Welcome to the Confab. I'm Eric Felton. This is where the editors and writers of the weekly standard get together to talk about What's in the magazine? What's in the news and whatever else may be on our minds?
Fred Barnes is here to tell us about how the Trump Republicans are facing off against the Mitch McConnell Republicans and what it means for GOP hopes and Then we'll talk with Tony Masea about whether tax reform is likely to mean tax simplification all that coming up on the Confab We get the confab going in earnest with Mr Fred Barnes executive editor of the weekly standard Fred welcome to the confab Thanks for having me It's always a pleasure to see you and you are writing in the weekly standard this week about the divide in the Republican Party You said the Republican Party is divided into two groups these days one two who are these two groups Well the Republican Party is actually split in a lot of different ways But what I'm writing about is the one between all the grassroots of the Republican Party in Trump They love him who they don't love is this other other faction that is the you know Sort of the business as usual Republican leaders and party officials and elected officials and all those people and I guess some of the Republicans don't like Trump much and they and they are outnumbered by the Trump Grass roots and they've discovered this one in polls But they've also they've also seen it in that in one thing in particular and that's attacks on Republican leaders by a lot of mainly conservative Republicans and All the Republican folks out there who like Trump agree with it You see the guy being attacked in those Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and yet as you point out in your piece The strange thing about this divide is that it isn't ideological the agenda for the Trump team and the agenda for the Republicans on Capitol Hill is Basically the same agenda it is the same agenda to put it's how it's being treated and how it's speedily It's being treated is the relationship. You see the criticism of McConnell is that oh he's not moving fast enough He's not getting enough judges confirmed he's sitting on his butt basically and One of these one of these got hard-core conservative groups that I think said said you not only have it cleaned out the swamp Saying this to Senator McConnell. I suppose letter. You're not only have it cleaned out the swamp.
You are the swamp What don't they agree on what they don't agree on is what? Republican leaders in Congress ought to do particularly in the Senate You miss a little easier to pass things like a healthcare bill in the House or a budget Also been passed in the House but not in the Senate yet so the dissatisfaction is this is the name that McConnell as if he he alone was the guy responsible for not getting on two occasions I'll be able to repeal and replace Obamacare through the Senate. I know in there that the president Trump Can't claim to swung any votes, but anyway, all these conservatives blame poor only to McConnell So how are these conservatives going after Mitch McConnell? That's using him of being the swamp among other things, but also saying oh he's not getting He's not he has no sense of urgency.
McConnell is doing nothing to thwart the obstructionist tactics of Democrats Which have been pretty effective in the course Democrats. You know with the resistance they have to oppose to the maximum They're not divided well in truth. They're not and they'll pay a price for this because the resistance is pretty silly But one of the things you point out in your article is that there are conservative players who are going after Mitch McConnell trying to get his allies in the Senate Unelected well, that's the great Steve Bannon recently fired as the chief strategist said the White House by President Trump Who is he says he's going around and he's already started going around and recruiting You know he says his chief goal is to get rid of a Mitch McConnell and one way to do this to go around and recruit candidates in Senate races Against Republican incumbents, so you'll get the the band of people in and they won't vote to have They have the same as that majority of the original It seems like a long and enduring strategy to get rid of McConnell But this is what he's actually doing and has anyone pointed out to the the ban and team that there's currently a mere 52 47 Republican advantage in the Senate and that pulling up root and branch the Republican Senate would put it risk having majority at all Well, they have been a problem We've been told about that and and you have to realize that it is more important for America in ban and mine To get rid of Mitch McConnell that it insta retain on the charting in the Senate Now you may think that's crazy or a little misguided, but that's how you have this guy to have crazed I mean, this is a very unusual fight to have some guy leave the White House so he can attack The leader of Republicans in the Senate someone in the same party, but there we have it So what happens with tax reform? What happens to Mitch McConnell attacks reform goes well?
