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NEW LOOK AT WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR BOTH PARTIES AS PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP PREPARES TO TAKE OFFICE
Mercedes Schlapp: It's a healthy new political dynamic that we're watching. Obviously, Donald Trump is leading the charge, is ensuring that he pushes forward his economic growth agenda and the Republican leadership needs to follow suit. This idea that Congress on the first day pushed forward this ethics reform made no sense. There are bigger fish to fry. I have to tell you, I like it, it's refreshing. And I think for Trump, he's not about being the republicans' president, he’s about being the people’s president.
Rachel Campos-Duffy: There's going to be a Republican Party, a Democrat Party and a Trump party. And listen, I was in the room on Wednesday, I was at the House conference when Vice President-elect Pence came in. There is palpable excitement in the House of Representatives for a Trump administration, but I will issue this warning. They are a co-equal branch of government. They're very tired of being kicked around by the executive branch and he needs them to pass their agenda, the president does or President-elect Trump does. So I would warn him to work with them, not to pick fights with them.
Lisa Boothe: I think we will have interesting dynamics in place over the course of the next couple of years at least until 2018 because, look, Donald Trump did not run as an ideologue. He ran as someone who is a deal maker and someone who is going to get things done. He has filled his Cabinet with some conservative Cabinet choices which I am very happy to see, but I could just as easily see President-elect Trump cutting deals with the Democratic Party on things like infrastructure, but I do think more often than not he's going to work with the Republican Party.
Jessica Tarlov: We have to remember Donald Trump pointed out the timing of this was bad not the action itself. I'm not sure how he'd feel about it a few months down the road, but I’m all for spending a trillion dollars on infrastructure. He can work with Chuck Schumer, the head clown, I think he called him this week in a tweet, and try to get that done, but there are places for compromise. I've been excited about the chance for criminal justice reform, something that Donald Trump has spoken about, a lot of leading republicans like Rand Paul, Tim Scott and obviously it's a huge democrat issue, there's room for compromise. I’ve said for a long time that Donald trump ran as a third party within the Republican Party.
NEW FOCUS ON TAXPAYERS AS DEMOCRATS CONTINUE PUSH FOR 'FREE COLLEGE'
Lisa Boothe: The fact that the Democratic Party is now in the minority, it's only going to emboldened the extreme voices on the left like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. The problem is the fact that the more the government gets involved, the higher the prices are. We've seen this with the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, every new dollar of spending in direct subsidized loans to colleges, they raised the cost of tuition 65 cents. We know there's a direct correlation of, you know, the higher the student loan debt in this country the higher the colleges raise tuition. So we can't afford this and it's a big problem.
Jessica Tarlov: This is also free tuition for families for the first two years, who earn $100,000 or less, these are low income families, certainly by New York standards. And another fact, according to evaluations at this point, it will cost $163 million per year and that could go up obviously, but that’s a pretty low price tag when you think about it.
Rachel Campos-Duffy: If you think that college education is expensive, wait until it's free. Look, I think that liberals refuse to look at what's the driving cost of it. I think that they're not focusing on books and research and great teachers. They're focusing on the amenities. I've taken my kids, my oldest daughter already to visit a few colleges and they're showing them, you know, it looks like a country club. There are all of these racquetball courts and big pools and you know, I think that's what we need; we need to be better consumers so that they're focusing on what they need to focus on.
Mercedes Schlapp: For them, it's like their security blanket. They have safe zones and now the security blanket will be the government paying for tuitions. We know in New York, they have the lowest rates in terms of colleges. I'm concerned of sort of the broader cultural message, that of teaching young students that you've got to work hard, that, yes, you might have to pay loans, there are Pell grants, there are scholarships, there are opportunities, but this idea that government has to be your baby blanket, your security blanket to take care of you from cradle to grave is it a big mistake.
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