well for Republicans running for reelection at the polls. And so it is in the president's interest to give Congress some credit here, and especially as tax reform makes its way through the Senate, they reach a resolution in conference committee and can send something to the president's desk, it is in his interests to give lawmakers some of the credit for this. He needs to give them some fuel to be able to run for re-election in these midterms next year.</s>PAUL: So, Ron, what happens next year if the cuts aren't passed by Christmas?</s>BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, as I say, this is an extraordinary circumstance, this bill, because it really pushes to the edge, I think, the inherent core strain in the Republican coalition. President Trump was elected primarily because he ran best -- he ran better among working class white voters than any candidate in either party since Ronald Reagan in 1984, and yet in the health care bill and again in the tax bill they are pursuing an economic agenda that sublimates the needs and interests of those voters to those at the very top. We've had other tax bills, the '81 tax Bill, the Reagan Bill, the 2001 Bush tax bill, that gave fewer benefits to people in the middle than those at the top, but this is extraordinary in that it actually takes away, it raises taxes on a substantial portion of middle and upper middle income taxpayers through a variety of deductions that are repealed based on all the analysis to give tax breaks to those at the very top. So can they hold the support of the voters that put them in power with a tax bill that is tilted so far away for them? Same kind of question on health care. On health care we saw it took a bite on the president's popularity among working class white voters who did not like the idea of particularly the Medicaid cuts, and we'll see if the tax bill, even if they do pass it, as I said, strengthens their position or deepens some of the problems they are now facing in the middle and upper middle class of the electorate.</s>SAVIDGE: Rebecca, next year is really only a couple of weeks away, so timing really that critical?</s>BERG: Oh, absolutely. Republicans are going to begin to campaigning as soon as the next year begins. You have primaries that come up much earlier in the calendar that many of these Republican incumbents are going to need to consider. And so it is imperative Republicans believe that they pass this, that they pass this soon, get this to the president's desk. I've spoken with Republicans throughout the year who believe that their chances in the 2018 midterm hinge entirely on this tax reform plan because they weren't able to get health care done, because this is going to be the major piece of legislation that they have a chance to complete before the year's end. And what's interesting is that in spite of some of the analysis Ron has cited, and he's absolutely correct in that analysis, Republicans do have, based on the conversations I've had over the past few weeks, a very deep conviction that this will end up helping voters and that voters will feel some of the benefits of this bill by the time they go to the polls next November. We'll see if that's the case, but they are making a big bet on this legislation.</s>BROWNSTEIN: And real quick, I mean, one of the challenges they face is that broad cuts in rates may be less tangible to people than pulling away specific benefits that you can more easily identify, like the mortgage deduction, like the state and local tax deduction, like the student loans. If those are revoked, you can bet the constituencies affected are going to be aware of it. Whether the overall rate changes are as tangible to people, I think, is a very dicey proposition.</s>PAUL: Good point.</s>SAVIDGE: Ron Brownstein, Rebecca Berg, thank you both.</s>PAUL: Thank you both. So, this morning one position, but there are two appointees to lead the consumer financial protection bureau, two who are supposed to be there. How did this conflict occur? That's ahead.</s>SAVIDGE: But first, a champion fit master rallied his barbecue buddies to feed those in need when a catastrophic tornado hit Joplin, Missouri, back in 2011. Fast forward to today, his nonprofit operation Barbecue Relief has responded to more than 40 disasters, including hurricane Harvey and hurricane Irma. Stan Hays is one of this year's top ten CNN Heroes.</s>STAN HAYS, CNN HERO: I've been competing in barbecue for years. Besides being a nourishing meal, it's comfort food. After a disaster, it is extremely emotional. Everybody's lives are on their front yard. So we decided we were going to get a bunch of the barbecue family together and help. Welcome, thank you guys for coming out. Over the last six years we've responded to tornados, floods, hurricanes. The core group are all pit masters or grill masters, but our volunteers come from everywhere. Come on, guys. Our goal is always to be in an area within 24 to 48 hours after a disaster strikes. We put the word out through different groups, and that way we know where the meals are going. You guys need any meals? To know you're a part of picking their spirits up --</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have no idea what a hot meal means to somebody who's lost everything they own.</s>HAYS: It can't help but bring a smile to your face. It's amazing. Yesterday you put out 43,350 meals. Thank you for everybody that was here.</s>HAYS: It is people helping people the best way we know how.</s>SAVIDGE: And you can vote for Stan or any of your favorite top ten heroes right now at CNNHeroes.com.