Well, if it goes well, he's gonna benefit from it I mean it is it is the last great thing that Republicans can do I think in this in this first two years of the Trump presidency And it is something that Republicans like it can have some immediate impact on the economy and so on But one of tax reform loses after health care has lost a couple times It would be a disaster I think for not only for Republicans, but for Mitch McConnell personally if you have tax reform goes down and as you pointed out The if you lose more than two votes in the Senate tax reform gone So is it gonna make any kind of difference on tax reform whether Mitch McConnell gets rid of the filibuster or not? I think you can make a big a big difference because You can have a better more attractive bill because it doesn't have to be squeezed through this thing called reconciliation Which affects what's in the bill and really makes it less appealing So I hope he's up to doing something that Democrats will do the next time they control the Senate if he does And that's the finally get rid of the last message of the filibuster which allows a minority to block legislation You know, it's way been thrown like you can't feel a federal judge even a Supreme Court judge Which allowed me on course I see get through which you can still feel a lot of legislation and Democrats are using that to the help I mean the filibuster the healthcare bill Or I should say bills and say come up several places I mean it allows them Some conservatives like well, it's just wonderful that we have this at a long time and although it's not the Constitution But he certainly is like tradition Yeah, they like old And so they have it there and then they're all these Senate rules and practices You know blue slips which are actually little blue pieces of paper that senators get and if they don't like some That somebody who's been picked for a judge yet They can hold back their blue slip You know imagine it's like a lot of little boys and girls playing some game And there's a 30 hour rule the 30 hour rules as well. See after you when you start debating as you have to A judge of nomination It can go 30 hours. So Democrats They tell the late things now So we're gonna have the full 30 hours.
We're gonna have it Now Stroke of a pan or a vote We're gonna get rid of that as he got the blue slips And it would make America a better place and the judiciary work conservative And perhaps ease the conflicts with the Trumpese does Well, and I think it would do that I mean the notion that somehow There is a huge and important divide that should be retained between all the Trump grassroots people and Trump himself And then these party and elected officials You know, I mean it's an artificial divide as you mentioned It's not ideological. It's it's all Of how you carry out your work And it ought to be it ought to fade into a living in Um, I'm gonna just I'm gonna share that happens And Barnes thanks for joining us on the con fab. All right. Very good.
Thank you And now we welcome to the con fab Mr. Tony Masea Senior writer with the weekly standard who's been writing about the tax reform effort going on Capitol Hill Tony How are you? I do great Eric thanks for having me. Thanks for joining us on the con fab So part of this tax reform policy Idea is not just to cut taxes not just tax reductions But the further idea that taxes should be simplified.
This is a long-standing conservative goal What's the idea? Sure So this tax reform package that is making its way through Capitol Hill And that is being received by everybody's Cancel look at it last couple weeks. There are a number of different things that it wants to accomplish like you mentioned You know certainly Republicans have been out there saying we want to lower taxes We want to make taxes fair. We want to be more transparent We want to do this in a way that is economically sensible.
