…“Literally 30-thousand jobs could be lost if Trump is sworn in. Washington as we know it, and how business is conducted, will change instantly.”… ~DC Lobbyist

Over the past few days we have been providing background explainers on why congressional legislation is frozen.   The lack of legislative action in the era of Trump is one of the least understood political realities.  Corporate media cannot discuss the issue because they are part of the system itself. The election of President Trump threw a wrench into the gears of the entire DC legislative and lobbying machine.

Part I HERE -and- Part II HERE -and- Part III HERE.

The entire political and legislative apparatus is frozen, and it is genuinely impossible to predict what happens next.  Where we stand is the outcome building a very targeted system over the course of three decades.  The entities and institutions which assembled the system became functionally obsolescent overnight on November 8th 2016.

To fully grasp the tectonic shift, and understand the current challenge, it helps to revisit the words by a key DC machine operator, lobbyist Jack Burkman, who was contemplating the unthinkable prior to the unthinkable becoming a reality:

DC Public Relations2016 […]  seismic panic has ensued on K Street as lobbying firms brace for a reality of a possible Donald Trump presidency and what that might mean for them and their futures.

Prominent D.C. lobbyist Jack Burkman said today that he started assembling a delegation of lobbyists and lobbying firms to meet with the New York billionaire and begin building a bridge to the Trump organization.

“Trump is a Washington outsider. We need the outreach now or Trump will bring in a whole new team made up exclusively of New Yorkers, effectively ending our grip on the White House and The Capitol which will bring about the end of life as we know it here,” says Burkman, who represents a diverse set of national and multi-national clients.

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♦In Part-I we explained how legislation is actually constructed in 2017. NOT how most people think it is constructed – SEE HERE

♦In Part-II we explained what that modern reality means with a Trump administration, and what will be needed to overcome the corrupted swamp – SEE HERE

The final paragraphs include accepting the reality and pondering:

[…] President Trump is not going to sit and wait for congress to evolve in their ability to turn away from existing lobbyists hanging around to defend their interests.  Sooner or later President Trump is going to do something dramatic to break the impasse within the broken legislative system.

Considering that Trump is not a politician, that “something” could get rather ugly.

We are not going to get bogged down in the weeds and loose the capacity to see the larger, more consequential, picture.  Staying elevated – However, as if guided by a prescient cue, part of the possible answer to the quagmire becomes evident today:

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In Part I we explained why President Trump has not received any legislation:

To Wit: President Donald Trump winning the election threw a monkey wrench into the entire DC system…. The modern legislative machine is frozen in place.

The “America First” policies represented by candidate Donald Trump are not within the legislative constructs coming from the authors of the legislation.   Congress has no bills to advance because all of the myriad of bills and briefs written are not in line with President Trump policy.

That’s why congress has not passed any legislation for President Trump to sign.

There’s no entity within DC writing legislation that is in-line with President Trump’s economic and foreign policy agenda.  Exactly the opposite is true.  All of the DC pipeline legislative briefs and constructs are antithetical to Trump policy.

There are almost zero organizational entities within K-Street presenting any legislative constructs or legislative briefs intended to advance any of Trump’s policy objectives.

Think about how much money is behind the legislative business when those who control the legislation are willing to spend $3.1 BILLION in a single year to achieve their needs.

♦The “Associated American Southern Border Wall and Security Builders” – special interest and lobbying group – simply doesn’t exist. Nor are there any entities creating legal briefs (bills) to facilitate the southern border wall construction.

♦There is no “Associated Illegal Immigrant and Deportation Enforcement” group lobbying for the removal of undocumented illegal aliens; or writing legislation to fast-track deportation of illegal aliens.

♦There’s also no official corporate political action committee or group office on K-Street creating legislation to repeal ObamaCare, or lobby for the removal of government interventionism into the healthcare system.  etc.

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There are many new commentators at CTH, and even more new people taking notice of politics for perhaps the first time in their lives.   There is also some confusion noticed between two distinct groups who appear to be talking above and around each other.  Two groups trying to communicate from two entirely divergent sets of understanding.

Perhaps it is valuable to reset the larger frames of reference and provide clarity.

Many, heck, most people think when they vote for a federal politician -a representative- they are voting for a person who will go to Washington DC and write or enact legislation. This is the old-fashioned “schoolhouse rock” perspective based on decades past.

There is not a single congress person who writes legislation or laws.

In 2017 not a single member of the House of Representatives or Senator writes a law, or puts pen to paper to write out a legislative construct.  This simply doesn’t happen.

Over the past several decades a system of constructing legislation has taken over Washington DC that more resembles a business operation than a legislative body.  Here’s how it works.

