Newt Gingrich Former House Speaker; Chairman of Gingrich 360
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Opinion

We need one big budget reconciliation bill, not two

Newt Gingrich Former House Speaker; Chairman of Gingrich 360
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The new Republican-majority Congress is planning to bundle an ambitious multi-issue agenda together into either one or two major budget reconciliation bills soon after President-elect Donald Trump takes office. There is an ongoing debate among Republicans in the House and Senate as to whether they should try to pass that agenda in one massive bill, or instead prioritize the most urgent issues in an earlier reconciliation and then follow up with a second bill shortly after.

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich explains the situation and argues in favor of a single massive bill to address all budget issues at once.

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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

Now, some people, particularly in the Senate, would like to have two bills, but that’s a huge danger. What they’d like to do is pass the easy stuff first, which is the border, controlling immigration, a handful of other small things. And then they promise they’ll come back and they’ll work on passing the big bill that has economic activities, tax cuts, more take home pay, more jobs. That’s very dangerous.

When President Reagan passed his big tax cuts in 1981, they wrote it, for reasons I do not understand, so that it didn’t go into effect till 1983. That meant ’82, an off year, was very tough for House Republicans. I was there. We lost 26 seats.

In 2017, the congressional leaders insisted on spending the first part of the year trying to repeal Obamacare. They ultimately failed, and only then did they take up the tax bill, and it did not pass until December of 2017. And in 2018, Republicans lost 40 seats, and Nancy Pelosi became Speaker.

So I think this is a big decision. You ought to pay a lot of attention to it. I think, if they come down for a one big bill solution, they’re going to be in pretty good shape. [If] they come down for two bills, it’s going to be very, very tough.

The most important question for the incoming Trump administration is whether they try to change major law through one or two reconciliation bills. Reconciliation is an important process because it’s the only way you can get things through the US Senate with a 50 vote plus the vice president. In other words, 51 out of 100 otherwise, you have to have 60 votes to get things through and for really big changes. That’s virtually impossible. So the question is, you write one gigantic bill or two smaller bills? When I was Speaker, we did two bills one year, but it was the only year we did it. I strongly believe we need one big bill, either by Memorial Day or at the latest or the Fourth of July, and that bill, in addition to the border and the things that are obvious that has to have tax cuts, affordability, economic growth and jobs. And the reason it has to pass early is that the Republicans need to have a huge economy next year. People need to feel good about Trump, good about the Republican Party, and they have to be prepared to vote for the Republicans in the off year election. If they don’t feel good, then the Republicans will lose the house, and that would mean the equivalent of Nancy Pelosi, who made Donald Trump’s last two years in office very difficult, by impeachment, by investigation, by slowing down things. So there’s a huge value to Trump and the Republicans to getting something through this spring so that the economy takes off. People have more money in their pockets. People feel things are more affordable. And in general, there’s a positive, happy mood in the country. Now, some people, particularly in the Senate, would like to have two bills, but that’s a huge danger. What they’d like to do is pass the easy stuff first, which is the border, controlling immigration, a handful of other small things. And then they promise they’ll come back and they’ll work on passing the big bill that has economic activities, tax cuts more, take home, pay more jobs. That’s very dangerous when President Reagan passed his big tax cuts in 1981 they wrote it for reasons I do not understand, so that it didn’t go into effect till 1983 that meant 82 an off year, was very tough for House Republicans. I was there. We lost 26 seats in 2017 the congressional leaders insisted on spending the first part of the year trying to repeal Obamacare. They ultimately failed, and only then did they take up the tax bill, and it did not pass until December of 2017 and in 2018 Republicans lost 40 seats, and Nancy Pelosi became speaker. So I think this is a big decision. You ought to pay a lot of attention to it. I think if they come down for a one big bill solution, they’re going to be in pretty good shape. They come down for two bills, it’s going to be very, very tough. You.

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