It doesn't bust The deficit You know all kinds of things the other one that that they focus on a lot is this idea of tax simplification You shouldn't have to spend hours and hours combing through your financial records filling out forms or paying hundreds of dollars to a tax Prepare you know for the privilege of paying Washington a bunch of your money So I think there's a they're trying to tap into the sentiment among people across the country that taxes are just far too complicated They need to simplify it. So you have Paul Ryan and other Republican leaders going out there talking about how their plan will allow you to Allow a lot of people to fill out their taxes on a form that's the size of a postcard That's sort of the visual image that they're projecting with an idea of let's just make it simpler on everybody So the piece that's done that I wrote in the current weekly standard just sort of looks at that idea and says is that really Accurate is it are the changes they are proposing really going to make it that much simpler for that many taxpayers With a simplification idea was expressed by Donald Trump in typical fashion where he said H&R block isn't going to like it The business ramifications for tax preparation services You took the trouble to call a bunch of taxpayers and to see just how worried they are they did you find them quaking in their actual variable boots Not all not all they're not concerned about it at all You know if you talk to counts if you talk to taxpayers and they're all kind of people that work in it's not just accounts I mean you can basically hire anybody to do taxes You know H&R block neighbor down the street relative is good with numbers But people like to do not worry about it at all because they're seeing that there's still going to be enough complexity in the tax code Their services are still going to be needed. It's not just a matter of oh, I have this postcard I'm still out this nice little postcard and send it in you're still going to have to keep records of things You know there are all kinds of things that have complexity to the tax code some of which people tend to like You know, they're going to keep things like the terrible deduction They're going to keep things like the whole mortgage deduction If you have a side business if you know there's always talk about You know, really the gig economy or if you have a side hustle You know, if you're making everybody's declaring all their income from every side hustle You can be sure well But that's the other thing the other argument for tax implications You make it simpler that more people will comply that you have a lot of non-compliance because it's just so hard That it's a complicated But yeah, I certainly there's a lot of income that doesn't get captured on tax forms But it's still required to be so whether you have you know whether you're playing music and wedding or writing a book for example Or you know if you have a blog that makes some a little bit of income or if you're writing articles for your lance for other publications Or something like that They resonate with those of us in media You know, you still have to account for that You still have to account for your expenses I mean there are other forms of the last idea that you're just going to fill out a postcard It really doesn't affect I mean it'll affect some people more people probably able to fill it out on a postcard But certainly not everybody I like the one of the things you found out from tax preparation and online tax services Is the expectation that once you start messing around with the tax code and changing it adds So much uncertainty that you get an avalanche of business from people who are seeking some measure of reassurance and certainty in uncertain new tax code times Right, I mean there's a component of if you make the changes to the tax code that that yes The people don't understand those immediately and so they'll go and seek out the advice and And incidentally accounts don't always understand it initially either and a lot of these things It's not just oh what the tax code It's good people putting on tax code conferences for accountants then Oh sir, there's all kinds of communication and this stuff is an ongoing process It's sort of you know, it's like the constitution rights of living, breathing, documents, you know Some people think about the constitution But the tax code is sort of the same way that it's constantly being interpreted There are rulings, you know court rulings, there are regulatory guidelines So you know it's always sort of an estate of flux But especially when you're introducing legislation that changes it There's a period of time where you know not even accounts necessarily know what means This is written by legislators. I'm shocked lack of total clarity into hands Well, yeah, I mean the correct that's going to something like four million words Every one of them absolutely necessary and clear Well, right, I mean it's very long and even though it is so way that you they're still being The discussion of what you know, how can you expensive out of you?
So yes, I mean accountants and tax preparers they go a lot of them They do believe that there will be so much uncertainty that people will be coming to them asking them for answers especially, you know, you have a lot You know, a lot of say your taxes, you know, to be the difference between Hundreds of dollars potentially mess up and be costly mistakes, so they're thinking that They want to they're anticipating people are going to be coming to them in some case So now in your quest to talk to people who might be affected in the business one way or another by tax Simplification did you find any people who make postcards? Postcard makers, right? Certainly I mean there is any sort of effect I think it might be a kind of those lower income levels where you actually will have some people who Who suddenly now can take the standard deduction one of the things they're doing increasing standard deduction so fewer people have to minimize although most people already take the standard deduction But so they're at those lower The simpler levels of income people who are now maybe paying an HR block You know if they have no rental income no side business if they're just drawn salary And it's just them and I already knows that information then maybe then maybe they would be simpler for them But I mean certainly we can all come to all kinds of people that you know You know, you know, you know, postcard makers. It's a good one.
Don't even see it. Thanks for joining us on the confab Great. Thank you That's it for the confab this week Be sure to tune into the confab every week Just go to iTunes or Google play for a free subscription or go to our website weekly standard calm Thanks so much for listening. I'm Eric Felton catch you next time