The real fucking of America to start soon...

House Republicans gear up for imminent tax bill roll-out

The conference is taking steps to avoid the missteps that hobbled Obamacare repeal out of the gate.

By RACHAEL BADE

House Republican leaders are working behind the scenes to ensure their tax reform roll-out, expected any day now, avoids the pitfalls that sank their doomed Obamacare repeal effort.

House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and the Republican whip team have been hosting policy “deep dives” to get the often divided conference on board. GOP leaders have brought in TV pundit and campaign strategist Kevin Madden to help lawmakers sharpen their talking points.

And House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who leads the House GOP's messaging arm, is preparing roll-out plans that include a texting campaign and multi-state tax tour. She has also nearly doubled the number of media and digital strategy aides on her staff.

“This is it. This is the ultimate must pass legislation for House Republicans,” McMorris Rodgers said. She said her job is to “make sure that everyone around the country understands how tax reform is going to help them.”

“The launch is important because there is so much speculation out in the public view,” Brady added. “Actually having a tax reform bill, and lawmakers being able to lay out what we’re doing specifically to grow jobs and increase pay checks and drive the U.S. economy upward, is going to be crucial.”

The pressure is on. Tax reform is the GOP’s one shot at redemption after they failed to deliver on their seven-year campaign promise to upend President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.

While the House passed its Obamacare repeal bill only to see the effort die in the Senate, House Republicans say the lower chamber's botched unveiling hobbled the initiative out of the gates.

Just hours after Speaker Paul Ryan’s team released their GOP health alternative, conservative lawmakers and groups panned the bill as “Obamacare-lite” and complained they had no input in crafting the replacement.

That effectively killed any momentum of the bill, which suffered a paltry 17 percent approval rating nationwide.

Republican leadership have been working for months to ensure the same doesn’t happen with tax reform, which will kick into high gear next week. Once House Republicans clear the Senate budget Thursday, Brady is expected to announce when the legislation will be released and taken up by his committee.

Ryan has told lawmakers he wants the House to approve a tax bill by Thanksgiving.

House GOP leadership’s tax preparations are divided into two basic parts: Outreach within the Republican Conference, and a broader, public sales pitch.

Ryan has made himself the face of the public sell, barnstorming the country for weeks and touting the GOP's tax framework. He has visited 10 manufacturing plants from Oregon to Maryland, speaking to workers about how an overhaul will help grow businesses and the economy.

Ryan has also been on a TV and radio blitz to tout tax reform, even sitting down for beer and an interview with the pop blog The Skimm in an effort to reach younger people.

Starting this week, McMorris Rodgers will launch her own tax tour of the country focused on the individual side of the tax code. Among the states on her itinerary are Michigan, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, where on Friday she will be in Rep. Richard Hudson’s district for a roundtable at a local printing plan.

McMorris Rodgers has been gearing up for the roll-out with a communications and digital team expansion in recent months, tapping new employees such as Evan Walker, former creative director for the Republican National Committee who also served in President Donald Trump’s Office of Digital Strategy. The team has been assembling a series of web pages and videos that emphasize how tax reform will increase take-home pay and grow the job market.

McMorris Rodgers will also announce a new text messaging campaign at a House GOP conference meeting Tuesday allowing people to get updates on the bill.

One of the more difficult jobs — getting the fractious GOP conference in sync — has fallen to Brady. Republican leadership aides say the immediate reaction from some GOP lawmakers to the health care bill early this year release did long-term damage to the repeal effort.

So Brady, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Chief Deputy Whip Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) have been keeping in touch with different House factions for weeks in a pre-emptive attempt to limit criticism. Briefing sessions have focused on the individual side of the tax code, economic growth and the impact on small businesses. The last session, on Tuesday afternoon, will focus on corporate tax changes in the bill.

Brady’s team has also been trying to iron out potential problems before the launch. He and the GOP whip team have had two meetings with Republicans from high-tax states who are worried about Republicans eliminating the state and local deduction, one of the major pay-fors in the tax plan.

Axing that deduction would put many Republicans from swing districts in a bind. Brady has been trying to find a solution that will ease their concerns, though it is unclear if he will do so before the roll-out.

A key selling point for Brady with the conference has been showing lawmaker how their input — including ideas from 50 House members and two dozen senators — has affected or changed the tax plan over the past few months and years. It lets them know that “they’re supporting their own ideas that are included in this.”

“I do feel confident we are moving together as a conference,” Brady said. “Now, will there be support on 100 percent of the provisions? Tax reform just doesn’t work that way. And so we will through the process, [and I will] do my very best to try to resolve all the members’ concerns.”