Hillary meets with House Dems…What will they discuss?

FBI target and presumptive Democrat nominee for President, Hillary Clinton, is meeting on Capitol Hill this morning with House Democrats. What will Clinton and House Democrats discuss? We have a few suggestions.

• Perhaps Hillary and House Democrats can discuss how to prevent her toxic image among voters from doing further damage to down ballot candidates in November.
  • Shortly after her party’s disastrous 2014 election cycle, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi declared that with Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket, Democrats could take control of the House.
  • At the time Pelosi made this bold statement, Clinton enjoyed a favorable rating of nearly 52%. Today, her favorability stands at 40.4%.
• Maybe Hillary can try to reassure House Democrats that the FBI investigation into her email scandal will not result in an indictment.
  • An audit by the State Department Inspector General found that Clinton violated federal rules with her private email server.
  • 60% of voters believe Hillary Clinton is lying about her email scandal.
• Clinton and House Democrats could discuss their shared support for closing GITMO and bringing the dangerous terrorists being held there to U.S. soil.
  • A dozen terrorists released from GITMO were subsequently involved in attacks on Americans.
  • Last week, The Washington Post reported that a former GITMO detainee vanished and is on the run in South America.
  • The list of terrorists remaining at GITMO includes some of the most dangerous captured by U.S. forces, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
  • 56% of Americans oppose the Obama-Clinton plan to close GITMO.
• Clinton could bond with House Democrats over their mutual love of Obamacare.
  • Clinton has gone so far as to tell voters that Obamacare was originally called Hillarycare.
  • Just 39% of voters support Obamacare.
• Will Hillary take the opportunity to ask House Democrats to come on board with her plan to raise taxes?

No matter what Hillary Clinton and House Democrats decide to discuss, one thing is clear: House Democrats, she is your problem now.

NRCC COMMENT: “As House Democrats meet with FBI target Hillary Clinton to brainstorm on how to distract from her long history of scandals and failed policies, one thing is clear: House Democrats now own Clinton’s scandal-plagued candidacy and all of the lies, deceit, and voter distrust that comes with it.” – NRCC Spokesman Bob Salera

Background:

Clinton to meet with House Democrats on Wednesday. “Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will meet Wednesday with House Democrats, according to a Democratic aide… Clinton’s meeting with House Democrats comes amid the party’s transition to the general election campaign, and continues Clinton’s effort to unite the party and mollify Bernie Sanders supporters after the fractious primary campaign.” (Manu Raju and David Wright, CNN, 6/21/16)

Pelosi: With Hillary, Dems can win House. “Rep. Nancy Pelosi says Democrats can recapture control of the House in 2016 by riding Hillary Clinton’s coattails. ‘Yes, we can win the House,’ the California Democrat said during a sit-down interview in her Capitol office. ‘If she runs, she will win the nomination. And if she’s our nominee, she clearly — I mean, the campaign, the joint effort — would be one that could not only take her into office but would [pull Democrats to victory],’ Pelosi said.” (Mike Lillis, The Hill, 1/27/15)

Democrats hope for Hillary coattails. “Her campaign is still in its infancy. The presidential election is nearly 18 months away. But Democrats are already banking on a “Hillary effect,” an anticipated wave that will lift the party’s fortunes up and down the ticket… Clinton’s campaign, however, could be a boon in some of the biggest and bluest states — like New York and Illinois — where Clinton has roots and is likely to outperform her national numbers.” (Kyle Cheney, Theodoric Meyer, and Elena Schneider, Politico, 5/27/15)

Real Clear Politics: Clinton: Favorable/Unfavorable

Clinton Broke Federal Rules With Email Server, Audit Finds. “Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton violated federal records rules through her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, a State Department audit has concluded… The State Department’s auditors challenge some of the fundamental assertions Clinton has been making about why her use of personal email for government business was not improper. A federal law requires the preservation of government records, and Clinton has said that since most of her emails were sent to people on the State Department system, she was complying. But the audit says that ‘sending emails from a personal account to other employees at their Department accounts is not an appropriate method of preserving any such emails that would constitute a federal record.’” (Ken Dilanian, NBC News, 5/25/16)

