Out to Pasture (2020 Election Game) Gameplay Thread

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

I don't know why the Democrats are unable to read the bill! Kirsten Gillibrand just said that the middle class is cut out, when over 70% of the cuts are going to them! This is absurd, and is frankly lying to the American people, trying to convince them not to back a bill designed to help them! A disgarace!

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Office of Managment and Budget @OMB

Just to be clear, the percentages reffered to in the tax bill are compared to what they previously paid. As such, the middle class will pay 35%+ less compared to what they paid before, and the other classes 3% less.

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

#ReadTheBill

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Mike Pence's press release

I must take my time to respond to Governor Bullock who, unlike the socialists and partisans from the Democratic Party, took the time to read the bill and came with an eloquent critique. For starters, the main goal of this plan was to boost the economy. So we gave tax cuts to the people who were most likely to spend the money they received. We concluded they were the middle class and the busniesses. By boosting the economy, everyone will benefit, including and perhaps mostly the lower class Americans. We decided not to give a big tax cut to the lower class Americans because it ultimately would have done nothing but increase the deficit, as their main contribution to the budget is through the payroll tax, not the income tax that this bill addresses. Besides, the lower class Americans will benefit greatly from the tax credits for child care, which will cover child care expenses for poor people for up to 4 kids or elderly dependents. We must pass this bill to help every American, including and most importantly the poor ones.

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Mike Pence's opening statement at town hall in Dakota City, Iowa defending his tax reform plan - 17th February 2019

Let me start off with something that probably is on your mind right now. The tax reform plan I brought forward a few weeks ago. I know the Democrats, the Fake News media and the DC establishment all viciously attacked this plan, spreading lies about what it will actually do for Americans. They say it is a giveaway to billionaires, a fraud, a plan that cuts middle class out. Those, my fellow Americans, are lies. Lies made by a desperate party, whose only goal is to see us fail. The Socialist Democrats showed, clearly and strongly, that they are not the party of the working class by opposing this plan, but the party of partisanship, bureaucracy and huge taxes. They, who claim to have the working and middle class Americans on their mind more than anyone else, oppose a plan that would do nothing but help them. Their hypocrisy is clear. Now let me tell you what is really in my plan. My plan cuts taxes for middle class people and families dramatically. Dramatically. The biggest middle class tax cut in the history of our country probably. It also cuts taxes for the lower class voters, despite what they said that we forgot them. Every single man and woman in this country will see their taxes go down after we pass this plan. We will also close down some really, really unfair taxes and start closing up tax loopholes, we will make the tax code simple and fair, something even the Democrats wanted before we proposed it. And the great tax credits making child care affordable, a piece of legislation I am very proud of, are badly needed. When you look to all of these facts, you can see that there is no reason for which this bill shouldn't pass, and the socialist Democrats opposing it are during it just for partisanship. My hope lies in the moderate Blue Dogs, who claim to be bipartisan and with whom we, the Republicans, have a lot in common with. I once again call for them to vote for this great tax bill and improve the life of their constituents. Now I will take some questions...

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Mike Pence to visit Iowa extensively through March and April 2019

President Mike Pence seems to put all of his weight in Iowa. Throughout March and April, he will canvass the state on almost daily basis, visiting both big cities and, more frequently, small rural communities. According to sources from the Pence campaign, the President is hoping for a crushing victory in the first state to vote, so big that will "end" the primaries by default. He brings up his tax reform plan, his experience working in the Trump administration and, when in Evangelical communities, his religious, conservative values. The religious communities from the North and West of Iowa seem crucial to Pence's strategy, hoping to have a turnout through the roof by caucus day. Pence also tries hard to lobby popular officeholders from the state to back his bid, even more so after he got Kim Reynolds on board. However, the President knows that even with a blowout win, the primary might not be over, and seek to tour the South in the following months, hoping the evangelical vote from there can give him large wins on Super Tuesday.