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The DC pantomime continues today following a VERY FAMILIAR UniParty pattern. Once you see the strings on the marionettes it’s impossible to go back to a time when you didn’t see them.   Do not lose any of your peace over this. The DC UniParty is as predictable as the sunrise.  Fugheddaboudit, and go MAGA.

There was/is never going to be an outcome of significance to the DC pantomime being conducted in front of the capitol building’s House Intel Committee Potemkin village and visitor center.  It’s a show, a pretense, a charade, complete with scripts and roles to be played etc., countermeasures deployed.

Viewers and voters will tire of it. Just like the VA scandal; just like Fast and Furious; just like Benghazi; just like the IRS hearings; and the remaining visible corruption simply melts back into the swamp to reconstitute for the next public event du jour.

Left-wing activist groups ‘Democracy 21’ and ‘Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’ filed a lawsuit accusing House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes of ethics violations following Nunes’ public statements about President Trump and his transition team being targets of intelligence community surveillance by the Obama administration.

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After removing Katie Walsh from the White House staff, President Trump now moves to confront the #NeverTrump coalition in congress, Hillary’s Favorite Caucus, head on.

More than half of the remaining members of the House Freedom Caucus are still #NeverTrump, entrenched and intransigent Pro-Ted Cruz ideologues.  They oppose Trump and have never moved beyond losing in the primary.  They are still fighting the 2016 primary race they lost.

It appears President Trump has had enough of their ideological gridlock.

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Well, don’t say we didn’t predict this reality.  The Democrats are smartly not waiting for any recovery efforts by Republicans; and immediately following the failure of President Trump’s healthcare repeal and replacement approach, Senator Bernie Sanders begins putting their ‘single provider’ alternative together.

(Story Link)

The strategy is, unfortunately, brilliant.  When Obamacare further collapses, and all Americans are being further crushed by the skyrocketing costs, at exactly the moment when the American electorate are at their most frustrated and everyone is in crisis mode – whammo, here’s the solution.
All of the previous opposition to single-provider has been kicked out of the Democrat party.  [Blue Dogs Dispatched] The DNC will unify, as one single voting bloc without a single representative in divergence, behind the Sanders proposal.
As ObamaCare explodes, the factional infighting between the purists in Hillary’s Favorite Republican Caucus and various GOPe proposals will continue.  Directly into this void of leadership will flow the single-provider plan, just as the Democrats and the coordinated media messaging tell the American electorate the solution is right there:

“Medicare for all”.

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Senator Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz pushed the House Freedom Caucus to remain firm in opposition to President Trump.
Having successfully defeated his opposition, Senator Paul pulls out the UniParty dance music and proposes solutions that can go no-where.  As you watch this, remember the House and Senate schedule spring break is next week…. Ergo Paul says “legislation should be brought up next week” blah-blah-blah.
This is a familiar UniParty ‘controlled opposition‘ trick.  Go public and make the solution something you know has absolutely no chance of even being explored.  Makes the abuser look great, and keeps the abused thinking their abuser is dreamy.

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Once you see the strings on the Marionettes you can never go back to a time when you enjoyed the puppet show and didn’t notice them.  Rand Paul is the guy running for Class President saying every student should have a convertible – who can disagree?
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UPDATE:  3:35pm Speaker Paul Ryan Pulls Bill.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will give a presser at 4:00pm announcing he has pulled the healthcare reform bill.  Ryan saves his own skin by allowing the nest to reassemble. Between 2:30pm and 3:30pm the UniParty wing of the GOP moved to protect itself from sunlight by drawing in more “NO” votes.  Crowding makes sunlight avoidance much easier.
Apparently, faced with the reality the “Yeas” and “Nays” were going to scurry back into the lair of the UniParty nest, President Trump has accepted the bill being pulled.

Costa on MSNBC: Trump says bill won’t be coming back in near future & he’ll see if the Dems want to work with him on healthcare.

— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) March 24, 2017

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Perfect.

President Trump, through OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, has demanded the House of Representatives vote tomorrow on the current bill for ObamaCare Repeal and Replacement.
This directly calls out the UniParty structure of Washington DC.
The time for endless political talk in circles is over.  Time for action.  The Koch Brothers wing (House Freedom Caucus), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wing (Ryan/GOPe), will have to vote to support the Health and Human Services construct of Tom Price, or kill it by voting against it.

Either way they vote President Trump has delivered on his promise: an opportunity to vote for the repeal of ObamaCare.

All those who vote “NO” on the bill will own the outcome. Meaning, they support the continuance of ObamaCare and all of the subsequent outcomes therein.  Get them all on record. (more…)