The GOP Congress needs to pass tax reform -- or face primaries. Voters have had enough

The United States Capitol Building (iStock)

The American people are frustrated and rightly so. Tens of millions of Americans came together and elected the ultimate political outsider Donald Trump president of the United States in 2016.  This was a continuation of the message sent by voters in 2010 and again in 2014 that Washington, D.C., is broken.

Now nine months into the reform-minded Trump administration, that feeling of frustration is palpable and growing with each day.   It’s growing because Republican leaders in Congress can’t seem to get their act together to keep their promises to the American people and pass the president’s conservative reform agenda.  The Republican majority is Congress is not enormous but it’s large enough to pass the big ticket items that virtually every member of the House and Senate caucuses has supported and campaigned on over the years.

Republicans across the board have been in agreement on the need to repeal and replace the disaster that is ObamaCare for seven years.  Now it appears that senators like John McCain would rather stab their constituents in the back than make good on a campaign promise.  John McCain doesn’t like President Trump and everyone knows it, but he let his spite get in the way of doing what is right for America.  Senator McCain’s decision to oppose Graham-Cassidy and kill Republican health care efforts smacks of a typical career Washington politician who has become a poster boy for congressional term limits. The American people are sick and tired of politicians who say one thing and do another.

I sincerely hope that history does not repeat itself with tax reform.  Republican Senator Bob Corker has long supported tax reform for his overtaxed constituents in Tennessee.  His constituents sent him to Washington to now deliver on the conservative agenda that eluded them during the Obama years.  Tennesseans delivered their electoral votes to Donald Trump with an overwhelming 61 percent of the vote.

Tennesseans want Senator Corker and the Republican majority in Congress to pass tax reform this year.  Presidents and Senators of the same party can have public spats, but at the end of the day, the agenda and promises made to the people must carry the day.  There is a direct correlation between how much of President Trump’s agenda Congress can pass with how many incumbents will face conservative primary challenges around the country in 2018.  The American people have had enough; get something done that you promised us or we’re going to find someone to take your place.  It’s common sense.

Incumbent Republicans in Congress need something to run on and I would recommend tax reform.  Your constituents demand it and will appreciate it.  This is America after all, where hard work and success are rewarded.