Don Bacon Is A Hyper Partisan Republican
Don Bacon and one of his new supporters claims that he has allegedly “demonstrated time and again that that he will put people above party to find bipartisan solutions.” It’s hard to run for re-election on this theme when you have voted with Trump 98% of the time in the current Congress. Bacon and some his of supporters believe that we are all stupid and are playing the voters for chumps. Let’s take a look at the record, shall we?
The two most significant legislative initiatives of the Trump Presidency were the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with Trump Care and the failed 2017 tax cuts. The process utilized by Bacon’s party bosses in connection with these bills was anything but bi-partisan.
In 2017, Don Bacon’s party bosses in the Congress used scorched earth tactics in an unsuccessful attempt to repeal Obama Care. The Trump Care bill was drafted behind closed doors by GOP party bosses and lobbyists. No Democrats were allowed to participate. The GOP then used the budget reconciliation rules they condemned during the Obama Administration in a failed attempt to pass the bill on a straight party line vote.
Bacon’s party bosses held one hearing on Trump Care and only allowed a few hours of floor debate. The Senate vote on Trump Care was even held in the middle of the night! In contrast, there were over 100 hearings on the ACA and several weeks of Congressional floor debate.
The GOP used hyper partisan tactics in its attempt to pass Trump Care because the bill was so terrible. Bacon voted for a bill that would have kicked 20 million people off insurance and gutted pre-existing condition protections. Trump Care was so bad that Bacon voted to exempt himself from it.
Bacon and his party bosses employed similar brutal tactics to ram through the failed, deficit funded tax cuts. The bill was drafted in secret by a handful of insiders, there were no hearings and very limited floor debate. Once again, Democrats were excluded from the negotiations. The failed 2017 tax cuts added $2 trillion to the national debt and the top 1% grabbed 80% of the tax breaks.
In the case of both bills, Bacon signed off on these harsh partisan tactics and didn’t criticize the norm breaking process. It’s hard to be “bi-partisan” when you are complicit to this outrageous abuse of power.
Two years later, Don Bacon still stood by his man and said it was an “easy choice” to endorse the re-election bid of the former TV reality star. Bacon even took a pledge not to criticize Trump!
It appears increasingly likely that Bacon will be swept out in a blue wave next month. Moreover, it is evident that Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans know that Trump will lose since they have been blocking any additional economic stimulus since the House passed the Heroes Act on May 15. The D.C. Republicans are already sabotaging the economy and a Biden presidency. (In 2008, the Republicans at least had the dignity to wait until after the election to try to sabotage President Obama.)
In the unlikely event Don Bacon is re-elected, he will join his party bosses next year in the attempt to ruin the economy and a Biden Presidency. There is nothing in his record to indicate that he will cooperate with a President Biden. Don Bacon is a hyper partisan Republican. Period. The end.
Don Bacon is running this deeply dishonest and hypocritical campaign because he is most likely trailing Eastman in the polls. Nate Silver’s 538 site has indicated that Joe Biden is currently the odds on favorite to carry Nebraska CD-2 and launched a big TV ad buy in the Omaha area on September 15. National groups will also be investing $1.4 million in Eastman’s run against Bacon.
I would urge everybody to do what you can to help Kara Eastman. Nebraska CD02 is one of the most important Congressional races in the country. Kara Eastman will work hard to support working families and protect your health care if she is elected. Now let’s get it done!