Fox News Poll: Majority thinks Clinton is lying about emails. “American voters think Hillary Clinton put national security at risk by mishandling classified emails — and that she’s lying about it. By a 60-27 percent margin, they think she’s lying about how her emails were handled while she was secretary of state, according to the latest Fox News national poll of registered voters. And by 57-32 percent, voters say U.S. safety was at risk because of Clinton’s mishandling of national secrets.” (Dana Blanton, Fox News  6/10/16)

CNN/ORC poll: Americans oppose plan to close Guantanamo Bay prison.“Americans oppose President Barack Obama’s efforts to close the detention center for enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the results of a CNN/ORC poll released Friday. The poll found that 56% oppose shutting the center, while 40% support the idea.” (Tom LoBianco, CNN, 3/4/16)

Hillary Clinton urged Obama to close Guantanamo Bay. “Just weeks before she stepped down as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton sent President Obama a memo urging him to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and offering strategies to do so, the Huffington Post reported. ‘I remain a strong advocate of your policy to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility (GTMO) responsibly and to ensure U.S. detention policy and practice for terrorism suspects are consistent with U.S. values and do not strengthen our enemies,’ Clinton wrote in the memo, which the Huffington Post obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. (Rebecca Kaplan, CBS News, 11/30/15)

At least 12 released Guantanamo detainees implicated in attacks on Americans. “The Obama administration believes that at least 12 detainees released from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have launched attacks against U.S. or allied forces in Afghanistan, killing about a half-dozen Americans, according to current and former U.S. officials…But The Washington Post has learned additional details about the suspected attacks, including the approximate number of detainees and victims involved and the fact that, while most of the incidents were directed at military personnel, the dead also included one American civilian: a female aid worker who died in Afghanistan in 2008. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, declined to give an exact number for Americans killed or wounded in the attacks, saying the figure is classified.” (Adam Goldman and Missy Ryan, The Washington Post, 6/8/16)

Law enforcement searching for former Guantanamo detainee in South America. “A former Guantanamo Bay prisoner transferred to Uruguay in 2014 has vanished and is believed to have left the country under uncertain circumstances, U.S. officials said. Law enforcement is now searching for the former detainee, Syrian national Jihad Ahmed Mustafa Dhiab, in Brazil, a U.S. official said.” (Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 6/17/16)

Who is Left at Guantanamo? “Seven inmates have been charged with war crimes in Guantanamo’s military commissions, the judicial system set up by the Bush administration and tweaked by the Obama administration. They include Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged organizer of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and his four alleged co-conspirators.” (Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 5/12/16)

H.R. 4909 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Amendment to Rules Committee Print 114-51 – Nadler Amendment

Clinton: ObamaCare was originally ‘HillaryCare.’ Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is out with a new defense of her healthcare record — rival Bernie Sanders may have helped write ObamaCare, but it was her idea first. ‘It was called HillaryCare before it was called ObamaCare,’ Clinton told a crowd of supporters at a country club in Vinton, Iowa. ‘I don’t want to start over.’” (Sarah Ferris, The Hill, 1/21/16)

Public Approval of Health Care Law: Real Clear Politics Average

Details and Analysis of Hillary Clinton’s Tax Proposals. “Over the past few months, former Secretary of State and Senator Hillary Clinton has proposed a number of new and expanded government programs. In order to pay for these new or expanded services, she has proposed raising and enacting a number of new taxes. Her plan would increase marginal tax rates for taxpayers with incomes over $5 million, enact a 30 percent minimum tax (the Buffett Rule), alter the long-term capital gains tax rate schedule, and limit itemized deductions to a tax value of 28 percent. Her plan would also restore the estate tax to its 2009 parameters and would limit or eliminate other deductions for individuals and corporations. Our analysis finds that the plan would increase revenue by $498 billion over the next decade. The plan would also increase marginal tax rates on both labor and capital. As a result, the plan would reduce the size of gross domestic product (GDP) by 1 percent over the long term. This reduction in GDP would translate into 0.8 percent lower wages and 311,000 fewer full-time equivalent jobs. (Kyle Pomerleau and Michael Schuyler, Tax Foundation, 1/26/16)