Pence Administration desperately trying to have a major accomplishment

President Pence and his aides are focusing a lot of attention in pressuring and/or convincing the House Blue Dogs, who they feel that will decide the fate of Pence's tax bill, to support the reform plan. However, they have a lot of plans if their efforts ultimately fail and the tax reform bill is voted down in the House. The Administration is reportedly considering turning its attention in such an event to laws that the Democratic House might find more appealing, like government ethics reform and a massive infrastructure package, while using the tax reform bill as a campaign tool. However, a growing faction of aides opposes abandoning tax reform for after 2020 even if the current bill fails the House. They support numerous amendments that might make the bill appealing to the Blue Dogs and Democrats at large, like merging it with an infrastructure package, a raise in Social Security or Medicare benefits or even paying for it by abolishing some of the tax cuts for the rich that Trump passed. This is for now a minority in the White House.

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

Is Rob Portman really implying that the Trump Administration allowed America to be ripped off? Let me remind you, Senator, that we abolished the TPP, fixed NAFTA, raised tariffs on imports to protect our industries, basically ended the WTO, convinced more NATO countries to pay their fair share for defense, cancelled the Paris Agreement and Obama's pandering to Cuba, defeated ISIS and ended the Iran nuclear deal! America is now stronger than ever thanks to the actions of the Trump-Pence Administrations, and more great things coming!

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Mike Pence 2020 campaign @pence2020

Does @TomSteyer know that this Administration's bill will abolish the horrific carried interest loophole and that it is committed to find and close the other unfair loopholes? We are walking the walk on fairness in the tax code, and the Socialist Democrats show that they are hypocrites by opposing our proposals!

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President says he's "all for" overturning the Citizens United decision

In a town hall in Iowa, President Pence stunned a lot of observers and people by saying, when answering a question about the campaign finance system, that "the Citizens United decision is wrong and I'm all for overturning it. It allowed the DC swamp to develop and flourish and it made politicians puppets of PACs and billionaires. It needs to end if we are to truly drain the swamp like President Trump started to." According to numerous sources, Pence intends to push to overturn the decision by a Constitutional Amendment or by a lawsuit after he gets his tax reform bill passed. Other campaign finance reform and lobbying limitations are also on the agenda of the White House, who hopes will be more easier to pass than the tax cuts. The President more or less confirmed this by saying "campaign finance and lobbying reform are very important issues to me and I can not wait to work with Congress to do something about them."

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President Pence's press release

I have got Stacey Abrams' message and I invite Ms Abrams, who I believe is a great, inspiring leader even through I have many disagreements with her, to discuss policies with me on national TV or in a town hall at anytime she wants.

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Mike Pence, Kim Reynolds to go to the House of Representatives when it will hold tax vote

In order to increase pressure on the moderate Democrats as well as spreading his message to the American people, President Pence will go to the House floor to give a speech just before the tax reform bill is voted on. He is expected to defend the bill, explain how it will be funded as well as offer compromises on future legislation to the Democrats. He will be joined by Governor Reynolds of Iowa and 10 middle class families who will benefit the most from this tax bill, with their taxes going down by about 40% and the child care tax credits allowing them to invest their money in a new business.

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

I will obviously take part in the CNN's "Commander in chief" forum, and I urge all other candidates to offer Americans a real debate on the future of our country.

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

Great victory for all Americans - the tax reform bill passed the Senate. Hopefully the House will choose to help the middle class tomorrow and cut taxes for every American. Interesting that "conservatives" Portman and Paul voted against the bill! Republicans shall remember...

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

New plan by Ivanka Trump is very interesting - I'd be interested in working with her on paid family leave and affordable child care after the tax reform plan vote. First step is in there - great tax credit for low and middle income families for child and elderly care!

