Fireside Chat, Interview
Conversations with Congress
- Kevin McCarthy anticipates the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will not be raised during the lame-duck session but acknowledges Washington expectations that it may still pass, warning that failure could prompt China to create its own trade bloc.
- Comprehensive tax reform is projected to occur before the end of the middle of July and prior to the convention, with McCarthy asserting the legislation must be enacted now rather than deferred to the next Congress.
- McCarthy forecasts that House Republicans will secure a majority of 247 seats after June 7th, describing this as the largest Republican majority since the era of Babe Ruth and asserting confidence in retaining control despite Donald Trump's presence on the ticket.
- Regarding the Indiana primary, McCarthy expresses uncertainty between Trump and Cruz, predicting that a Trump victory would make the presidency mathematically hinge on California, where winning delegates proportionately could result in more competitive outcomes by congressional district.
- McCarthy notes historical difficulty for Republicans winning California but proposes that allocating the electoral college by congressional district or splitting the state into smaller entities would create a fairer and more competitive environment.
- McCarthy opines that President Hillary Clinton might be easier for House Republicans to deal with than Barack Obama, though this assessment is qualified by her shifting positions, and suggests restoring co-equal branch processes would yield safer and better products.
- McCarthy and Bob Corker both express concern that the current political environment, driven by extreme voices on both ends, makes the nomination of a centrist candidate difficult, with Corker ruling out a presidential run this year while noting future possibilities.
- Corker warns that tit-for-tat Senate behavior regarding Supreme Court nominations breeds public dissatisfaction and produces disliked candidates, while he hopes to pass the TPP before or after the election regardless of the timing.
- Corker suggests a future working relationship with a Republican nominee who possesses Washington experience and foreign policy knowledge to help win Tennessee, though he declines to explicitly accept a vice presidential role, noting that potential impact often outweighs the specific nominee.
- Corker indicates that Mark Warner is currently considered on a list of 15 or more potential vice presidential picks for Hillary Clinton, and predicts that the 2016 presidential outcome will significantly influence whether Republicans maintain Senate control in swing states.
- Corker anticipates that Republican Senate control could reverse within two years depending on seat vulnerability, while Warner hopes for a Democratic victory in 2016, believing a Clinton win would allow for tangible policy advancements.
- Mark Warner reflects that his 2014 narrow victory reflects a trend toward parliamentary-style elections where voters send messages to the president, and argues that modern American capitalism's focus on short-termism requires new ideas for the shifting nature of work from traditional to contingent arrangements.
- Warner warns that if the public tunes out of politics, power shifts to the extremes, and expresses frustration that party establishments refused to debate issues like the Gang of Six budget agreement, leading to unaddressed fiscal concerns.
- Warner predicts the fiscal issue is the nation's biggest threat, warning that the inability to address debt and deficits starting immediately will weaken the country's sovereignty and well-being, while criticizing the Senate's slow pace as a luxury that cannot be afforded.