A Senate Republican used a prime-time interview to tell his own party it is running out of time to win back working families.
As reported by Breitbart, Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana appeared Wednesday on Fox News Channels Hannity after last weeks midterm losses. He said Republicans still have more than 50 days before Democrats take control, and he urged them to use that window on conservative policy rather than spin.
Kennedy did not treat the results as a routine setback. We Republicans in the Senate need to stop thinking were so smart and try a little wisdom, he said.
He then sharpened the warning. Now, this was not a normal midterm election loss. If you think that, congratulations. Youre stupid, Kennedy said.
Kennedy added, As my friend Jim Justice says, Toby and Edith, they didnt stay home. They voted for Democrats. And weve got to get Toby and Edith back. He used those names as stand-ins for working- and middle-class voters who, in his telling, usually lean right but this time supported Democrats.
Heres what we do. Weve got 50-plus days while Republicans are still in charge, he said. What we need to do is, number one, pass the permitting bill, thatll help with inflation.
Number two, we need to pass a reconciliation bill which we can pass without Democratic support, Kennedy continued. That reconciliation bill should include Joni Ernsts fraud bill, the savings of which we would dedicate to paying down debt, which will help with inflation.
He kept going through a longer list aimed at costs, congressional ethics, and national security. We should increase the tax-free gain that you get when you sell your home, Kennedy said. Thatll help with housing costs.
We should ban stock trading by members of Congress, he said. We should require all pardon brokers to register with the government just like a lobbyist has to register with the government when you lobby for a foreign government.
And finally, we should provide some more money to our military, Kennedy said. Whether you like Iran or not, theyre running out of bullets, and no one wants another Afghanistan.
Those steps, he conceded, would not fix every problem facing the voters he wants back. Now, those things are not going to solve all of Toby and Ediths problems, but at least theyll show Toby and Edith that were trying to do something, he added.
Kennedy closed by saying the obstacle is not a shortage of ideas. Doing nothing, Sean, is hard. You never know when youre finished, he said. And we lost Toby and Edith and we got to get them back.
Theres only one problem with my suggestion, Kennedy said. I got to had permission of Senate leadership to do it, and at the moment they declined to give it to me. So, if you know anybody, make a few calls because we got to do something.
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