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Mike Pence's town hall answers

1. Look, I think my position here is obvious. I was the one to write this plan and I want to get it passed because it will help middle class families all across America. However, in coordination with my Administration's fiscal experts, we have decided to remove the 3% rich tax cut from there. It was more of a symbolical policy, since 3% of the previous taxes is not that much to be perfectly honest with you, to signal my commitment to cut taxes for every American, however many people got upset with it, and I get it. I get it. The tax cuts of 2017 did enough for the wealthy, now our focus should be on the lower and middle class. As such, the money that were going to be used as tax breaks for the rich will be used to raise the tax breaks for the lower class instead, raising their cut to about 10%. I will also take swift action after this tax plan passes to wipe the tax code out of special interest provisions that Wall Street put in there for themselves, and we are taking the first step by abolishing the carried interest provision. Given this modification, I think there's no question about who this bill is designed to help: the lower and middle class of America. I urge the House Democrats to pass this badly needed bill and put more money in the pockets of America people, and especially I tell to the Blue Dogs threatened by the billionaire fighting against lower and middle class tax cuts, to stay brave and do the right thing, because your constituents will be greatly helped by this bill despite everything the socialist Democrats claimed.

2. First of all, let me say this. If Obamacare was the success the Democrats claim it was, we wouldn't be discussing health reform right now, because we wouldn't need it. It was a failure by all measures: people are still left uninsured, premiums are high and raising, deductibles are high and rising, co-payments are high and raising. The failure of Obamacare shows me that more government intervention in the heath care system is not the solution. However, I will absolutely not, under any circumstances, put our Medicare and Medicaid in danger. I will put them in a "lockbox" like Al Gore famously said. No one will lose the benefits they are receiving now. It's the right thing to do. And we'll fix the health care system after the disaster of the last years. First of all, a reform that I think is badly needed is allowing health insurance companies to sell across state lines. The biggest problem for the health system right now is the lack of competition, few insurers cover a lot of people and they don't face real competition, as such they can sell with as high premiums as they want. With this, we're going to give them real competition, force them to lower their premiums. We'll also allow individuals to deduct their premiums from taxes, establish full price transparency from health care providers, we'll modify HSA rules to allow everyone to contribute into them more money than they are able to contribute now. We'll also administer Medicaid through block grants, making it more efficient. We'll also lower the prices of prescription drugs by approving an unbelievable number of generic drugs every month as well as fighting the tactics of drug companies that extend the life of patent protection. Priorities for me are also the reform of VA healthcare, with more funding, better servicies and all veterans eligible, and the expansion of mental health programs, including those to fight opioid addiction. This are common sense proposals that will make the health care system better and I trust Democrats and Republicans to help me get them done.

3. Look, this issue has gotten a bit of a rhetorical exaggeration from both sides. There is no question that the EPA massively failed to protect the environment. They passed a lot of regulations which wrecked the economy while pollution was raising through the roof. We can't go with the same old approach when it comes to do this issue. We need to be smart about this, protect the environment while not allowing this to wreck the economy and destroy lives by over-regulating or enact radical proposals to destroy entire industry sectors, and we will develop a plan to do that.

4. Look, if the 2016 election taught us anything, is that conventional wisdom on election is long overdue and the only pundits are the American people when they get to the polls. For me, I've got no doubts that they are going to vote in their best interest, ignoring the pundits and pollsters, and give me the high honor of serving them for another 4 years.

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

In response to criticism we have received from many common people about the symbolical tax cut for wealthy people, the Administration removed it from the bill and the money saved this way will be used to pay for additional lower class tax breaks. Now, the tax bill is purely for lower and middle class voters. Let's pass tax relief and simplification for the common American people, despite the threats coming from billionaires opposed to it!

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Pence campaign to go in the Blue Dogs constituencies ahead of crucial House vote

Mike Pence's presidential campaign has sent thousands of volunteers from nearby states in the constituencies represented by Blue Dogs and moderate Democrats. There, they will knock on doors of middle class families and to some extent of lower class families and offer to calculate their taxes under the Pence tax plan. Usually, their taxes were much lower than what they were paying at that moment. (for the lower class families not so much, but the child tax credit balanced things out) Afterwards, the volunteers told the families that this can become reality if their House representative voted for it, and they need to call their representative and tell him to vote to make their lives better. Obviously, some were more convinced then others.

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Mike Pence's campaign ad - "Not with you" airing nation-wide

Narrator: President Pence's attempts at middle class relief and tax simplification were met with full-blown resistance from the DC swamp, Democratic partisans and socialist billionaires. And your Senators, Rob Portman and Rand Paul, were right there with them, voting NAY on the bill to stimulate the economy and make your lives better.

President Pence in speech: The question is simple. Do they back the American people or not?

Narrator: The answer is clear. They're not with you.

President Pence: I am Mike Pence, and I approve this message.

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

I don't know what lies @RandPaul is referring to! Is it not true that he opposed a tax reform bill that would have helped the economy and the working-middle class of America? Also interesting that only he and Rob Portman are finding this bill fiscally inadequate or whatever. No other GOP officeholder AND 96% of Republicans according to polls find it irresponsible, but support it and love it! Does it have to do with them running for POTUS and not wanting me to succeed?

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

I invite Ambassador Trump to the White House as soon as possible to discuss some of her policy initiatives that I believe are great and will certainly be a part of the agenda of the Administration after tax cuts for middle and lower class Americans.

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

1. Fear-mongering appears to be Senator Rand Paul's main campaign tactic! Otherwise I don't know why he claims that the badly needed middle and lower class tax cuts will bankrupt the country. In case he didn't know, tax cuts such as this one which is designed to boost the economy, pay for themselves in the long run. And about the 3 obscure programs Senator Paul keeps bringing up to defend himself, the time to make the budget for the FY 2020 isn't there yet. I will keep in mind his recommendations for when I will be asked to propose one.

2. I will not attack Ms Trump, I have the greatest respect for her and her family and the fresh ideas she brings to the table. I will only attack hypocrisy and when someone opposes the best interests of the American people for political gains.

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Mike Pence's campaign ad - "People like you" - airing in the South, the Midwest and New England


*A middle class family is standing in front of their house*

Hello, we've been a family for 10 years and we've forever wanted to start a new business in retail...

*another family appears on screen*

...to move to the countryside and start a farm...

*and another one...*

...to afford treatment for our son's illness...

*and so on*

...to open a restaurant...

...to afford College for our daughter...

...to be able to marry without a penalty...

...to open a shelter for dogs...

...to move into a safer neighborhood...

...to stop living from paycheck to paycheck.

*The family from the beginning appears on screen again*

Our dreams seem now closer then ever, because President Pence has proposed a plan that will reduce our taxes, and make us be able to afford what we want achieve. Senator Portman may be calling him a failure, but I know that he's doing his best for people like me to be able to live a better life.

Mike Pence: I'm Mike Pence, I approve this message and I'm fighting for people like you

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Mike Pence @presidentpence

Have you read the latest HERITAGE FOUNDATION report showing solid evidence that the tax cuts I proposed will largely pay for themselves by increased revenue due to BOOMING economy? (and we'll pay the rest by closing loopholes in the tax code) So much for the politicians fear mongering the population...

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Mike Pence's campaign ad - "Spreading fear" - airing nationwide

Steyer in CNN town hall: "This bill is a fiscal disaster, it will baloon the deficit"

Portman in CNN town hall: "tax cuts like these put us at a substantial risk of going, as I call it, budget AWOL"

Bullock in CNN town hall: "This tax cuts will necessitate cuts in critical government programs to prevent the debt from ballooning even further"

Paul in CNN town hall: "this bill would add hundreds of millions if not a billion or so, dollars into our National Deficit"

Paul tweet: "our country will be bankrupted because of Tax Cuts"

Portman ad: "Mike Pence is leading America towards bankruptcy"

Narrator: That is what the politicians are telling us. Now let's hear out the experts.

Heritage Foundation spokesman: "According to our study, there is solid evidence that the tax cuts will largely pay for themselves due to the growth they would produce in the economy, which will automatically increase revenue. And the rest can be paid for by closing loopholes in the tax code which President Pence pledged to do or by cutting a few government programs. The claims that this cuts will bankrupt the country seem to be baseless."

Mike Pence: I'm Mike Pence, and I approve this message.

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President Pence @presidentpence

Last time I've checked, analyses of legislative proposals is not the job of the OMB @GovernorBullock